Looks both gorgeous and unique. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Thanks, Raenjapan! Me too! The three month delay has made the packing things up a lot easier, and means I don't have to worry about not having heat during the dust part, but I'm right and ready to start using my new kitchen. All of my choices have been function first (not going for the kind of glamour one sees in kitchen portn), but I'm so pleased with how pretty the finishes will be even so!

Plllog, what great choices! Can't wait to see how it comes together. I LOVE your tiny paint chip - imagining how much zing that will add.

Please keep us posted!
Eliz

Can't wait to see it all come together!

We have similar taste in color - a friend looked at my kitchen choices and said in a not entirely positive way ;-) "That's a lot of green." LOL I told her I can never get enough green! I love the pairing with the orange shades. I bet it will have a fresh organic feel to it.

Rhome--me too!

Gldnfan, I have red hair so wear a lot of green. I have a green car. I have green stone on the hearths and three lav tops. I was sure I wasn't doing green in the kitchen. I was going to do something different! I started thinking white bamboo with turquoise bioglass counters or dark blue pyrolave. I was going to do a very modern look. Maybe offset with a florentine cut floor tile. But the tile was too dark, and it was all way too expensive. Yes, indeed, this lord-have-mercy-don't-ask kitchen of mine is the budgetwise version. :-D

But it's okay. I fell in love with this bamboo when I first saw it. It's not too yellow, no VOC (I'm allergic to formaldehyde) and the center is cross stacked instead of flat ply which not only makes it stronger, it gives a pretty edge detail. And then I fell in love with these handmade tiles. The whole line. But the soft greens looked so good with the bamboo. And I finally found the mythic hard green soapstone. And then I saw the knobs on a wearying trek through HomePortfolio.com and woke up, sat up, and said "Eureka!". Green it is!

The white floor is to bounce natural light since most of my surfaces are matte. It's also textured so there'll be no hydroplaning on puddles (I splash). Finding that was an adventure in itself.

The orange paint was the easiest part! I'd been thinking of just this shade, went to the paint store, and there it was. It's Fine Paints of Europe, #90, I think.

Love the greens! Must be the year for greens--saw a lot of happy green paint users over in Home Dec recently. We're in the process of choosing a green paint for a small "office" in our house (pretty sure it will be BM Affinity/Aura in Spa). Your green pieces are going to look awesome with that orange paint you've chosen. They'll really "pop," esp with your sparkly white tile.

BTW, thanks for the advice on my white paint thread (I'm still trying to decide!).

What about the colour of the grout for the floor?

I've never seen bamboo for cab doors - really looking forward to see more progress pics!

Tell me more about soap stone being outside - I'm curious

Oh, what a tease!

I love your choices and can't wait to see it all come together!

that is going to be amazing! hurry up and finish so we can see your final results! I love the floor you picked out.

Cat Mom, thanks for reinforcing the greens choice. I'd been thinking green was so over. Not that it stopped me! But I'm glad to know I'm not that far out of step. :-) I really like "spa". It's one of those fabulous murky ones.

Chloe's Mom, I'm not sure yet about the grout color. If we can work out the dates my preferred tilesetter is going to do the floor in a total random pattern. If so, I'll probably do something a bit darker than the tile to enhance it. If we go with a set pattern that only reads random, I'll probably do white so as not to call attention to the repeat. Any suggestions?

The soapstone outside is mostly a budget issue. I'll have half a slab leftover (small island) and am putting a narrow serving counter outside the patio window. The tile will be level with the window frame, which is about 4" wide, and then the outside counter will also be level. I've been challenging my contractor. :-) The alternative to using the soapstone would be using more of the very pricey tile... I live in a very mild climate, so don't really have weather issues about them. Both are non-porous. The soapstone is hard (for soapstone), so I think it will be good. If anyone thinks otherwise please let me know!!

Mom2reese--Oh, I'm sorry!!! I didn't realize until you said so that the title could be read as finishing the kitchen!!! I only meant that I've finally about finished choosing the finishes. Considering how long this has been going on, that's a real trick. I almost backed out and went with the soapstone on the perimeter, once I'd finally located it, but that would have changed the hardware and the wall color and too much else and I just couldn't do it.

I'm really glad you like the choices! With any luck we'll be finished before Independence day.

Danielle, many thanks! The floor is the only non-gray, non-beige, white floor tile with a really non-slippy texture I could find--but the finding delay, and a detour into looking at Marmoleum, led me to the most fabulous eco-design store. They have great things like countertops (not for kitchens--too papery) made of sunflower seed husks.

Love your choices. What is the top tile with the flowers? Is it tile? Is that a liner under it? I like it, whatever it is. And, if I remember, yours is the kitchen with lots of space and pantries? Can't wait to see all of it come together. Even though I can't wear orange (except I am an OSU Beavers fan), I love the orange and green together. Very fun! Go beavs...

Ooooh, it will be fun to watch this kitchen come together! Really bold choices and very different...and you are so organized! Good job so far and thanks for sharing.

Sandy

Who makes the white floor tile?

Thanks, Kris! Yes, mine is the excess of pantries plan. :-D The top tile is an example of the field tile main color. They probably won't be parallelograms, though I might use that shape instead of rectangles on the backsplash. I'm going to use several greens, and several of the stencil patterns (the stencil is fired in the glaze), to create a pond theme on the countertop. They're Architerra Northwest brocade patterns. There will be at least one tile with frogs, and some of them will have dark gray stencils rather than cream. The one beneath is actually a V-cap. It's bullnose with a bead. I'm not usually a fan of either bullnose or beads, and the rise isn't very high (for keeping drips from dripping) but I just love it.

Sandy, if I weren't organized about the construction I'd have pulled the covers over my head and quit a long time ago! The great thing is my contractor is even more organized. Thanks for the compliments. :-)

Palimpsest, the floor tile is Stonepeak "white cotton". Trust a fiberartist (me) to find tiles that are inspired by broadcloth and brocade. :-) They also have a "linen" (beige) and "tweed" (charcoal gray).

Hmmm...murky...and here I was thinking soothing and relaxing (yes, I am very much influenced by the name! LOL).

:-)

LOL! Sorry. Murky is good! I meant "complex". Hard to create. Not something you can easily get by fingerpainting. Full of maturity and depth. My whites are tints of Maya--a Benjamin Moore color that's 100% murk (and on one wall full strength). Spa is also soothing and relaxing. Sometimes I wonder about those names--the master bedroom is Warm Blanket.

I can't wait to see all this come together! I love your greens and the bamboo, and I think it will be gorgeous. You're so brave putting in a white floor, but I think it will be stunning.

Full of maturity and depth. Now that description I like! Wish I could say the same for myself... ;-)

I actually did know what you meant though; just thought it was funny (LOL funny) when put that way!

BTW, what color is Maya? Not finding it on the fan deck. Is it that orange chip you have in the pic? It looks terrific with the different greens.

VERY cool combos. it should look great together. My friend has blond bamboo cabs - so beautiful.

LOL, I was just teasing you, plllog! I love your enthusiasm! I'm 99% done with my kitchen - haven't decorated and just lost steam. Your enthusiasm is getting me excited again :)

Thanks, Holligator! It's so great to know others think these are as gorgeous as I do. The floor isn't brave (LOL!)--it's functional. It's glazed porcelain tile, so really easy to clean. It's white with sparklies, so will bounce up a lot of light, especially window light, and because it's stark white it'll be really easy to see where the dirt is, so I can spot clean rather than mopping the whole floor every time I spill something.

Cat Mom--the Maya is is a kind of olivey mud color, emphasis on the mud. It might not have been a Benjamin Moore color after all. It was all BM paint, but I might have found it in another line, though the color I have isn't the same as the Pratt & Lambert Maya. Or it could just be retired. The spice orange only has a number, not a name, and is a Fine Paints of Europe chip from the display next to the BM. :-)

Thanks, Mairin! I'm glad to hear the bambboo is beautiful installed, too. (I keep joking about the bamboo forest but, yeah, there are going to be a lot of floor to ceiling stripes.)

Oh, Mom2reese, I'm so glad you were teasing. I wouldn't want anyone to be disappointed to just see a bunch of samples laid out on a tarp. Getting out of the remodelling phase is such a relief, isn't it? I'm glad to share the enthusiam--I've been positively giddy!!

So I'll share a joke: I've been picturing the kitchen being 100% complete down to the chairs. But I don't have the chairs. I don't have time to look for the chairs. And it took me years to find dining room chairs. Years. I can't wait years. While cleaning the other day, I actually looked at a couple of out of sight out of mind chairs that had been stashed in a corner I rarely see. They're durable, comfortable, and, um, ugly? The were free in 1991, having been abandoned in a building the gov't seized and sold. So I have chairs. They even go with the finishes. And they're comfy. And the price is right.

Shall we make a deal? I'll decorate if you will? (HEEEEE!!!)

Don't joke about the chairs!! I've seriously been looking online for swivel chairs for my kitchen (albeit it with a single pedestal leg - not, according to our office health and safety folks, the *dangerous* 4 pronged leg types).

Wow, I'm blown away with your planning, knowledge of the materials, colours, shapes, etc.

When I first saw your samples, I thought, wow, wouldn't orange grout be cool? Not sure why I thought that (other than the fact that I adore orange....and green...and pink...heck, I like most colours!). Probably not a sensible choice for a grout colour, bec it wouldn't be easy to change if you were to decide to repaint. Green, on the other hand....? Then again, the tiles are stunning enough on their own (sparkles win any day, in my book), to not need a flashy grout.....hmmm, what about caramel/blonde to go with the bamboo.....?

Back to the tile - I love beads and I love the stencil idea, so I am excited to see the tile finished. What inspired you to come up with the pond theme for the island? I love that you're not doing the run of the mill kitchen. (I am)

Chloe's Mom, I was joking about the ugly--the swivel is fine. But, yes, very dangerous. I've been plopped onto the floor by these several times. Swivel pedestal chairs would be cool! Very mid-century. We had them when I was little (Atomic age, but swivel).

I thought of orange grout too! And nixed it for the same reasons. But also because I don't want to call attention to the floor. I had a really dynamic floor once and learned my lesson. If you have a really really great floor people will look at it. I want them to look up. :-)

Kris, it's the perimeter that will have the pond. I flirted with granite that looks like river rock for the island, but wised up. It would have drawn all the attention, and I really don't like granite for kitchen counters. Hence the tile. :) The inspiration for the pond was really the tiles. The frogs. And waterlilies, vines, bamboo and ginko blossoms. I just loved them. And everyone has been giving me grief because the giant

Looks like your kitchen will be a FUN place to be! It will be fun for us to watch this one develop . . . I love your sense of style.

I LOVE the giant poppy - I was thinking (before I replaced it with one with a window) of painting a poppy on my front door. You can always come to my house and paint poppies wherever you see fit :)

I LOVE the giant poppy - I was thinking (before I replaced it with one with a window) of painting a poppy on my front door. You can always come to my house and paint poppies wherever you see fit :)

Ooh! LOVE the poppy, too!

Hm... Poppy and no uppers or the Bamboo Forest!! Nope. No saving the poppy. I know I've erred too much on the side of function, but after suffering with a low function kitchen for seven years I'm just going to have to deal. with it. I've actually been thinking that if the Bamboo Forest becomes overwhelming I could vinyl wrap some of the doors. I got talked out of doing some in an alternate style. Thanks to those who love the poppy, but it's a goner. I'm thinking of doing a mosaic in the laundry room where one could see it when the door is open....

Hostagrams, thanks for the kind words and encouragement.

BTW, Chloe's Mom, painting poppies is pretty darned easy. If you find a place for them, go for it! The main thing is that the real ones are very flat in color (well, except some hybrids). Because of that, you have to go all Picasso on them and provide the shadows and movement by using a lot more variation than nature provides.

I approve. The blue tarp ain't bad either, but a more subdued blue would be better. :)

I don't see fridge handles.

Fori, you never cease to make me laugh. Sorry about the blue. I have natural canvas, but it doesn't provide enough contrast.

The fridge handles, as well as other appliance pulls are probably going to be from the same artisan as the pebble knobs. All of the hardware will be satin brass, though the banding on the hood might be hammered brass. I'm not sure about the inlay for these. Still working on it. :)

Gorgeous poppy!!! Are you an artist in real life? The handles are cool, too. Is that a LeCreuset collection in the photo?

Thanks, Kris. Yes, I'm an artist, but I only paint occasionally. I work mostly in fiber. And, yes, the red and orange pots are Le Creuset. I got my first one on a whim in an all electric rental with a pushbutton cooktop. Loved it. Love it on the gas. Love it on induction. Love my Le Creuset. Gonna love my red pots on the black cooktops on the green counters under the green hood. But I might also get some of that John Pawson Demeyer because it's just so gorgeous.