oh mayflowers forgot to say that I like the idea of adding cabinets to back of peninsula area but was also thinking of having two backless bar stools with black leather seats there as well. Will have to think about the wainscoating and now that I look closely the area could use an update and it is scuffed up. the more we look the more we see that needs help with this house Ugh thanks so much Here is the living room, my carpenter is fashioning a pine wood free floating mantle as we speak, it will have oil on it and natural tones. We have sofa facing the fireplace that's a thin cordoroy material in a light blue/green and plan to have an accent chair against the other wall (the staircase wall) with perhaps some type of server or china cabinet over there, dining area is too small for china cabinet but might be able to have a behind the sofa credenza (for more storage) we also plan to have an area rug in front of the sofa. I am looking for a gray one with texture if I can find one. what do you think of those ideas? Right now the dining area has a work table we're using till we find what we want lol

I'm a little concerned that your countertop sub (is he a fabricator?) is talking about making a tight seal between vertical and horizontal. With modern fabrication, say over the last 20 years, there has not been a problem with that, the way there used to be years ago when counters were formica and fabrication methods were less refined and precise. And the "sanitary" comment is out of left field--did your contractor say that? In any case, I will list the reasons why I do not like a small strip of granite (usually 4") on the backsplash: - you will spend a lot of effort designing a beautiful tile backsplash; why cut it short by 4". - the additional horizontal line of the 4" strip will visually make the space between your counter and upper cabinets look smaller and more cramped - some people think the 4" backsplash looks dated, though opinions vary on this - the 4" backsplash creates a small "ledge" which collects dust. Yet one more thing to clean. - you will be charged for the material and installation for the 4" backsplash; money that you may have preferred to spend elsewhere. I think that a 4" backpslash would be good if you were NOT installing tile and just had drywall on the rest of the wall. Or, if you simply like the look, as a lot of people do. Get what YOU want, not what makes life easier for your contractor. BTW, who is installing your tile backsplash? You may want to find someone outside of your contractor's subs. I was recommended someone by the tile store where I bought my tile. He specialized in tile--all he did is tile, and had been doing that for many years, so he really knew what he was doing. I am only mentioning this because of my concern that your contractor is saying he needs the granite strip to "make a tight seal". How elaborate will be your tile backsplash? If it's just, e.g., plain subway tile, that's pretty easy. But with a more complex pattern, tile backsplashes can be exacting work, and if your contractor isn't so painstaking, you will have to live with a backsplash that may not look so great (we've seen that happen on this forum several times).

If you have trouble visualizing what you'd like but "know it when you see it", then at this stage you should probably just look at as many stainless / dark cherry kitchens as you can and see which countertops and flooring "grab" you. In my case I knew I wanted simple, natural cherry cabinets and stainless appliances and probably a wood floor, but that was it. Looking at lots of pictures helped me narrow things down, so now I can at least have intelligent conversations with kitchen designers. I'd suggest going over to houzz.com and entering "stainless steel dark cherry kitchen" into their search box and looking through some of the hundreds of results you get. It's a great source of ideas. After you see some you like, you can probably come up with more words to add to the search box to narrow things down. You can also go to google and enter "site:gardenweb.com dark cherry stainless" and you'll find lots of threads on this site too. I don't know of a way to limit it to threads with photos, unfortunately. Laura

earn44 - I am very impressed w Fireclay. Not only is the tile beautiful, but their customer service has been great so far, cheap samples, fast shipping, and personal emails to ask about my project. I am adjusting my pricing expectations and thinking that $35/sq ft isn't so bad! Thanks everyone for talking me out of the shapes, that saves $10/sq ft! Speaking of Fireclay, I'm back on board w Kelp potentially, I've been reading through many of the Craftsman kitchen threads on here and lunarlab's kitchen thread. The Kelp pic she posted on this thread is one of the many in her reveal thread, and shows the color quite differently. Hope you don't mind me posting this lunarlab, it is gorgeous! pippiep - I read through your threads on tile, I feel like you've saved me so much work and samples! I like the Leaf Peeper tile, but the Basil is just so much more vibrant and appealing to me. Checked out the Vermeere at Complete Tile, but paying for shipping is stopping me from ordering samples. Does anyone else balk at these silly expenses, that are so small in the scheme of things! More thoughts later ... thanks everyone for your ideas and feedback!