Moccasinlanding, thank you - I wondered if I could just take a picture of it. Now, however, the deadline has passed and I'VE DECIDED WHAT I'M DOING. Whew! Actually I didn't decide. I told my contractor who showed up this morning that I CAN'T DECIDE and am going completely crazy out of my head bonkers not being able to decide between stainless w/ marble subway backsplash or soapstone w/ beige subway backsplash. So I told him to decide for me and I'd be happy either way (and if not happy, it would be default tell me that I really wanted the other thing)! So HE chose stainless w/ marble. He said black counters are too ubiquitous these days, and dark (potentially depressing), and that we can add more warmth by replacing our kitchen island top with butcher block (it's currently stainless). To answer your question about our floors, they're wood. Yesterday I found an interesting online piece about a woman's original 1912 or 1913 kitchen - showing pictures - having one counter w/ steel on it. It appears to me to be zinc or pewter, and it was in a pantry-type room that had U-shaped counters, the connecting counter being the metal one. The other two were made of old dark wood. Stainless was invented in 1913 (amazing how many things were - including refrigerators!) and so I feel good enough about doing a period kitchen in stainless as long as all else looks old-fashioned for the most part. And as long as I can contrast w/ lots of warmth in other ways - particularly re. wood. The marble should help w/ that too I hope. Can you tell I'm trying to convince not just you guys but myself, too? ;) Here's the link that shows that woman's original 1913 kitchen (I can't help but feel sad that she changed it - and also some of her choices - but to each her own. Plus she wrote that it was meant to be a temporary fix only): http://www.fromtimespast.com/RestorationJournalTheKitchen.htm Third pic down shows the metal which you can see much better if you use your computer to zoom in on it.

Like ravencajun, I had thought I wanted to get the new Formica laminate for a kitchen facelift in early 2015. They will send you big samples free of charge. I went to Lowe's to see more and was shocked to find that with an Ogee edge, like diymom79 shows above, that I could get real stone for almost the same price. I ended up using the Fantasy Brown quartzite that raven did, also.

I started this thread a few months ago, and just noticed the newly revived comment on it. I actually wound up not going with anything in the Eternal Collection but not because it wasn't gorgeous, which it is! We went with something else because our floor tile is so busy & bold & we are having a white backsplash with colored grout I decided to go pure white with the countertop instead of any pattern. I decided to use 'Pure White' Ceasarstone instead it's beautiful. I love it & it works great in combination with the other materials we used. If I ever get the chance to do another countertop someday, perhaps in a retirement house someday, I hope I will then get a chance to use one of the 'Eternals'. The Serena {gray with warm white veining}, & the Soapstone looking one {I forgot the name of it} are particularly beautiful to me. Statuario & Calacata {spelling?} are very nice too. My favs have become the first two I mentioned though.

Renee you must be overwhelmed with all of these comments. Your countertops are GORGEOUS, so I do hope you keep them. Sophie's suggestion to stain the floors is well worth looking into. For what it is worth my suggestion for your backsplash is to go with a simple solid tile in a lighter color that coordinates with the countertop. I would suggest you not go too small with the tile- 3x6 to 4x12 would be a good size to stick with. You want to avoid too much movement in the backsplash as the counter (and the floor) have quite a bit of movement and you do not want them competing. Let the countertop be the star of the show. Good luck and let us know how it all ends up for you.