Oh bruinjen, I'm so excited. Just read your reply re dimensions and it is literally the same as mine. 12x24 for both kitchen proper and eating area. Must be fate! I just printed off a "proof sheet" with all of your beautiful photos so I can take it to my architect and say "I want THIS" ;-) Hope you don't mind! I've been struggling with whether or not I can have a white/cream kitchen with a fairly open layout that incorporates richer colors in the family/dining areas. Our color schemes are virtually identical down to the wall and upholstory colors. The only difference being that we don't really have any white in the family room where you do use some for the entertainment center. But I think it will still be okay. Thanks so much for reading my mind and doing such a beautiful job!

Hi, Again - First, I do like my KitchenAid dishwasher - especially the cool blue lights. It works well, even though I'm afraid to put in truly dirty dishes! I can't recall which model it is, but I can look it up if you want the info. Second, Etc. - Here are the photos I promised: More photos of White Fantasy Quartzite than you probably wanted (Is it wrong to be obsessed with this countertop?): Photos of Lutron Switchplates and Dimmers (I forget the color, but the line is Diva and Maestro - and I got samples and placed them against my backsplash to see if they matched. They did, perfectly - yay!) OK, I also included more photos of candy, because I'm also obsessed with that. Note that the kids are not allowed to touch the apothecary jars, but the penny candy jars are all theirs. Yes, I do laugh at myself:: I think the photo with the apothecary jars shows a good sample of the jet mist granite, too: Here are photos of the pendant lights and the Hickory Hardware American Diner pulls, knobs and cup pulls. They aren't great pics, unfortunately. The thing that ties the cabinet hardware, pendant lights and kitchen faucet/hot&cold water dispenser together are that they are all satin nickel and they all have "beading" - a row or two rows of banding - at the edges. I hope you can see that in the pics. I do occasionally catch my sweaters on the knobs and pulls, but as I haven't ruined anything yet, I don't mind: I just realized you can click on the photos to go to my album, where you can see larger version of them, which may be helpful for details. A few additional thoughts. I debated putting in the outlets on the horizontal, so they would blend in with the subway tile backsplash. Of course, as soon as I made up my mind, I went to tell my contractor, who was in the kitchen, installing the outlets upright. Oh, well. I can definitely live with it (although I had to work very hard to convince him to install the Lutron outlets/switchplates -he thought white was just fine. Silly man!) Also, although I thought I had thought everything through, using the great advice from everyone here, I'm not happy with my silverware drawers. There aren't enough - really because they are very shallow. I think I should have figured out how to put in at least one or two deeper drawers so I could have put in two layers of silverware, knives, etc. Also, I thought I was going to have three drawers underneath my cooktop, with the top drawer to be used for untensils. It turned out that I can't use the top drawer at all because of the depth of the cooktop. I'm not sure what I would have done differently, but I wish I could use that drawer! Anyway, I think that's it for now, until I show you the "before" and the bathroom. Thanks again!

Did you also DIY the vault in your ceiling? If you hired someone would you share the approx cost in your area? I know, it's nosy. I have a vaulted FR, 8 ft ceilings everywhere else and for some reason they dropped the kitchen ceiling to 7 ft. That's the first thing I'd like to change but I'm scared to even think about the cost! Really inspiring job you two did. I'd be in there all the time if it were mine!

Oh, the floor stain. I about had a nervous breakdown last weekend selecting the floor stain. We finally choose Fruitwood (minwax) and I can't say I'm 100% sold yet. Everyone besides me thinks it's perfect. Anyway, my cabinets are white with a glaze that makes them creamy, and the island is maple with a stain and a glaze on it. Here's a pic with several stain samples. The ones shown are (L to R) golden oak, fruitwood, early american and the one across the bottom is provencial. The one I selected definitely looks best with the island - I just love dark wood. Wish I'd have selected Provencial. All are minwax stains. I took some pics since the floors were stained this week, but they aren't in photobucket yet. Will try to post tonight. Also, there was a similar question a couple of days ago. I have pics of my last house with the same setup - white perimeter, stained island and wood floors. The link to that thread is below. Here is a link that might be useful: Other thread