Teppy, In my gut I know that I will not do as good a job as you did if I try to paint on my own. You have excellent taste and are very meticulous. Me....not so much. I do have a laundry room I can experiment with if I need to. I am definitely going to get a quote from a painting company, think I found one, that paints woodwork, cabinet and such. They do a lot of work for builders and had excellent pictures online. I have to get an exterior quote as well. When I get closer to actually beginning I'll post before pictures. I tried previously but couldn't figure it out. Maybe I'll take a look again this weekend. Yes, there is enough room for walking if the seating is added. It would be so nice for entertaining, cooking with the kids, kids doing homework etc. We have an eating nook that accomodates only a 48" round table comfortablly so the extra space would be nice plus it's just more social. I want to compare the painting cost vs. refacing. I'm actually hoping it's not that different because then the KD w/the refacing company could be the GC for the whole job whereas if we go the painting route I'll have find a GC on my own. Will defenitely try to figure out the picture deal so I can post. Thanks for the responses. Z.

cigi, in our last house the previous owner installed tumbled marble in a mauvish tone which IMO looked awful with the St Cecilia granite. Even though the tile was expensive, I tore them off and left the 4" granite backsplash, patched and painted the rest of the wall. The sink was the only working area as the cooktop was on the island. No problem with water as I used BM Aura, but Pittsburgh Paint's Manor Hall Timeless is just as good with a more flat look and lifetime warranty. I'm pondering the issue for my current redo. In various houses I've had paint, wallpaper, white tile with abalone inserts, plain white tile. Right now I'm weighing white tile with a beautiful insert, just paint with no granite backsplash since this area has only a counter but no cooking/wet functions, paint with granite backsplash, or a simple glass tile backsplash with listello over it a la Chinchette. I'm attaching a photo from Chinchette's beautiful kitchen (hope she doesn't mind seeing hers cited as a great example) which shows the last option. In any event, I echo others' advice to not worry about that decision immediately unless you absolutely love a certain look. Just use good paint. Here is a link that might be useful:

Wow your countertops are exquisite! I thought maybe bamboo granite, but it's quartzsite? I need to learn more about quartzite! Jon, can you please tell me where you purchased your stone? I love green and I love that stone! For your blacksplash. I wish I had a specific product to recommend, but I don't. However I do agree with the others that the tumbled and honed stones don't fit. I think that product is too matte. With your rich cabs, gorgeous countertops and stainless appliances you need something with a little light reflecting sheen. A crackle ceramic subway was the first thing I thought of too or maybe glass, but sandwiched between 2 strong elements I'd keep it simple. I'm not against a light neutral color that's pulled from your countertop, but not sure what. Have patience and take your time because your choices should become more apparent once the countertops and stained cabs are all installed. That countertop is the star and I can't wait to see your finished kitchen!

Again, thanks to everyone for the complements. I think it is going to my head. GGG! The great room paint that you see through the barrel arch near the banquette is a custom mix based on a camel colored flannel sheet set (easier to take a pillowcase to the paint lady than one of my favorite blazers). I know it looks greenish in some pix, but is definitely camel IRL. The hallways & small rooms are 1/4 strength of the same camel. The dinning room (I don't know if it shows in these pix) & powder room are SW Peacock Blue (yummy). Master suite is SW Softened Green (very, pretty but not as "sophisticated" as the other colors) & the guest suite is BM Jicama (gorgeous, soft, cheerful yellow which DH thinks looks like the hallways). The now blind doggie is Venus (Bearticelli's the Bearth of Venus since all of our breeder's dogs have "bear" in their name). When we went to chose our puppy from the litter, an as yet unnamed pup came bounding up to 9YO DD and said, "You're my girl & I'm your doggie forever & ever." DD thought she was getting a boy & had picked out Neptune for his name, but when she got her girl home she said, "You're too beautiful to call Neptune; your name is Venus." Venus has such an incredible joie de vivre that, a year latter, we agreed to have her littermate sister, Sadie (Bearcedes) come live with us for a while to see if Sadie could get a "personality transfusion" and show better since she is so physically gorgeous. Well, after a few months, she was less shy but wasn't likely to finish in a reasonable time and she had bonded to me like glue. Almost apologetically, our breeder asked if I wanted Sadie to be my "forever dog" & I said "Yes" in a heartbeat. The girls will be 15YO in February and were always meant to be together. There is a doorbell next to the door with the dog knob, so I will have to get a paw doorbell installed after we move in. What a great idea! This is a 2 b&tt kitchen in the sense that DH doesn't cook, but it keeps his b&tt out of my way when I'm cooking & he is doing his cleanup or making coffee. But, yes, it will be easy to have friends or my DD work in there with me which will be so nice. I'm capable of delegating. The secrets to a long distance build? Spreadsheets! I'm only half kidding because it really was important to be organized & the spreadsheets were invaluable, especially since this was the 1st (& last) time we ever built a house. I think the other thing that helped is that I'm a project manager for manned spaceflight hardware. I'm use to having the domain experts (in this case, the subs & suppliers) do their thing & bring me the results for integration (although this was really the builder's role, we did a great deal of the interfacing via e-mail & phone). I dunno, it mostly worked. I thought I was going to be sewing custom cushions for the seating on the banquette, so the height was designed lower to accommodate the cushion. DH loves the stained wood so much, and the bead board on the backs that I think there are only going to be a few throw pillows for color. Any thoughts on what I should do for window treatments? The octagonal ceiling was an add-on after we saw the half octagonal (larger) in our builder's house. The keeping room ceiling is a double vault. I'm so happy with the fan we got (MinkaAire Delano) because it has an uplight that just puts a wash of light on the ceiling. Pretty much all of this part of the house is at 45 degrees to the rest of the house. There were days when I was drawing it out in the software that I never wanted to see another angled wall in my life. But, it does create all these nooks & crannies & interesting views. Our current house is a 1992 spec house, but it is very well designed. This builder had a little blurb in one of his brochures about the importance of sightlines in a house and how the views should be interesting looking different ways in different locations. We tried to take that to heart. I don't want to go too far off-topic, but since y'all seem to "get" this house, I'd like to share one view of the master bath. Those clerestory windows over the vanities (lights upside down) were a moment of sheer brilliance on the part of DH. Also, to give perspective to the keeping room arrangement, here is a view from the side (again, unfinished screened porch). The room at the lower level is my sewing/crafts room and those windows are just amazing for the light they bring in. I am so lucky to have that space. Thanks, so much & I will post more pictures when there is further progress. Jo Ann