I think it's going to be a challenge to make it look like a feature rather than a patch. I'd suggest being much bolder than a white on white design. Perhaps use something that ties in the beige with some other color(s) you want to bring into the room as an accent. I'm giving a link to a site with some beautiful glass mosaics to inspire you. You can also play with their custom blend builder to see what color combinations you like. For example, on the "Subway 1x3 inch blends" page, check out Amazon and Urban Camo 10. On the Bijou 2 Inch glass page, I love the Retro Turquoise with Caramel, and also the Urban Mix 10. If he has to rip out the bullnose above those 12 tiles, that's going to be even more of a challenge. For one thing, the bullnose is offset from the field tile, so I don't know how he's going to do it cleanly above the tile to the left of the toothbrush holder. And you'll need to rely on his skill to not damage the tiles on the perpendicular wall. Also, it looks like you'll need a radius bullnose, and not all tile lines include that shape. You could ask him to suggest specific lines of tile that would work for that bullnose, and see if any of them please you. Bill V. can chime in here, but I *think* it's the shape that American Olean calls A4200. You can see it in their "Matte" line and their "Bright" line. Hope this helps.... Here is a link that might be useful: Blends

Alida, I had a similar dilemna. I wanted my sink centered on one of the windows and had to work the dishwasher in as well and really wanted it to the right of the sink. AND in addition, we wanted the group of windows to be centered on the wall on the OUTSIDE of the house. Something had to give... we had to go with a much smaller sink base than ideal and so my sink is fairly small, but it was also important to me to have a generous amount of prep space on one side of the sink or the other (my old kitchen had a medium amount of space on either side but not really enough to be effective so with the remodel it was extremely important to me to have one long stretch of counters to work (another reason for the windows and no upper cabinets... I don't like the feeling of having the cabinets overhead)). anyway, here is a pic of our situation in case it helps. and also, the 36" base cabinet sounds nice, but I would think this is an area you could fairly easily compromise. My mother in law has a 36" base cabinet for her pots and pans and it is a jumbled mess because it has too much space to stay organized. perhaps you could easily get away with a smaller cabinet?? and make so many other things work out better in the compromise?? not to hammer the point, but I think the size of the sink will have more of a day to day impact on you than the size of the base cabinet (just my humble opinion!!) :)

Depends a large part on what fits with the other windows on the house. Don't consider just how it looks inside, the overall fenestration pattern is equally, or even more, important. HTH L.

Earlier I showed my wife this thread and she like to thank everyone for the help. She couldn't believe you folks actually spent the time perusing the floorplan and provided us with valuable feedback. Ok back to business.. So she ruled out moving the fridge beside the DW. In fact, she was very much against it. I do have to admit it will solve all our concerns. Also she wasn't keen on moving the pantry/laundry room wall, she like to keep her walk in pantry and not stack the washer/dryer. Thinking about it some more, we are leaning towards the idea idea of shrinking the patio door from 6' to 4' double French door(not sure if builder offers it). This will allow us to add an additional 24" cabinet and counter space beside the DW. Based on all your feedbacks, it appear fridge and island are the bigger concerns. FRIDGE: For easier fridge access, we are thinking of shrinking the space between stove and fridge. Currently that space is roughly 24". If we do decide to shorten it, what will be a small enough counter width to still be useful? I like to create enough space between fridge and wall to install a pull out pantry as some of you suggested. If it gets too tight, another option we considered is move the stove "up" by 12" towards the sink. However I am not sure whether it will be too close to the sink or not, thoughts? ISLAND: Wife wants an island, so it's here to stay. The good thing is it's floating and not fixed. I still don't have a good idea of what to do with it, might just push it further out for now so it won't impede traffic. At the same time I don't want to push it so far out that we can't fit a table in the breakfast area. Also I don't want to pay builder more to make it bigger. *sigh* so much options, so limited $.