Ok- here is what I have, and what I've done.. 1- On a bathroom vanity that was standard oak. I used GF Georgia Cherry 4 coats 24+ hours dry time between each coat. Appling with sponge/foam brush- waiting just a few minutes then wiping.. then 3 ( 4-6 hour between coats)of GF high performance top coat.. I love love love them!!! (pic included) 2) mast bath vanity. the Mr. decided he wanted the java on first and then go back to our Georgia Cherry. No problems at all with the java coat - or the first coat of GA cherry on 1/2 the vanity.. Then the spots started showing up - and areas that looked like I wiped off too much.. After reading all the above comments. I now think it is because I didn't let the areas dry that I touched up... will sand a little and retouch

Order and pay for a door sample from both. Carry them around...drop them....take a knife to them....spray them with cleaners...leave lemon juice sit on them....see how they perform over a certain period of time. The baked on enamels do save time for the custom factory cabinets but for a good reason too. The local guys have to have the cabinets sitting around and drying for longer. Does more dust/dirt settle on the finish? I recently emailed a client that purchased a KraftMaid painted kitchen from me about 3 years ago. She said that her cabinets still look as good as they day we put them in. Her neighbor did her kitchen about a month later and went with a local custom guy. She said that her neighbors cabinet finish has not held up at all. Local custom doesn't always mean higher quality. There's definitely a 'feel good' factor about them though. People envision bearded men with chisels making their cabinets. They feel good because they are hiring an 'artisan'. In reality, most of these shops order doors and drawers from door companies. They only build the box, finish and assemble. The main difference between local guy and factory...is the finish. The factory finish will be better almost always with semi-custom and up.

Well, we have decided to do the full granite backsplash - we have paid for the slab and it is waiting to be cut (so too late for the tile - we had a hard time picking tile). I am now getting used to the the first drawing, but I am also leaning heavily to just ending the backsplash on the back wall with nothing at all on the side. I was so bent on doing something on the side because our original counter had a huge gap at that side between the side wall and the counter and that is why I wanted to cover it. Eventually, we found the same granite and lot number (Juparana Golden Beach)at another fabricator's place and our fabricator agreed to redo the entire counter on all sides since this new slab seemed to be a bit darker as compared to the original slab even though the lot numbers were the same. Anyway, he redid the counters, but I still have a gap between that side wall and the counter (albeit a lot smaller than before) which he siliconed and said that it is paintable so we can match it to the wall. Anyway, that is why I have wanted to do a side piece, but I now look at the side and think that I can live with it the way it is (with the siliconed gap). I am afraid of having a design on the side wall become too distracting/outdated etc., and I think that the granite on the back wall is enough. Thanks for your thoughts and opinions - they were very useful in helping me think things through properly.

The island I designed here 9 years ago here is Omega. And this is custom, from a local guy that does the same tough conversion varnish finish as a factory. You CAN get factory tough locally, but you will have to wade through a lot of frogs before you get the prince. It works best if you have a good local Kitchen Designer involved.