Hi JSCOZ. I am so surprised that whomever you bought the tile from didn't recommend that you order a sample first-esp. if it is handmade and subject to variation. The tile shop salespeople are supposed to be the "experts" and they should have warned you and let you know of your options to get a sample. I have had the various tile shops I've visited suggest that several times-esp. for natural stone to see the current "lot" color. If they hadn't, I wouldn't have even known it was even possible to get one. And I have ordered the samples--thankfully- or I would have made an expensive mistake. The tile shops around here have designers that will help you with your design. Did you buy your tile from a store with a knowledgable designer that can help you? They may be able to suggest something. In second group of your photos, esp. with the one with the gorgeous medallion, the color of the tile looks like a better fit with the granite- it looks lighter and more golden. Which photo shows the true color? The glass liner accent looks very close to the color of the tile. Is that correct, or is the photo deceiving? Just curious. Try calling the Sonoma tile company and showing them your photos, and explain your dilema- maybe they have knowledgable designers that could suggest a solution from a design standpoint- and maybe even offer to exchange some of the pieces. I really don't think the tile looks that bad with the granite, esp. after seeing the other photos and your off-white cabinets which will give some lovely contrast with all that brown. The tiles are gorgeous, and I personally don't think they look like they are are trying to "copy the granite". From a perfectionist standpoint, you probably wouldn't have gotten them if you knew this was how they would be (since they are not like the sample you liked), but they can be made to work with just a little "massaging", as my architecture colleagues used to say. I think just the right grout color could work wonders, as well. You know how putting one color next to the other can "fool the eye". Having an accent band running around the backsplash will also help draw your eye to it- instead of to the junction between the granite and tile. Here is one thought for a border at the base of your backsplash: How about mixing the glass liners, with 1 x 1 glass tiles (tantrums)in a lighter color along the base, maybe 2-4 rows high? You can possibly even mix in some strips of the field tile in your existing color, as well as the same tile in a lighter color, to keep the cost down. You can play around with it to find a design that looks good. There are lots of these kinds of mixed mosiacs around- you can find some in a tile shop for inspiration. Here is a link below to a photo on the sonoma website that made me think of another option. Look at the 3rd photo down on the right side as another possibility for a border along the bottom of the backsplash made up of light colored 1 X 1 tantrums (would that be too expensive?- I know those are pricey!)It would be simple. Hope this helps give you some food for thought. Here is a link that might be useful: Sonoma tantrum border

I've seen his and her toilets facing each other in a bathroom. On platforms. I could never quite figure out whether they just wanted their very own and were never in the bathroom at the same time or whether there was something else going on. In any case, I never asked. I kind of see the point of something that is accessible on both sides, actually you would only need one of a number of things since it would be available to both bathrooms. I actually played with this idea briefly because the medicine cabinet in the hall bathroom is in the 6" deep by 20" wide stud cavity over the in-wall-tank toilet for the ensuite bathroom. So I did think...what if this was accessible from both sides? And in a house with no kids, I doubt anyone would use it to poke through into the other room or anything. And I have heard people in this house use the bathroom. I hear people using the bathroom at work. People go to the bathroom. Maybe you are going to hear it. I dunno. I try to be as quiet as possible, but I am not really fooling anyone about what's going on in there if they don't hear anything? Here is why I decided it would not work. When I put things in a shallow cabinet I tend to want to push them to the back so they don't fall out when I open the door the next time. Well in a double sided cabinet there is no back, you can't lean anything against the back, because it's the front in the opposite bathroom and it will fall out. So you would have to make sure everything was in the center. That's the big reason I passed.

10+ years here trying to teach fundamentals of cooking ventilation based on the extensive HVAC literature available, and there are still tertiary sources of information that barely rise above folk tales. First, the most efficient hoods in terms of performance for their electrical costs will be those developed for commercial purposes; HVAC operating cost is one of the major costs for restaurants, for example, so inadequate performance won't be tolerated. From commercial hoods to residential hoods, "shortcuts" are taken to compensate for low ceilings, noise limitations, need for variable flow rates, reasonable duct sizes, aesthetics, and cost. Residential hood manufacturers design in a trade space pitting performance against cost against aesthetics, and at best, only two of these can be maximized for a given device. In addition, as the goals for grease-free kitchen ventilation have risen along with the availability of higher performance (pro-style) ranges, the performance requirements have greatly increased from the decades-ago small hoods barely removing the steam from a boiling egg pot. As these performance requirements increased, another issue became apparent with the development of low temperature combustion appliances for hot water and household heating; they had such wimpy drafts that they were easily back-drafted when the flow rates of kitchen ventilation, now potentially installed in tightly sealed houses, increased to deal with serious cooking on pro-style ranges. Back-drafting can induce carbon monoxide into the house. This led to code requirements for deliberate make-up air (MUA) systems being required just as they are for restaurants. For an overview of the issues as they pertain to commercial cooking, please download and review the Greenheck Guide at http://www.greenheck.com/media/pdf/otherinfo/KVSApplDesign_catalog.pdf. The first 12 or so pages may be sufficient. Note the arguments for the Greenheck approach to CFM requirements. These are ultimately determined by experiment for standard commercial hood designs, but can also be inferred from research on the upward velocities of cooking plumes as a function of burner/hob type along with cooking temperatures of various foods. The requirement boils down to having a sufficient velocity of air flow at the hood entrance aperture and thence the total CFM (air flow rate) needed to achieve that velocity. We also know from plume expansion behavior that the hood should exceed the range size unless side skirts are used. (Side cabinets can help, but usually don't extend far enough from the wall for full effect.) Most don't want side skirts on their hoods. From this we have been using a compromise recommendation of a hood width 3 inches wider than the range top on each side. So choose a sufficiently overlapping hood intake aperture area. For any serious use, choose baffle filter type hoods, preferably with some volume under the baffles for transient plume capture. Calculate the intake aperture area (sq. ft.). Multiply by your chosen velocity value for good containment; I recommend 90 ft/min. This is equivalent to 90 CFM per square foot of aperture. The product number is the actual CFM needed for hood ventilation and, roughly, also to be supplied by the MUA system. Select a duct size that keeps the air velocity in the duct between 1000 ft/min and 2000 ft/min. This is not too significant if the duct is going to be 6 inches between the interior and exterior, but important for ducts passing through floors and attics. All blowers likely to be used for hood ventilation have an actual flow rate that decreases with pressure loss. This is the reduced pressure on the intake side of the blower and increased pressure on the other. In a hood system, this pressure loss comprises the pressure not made up by the MUA system, the pressure loss across the baffles, and the pressure loss incurred by duct transitions, bends, and surface friction. Without knowing all of these losses as a function of flow rate, it is usually safe to specify a blower 1.5 times larger than the actual flow rate calculated earlier. This usually also applies to the MUA; however, without baffles but with characterized dust filters, the losses can be estimated better and compared with the MUA blower's fan curve to assure adequate replacement air to keep house pressure nearly equal to exterior air pressure. MUA requirements are also influenced by Code, nature of combustion appliances and any MUA they may be operating with, and house leakage. Whether the hood is canopy type or (large) under cabinet type is not the issue. Ensure that whichever is more appealing can support the requirements. kas

Yeah! I know...the stupid things the original people did when building this house! He filled it in with mortar. I will move on and finish the bathroom remodel.