Hey Pluckymama, Did you ever get any pictures of the WZ? I would love to see it. Still deciding between that and the sonoma. Dh thought the sample of the WZ was so shiny, but he is leaving the decision up to me. I'm not doing the mosaic and was wondering if I should even do something behind the range. It's only a 30 inch and the range isn't even centered in the kitchen. It's not a huge space and I'm wondering if I should just keep it simple with the subways in a running bond pattern. I use so many accessories, colors and flowers thru the seasons. It's nice to have a neutral backdrop for that. The sonoma tile does come in 1" by 2" herringbone sheets, so I could do that behind the range. Thoughts? One salesperson thought I wouldn't really have enoough space with a 30 inch range to do mamadadapaige's herringbone with the 2x6. Here is the picture of the 1x2 sonoma, although it's not in the right color.

It would really help if you could post some pictures. Without pictures, your color names are just words, and unless we really know all of those colors from memory, what kind of helpful comments could we have? If you have specific concerns: "Is this 'Canvas Sail' too boring?" "Is 'Bubblicious' too nauseatingly pink?" That could also help.

suzienj, I'm back. I read the comments on a browner tile. I have no opinion on that except that we found a beautiful porcelain brown tile in the Crossville Veranda series called Suede. It is REALLY neutral but warm. We are thinking of using it on our kitchen floor which will have a brown granite countertop in either Tobacco Brown, Coffee Brown, or perhaps Tropic Brown if a slab can be found that doesn't read green. My biggest concern is dust showing on a dark floor. Our living room and dining room flow into the kitchen and the wood on the floor is Sepele which is from Africa and is in the mahogany family. It is dark and beautiful, but a bear to keep clean because every speck of dust shows on it. That fact would cause me pause in choosing a dark kitchen floor. It is a beautiful tile however. Let us know how you end up!

I agree about living in a space for a while to figure out it's quirks, how you use it and how you like to store your stuff. I wanted to tear into this latest house when we moved in, but a loss of my remodel money in a stock market account forced me to wait 2 years. Yes, I hated the kitchen everyday, but I was able to pinpoint exactly WHY I hated it, like the only oven in a blind entry, no place under the counter for trash, narrow passage between pantry and peninsula that created a bottleneck in the traffic flow. Well, I know this isn't about me, but you get the idea. The list gets pretty long when you have time to really think about things. Is your "front" room going to be your main hang out with the den as an office? Or is it just a sitting room with the den as a TV area? How do you THINK you're going to use the space? Hmmm, the toilet thing is bothering me. I've got kids who almost never shut the door, so if it were my house, neighbors, UPS guy, whoever would get an eyeful LOL! Is there space on either side of the toilet where it can be turned? How about a wall where a doorway could be opened to the den? A top view floorplan would help. Or pictures from all the entries. Do you really want to trudge up and down the basement stairs with heavy baskets of clothes? An uninterupted lenth of counter top makes a great folding table. If you've got kids watching TV in the den, you're right there. Is the house a single story or two story with a basement? If it were my space, I'd keep the laundry there and get front loading stackable w/d. I'm not too sure about the back door though. Will it be used as the primary entry from the garage/parking? Does the Den door have better access? Maybe this one could be walled off. Or if it's the better entry, maybe stack the units and create a coat rack/shoe storage. I kind of like the range in that location as your main traffic looks like it is now on the right side, a continuation of the hall to the den to the dining area and front room. If you close off the back entry, that will limit traffic too, out of the main cooking zone. Most people work left to right, so food gathered from fridge, placed on an island or cleaned/prepped at the sink, then move to the range to cook. I'd center the range on that 67" wall. A 30" range centered would give you 18" of countertop left to right. Or a 36" range with 15". It's a little tigher, but still doable. That's mainly a personal thing, I'm not a fan of cooktops/ranges in the island, I love having A LOT of prep counter. I'm not sure the range would work in the old fridge space. It looks a bit tight, maybe only 48" or so? How about budget? To be honest, just about anything can be accomplished with a well padded budget, but for the rest of us... well, concessions have to be made. How about inspiration pics? What's the style or look you're going for? Here's some from my personal inspiration file. A LOT of white kitchens ; ). Here's one with a mudroom or similar next to the range. Here's one on a slightly larger scale. You don't have an issue with supports, but the walk ways are similar. Note the prep sink in the island and the fridge and pantry on the right. Here's one with the cooktop in the island and fridge on the wall. Here's one where the opening to the dining room is centered and they've added returns on each side. No island. Here's another one.