I do give away the common whites/yellows or the varieties that have been given to me, but I have other varieties (Gulf Stream, Hilo Beauty, Moragne #23, Vera Cruz Rose, Cancun Pink, Pu'u Kahea, Brea (not well known, from Jack Morgan), Kamiyama Rainbow, Plastic Pink, Nebel's Rainbow and on and on and on....) that I paid for as cuttings from mostly reputable and a few shady places. I run up quite the bill every spring with new plants and all the fertilizers that the plants need...DH hasn't said anything yet, but if our roles were reversed I would put the kibosh to the plumeria habit if I saw the bills coming in and stuff going out for free! Fortunately I sold a few bigger trees and that gave me the go ahead to bring in some more cuttings. :-) chuy,email me and let me know what you're looking for, I'm in North OC.

My mother is one of those people who loves to give gifts, but unfortunately, has no sense of what the other person likes. She orders junk out cheap catalogs, re-gifts (for instance, a make-up case where an eyeshadow or two was used), or wraps up prizes she won at bridge tournaments (keychains or BBQ tools marked "Delta Dealin' Regionals"). She is well-to-do, (maybe because she doesn't spend much on presents? ha) so she's not giving inexpensive items out of necessity. She just doesn't get it. Christmas is tricky--but my family chuckles. (My husband got a Humane Society calendar this year, the one they send for free if you've donated. He also received a plastic Thomas Kincaid corkboard/keyholder thing in a busted box that he immediately took to a "Dirty Santa" party.) But then I am left with boxes saying "As Seen on TV!," useless kitchen gadgets, hideous plastic decorative items and heavy sense of guilt for wanting to get rid of it all. "Gosh, it may not be much, but she chose it with love and wrapped it with me in mind. I can't just put it in a yard sale." I was wringing my hands over my quandary, as my closets slowly filled with unwanted items ("but my MOTHER gave me this!"), when a wise friend had a talk with me. She reminded me that when a gift is given to me, it is now mine to do whatever I like with it. It is not Mom's, with strings attached or say-so about what should be done with it. It is MINE. I own it and I have the authority to decide where it goes. And it is perfectly okay if I think it should be donated to Goodwill and be enjoyed by someone else who might love it and think they found a treasure, instead of sitting unopened and disliked in my closet. So I no longer feel bad about "recycling" her unwanted presents. The only time I've ever spoken to her about the issue was when I had to gently ask her not to give me clothes anymore, since her taste was so different than mine. Now I thank her And sometimes she does hit the mark and I am delighted by her gift. You cannot control someone else's desire to spend money on your presents. They enjoy shopping for you and they like thinking they found the ideal gift, even if it's expensive. Of course, if you don't like it, it makes you feel bad that they invested in it, but every so often you might get something you want and then the cost doesn't bother you, right? I think you're being very gracious about trying to decorate with this item to spare your mother's feelings. But it's not up to her what you do with it, because she transferred ownership when she gave it to you.

Actually, "almost seems" is the important part of what Shanghaimom said. The vast majority do not do their islands in a contrasting finish. They're just more noticeable and more likely to read this thread. It has been trendy recently, and that's probably where the seems like comes from, but by far the majority do matching. I agree that contrasting is as normal as anything else, though. What I'm hearing from you, Gsmama, is that it's not so much that you want a contrasting island, but that you're unsure of having too much white. Regarding the bench, if you intend to put cushions on it, I'd reconsider making it wood. I think it would have more continuity if it was all one tone, with a vibrant cushion to set it off. If the bench area is open to another room, however, I do see the point of doing the wood to ease the transition, and delineate it as separate from the kitchen proper. Before I saw your elevations I thought matching the island to a contrasting bench might be a mistake. As it is, I think it would look fine any of the four possible ways: all white, all white with wood bench, white perimeter with wood island and wood bench, or white perimeter and bench with wood island. Any of these would really look fine!! What do YOU like best? Not which do you think will do this or that to match whatever, but which makes you happiest? Because, really any of them would be nice. (Or you can just wimp out and say wood, because it's a lot easier to refinish wood with paint than vice versa.)

It's actually built up and routed. I did not want any hard corners in my bathrooms. I don't believe the coving was $40-50 per foot upgrade because a couple of my shelves weren't much more expensive than that, total. I will try to look back and see.