As a fellow MCM lover, I would love to see pics of your current kitchen. When you post them, could you also give us a sense of

** overall budget (or just budget limitations -- what can't be replaced?)
** space limitations (i.e. cabinets are staying, but can the appliances be moved or a wall removed?)

budget is like 3,000 - 4,000
appliances are fairly new stainless ....so they stay
i don't plan on moving anything, but i do have a wall i'd like to remove eventually. it's between kitchen and dining room. we'd like to put and island w/bar stools and pendant lighting above. going to get estimate for that soon, but that'll be separate budget. we have unique walls in our house. they are plaster (built in 1942) but behind the plaster is structural brick that goes all the way to the ground....yes...each wall in the house is that way. hahaha so removing a wall will be a major project for a professional.
how can i get pix from my ipod on here? i'll try to get some up, but not sure how to do that right now.

Here is a link re: posting pics in posts.

Here is a link that might be useful: posting pics

trying to upload some pix..... bear with me hahaha

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next to back door is refrigerator

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moving around....sink

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stove area

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doorway to dining room..... wall we want to eventually take down and put islnad/bar with pendant lights

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I don't know exactly how much counter you need but you can find prefab slabs for granite with bullnose edges for around $300. I would check that our or find a laminate that mimics the marble look you want before I'd go with tile on a heavily used counter in a home with kids.

this is a pic of a kitchen i love except i'd want my wall color a blue/gray rather than gray in this pic

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same kitchen....better look at floors. love these

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remodelfla...... why'd you not suggest the porcelain tile with my kids? i know several people who have them and they are super durable and don't stain easy. just wondering. i want this re-do to last many years.
also, what is the prefab slabs you mentioned? where would i look for those? are they actually granite?

Thanks for all the pics. A couple of thoughts: the high end laminate is pretty durable (except for hot items). Porcelain tile is also durable; the concern for many people are the grout lines which can be difficult to keep clean. You can use larger tiles with very thin grout lines in a color that closely matches the tile. This will minimize maintenance and give you a clean, more modern look compared to traditional tile counter tops.

I do have a concern about using tile for the counter tops, back splash and floor. That's a lot of tile. An alternative to tile or laminate would be the prefab granite slabs remodelfla mentioned. They are real stone and can be a great bargain if you don't need a lot of cuts or curved lines. One consideration is your cabinets. You need to make sure that they are level and solid enough to support the weight of the granite. Another option would be butcher block. It is also affordable (more costly than laminate or tile but much less than stone) and would provide a great contrast to the tile back splash and flooring. If you want to introduce a more MCM vibe, you could stain the butcher block dark -- a walnut stain would be lovely and would go well with your blue/gray walls.

Hope this helps.

Not only is it a lot of tile but it is a lot of squares/rectangular shapes. It's really difficult to get the right shapes/sizes of squares/rectangles to flow properly.
You already have the rectangle shape in your cabinets, as well.

there is laminate that has the marble look that i guess i could go with, but i really want the marble lookng tile. and i had thought about the larger tiles with tiny grout lines. i just want the feel of stone on the counters. i may could go with real marble tiles. would those have seams like granite tiles or tiny grout lines? then, though, i don't really kow about care/maintaining for marble tile?? as far as backsplash..... i'm not really sold on anything. i just love the look of carrara marble. i those floors in the inspiration pic i posted earlier. and i love a light blue/gray wall color.

so i was looking at lowes online and found a wilsonart carrara white laminate that i like. so if i did that laminate with floors similar to the ones i loved in the pic i posted before, what about backsplash? i'm thinking i want to do gray bottom cabinets and white uppers. any grays or white you like? i'm gonna do some searching on my own too. thx for advice :)

Here is a link that might be useful: laminate from lowe's

Formica also makes a marble look alike in thier FX line.

Here is a link that might be useful: Formica Marble