Or what about plain ole' cheap beige or ivory plastic or painted metal? In addition to being completely budget-friendly, they'll totally fade into the background and you'll never 'see' them at all. If the faux stone ones are a good match, they'll have a similar 'fade into the background' characteristic. And if they're *not* a good match, you'll have spent a lot of money for a not-good match. Not to mention that some of them have a decdedly 'plastic' character to them -- so I'd recommend seeing before you buy. ORB or copper, while pretty, will call attention to themselves, which is probably not what you want. Consider also that 90% of the electricians working in my market area don't bother to install outlets all at the same height, or even level! It's horribly frustrating if you're the kind of person who will notice.

What a beautiful kitchen! I love the movement of the countertop. I think the off-white/cream subway tile you sampled would work well, maybe even having the glass tile you picked as an accent rectangle inset over the cooktop. I also think beadboard would work nice if you lean a little more traditional-transitional, or you could do beadboard installed horizontally to give it a less traditional look. I currently have beadboard in the bathroom and just installed it in my kitchen, and with semi-gloss paint (even painted white and ivory, respectively) it seems to hold up well. I wonder if you've even considered mirror for the backsplash? I can envision mirrored tiles on the diagonal, which would give a larger feeling that doesn't compete with the countertop. I don't know if the upkeep would be too much, though, just a thought!

Thanks, everyone! This tile is Bella Ceramic. The link to their website is at the bottom of the post, which will give you a list of dealers. The colors on their site look washed out;they are much more vibrant in real life. You need to see a sample or see it in person. I loved the blue and the blonde, but the red was IT. All of the colors are fabulous. Steal away! Raehelen - I have a huge collection of vintage tins, but the coffee and tea ones are my favorites. I also have vintage wonderful signs that I may put up when the kitchen has been finished and painted. Mary and Amy - the soapstone is holding up. Island is still light and beautiful; counters have darkened all by themselves in places and are starting to get - uh - patina (aka dings and fine scratches). And I don't mind a bit because the gestalt is so amazing. Caroline - are you back home? Jane - I love my vintage tins - been collecting since the '60s when they cost 50 cents- $2 each because nobody wanted them. Leslie - Michael's on another job and sent Billy the tile guy to do the job. He is terrific - so make sure you request him if you are using Michael. The electricians were here and now I have power in the island - but the ivory switch plates on the backsplash will probably be replaced at some point, maybe with stainless. For the moment, it's fine. The tile guys are back, doing the grout as we speak. In closing, I have to say that it took me forever to find tile. I was in every tile store in Northern NJ, plus Ann Sacks in NY. I sent for samples on the Internet, none of which looked like they did on the computer screen. Bleh. Customer service ran the gamut -- mostly abysmal to non-existent: sales people who were too busy talking to each other to be bothered with me, others who apparently didn't think I was dressed well enough to be their customer, and still others who didn't actually know anything about their products. Of the 20 places I went to in NJ, there were two where the sales people were knowledgeable and patient: Nancy at Fuda Tile on Route 46 in Lodi, and Nella at Apex Tile on Route 46 in Parsippany. Nella gets the prize; I must have been there 8 times and she was terrific. This is where I found the red tile - and only because she had previously showed me one of the other colors (the blonde or the blue, I think)on the sample board. I would never have thought about it if she hadn't shown it to me. And I didn't look twice at the red, even when I brought the board home to audition the other color. In the end, when I realized I needed the energy and the complement to the green counter and stainless serenity (really, too laid back and boring for me), the red jumped at me. I ordered it from Nella and she spent a lot of time on the phone with the warehouse in Indiana or wherever, getting the best shipping price for me. I was 1 ft short (aarrgh) and just called her to see if I could get 1 sheet. She ordered it and had them add it to their next order so I don't have to pay shipping for one sheet. She bent over backwards and customer service like that is so rare. I just e-mailed her the picture from above. Oops - short a foot of tile and short about 1 cup of grout. Well, Billy will be back to finish the job when I get back from Ohio and my cousins from Paris have left for home. Meantime, tonight we will have to eat out. It's soft shell crab season! Here is a link that might be useful: Bella Ceramic Tiramola Mosaic

Thanks Mustbenuts and Alku! Grout tomorrow! Jenanla - We are so over budget with the home remodel, I had to cut costs everywhere possible. So I ordered some very inexpensive knobs and pulls with the idea that if I wanted to upgrade them in the future, I could. I wanted 3" standard holes to help facilitate this. Anyway, I purchased them from Your Home Supply, an Ebay store. They are in a finish called Swedish Iron. They do not make the knob anymore, but they still make the "arch pull." The best part about them is that I really like them! No intention of upgrading them. I hope they age well, but even if they don't, I could replace them quite a few times and still be ahead cost wise. Only problem was trying to match the finish for the appliance pulls. I found a match, but they were much more expensive! HTH Here is a link that might be useful: Your Home Supply - Ebay Store