The shelves.... We originally wanted a 30" x 12" niche but when we opened up the wall, there was a septic vent smack in the middle. We decided on 2 niches instead, I wassn't about to mess around with those pipes. When figuring the tile layout for the design I wanted, our friend suggested that we oversize the niches so the tile would lay out nice - he suggested 18 x 18 niches and I freaked. But the 12x12 would not have been big enough for the 3 kids and all their stuff. He suggested a granite shelf on the bottom and then one above it to make a shelf for soap, razors, etc. We talked about the length and width of the shelves, but never the depth. When I picked up the shelves from the granite fabricator, I freaked - they were 1 1/4" thick just like the countertop was being made. Friend said, don't worry, they would be perfect. They are. I honestly wouldn't want them any thinner. When he laid the tile, the bottom shelf slid in tightly and then he cut the bullnose on the side and the back tiles so the top granite shelf sits on the cut tiles all around. The tiles abouve the top shelf are full 6 x 6 and as you can see, we have enough height for those huge oversized shampoo and conditioner bottles. There is kerdi behind so no worries about water issues and they were all caulked and all afterwards. Being the over-emotional one, I figured this design that had been in head my for 2 years was ruined when I saw how thick those shelves were, but I wouldn't want them any different. I think they 'fit' the design perfectly as is. And I just love the niches. Before, the kids had a tiny corner shelf and bottles were all over the place, now there is enough room for everything plus space for guests when they are here.

Also a feeling of being tired. :D It has been a lot of tedious labor with a good measure of handwringing. However, as I completed each stage, the feeling that it would all work out increased. Now, I would love for it to "just be done." But it really is all about the details so I just need to jump in and get it done. It has taken a very long time but mainly because of waiting in between the working. For example, we waited to address the backsplash until the cabinets and counter tops were installed so we could be sure we would like our choice. Originally I wanted to do magnetic stainless steel back splash, but I am glad I abandoned that idea and went for glass subway tile. We chose Emenee Everest and of course after waiting two weeks for a sample, we learn it is on backorder. :( This picture does not do it justice. It is a range of semi transparent sage green colors mixed with some white and some grey. It looks like it was made for our kitchen color scheme: Trying to fit all that neat stuff under the sink was a huge challenge. We don't have a framed outside wall, it is all brick, so I had to bring all the plumbing and electrical into the cabinet itself. We had to fit the large disposal, traps for both sinks, electrical, plumbing for dishwasher and the faucet as well as the filter and heater tank for the filtered water dispenser. Add to that the air switch and you can imagine it was some tricky work inside that small cabinet. I will admit to cursing more than once. :) We also had to build the cabinets in front of an air vent so we redirected it into the sink cabinet base. This means I had to seal the hole in the cabinet that goes through the floor for the plumbing. I used some metal flashing and metal insulating tape to create a sealed tube through the floor and cabinet. We had to abandon the idea of the slide out trash can. But luckily we can fit a small trashcan in there as well as a few cleaning supplies. I will say that the Black & Decker complete guide books, this forum and the DIY network had a lot to do with my success in this project. I feel like we certainly learned by our mistakes too though. Orchestrating the whole project on a busy schedule combined with waiting around for ordered items to arrive presented a time challenge. I think if it had taken another week we might have been pulling our hair out. :) We did buy four new cabinets. One for over the microwave because it was small enough to boost the microwave and allow us to fit the pot filler in there comfortably. The other one was the kitchen sink cabinet. Our old cabinet was 27" wide with a single 25" wide sink. That was decidedly too small. So I found a nice 16 ga sink that was affordable in a 30" size and a sink cabinet that matched in a 30" size. I know you are thinking that doesn't work. Well it did but was tricky for sure. We didn't have room for a larger sink cabinet but wanted a large sink. The other two cabinets were the ones above the sink on the wall. There is a funny story there but it is a bit long so I don't think I will type it out now.

Our cabinets came form Home Depot American Woodmark Brand. We got a good deal because they were having a sales if you spend over $5,000 you got a free sink base cabinet which saved about $400 so on cabinets plus granite it cost us $4,600. We also bought tile that was on clearance so it was about $1 per square foot of tile. The contractor we really lucked out on we found him on Craigslist. He was a MA licensed builder and he showed us his own kitchen which he remodeled to show us his work. He also came in at an insane lower price then any one else we had put a quote on the job. I think the labor including electrical and plumbing (he knew people who did these) it was a total of $3,600. then over time we had to add the $300 because the wall we turned into the breakfast bar was load bearing so he had to install a new support beam which added a bit to the cost. It should be done sometime next week so I will post new pics then!

Wow, thanks for all the kind words! We tried to get some sort of reaction out of our kids and the workers but no one was saying much ;-) I should have known I could count on gardenweb! linb007, the floors are common 1 and 2 random width (3-5-7) american black walnut. I fell in love with some I saw at 32 dollars a sq foot (of course) and hunted them like prey until I found them for less than a quarter of that. We got them from Blackford & Sons out of Tennessee, unfinished with hand scrapped edges. My contact there is Luke Blackford. They are sweethearts there. I can send you his email if you want. kitchenkrazed, I am going to post this seperately (cabinet issue), I need the GW advice! The firm is a very reputable firm, HOWEVER, our designer left a week before we placed the order. So we are in a sort of odd situation and they never gave us a list of exact cabinets (I wasnt liking that but that is how they said it worked), they gave us 100 drawings and elevations and the cabinet type and finish, etc. but not a detailed BOM. So we are discussing it with them right now but I dont like that I dont have my original designer to clearly state that this is not what we discussed. honorbilkit, yes, we are surprised to find out that we are doing ok without the first floor. Esp since we always say the house is too small for us (we love our neighborhood though). My 6 year old said today he doesnt want to move back into the first floor. I thought he liked the closeness of all of us. Turns out he liked being able to watch TV while eating (basement set up, not allowed in real life upstairs). Rascal. Dinalo, yes that is stenciling, or as we like to say: entertainment for the onsite crew. Its one of my "Projects" where i experiment and stress out my husband. We had rich blue walls (faux sky) before so to cover it, I laid a TON of primer and ceiling white, and I COULD STILL SEE THE BLUE! So then I lugged 50 lbs of joint compound in (this is where the workers perked up wondering what the heck I was up to) and slathered it on. Then I color washed it with acrylics. Then I did a dimensional damask stencil with some of the bottom metallic paint mixed in. Since this photo I have added metallic highlighting to match under chair rail and then started distressed it with sandpaper (not done) b/c my highlighting was too "new" looking. Its like an 18 layer wall. I think I need to be committed if I make any starts towards 19. It's been sort of fun, Ive been cranking the ipod and putting movies on for the kids, but I think most people could skip 80% of my steps and get a similar effect! Lol.