Apparently, I've been confusing you... sorry! Good insight on the "vibe" of that tile. There's something about it that has been keeping me from loving it. The only real pattern would be the accent tile... first or last picture as example. The field would be a solid color subway, be it glass or ceramic. Right now I'm looking at glass cause the ceramics I like are too expensive and I want a non maintance item so have ruled out too much marble I think. So I included pics of the soft green and soft blue. I'll try and get pics but it's so small you can't stand there and get it all in. It's 8x4 I think... no bigger. The vanity will be narrow depth, about 18" if I recall and the sink is that exact same depth. I should probably wait till my ideas are more streamlined so I can be clearer. Right now I'm all over the place but it is kinda fun to have a project to think about. Thanks!

Well my friends, you sure don't make the decisions easier, what with all the differing opinions. But I feel a lot better about being all over the place myself! I never really thought of gray. It is a different form of surrender to the tiles. I think it is a great idea! The Gray Owl, suggested first by OSH, has a lot of green in it and isn't far from the "pale green" I had in mind. But I think I may lean even further toward gray and go a bit deeper with Gray Horse. I saw a terra cotta bath rug in the Frontgate catalog last week and thought it was really pretty. Figures they don't have all the towels to coordinate. And Garnet Hill has terra cotta but the natural towels I'd need to coordinate are back ordered until May. (Please tell me my house will be under contract by then!!!) So, I think I will look for terra cotta rug and towels locally, probably go with an off-white waffle weave shower curtain, and then settle on a medium gray. Maybe I'll put in a few touches of a deep steely blue as well. I am hopeful again!! Thank you!!! As for the chipped door, crappy wire gizmo, cheezy products, etc....yes, that will all be rectified. I will stage and accessorize with useless but beautiful things to entice the lookers. ;-) I'm finishing up DD's bathroom this weekend and will move on to the guest bath on Monday. Thank you again for helping me uncross my eyes on this one. I'll post pics when I'm done.

Hi Duba, I don't know when I've seen such consistent feedback on this forum. You're getting some very wise advice and I hope you are listening. I will echo some of the main points, which are spot-on. First get rid of the red paint. Now I love red, but those walls are fighting with your gorgeous granite. Yes, gorgeous. Once the red is gone, take some time to get comfortable with the granite before you zero in on the backsplash. I love the look of stacked stone and was tempted to use it for my backsplash. But I knew it would be a cleaning nightmare, especially around the sink and cooktop. Cooking oil and tomato sauce splatters in all those nooks and crannies would not be good. And in your case, it brings a lot of texture that competes with the granite. I think a cream colored porcelain or ceramic tile would be great for your backsplash. Maybe you can find one that echoes your new paint color. If you go with subways, keeping the grout color consistent with the tile color will help avoid the "brick wall" look you don't like. Accent tiles, either scattered or in a border, could pick up a little pale green or grey or beige from the granite. If you decide to pursue glass tile remember that it tends to bring a modern sensibility, where your kitchen has a very traditional style. So tread lightly. You have the makings of a really lovely kitchen there. Step back and take a few deep breaths and you'll see it. :-) Ruby

Buehl -- This is really fantastic! Thank you, thank you for all your help on this! The flow is amazing -particularly around the island with the new door - and the zones are so clearly designated now and much more practical. Regarding your questions: PANTRY- we have a pantry designated in the plans (as "Wine") in the library. It will be located under the new staircase (which probably won't get finished until the fall of 2012) and accessed through a door in the library. Having those 2 columns you added on either side of the sink wall is great, though!! (DH loves it!) . You also asked whether I'd like a walk-in or step-in pantry - where do you see that going? and I'm assuming that would replace the 2 columns on the sink wall? DWs - DH and I really like the config you have. The more I think about it, the more I see how it will streamline what I do in the kitchen. MIELE speed oven - Since we're going with the 48" (you like that better than the 36" right?) I think the speed oven is all I need - it's a regular oven, micro, convection and speed oven all in one. So I think I'm leaning toward having it under the Miele espresso - this is purely a form/aesthetic call on my part :). Do you think I'm making a functional mistake?! LIBRARY/KITCHEN ISLAND - We both are thrilled about your drawing here too. I always wanted a buffet/hutch scenario from the beginning but thought it wasn't possible. Thank u! A couple questions: 1. Do you see the previously drawn half columns going away and being replaced by the two 28.5" side cabs (that reach from the counter to the ceiling)? The column closest to the refrig is faux but we will need a structural beam on the other side (probably going down to crawl space - we have a structural engineer working on all of those issues this week. It supports a critical junction in the house (i.e., where the vaulted ceiling ends along with supporting the second floor load) Do u think we'll be able to hide it in the new cabinet? 2. I saw you replaced the 24" mini bev fridge with refrig drawers. Have you found better success with those? 3. How do you see the other side of that bar functioning ? I see that it's bumped out in the middle with blue dots - just wondering what that means. I can't wait to hear your thoughts! 2 more functional questions-sorry! : 1. TV - Where would u put a small flat screen tv? (DH request-and I'd probably like it too) I'm thinking somewhere in the sink wall area - or above the Miele stack? 2. Cookbooks - I have at least 150. Is there anywhere they could go? If not, I've designated a cabinet in the TV room for them. Nice to have but not necessary. We are so excited about this new design buehl! It's definitely more functional and I think it's more beautiful too! Thx again - make that a million times thanks buehl! davidro 1 - thx for bringing up the fridge dimension question ! I went online and checked the Wolf and Sub-Zero dimensions and I found that: (1) the fridge sticks out 28 and 3/8" (2) the range sticks out 26 and 3/16" - which means the deepest I could probably go out with the counter is 26" (vs. the std. 24")?? What do you think davidro 1 and buehl? Davidro 1 - is your reason for doing this that it looks better? And would you move the island accordingly 2 more inches to compensate? (making the distance between the island and the wall now 46") All of these things I hadn't thought about! Thx! lascatx - football season is draining! Our sons' friends are exhausted but having a great time! I am quickly becoming a Perlick convert - we chose that brand for the icemaker because we were unanimously told it's a superior product. DH LOVED your idea of them for our fridge drawers too. Thx for listing what you use them for too. Excited about that. And I love the idea of lighting the side glass cabs. I think it will lighten up the space and add some sparkle at night! I'm thinking I may use that backside space partially for cookbooks? I have about 150 of them and right now, I travel upstairs to the spare bedroom to retrieve them. Not practical at all - but I guess a decent workout - lol. Although I really like the idea of making that space usable from both sides. Hmmm ... What do you think?