Hi Furlet and welcome! I think you've done a wonderful job. It's very artsy. There's something neat to see in every direction. If you want to do a backsplash, it may take you a little time to find it, but I'd look for a piece that has broken off an antique. Maybe someone who deals in antiques or salvage could help you. I'd want something short, maybe 4" max, but with a bit of curvy shape to it, not just straight -- hopefully something you can just saw in half and put one half on each side, and yes, stained dark to match the mirror. I'm thinking of a piece broken off an old chest of drawers top. I hope I'm communicating this well. Brainstorming that a bit farther, you might cut and route your own if you're clever. Or you might make it out of a peg rack you find at Michael's. Or something you find at a garage sale. You've been so creative, don't stop now! I'm eager to see pictures of what you've done elsewhere in your house. Have you seen the Cottage Decor thread in the Gallery? I think you'd enjoy it. Here is a link that might be useful: Cottage Decor thread in Gallery

Catlover,the faucet I used is the Grohe Ladylux3 stainless.I like it much better than my previous pullout faucet. I can't really say how it compares to other pull down faucets. The style of the faucet had the look we were going for-more contemporary. I was faucet shopping with my neighbor last week and she picked the Delta Leland faucet. You might want to look at that one. i think it would look great in a 1940s cottage house. As far as your granite choice goes. I think you answered your own question when you said "I just had my heart set on a sandy beige during this 2 year process" Go with what you love and you will not be sorry. Don't worry about your husband liking the other granite. IMO men aren't quite as emotionally attached to the kitchen as women and he probably won't be too hurt by not getting his granite preference. My DH wanted a pot filler and I nixed that. He has mentioned to friends that the only thing he really wanted in the kitchen, he didn't get. Four months have gone by now and he seems to have forgotten about it. Good luck on your decisions. I'm sure everything will turn out beautiful. for what its worth, here is a picture of my laundry room granite? Does it look like the NVG you are considering? You cant see in this picture but this granite has beautiful nice size garnet colored splotches in it. I love those garnet colored spots!

Thanks, weed. I was curious because the Tropic Brown in your pic looks very similar to the granite we first picked out and ordered (forget the name but it wasn't Tropic Brown), but then they told us it was no longer available. When DH first saw it, he said, "Now THAT'S granite!" It just looked more granite-y, if that makes sense. While I love all the granites, including the swirly ones and the ones with movement, I imagine our original pick would've been a lot more impervious to absorption. But I haven't had any problem with the SC Gold and I love it too. I guess it's not a true granite, maybe a gneiss or something.

palimpsest, For the past few hours I've been staring at Wilsonart's SOLICOR color Calcutta Marble, but I have discovered that the "Solicore" feature appears to be a fiction. Wilsonart's website states: "Wilsonart® SOLICOR™ is a specialty laminate created with a solid color core that lets you design visually crisp and stunning spaces by eliminating the disruptive brown line at the edges." This photo clearly shows that Calcutta Marble color is not solid all the way through, even though their website says it is, and edges do in fact show brown lines: Flat cut showing ugly brown lines. Flat cut showing ugly brown lines. Formica also has the "COLOR2CORE" but it's a lie also. Their website says: "Classic flat edge. Your laminate countertops will have the traditional 90-degree flat edges that show a brown line between the top sheet and the edge. The exception to this is solid core laminate that has color throughout, like COLORCORE®2 by Formica Group. You’ll still have the flat edge, but no brown line." I have found images on their website that they use to illustrate a lack of brown edge but it's still there. This link has a section "ColorCore®2 Color-Through Laminate Patterns" and a picture of a large white counter to the right which clearly shows brown lines. On the other hand, apparently it's possible somehow to eliminate the brown lines because this picture from Houzz claims to use an edge called "Aegean" which does not show any brown lines, but I can't find anything about that edge on Formica's website.