Your kind comments are making it all worthwhile! Thank you!! mtnfever - thank you for the link to soft close - I almost wish I didn't have it on the appliance depot drawer -then no one would know how nice it is! motodetroit - I inherited the piece on the side cabinet from DH's mother (I couldn't believe his sister didn't want it!). She got it in Norway in the '50s, and it's a great piece of vintage kitchen ware that sat on her counter for years and always makes me think of her. It has glass compartments (some are broken now) that I assume were used for sugar, flour, spices, etc. We fill it with M&Ms, almonds, popcorn kernals, tea bags and Emergen-C. Here's a better picture: Madeline616 - do you know how long I've tried to get my dog and cat to pose for pictures? Forget about it. And then they just wander into the photo shoot... I'm glad I got a picture of Zelda, our airedale. She's old now, and she doesn't like having her picture taken. taggie - comments like yours remind me that we did the right thing keeping the old cabinets. Two KDs I talked to, but didn't hire, immediately wanted to rip them out and I couldn't understand why, they were classic, worked fine (I realized later that both KDs work for cabinet makers; I don't know, maybe they all do). And keeping them saved me from making all those thorny layout decisions everyone struggles with here. I really had it easy, but thank you for your compliments. dilly ny - I wish I could take credit for the range hood, but it was the only one that would fit our specs. My ceilings are low and, if you notice, the ceiling above the cooktop is lowered even further (there is an upstairs bath above, but no one seems to know why the ceiling descends seven inches above the cooktop) - it narrowed our options in range hoods to this one - sorry, I should have ID'd it - Electrolux 36". dianalo - you are a better man than I. Actually, I know you aren't a man. I have followed many of your comments on the forum. You always have the best attitude. I have to say - cranky and demanding as I am - one of the things I love about reading GW commenters is how MELLOW you all are. In the midst of hair-curling disasters! How do you do it? I want what you're having! westsider40 - "Something's Gotta Give" was on TV in our area today! I ran in and said to DH (who loves that movie) - there it is! What I've been telling you about! The OTK! I had to explain the whole thing to him. But honestly, that kitchen is so completely SWOON-worthy. The whole house. Diane Keaton's turtlenecks. I wish!!! At least we have our easy-care induction, right? liriodendron - here are some pictures of the built-in drawers. I don't think they're anything special, but I'm sure if I were replacing the the cabs, I would have had to pay quite a bit extra to have a set of drawers like these installed. Helped us decide to keep the cabs we had. We keep container lids in the first drawer, the matching containers in the second, napkins in the third and table cloths in the bottom. Great storage. Keeps everything nice and tidy.

Great! Thanks for the speedy reply :) Ok one more quick question. Where do we start the first course? At the far side of the counter and working our way across, adjusting for the window area when we get to it? Or start with the first tile in the middle of the window area and work out to both sides from there so that the "L" cutting around each side is symmetrical? The window is not in the exact middle of the entire counter so the runs on either side will be different total lengths. Thanks again Bill :)

Hi Briogg, I'm not sure if this is the question you are asking, but are you asking if the water will harm the granite? Having water on your Black Galaxy granite will not hurt the granite. Just wipe the granite dry after you put away the dishes and it will be fine. For air drying dishes, I have an OXO silicone dish drying mat that works well. I lap it over the kitchen sink edge when drying dishes and the water drains into the sink. That way I don't even need a drying rack.

Every choice has pluses and minuses, in the end you have to choose which plus and which minus matters the most to you and/or which have an easy fix (like using a cutting board under the crockpot; at work we have an extra piece under the big coffeemaker). budget mattered a lot to me (and I hated formica) so, I ended up with a lesser expensive granite and am very happy, no sealing or extra work for the stone I chose. I had formica previously which looked like h#*! from the day I moved in and didn't get better (except that I could use bleach to remove stains) so those of you whose formica looks like new after 30 years must be taking appropriate care -- using cutting boards (mine had little cuts all over) and so forth -- where my previous owners did not. But, I read that formica now is much better quality than what was installed 30 or 40 years ago. I looked at Burled Beach and liked it. It looked a warm sand-ish color on my samples in my house, but I saw a demo kitchen of it at a big box store and it was a warm greenish tone (I still liked it) under their fluorescent lights. You always have to ability to STOP and make changes unless the cabinets are all already made. If he is just now starting it might not be too late -- call him now! PS do you have an IKEA near to you? Most counter materials are less expensive there.