Hi Everyone, Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and show us your beautiful kitchens. Leela-which knobs/pulls did you from RH? Love your soapstone countertop. Anthomeinva- Will look at the Dakota knobs. I see you have beautiful soapstone, too. Badgergal-We hadn't heard of Hickory Hardware and will investigate; beautiful cabinets. Prospect-Looks like you have soapstone countertops, too. We love your floor. Enduring-Love your backsplash; what material did you use? Sloane-We think your photos convinced us to select satin/brushed nickel. Lovely view! Labbie-We will look at Top Knobs web site - beautiful kitchen Mayflowers-the ORB does not look dated and is a nice choice for you kitchen-especially with the lighter floor and counters. Thank you all again for taking the time to post photos of your beautiful kitchens and share information. As you may have noted I wanted soapstone (not so much DH). We did not choose soapstone because I was scared off by the discussions about softness. I still LOVE the way it looks, especially with natural cherry. MJ

I did our second home (condo) in a Pottery Barn style and think I can honestly say, I bought nothing from them! Not that I dont love PB...I do and buy there often! But being in a big city, I have many other choices. From The Dump (a furniture store here) I bought a black entertainment center for a flat screen, with side shelves and bottom cabinets ($700) for all three pieces plus the bridge shelf, a leather sofa and chair (under $1000 for both), a bar height table and 6 chairs ($500), and a large area rug w/Fall colors, geometric pattern. Remember Storehouse Furniture? They all went out of business and I found an outlet here that was GIVING it away practically. I got a huge wooden coffee table w/8 small drawers on both sides ($200!...reg. $800), and a bar cabinet for ($250...reg. $750!) For the entry, I had a wrought iron table made at an iron works place nearby and had them add a dark marble top to it($175)...found a huge wood-framed mirror for $30 when Bombay was going out of business. The rest came from garage and estate sales and extra furniture from our house here. My only splurge was two upholstered chairs that I special ordered with a striped fabric. Found a cute document style chest at Marshalls for $50 to go between them. I really bargained shopped when decorating this place, and since I got great deals, I didn't feel guilty when I couldnt find something in a cheaper version...just went ahead and bought the pricier one, like the lamp on the $50 table that I paid WAY too much for. I guess my point is that many makers are now trying to duplicate that easy, clean, casual look and if you have a certain look in mind, then scour the landscape looking. Marshalls, TJMaxx (Homegoods), Tues. Morning, Ross, Home Decorators Catalog, Target, Kohls,....all had options for me. I hope you find what you're looking for!

Dilly_NY, is that a Maltese? What a cute little dog. I have two Maltese and a Shih Tzu. I love how the floors go so well with your cabinets. I love the feet on the cabinets! Love your beautiful granite counters. I love all the feet shown on the cabinets! Something I never thought about before was this finished touch. Everyone thanks for sharing. Babushka_cat, I love the style of your inset shaker cabinets, love the hardware chosen, love your wall color, love your backsplash, appliances and your floor! What width, species and stain are your beautiful floors? Breezygirl, I always love looking at your kitchen as it is beautiful and I enjoyed watching you create it. Thanks for sharing. Peke, I love your floors! Which wood species and which stain and which width?

The alternative to mitered doors is called cope and stick. A traditional Shaker door is an example of cope and stick. To illustrate, here is a picture with the sample mitered door for our family room cabinets leaned against our kitchen cope and stick doors. Look at the difference in the way the stiles (vertical frame pieces) and rails (horizontal frame pieces) meet. The cope and stick frame of a Shaker door normally has a square shaped profile. So there are a lot of ways to vary from that - some with beads like Bee's or with a step like Anne's or more simple variations such as a round over or bevel on the inside or outside edge or both. For our family room, we went with a mitered edge and a raised panel. I like the look and it's great in our family room but wouldn't want it in the kitchen because it would be hard to clean spills.