Hi - thanks for the compliments! I've posted the pics in the gallery, see the link below. The sinks are Kohler Memoirs, and I used 4 inches of the glass tile as a backsplash. The tile just stops where the chair rail starts. I meant to say that the squares are 2 inches by 2 inches in the floor, not 4". Ann Here is a link that might be useful: Bathroom before and after

Ceramic tile would be fine. Unfortunately, I don't know of any that have that iridescent coloring to them, without going to the mother of pearl tiles which are ungodly expensive (someone posted a link to some a couple of years ago that were 473.00 a square foot). As for what you can and can't use, I don't think I'd want a tile with a soft glaze on it, such as tiles specifically for walls (PEI of 2 or less), or obviously, glass. Pretty much anything else would work. Sorry it took so long to answer-- I put in a 16 hour day yesterday. :-)

Great ideas! Thank you all so much! herbflavor-Thank you for the kind words about the cabinets as they are:) Most of the feedback I've gotten from other sources is about how awful they look, so it's nice to get a different perspective (and I never saw them as hideous myself). I did consider leaving the maple cabs in their natural state, but when we replaced our dishwasher with a nearly new panel-ready Asko Craigslist find, we realized how much the maple had yellowed/oranged despite the lack of direct sunlight. Plus, these cabinets are absolutely everywhere throughout the house---every bathroom, storage closet, laundry room, you name it. The real problem is that I think they might be too warm for the cool grays in the granite. So, I'm thinking paint would be the answer. I was not sure about gray paint on the cabinets, either, yet something is calling me to try it. It's only weeks of hard physical labor, right?! When you suggest the right and left flanking cabinets for glass inserts, do you mean both cab doors on the right and left, leaving 2 solid center doors? Or just the single far door on each side? Also, you mentioned changing the back of the peninsula. Do you have any suggestions? I think it needs improvement but have no clue here. Gigi4321, I like the idea of an open cabinet with shelves or glass shelves, and I adore that look when I see it in other kitchens. I may try that first after removing the doors to see how it looks; my concern would be with keeping the items clean since that is where we keep our everyday dishes and wine glasses. I'm fairly clean, but would hate to feel the need to dust my dishes before company arrives:) I love what you did with your kitchen, Annac54. Love, love, love the stain and the fact that you also DIY'd the majority of it, as we will be doing . It gives me hope. Btw, we had the exact same tile. Ten years of cleaning that grout spurred this facelift. Sadly,I still have the same tile in all 3 bathrooms. But that's a future post... Thanks for the photo of your center cabs a2gemini. That is some beautiful seeded glass. I think I may need to copy that, if you don't mind. Can't wait to see the finished pics. Artichokey, thank you! I feel so much better about my kitchen after reading your comments. It's easy to see these gorgeous, spacious gw kitchens and feel somewhat embarrassed by the fact that most of the butler pantries here are larger and nicer than my entire kitchen, nook, and family room combined. And I never knew that my ledge (as I always referred to it) was the dreaded and outdated "soffit" until I found gardenweb:). But with 15 foot ceilings and ample storage space, I could not see the value in reworking the entire space by adding cabs to the ceiling. I do love our kitchen and think it's functional and perfect for us. You asked about the area to the right of the kitchen, and here it is. This is the wall flanking the kitchen nook, on the way to the family room (open plan). Yet more cabinets, and a built in desk to boot (also an outdated feature, but yet again I do love its functionality). I've chosen a gray 2 shades darker than the "repose gray" for the main kitchen cabs (SW Dovetail) in hopes that it pulls both areas together while maintaining some continuity. Not sure yet about the desktop color... Again, thank you all so much. I truly appreciate your thoughtful responses. Love this forum!

"...glass tile - that it cracks when you try to drill into it to install the glass hinges, etc" There are drill bits for drilling into glass, but you're right, some glass tile can be more difficult to drill through than others. Thinset voids behind the tile can make it more prone to cracking when drilling. Small tile size can emphasize stress raisers. Sometimes drilling a small pilot hole, then gradually enlarging the hole with larger diameter bits to get to the final size can give good results. For years I've been drilling oversized holes. Depends on the size of the screws, but for sake of argument, say a 5/16ths" diameter hole. The depth of the hole is deep enough to reach the framing or solid support behind the tile backer board. If the tile and thinset are 1/4" thick and the tile backer board is 1/2" thick, then I have to go 3/4" deep to hit the wall framing. I'll fill the hole with a shot of silicone, then I then insert a sleeve or bushing into the hole, essentially a small tube. The bushing is slightly longer than the hole is deep. In this case, a 1/4" diameter bushing to fit in the 5/16ths diameter hole, with the bushing 13/16ths" to 7/8ths" long to fill the 3/4" deep hole and sit slightly proud of the tile surface. The bushing may need to be longer if the back of the hinge has a hollowed out profile. Then set the hinge or glass clamp in place and drive the screws home. The bushing essentially transfers the compression load from the hinge directly to the stud/framing, leaving the tile and thinset free from compression forces that could cause the glass tile or grout to crack. Same technique with porcelain. Nothing worse than having a fine installation, only to crack a tile when installing the hinges. So, a bit of a tangent from the main gist of the thread.