Well, I left Houston with one husband, but I swear another one got in the car at a rest stop somewhere along the 15 hour drive to SC. I told DH that I got suggestions to ditch the slate and use honed white marble instead and he said, "That's sounds like a great idea." This is from the man who was totally adverse to marble in the kitchen because of the upkeep. (Shaking my head) The local slab yard carries Alabama White which we got to see. It may not be Calcutta gold, but it is a very creamy white and the material cost of the marble with honing is about the same as the slate so we're in good shape. I agree that white marble with the Marinus it would be a gorgeous combination. Here's a picture of the AL White: The other "magical" thing that happened was when we visited the tile supplier. I had been fretting because when I saw the allowance for the subway tile for the backsplash, it was so low that I thought they were quoting a mediocre product. OK, so I was very naive about the builder's discount. When the salesman brought out the display board of what he had based the quote on, I let out a gasp and exclaimed, "OMG! That's exactly what I wanted." He was showing me Horus Art tile in Tiffany Crackle. Can it get better than that? Well, not for me it couldn't. The bad news about the Marinus is that the last slabs at the SC were tagged. But they have an even bigger warehouse in Elberton, GA (2 hour drive from the Upstate where we're building) and Elberton is, apparently, the "Granite Capital of the World". Also, in spring, they begin to get in more shipments of granite & we won't be needing it until this summer or early fall. The guy from the fabrication company said that they are very careful to make sure the granite flows across the entire length of a run. I can only make so many trips from Houston to SC, but I think I will make a point of being there when they template. I keep mentioning budget because we're trying to be careful about the allowances by not going overboard while still getting what we want. Azul Aran would really be lovely, but it is $20/sf more than the Marinus & the Marinus really grabbed us. The cost of the stone is averaging $50/sf for what we have chosen and we only pay for the material they use. Installations costs are another $10/sf with $200 per large undermount sink hole. This is more than what we paid in Houston for our kitchen "refresh" last summer, but that was just an entry level stone. Obviously, I'm going to obsess over the hardware, but the Highland Ridge is a good starting point for our XWK (Transitional White Kitchen). I think we will balance that with faucets that are a little more traditional & still have our stainless steel appliances & sink. Right now, we're looking at Price Pfister Marielle and doing DH's sink in one configuration & mine in the other. The gal at the plumbing supply place thought it would be neat to have the faucets from the same famiy but not matching. We did the Marielle pullout (3rd configuration) for our refresh because I got it very, very cheap on eBay & have been very pleased with it. What we have is the brushed stainless steel, so we may switch to that if we want less "shine": Anyway, thanks for the great idea of going with marble rather than the slate. I think we will be using slate for our fireplace surround and the powder room floor, so I'll be getting my slate. Thanks for the suggestions & support - Jo Ann

Yes we could go lighter with the counters, I was thinking of dark, but I have not fallen in love with anything yet. I figure I will be living w/plywood tops for a while! thanks buehl, I have seen your kitchen and I really like it. Still working out how to put in a few pics at a time and not the entire web album! The remodel is a very slow process. As DH says, he gets 50 cents and hour so what do I expect ;-). Dh is DIY, goal is a budget kitchen without major changes to the layout and I cannot make a definite decision on anything! As of now, we are picking the cherry w/autumn stain in Dynasty raised panel. Now if I can just keep this thought tomorrow when I call to order!!

Online shopping is always a crapshoot so I haven't seen any of the choices as mistakes, just the drawback of not being able to see the item in person before purchase. Sometimes ya gotta kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince (speaking of the purchases, not your hub, but he certainly sounds princely lol). Nothing noteworthy about my nickname really, my boss and I were going to join MSN's money messageboards way back when so I wrote down a bunch of possible nics for us and this is the one I chose for mine, kinda thought it fit with the ethereal quality of cyber-conversing (ie I'm there but ya can't see me).

Oh my this is what happens when the doorbell rings! Yes, I am wanting opinions. I am mostly a blue, yellow, and gray person. I do not like gray and yellow together though. If I do a the platinum blue what would floor tones would go best? I prefer light floors so I am going to have to go with a dark counter?