Guilty as charged. I originally had a light gray and still do in my other bathroom. I like it a lot. My plan was to tear out and reinstall 4x4 gray tile. My BD gave me a look like I should be committed. I wasn't able to find the same gray. They all had too much blue in them. And I couldn't find the quarter round I wanted. So I went with white. It's like a nice white t-shirt. Or white towels. Classic. White. I would never go with any color I wasn't sure I would love for the rest of my life. Also, for me, when in doubt keep it simple. Why subways? Good question. I wanted simple and easy. I'm tired of making decisions. My tub alcove came out great. If I'd had some design help and more of a budget I would have done some pencil liners, etc. for interest, but it would have all been white. Just texture.

I wanted to get a better shot of the walls but it's been extraordinarily difficult to portray the color as it really is. In truth, it's very much nicer in real life. I did try a few different looks for the mantel. The final look is with the small painting with water and ice floes which my husband painted in the middle, the green vase on the left (which looks much better that way) and the books on the right. The antique Chinese charger in now on the lower level of the coffee table. The faux plant by the secretary is back simply because my husband and I like it there, good taste and contrary opinions notwithstanding. I will look for another one that looks less faux and we're also looking for a picture light for the portrait. After this, I think I need a little rest before I tackle any more projects. I was still moving things around on the mantel after midnight!

Backs plashes are difficult because they are basically design decisions vs building decisions and while most of us are good at picking and figuring, pre-visualizing is tougher. Even some KDs aren't especially good at doing a back splash so don't beat yourself up. Tile design can be very challenging -- if the store will help out with it that's always a bonus. Some will for a nominal or no fee. They'll do the design and sometimes even help find an installer. . When it gets tough, instead of getting lost in tile world I think it might be easier to find a photo of a backsplash you love, or even of a tile object you love. If you post it folks here can give suggestions about how it will work in the kitchen and whether it will produce the result. Then it can be used as the basis for the splash (take it along while shopping). Here's an extensive list of tile sources which can help with some of the pre-shopping. http://www.atticmag.com/shopping/tile.html My backsplash basically sets the style of the kitchen. It runs from countertop to ceiling on 2 walls -- so it's the opposite of the 4" micro-splash. I began with the tile and picked around it (not typical). My inspiration was ceramic tile stoves. I drew out a scale "cartoon" of the splash and colored it in and taped it up to see how it would look. Tile has repetitive pattern so it always draws the eye. The cartoon was a bit of work but very helpful as it covered nearly a 2' x 3' section (paper taped together).

Envy When I was a kid, my father, mother and my older brother used to read novels in the living room on Saturday , and I used to read cartoons. I was envious of them because it seemed to me only adults were able to read books. So from time to time I tried reading a book, there was one in particular whose cover attracted me, there were a boy and a girl and in the background a lighthouse , but every time I started reading it I got bored after a few pages. But one Christmas I was ten or eleven, an aunt of ours gave my brother quite a good present. It was a little bookcase where forty book were stored. There were all the classic ones. Little Man and…. Little Woman and… Tom Sawer , Mompracem Tigers (Sandokan) Uncle Tom’s cabin , White Fang , The Call of the Wilde, Ivanhoe, Ben Hur, Quo Vadis, Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and so on Among them there was a title that enticed me “The Paul Street Boys”. I started it and I got hooked. The story is about two young bands who are fighting for a place to play, which is owned by the Paul Street Boys, it is an old timber yard, so the other band the Red Shirts wage war on the Street Boys. First they make an agreement about the rules to follow, about who must be considered dead or caught and other ones, because there is not any meanness between them, the Red Shirts wage war because their hangout is in a botanical garden and they need a place in order to play football. The story is set in Hungary and the author is Ferenc Molnar. Of course there are other plots , but the main thread is the war. I liked it so much that once I finished I reread it eight times on a row, except the last chapter because one of main character dies of pneumonia and this made me cry a lot. Afterward I read all the other ones. This is how I started reading novels.