I found some at Dal Tile that fit perfectly. I want a box cap in matte black but so far I have an off-white V-cap that lines up perfectly with the hex. Same thickness. Of course I plan to slope the counter slightly into the sink. I plan a white hex field with a pattern we will make ourselves using loose black and "bayberry" tiles. There are some terrific colors available. Dal has great rich colors in hex. Have you seen them? The woman who owns Designs in Tile (California) makes period designs to order. (Anita??) Pricey but nice. I looked into this during my bathroom remodel a few years ago but decided to stay simple (and economical). I wouldn't use a wood edge but I'll bet you could be creative with the pieces you find. I'd hate to give up a water-tight counter by incorporating wood. There was little available (especially in my budget) when I did my bath. I came up with something creative for the baseboards when we couldn't find the "right" piece. It's been 7 years and I'm still happy with our clever baseboard. I will absolutely post mine when I have something to post! What are you looking for with your counter project? Is it a period project or something quite different?

It seems that Maine Cottage Furniture is no more - foreclosed on by their bank - all customers lost their deposits. I Love Honor's turquoise cabs too - I would paint the window trim between them the same to tie it all together, maybe paint that wall a nice faded sunny yellow. I LOVE color too and plan to add it in my kitchen as well. I have a red Chambers stove and I want ultra glossy aqua or pale blue upper cabinets. I plan on having a glossy red stand-alone tall dish cabinet as well. My colors are red (stove), Jadeite and pale blue and aqua. I think I'll go with the pale blue cabs and jadeite backsplash and use my aqua stuff as accessories. I do LOVE that picture of pale aqua cabinets in the sunny yellow room, though! Neutrals - the floor - this is one area I would not go crazy with - very expensive to change. Of course, if I lived in a Spanish Mission bungalow, that'd be a whole other story ;) We put in custom milled long-plank random width Sassassfras wood. Currently it is a pale yellow / light orangey brown, but it darkens with age. I'm ignoring it in the design of the kitchen (it goes directly into the family room). We did purchase two red folk art floor mats made of neoprene from Plow and Hearth - one in front of the patio door, the other either in front of the sink or stove. They go really well with my Swedish and Polish folk art (which I MIGHT display on a plate rail above the header). The walls are a medium-dark (I really expected it to appear darker) green-grey, but once the cabs and backsplash go in the paint will mostly be in the family room. The dining room on the other side of the kitchen will be a steely aqua to match the upholstery (a shimmery steely aqua with dark red flowers and gold stems). It is an impossible color to match in a paint (changes in the light / shadow). I might use Ralph Lauren's metallic paint. My other "neutral" in the kitchen is stainless steel - I plan one wall to be all stainless appliances with glossy pale blue uppers at the ceiling. The kitchen will be an "L" with an island. The base cabs on the other wall will be either stainless (expensive) or a dark matte charcoal. For the island, I'm not sure, maybe more glossy red or even stained wood. The raised bartop will be butcher block. The rest of the counters will probably be either soapstone or concrete.

@fatcatz, I don't know if you like Traditional style, but I am about to buy Moen's Weymouth Single Handle Pull Down Spray faucet in polished nickel. I've been researching for a few days and came across an article from Starcraft Builders saying Moen's Polished Chrome, Polished Nickel, Polished Brass, Brushed Gold, Brushed Nickel, and Classic Stainless finishes are PVD. The remaining finishes are either Powder Coat or Electroplate. It's a great article, really goes in depth on the PVD process. Echoed your point about not always being the metal used in the PVD process. That being said, in reading the section on Electroplating, taken from the article: "Undercoats of copper, zinc, or nickel usually precede the final decorative coating. The undercoats have two purposes. Some metals, chrome being one, do not adhere very well to naked brass. One or more nickel undercoats are usually used before the chrome is applied so the finish does not flake or peel. If finishing a zinc component, undercoats of copper then nickel are commonly used. The copper sticks well to zinc, nickel adheres tightly to copper, and chrome bonds securely to nickel. Undercoats also help smooth out any small imperfections in the faucet material. It is not uncommon for faucets to be electroplated with nickel and chrome and then highly polished before a final PVD coating is applied. This process eliminates any potential flaws in the surface so they don't show up in the final PVD finish." Link to the article follows, below. Very high marks for customer service, Starcraft actually ranks Moen's customer service #1 in North America. http://www.starcraftcustombuilders.com/sources.faucets.Moen.htm

Sorry for the delay - still in housing limbo and now at my parents for the weekend with wifi. :) homebuyer-yes that is what my honed sample looks like and I do prefer the more gray look - not as dark. I am inclined to stick with one stone because all of the ones I like for the island are WAY out of our price range - ugh. It seems I have expensive taste and our island will be about 8 1/2 to 9 foot long. :P I was also concerned about doing 2 different cabs AND 2 different counters - too busy? I do like the look of wood or walnut for a counter but I am too chicken to do that. Our only sink will be in the island. debrak-I have seen a few slabs of it out our way and I do like it. I wonder when the name changed to steel gray from silver pearl. I went to the stone yard looking to see 'jet mist' in person and they had no idea what I was talking about - darn regional names! I have touched the samples quite a bit and they don't seem too bad as far as fingerprinting is concerned. I have polished uba tuba now and don't find it to be too high maintenance but prints do show. Here are the 2 samples I have - they are riding around in my trunk right now along with our luggage, etc.