@enright5 - I know this is a few months after your initial posts, but I came across your posts while I was looking for photos of real life installations of Lyra and Lagoon Silestone. I can total relate to the original post. I love marble too and the look it provides, but it is not a good fit for my family. Knowing this I am not looking to trick people into thinking I have marble - just LOVE the general look and feel. SO what did you finally decide on?

You need a comprehensive design plan, and budget plan. A successful kitchen will live within those limits. It can't absorb 5 different budget busters, nor can it deal with 5 different ''must have because I'm in love'' elements. There are a lot of right choices for the different elements that neither bust the budget nor shout ''I'm the star''. Learn how to put together your kitchen with those, with your superstars then carefully selected to fit into those surroundings. That may or may not mean choosing a counter that you love, since you state that the range and venting were your ''must haves''. You can't have it all. Decide what are the musts, within the overall context. Not as each element as an individual. That is T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Remember that none of these pretty things will ever love you back. Some can perform better, and that is always worth considering as an ''upgrade'', but not if it blows the budget, or skews the other choices. For instance, a 14K refrigerator shouldn't even be on the table if that choice makes you consider skimping in another area, like not choosing a pro to correctly install your floors, or you decide to skip adding lighting. "Splurges'' should NEVER mean that another element gets shorted to below a reasonable standard.

for the handles, may I suggest something to pick up on the hues in the flooring? A little more copper toned. you have light cabs, light floors. I think throwing in a dark ORB w/o actual copper highlights would be too much of a contrast. IMO. cypress park Sandra, I like the porcelain one better than the other one. Does the backsplash have to be done immediately? If the tones in the porcelain tile you picked clash w/the ivory tones in the counter, it could be a problem. However, I did find some copper toned ones that should be avail. these are porcelain/SS, and treated so as not to stain or tarnish. I LOVE these for your kitchen. timeless and gorgeous. They are probably not super cheap, but it would be worth it for me. http://www.miusartmosaics.com/arabesque-lantern-beacon-copper-tile-in these would also work. the site is here: maybe they have them in stock.http://www.westsidetile.com/arabesque-tiles/ i like this one too. notice the copper faucet. beautiful w/the glass mosaic. if you got the cream countertop, this would look amazing w/your floors. this last one is a copper colored slate/quartzite.

I would go directly to an authorized Corian Fabricator and not through HD or Lowes. The best fabricators don't need a middleman. I've had a Corian kitchen counter in a previous house and just installed a Corian vanity counter with integrated sink in my teen's bathroom.