oopss... I had never seen this... I am so sorry! It is probably too late for you... But I chose Kansas grain by Behr. We are loving the color of the walls so much that we will not be doing tile right now...We did the dining room adjacent to it in a lighter tone of yellow, and the living room in Rain Water, it is light blue. and the kitchen view from the living room (before the cabinets were installed) : Countertops have not been installed yet (bianco romano). Did you decide on colors?

A summary opinion: "Perhaps I could try a dry-cut diamond wheel?" Yes. On a super cheap ten dollar snag grinder from Harbor Fright. That's not a stone wall but just a stone veneer on the face of the "real" wall, right? I'd be sloppy to treat a veneer as any part of a structural mount. Veneer may be hard but you cannot count on it for anything except looks. That certainly was the goal of the original installer! I'd consider removing the veneer (take pics for re-fit reference) and mounting the heavy stuff to the real structure behind the veneer, and then reapplying the veneer after trimming the pieces with a diamond bladed saw or hand grinder to fit around the wood. Don't forget to think about whether any waterproofing is necessary.

I used a designer for the first time on this project, and she picked some really beautiful, neutral paint colors that I'd have NEVER picked off the sample cards - you should take a look at them, just see what you think: Sherwin Williams Tony Taupe: using in my entire living area, including kitchen, hallways, entry, etc. Sherwin Williams Balanced Beige: if the Tony Taupe feels like a little too much color, this beige is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. I have it in rooms w/light from every direction, and it never turns an "off" color, no matter the time of day. Benjamin Moore Ashley Grey: If you need something w/a more grey cast than a yellowish beige cast, this is really lovely. For a "white" w/just enough color to really compliment brighter colors, I like Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls. I used it in a room w/candy cane red cabinets, in a Laundry Room w/Pear Green cabinets, and in my pantry ... where I have the palest of blue cabinets done in Wedgewood Grey. From the card, I'd never dream it is the perfect robins-egg blue! Hope that helps a little - I get overwhelmed when it comes to paint colors, but don't be pressured: painting can easily be done after cabinetry. You just need to get a skim coat w/some texture over the sheetrock, and you'll be good until cabinets are in place.

Okay y'all! A follow up post. We finished painting the kitchen a few weeks ago....I put it off a while by saving it for last. We ended up painting it Dunn Edwards Golden Retriever. We are really happy with it!