Thanks for letting me know, but we've just finished picking out our tile. We met with the tile installer, and he told us that if we went with any tiles from Home Depot or Lowes that he would charge an extra $1.00 per square foot for installation. So we ended up going back to the dealer we went to originally and dealt with someone else. Here's the tile we picked: For the master bath floor: Ragno Riverstone Fuerte For the master bath shower: Daltile Goldrush Klondike White I was all set to go with the Daltile RD-06, but then I saw the Ragno Riverstone. We both really liked the look (and it was only .50 more than our budget). Thanks again everyone for your help!

Designnov, good luck! I am so happy with my cabinetmaker! As my KDs pointed out, she is local, so if anything ever goes wrong, she'll come over and fix it. She threw in the hardware for free, too. I went over to Louis and Company and picked it out on Wednesday. Also, and this is a BIGGIE, she is delivering the pieces as they are finished! Yay! She has a small workshop, and I already have a living room full of appliances, so I don't need a gigantic stack of cabinets in there or in the garage. She's doing the bar and buffet first, then the walls one by one, with the island last. So we should be able to install the wine fridge and fridge/freezer drawers in the bar, then the fridge and oven/micro in the pantry wall, then the sink and DW, so we will have a minimum of kitchen-less suffering :-) And a minimum of packing, as I can move things from the current cabs to the new ones. Only the granite will be installed after everything is in, then my lovely BlueStar RNB last of all :-) The GC seems to be balking--apparently he wanted to tear out the WHOLE kitchen, disappear, then come back eventually and install all the cabinets. I plan to speak sternly to him later today. Interesting about drawers vs ROTs. I will have both, but mostly ROTs. I have miserable, sucky, half-depth shelves in my current base cabinets and HATE them with a passion. I can't wait to pull out my ROTs and see my pots and pans neatly arranged, not STACKED in a teetering pile. I have big stockpots and giant roasting pans, so I need height for them. I am putting the lesser-used pots in a lazy susan in the island, since my pot rack is going away *sniffle*

Jodi, You have truly set a trend all across the country. I'm in Oklahoma. I went to a local store and specifically asked for Jeffery Court, Pietra Opus, Fire & Ice and had a copy of one of your photos with me. They asked if I had already been in and when I said "NO"... they said another lady had just come in recently and asked for the exact same thing! They said that they could get it from one of their dealers. They quoted me $16 and no shipping! Just now, I went to the Jeffery Court website and found that there is a dealer in Oklahoma that carries it. I'm sure that's where my local dealer is getting it from. I'm calling them tomorrow to see if it's any cheaper if I buy directly from them & pick it up in person. I've also asked about getting 2x2 dark red glass to replace some white tiles like you did but the so-called 2x2 tiles really vary, none are truly 2x2... so I'm curious how it'll look. Thanks Jodi for posting your photos...this backsplash is like nothing else I've ever seen. I like being different! -Dorothy in OK

Slush - I asked at Ferguson's this morning; evidently all the Ferguson's are independently owned, part of this unbrella company that is actually "a Wolseley Company". Evidently they're the Whole Foods of the plumbing world, having vertically integrated the market across the country, gobbling up small dealers and reps for many years now; I guess they're the biggest out there, supposedly. Funny, as I was not particularly even aware of them, due to the inhospitable interaction of many years prior. I think it's well worth a phone call to inquire into the "satellite"-ness of the Ontario office. It's likely that's just a parts counter and not a show room. Hopefully this guess is wrong but I would definitely take a second to scout it out in advance. (sorry!) FWIW I'm beginning to value increasingly more the sense that this is a selection that could critically depend on actual sight (as opposed to sight-unseen internet ordering). Even though it means hauling kids, it's possible this journey just might be valuable. If you can possibly stand it, I might opt for the upscale-est showroom you can find, attitudes, notwithstanding. They seem to have more to physically show, I think. G'luck!