We had a narrow small galley kitchen circa 70s and began the process of turning it to a 2010 kitchen. The process (looking for cabinets, tiles, etc.) took 4 months. The work started on May 3 but was halted after 3 weeks as the contractor was a scammer (took our money and went AWOL!). We found another wonderful contractor and on July 3 our kitchen was finished (still some very minor work to be done)!!!!!! The old kitchen had two rows: cabinets, stove and fridge on one side, and sink, dishwasher and more cabinets on the other side. The sink blocked a floor-to-ceiling window which could not be opened. The stove and dishwasher were opposite each other and the fridge and sink were opposite each other, meaning you couldn't open one appliance without closing another! The space in the middle was so narrow that only one person could stand. We came up with a U shaped kitchen--the new refrigerator (a 24"x78" Liebherr) opening to the left with two narrow cabinets flanking a 24" Fischer Paykel stove, curving to a corner cabinet. The countertop goes around with the dishwasher and at the sink at the end of the wall, adjacent to the window which is now ublocked! On the other side of the window we have a double cabinet and a tall pantry. The old kitchen had swing doors which was a pain; we have replaced it with a sliding opaque glass door which hides in the wall when not used. Now we have more space and all the appliances can be opened without bumping into each other. We chose Elmwood framless oak cabinets in black, narrow but tall fridge, 24" stove, 18" dishwasher all in matte stainless steel to maximize space, Blanco stianless sink and faucet, Aquasana water filter, White Fantasy granite (looks like an abstract painting so so much movement), white ceramic subway backsplashes and large light grey ceramic tiles for the floor. We love our kitchen. To see the pictures please go to Flickr and search "Old and new kitchen" by Nilgris. Our advice to anyone considering a remodel is DO NOT HIRE A CONTRACTOR FROM THE ITERNET, AND CHECK OUT REFERENCES, BBB, ETC. Good Luck!

Quietwalk or 1/4" cork. I've seen the Eco-cork "numbers" and how they achieved them....not pretty. Unless you can buy your downstairs neighbor a 12" drop-down Armstrong Acoustic ceiling, you will not get what you want from that product. Eco-Cork foam is 90% polyethylene foam (not cork). They HAD to add cork because of some complaints that they were using the word "cork" when it didn't have ANY cork (100% polyethylene foam = false advertising anyone?). So...they added a snick of cork and then republished their old numbers. Done like dinner. And still wonky after all these years. Having sold and worked with cork for more than 6 years, I have investigated pretty much every underpad out there. QuietWalk is the ONLY one I have respect for. Please use their 3mm thick pad...or thicker if you can. The 1/4" cork is lovely because you throw it down like a beach blanket. No tape. No glue. Just butt the edges together and start laying the floating wood floor. It will help even out tiny wobbles in the gypcrete...which is helpful because gypcrete is a PAIN in the @ss to deal with if it needs patching. Either one will get you a nice quiet home....the cork will be more rigid and sometimes that is needed over a little bit of a wonky subfloor.

You can get tile that looks just like wood planks and never worry about water damage again. I just put this in my home (bedrooms kitchen and great room) and it looks wonderful! People see it and cannot believe it is tile (and tile is much cheaper per square foot than most other flooring.) You will also save a ton not having to buy any special flooring cleaners. We also live at the beach so I don't have to worry about sand scratching up the floors either.

I think I’m going to go with a wood look plank tile (9 x 48) that blends with the color of the tile (pictured below with a transition piece). I really like the look of the porcelain tile that looks like stone, but it doesn’t seem to flow as nicely with my current flooring.