Don't chicken out, purplepansies! I have zero training or experience with kitchen designing and everyone has been incredibly welcoming of my DAT attempts. I've found it to be fun and a great learning experience. When there have been ways to improve on my design, the talented eyes on GW have given great feedback that has helped me think about design concepts that never would have crossed my mind. So please do join in the fun and post your design.

only working in seating for 2 may be fine for your needs,however due to the large island dimension, a future buyer may find the "2" limitation an issue. I rather like the pic of the slate bluish island of the pics you show,because it looks so inviting for seating.the 1st pic is okay[not really special],the 3rd has a lot of detail for the period theme, the last pic is very modernish.Why don't you think about style,the overall aspects of your space-step back enough to be objective and go ahead and make the decisions then. I'd maybe do the bookcase,all one level,but seating for three,from what little is known.

I briefly entertained a safe tile in a quiet slate, something I'd originally thought of for the floor. More traditional for this area. It was a medium gray with some golden tones shown in a flooring install sample at a tile shop. Then I asked to see if there was a sample board to see how it compared. It was ice blue! The tile stores seem to think this is no big deal, lol. No returns. After doing the rounds again, I bought a box of one of my old favorites. It's a terra cotta style that looks pretty much like this one but without the deco tile. My cabinets are a creamy raised panel. The grout would be a subtle gray like the picture. The size still worries me at 14 inches although it really doesn't look all that large on the small store floor installation. Laid out it is looking like an oversized tile. What would be your guess on this tile size? I don't care for this tile in the horizontal running bond in here. I'm struggling between a diamond pattern (the shop shows the tile this way) or a running bond on the diagonal (which seems to look good). I like cozy so don't feel the need is to expand the space by using a diamond. I simply enjoy that pattern. It's more a matter of it's effect on the style and feel of the kitchen for me, as well as the layout of my small rectangular kitchen with it being a 14 inch tile. How do you think the large terra cotta in a diamond pattern compared to a running bond on the diagonal would affect the style of a space? I was surprised to see this English country kitchen showing a terra cotta diamond pattern. I'd decided that seemed to be going French rather than English country. (I've also noticed Italian rooms using terra on the diagonal. This is an Italian tile.) Please share your styling observations!

Hello, Bichonlover3, and thank you so much for your kind words. I know the photo isn't as clear as it could be, but to answer some of your questions: the walls are real plaster with integral color that's been burnished to show color variation; if you're referring to the undermounted sink in the island, yes, that is hammered copper, but the rest of the island is an antique french style end-grain butcher block and behind that is giallo reale marble, which is the same as the marble on the other counters. It has an antique finishe, not honed. The tile on the back splash is authentic antique Italian cement tiles. They were sourced by the person who designed and built my kitchen. (He, too, is Italian, John DiSanto 818.693.3777.) He does amazing work. In fact, my kitchen isn't the best example of his work as he was working with some existing elements as opposed to a clean design slate. I've seen other examples of his work in many different styles. I'm sure he works in your area because I know he did a wine cellar in the Chop House Restaurant in Palm Springs that's amazing. Also, let me add my two cents about the faux beams that are under discussion: in other parts of my house, we used real 200 year old beams, which gave it instant authenticity and my designer made some wooden box beams which he also did an antique finish on, that almost looked as good. As far as the styrofoam faux beams, in my opinion, unless you go over those with an additional finish, they tend to look pretty plastic.