thanks everyone, yeah--i do like a little bling too. my house is more transitional/tradtional. behind the range will be a focal point from our great room so i would like a little something extra back there. i read on other posts on here the challenges with my space restrictions...only aboupt 28 inches to tile. so, i think i'll go ahead & purchase the first mosiacs and perhaps only use one row. I can have him edge out some type of picture frame with the herringbone pattern inside. tile guy said he can lay it out for me, than if i don't like it i can forgo the glass tiles. despite having windows in the kitchen, it's not very bright so i would love to have a little sparkle in there. thanks again everyone your suggestion/comments..you guys are the best!

Kountry Wood was the "value" offering at a design store here in Mich called the Kitchen Shop-there are a few of their design centers scattered in this area. I thought the product was good -liked the finish. They are Amish made. Because of the presence of a complete design and install center handling them, I know they would work for the price point maybe better than other cheaper cabinet lines where customer service can be a hassle to correct things or tweak something in the plan/etc. Now I have just looked and see that the Kitchen Shop has dropped them and picked up Waypoint and Wolf cabinets-never heard of them. KountryWood is still in operation...looks like they have streamlined their offerings-just maple, oak, and cherry. I believe they had birch and hickory previously. What I notice is some interesting stain options on maple and a white paint....some dark stains for oak. Other cheaper cabinets I don't think would present you with the finish they give you and now stain offerings to boot. Might be good. If you have a design center handling them it might be a good end product for a lower investment in your cabinets while ending up with a good durable product. I felt the door finishes when handling/looking at them were superior to Ikea. But Ikea has certain aspects that make it desirable as well.

Doesn't seem to be much out there on this company. They manufacture in Kansas. One of their offered woods is hickory, which we're interested in and which isn't a standard wood for most other companies. I have found a dealer in Oklahoma but don't know how widespread their dealer network is beyond the Midwest.

Thank you everyone- your kitchens are lovely! I can only hope mine turns out as nice when it is finally finished. Vjrnts: Your soapstone is so cool- what type is that? My cabs are maple but a similar shade so it really gave me an idea of what it would look like. Bunglogirl: Thanks for the pic-- I have the same sink - it looks really nice with the tile. Sarchlos-remoodeler: if you can dig up that pic it would be greatly appreciated- sounds pretty. Thank you all.