If your husband doesn't want the "lab look" then I would not recommend soapstone. You probably know what a die-hard soapstone fanatic I am. I'm very tactile, and the texture is just everything for me. But to be honest, the water rings and rubber marks were a big surprise to me (It is possible to oil them away, but then the overall look is blotchy). I had never heard of them before. I can live with them, b/c I like a kitchen that looks like a work area. But I just can't see them in your lovely kitchen. For example, since I have little counter space, I have lots of appliances that don't stay on the counter (they go in the cupboard). So, I get out the blender, or the food processor, or even the electric pencil sharpener to use it. When I lift it off the counter to put it away, the rubber feet have pulled the oil off the soapstone, and little gray ovals remain. I guess if I always had my appliances out, I wouldn't see them. Even ceramic crocks left out for a short period of time pull the oil out. Francy

Gorgeous kitchen, ginterpark! I bet it's even better in person than the pictures, because I know how that Rixi tile just glows. I'm in the middle of our remodel, and also selected Rixi Tile (Crema and Dore (cream and yellow)). The tile boxes say the tile must be sealed: do you know if that means before they are put in place and grouted (so they are sealed back and sides too) or only after? My GC may know, but he may not: I'd like to be sure in case he doesn't.

I'm getting a weird error message telling me I can't post two followups to a single message...but I've already done that! Huh. So I'm posting a new one. Fourkids4us: I liked the look of the cafe a lot. I liked the fact that it had a central, 5th burner that you can put a griddle on, and I liked the second oven. However, when we smelled gas, and the gas company (and then Sears) told us that all 5 burners were leaking, that kinda put a damper on my enthusiasm. Also, only one of the burners fully lit up. The Sears guy told me that there have been lots of issues with the knobs breaking off (they have a very long shaft which is stupidly made of plastic - so they feel very wobbly, and I can see how the shaft could crack easily). Apparently they are pretty expensive to replace. I've since researched the cafe more (in trying to decide whether to replace it or go with another one) and I see others have had knob issues too. So for all those reasons, I decided to look around. GE/Sears were great; it was within 30 days of installation, and they just came and got it, no problem. I like the look of the Bertazzoni (I know I shouldn't be so into how the thing looks, but I figure I have to look at it every day, might as well get something that makes me happy when I see it). At first I didn't like the fact that it doesn't have a temperature readout - but when you do a search on this forum (or the gardenweb appliance forum) you'll see that people who own Berts don't find this to be an issue. Some of them have purchased thermometers to put inside the oven (the Taylor connoisseur is supposed to be a good one) but after a while, they seem to get to know the oven and it isn't an issue. The oven is smaller than the cafe, but as others have pointed out, it is at least as big as some of the big-ticket stoves (like LaCornue) - and unlike those more expensive ones, it has a light inside! It's supposed to be really, really easy to clean. I don't know why that would be, but if you search on the forums, that's another thing that owners seem to be happy about. Also: no electronics means there's less to break on the thing. I'm getting the 30" Professional all-gas stainless steel one: There's currently a deal where if you buy a Professional or Master range, you can get a hood for free! Any hood! I have to get a weird hood for my kitchen because of cfm and height restrictions - but I'm going to take the free Bert hood and just sell it on Craigslist. When you search this forum and the appliance forum for Bertazzoni, make sure to read Rococogurl's posts - she's had one for a few years now and has written a lot about it. Here's a thread where I was asking her why she chose the Bert over the cafe: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg051604174025.html

Oops, sorry for the very delayed response, MGMum and gemcap :-(. Thank you for your kind comments . MGMum: Of course I don't mind, I'm tickled white! ;-) gemcap: Thanks for your warm wishes, really appreciate it! Yes, we are truly enjoying our kitchen - a year later. Clean-up's the best part - so easy and such a pleasure! Yes, I did put in a great deal of thought into this kitchen and researched a great deal, too. Thanks for intuiting that! ;-)