Fudgie: The paint color on the cabinets is Ben Moore Ivory White. The paint itself isn't Ben Moore (it's a pre-cat Lacquer that the cabinet maker sprayed on) but we match that color. It is the trim color we use around the house. There was some concern during planning that it would be to yellow - turns out we think it's perfect. sallybeth: We are really enjoying the Sub-zeros. Some people prefer the racks and look of the european fridges (i.e. Miele) but these suit us well. We went with the door and drawer options over the single column as we think it's easier to just open a drawer when you need it - plus you can open the large door with children around and not have them immediately crawl into the fridge (an issue around our house...) The wine cooler had a rattle after it was first installed, I called the "white glove" service group and they came out the next day. While it really only needed a quick spot weld to secure a coolant line that was vibrating, they replaced the entire compressor assembly - pretty impressive. The same service folks are coming out to ensure our ovens and grill / griddle are well calibrated (seems like the ovens are a little lower than the set temp and the grill is a little uneven.) Nit picky stuff, but they haven't raised an eyebrow at my requests. Next day appointments too. Impressive stuff! Crafterbeth: Thanks for the suggestions, I'm looking forward to diving into the backyard once the thaw comes! I still owe all of you final (with backsplash) photos. Still looking for a time to get the kitchen clean and empty for some shots. I haven't forgotten!

Hello Woodnotrust and Pricklypearcactus, Last week, in a final fit of doubt, I called around to all the stone warehouses I had visited to see if anyone had received any new 3cm slabs, which might save us the whole debate of a built-up edge. One stone supplier was kind enough to send photos of 3cm calacatta slabs sitting in a Montreal warehouse. But in the end, we decided we still preferred the marble we'd tagged and so I made the down payment on the slab in anticipation of our shceduled cabinet installation this week. But now our cabinetmaker needs a little more time, and that, coupled with a business trip on our end means everything is postponed until early March. Now that we have ample to time to second guess our decision, we especially appreciate your support of our choice. At this point we have decided to use the eased square-edge with set back ogee underneath. The marble will be honed by our fabricator. Pricklypearcactus, we did consider your idea of reversing the profile for the lower part of the counter, but decided that cleaning the square edge will be easier, and the extra counterspace still desirable, so we are going to keep the two edges the same. I don't know if you saw our other thread about whether stainless or soapstone would be the better surface for our perimeter counters, but on the weekend we visited two soapstone importers and were won over. It will be a higher contrast scheme than we'd been planning, but we are finding ourselves quite excited about the prospect. We may even decide to paint the island cabinetry quite dark. I have my eye on Farrow & Ball's off black, but that will be a debate for March. N especially seemed to have a very visceral affinity to the soapstone. Its tactile qualities are not to be ignored. Stainless can look good, and is certainly functional, but it doesn't really invite touch. The soapstone will have an eased square edge to differentiate it completely from the island. Three window sills, also in soapstone (we debated using marble, but decided it might look too contrived), will rest on the perimeter counter and if they don't encroach too much onto the counter, we may have an ogee edge put on the sills--as an echo of our original wood sills. The soapstone we've chosen has astonishing caramel coloured veining which looks great with the limed wood trim and picks up some of the warmer tones in the marble. I'll post a thread when we have more progress to report.

marcolo, for what it's worth (probably not much), I've spent the last 17 years in this 60-year-old house with, in the kitchen, a vinyl sheet floor that was ugly even when new (white, pink, and gray) and of course my husband was aghast at the idea of removing "perfectly good" flooring just because it was ugly. It is also poor quality, and every dropped item, from forks and knives and especially the cans of food my kids liked to make towers with when they were little, made horrible brown rents in the vinyl. But each rent and dent tells a story, especially of my children's toddlerhood! Most of the countertop is marble "look" Formica, and doesn't look nearly as nice, and hasn't held up as nicely, as the little piece of butcher block my husband made out of the old school gymnasium floor on one side of our O'Keefe & Merritt, and on the other side the old piece of stone that used to be the newspaper office's back step! So the marble and Ikea butcherblock, and hardwood kitchen floors in the new house will be a huge step up for me, and in the end, I'd rather have dings in the hardwood than on the vinyl flooring, because in the end it's wood rather than vinyl. I have an antique French buffet with marble top, and it came with a water ring on top, but to me it just adds to the history. Any other material just wouldn't look or feel the same to me. It's magnificent. I still remember taking delivery of my first real coffee table a few years out of college. It was mahogany, from Altman's, and I couldn't wait to polish off the dust from the delivery truck. A friend thought she would help and instead of spraying the cloth, as I'd always been taught, she sprayed the table directly. No matter how much we both rubbed with the cloth, the wood looked as if it had been sneezed on, and did for years. I still have that coffee table, and it has never looked as pristine as it did when it was first delivered, but it has lovely patina and personality. Which for a farm family with three kids is fine...

I am using Polarstone Olympia and I think it may be the same as QM Organic White. I think we have discussed this elsewhere. It got installed yesterday and I was out of town. Here are pics. I hope mine is the same as katie's b/c those look awesome. Also, Katie, I appreciate your sharing your backsplash. I am planning real marble too, but need to see with actual counters. I like what you chose. That could be an option if I don't like the real marble.