Our home has those dreadful popcorn ceilings in most of the second floor (we removed it in the hall and the MB) and they are white. The MB is a very faint pink/blush (the walls are bright, tomato red). I've just painted about 1/3 of the ceiling in what will be my new workroom. I chosen a pale blue. It's darker than I expected it to be and will probably be OK, but I'm feeling a little nervous. I plan to wait until I've finished the entire thing with the first coat before pushing the panic button. I think the "ceiling white" phase has more to do with tract housing of the '50s-'80s not having particularly gracious ceiling heights, and the idea was to make the room as bright as possible. Also, white paint is cheap (colors cost more, as we all know too well, huh?) and it hides a multitude of drywall sins. I don't think there's any "rule" about selecting a color and whether or not it should match the woodwork. Honestly, I think a ceiling with some contrast to the woodwork show it off to much nicer advantage.

birdly... makes total sense that you had to redo stuff if it were that one employee - you should have heard the subcontractors complain about that employees work :) The nice thing is Mark had them redo stuff without argument - a friends contractor fought him and tried to charge him on every little thing that he asked to be redone (and we are talking some obvious things) If you want I can let him know that my glowing review of his work was slightly tainted by a deck that took too long - he won't like that! Its sad that he was late for yours becuase both the person at international kitchens and the person I got the sink from commented on how hes on time. For me he was about 1 month late but given the circumstances that was not bad. Its surprising about the communication - he was great for me. It does sound like he was putting all his effort into my project - did you let him know that you were doing a kitchen and becuase he didn't handle the small project well he misses out on the bigger one? (FYI the contractor that was awful for my friend was Chermak construction - it was a 100k+ project and they tried to charge him when the electrician put in a 3 bank switch that only needed 2 switches so the electrician left a switch that did nothing - they told my friend that a "do nothing" switch was an "acceptable solution" - that was the worst example but there were tons of things like that). I am 95% sure Mark got the doors through PCS Millwork. They were WAY cheaper (talking less than 1/2) the cost of the equivalent doors through the lumber yard he normally uses. gwent, nightowl was asking about the dining lights - if you search (ctrl+f) the thread for "nightowl" and read those posts you should get all the details on the lights. For the pulls, believe it or not we got them at Loews. I went to all the fancy shops for a couple weeks stressing about hardware and finally stumbled on them at Loews of all places.

Gorgeous kitchen! I love the style of the doors, the hardware used, the gorgeous Bianco Romano Granite counters (I need to now get a sample), the appliances, the backsplash, the shelf in back of the range, etc. Thanks for letting me know that you keep bumping into the handles and getting bruses on your legs since that is something I did not think about as I have no hardware on my doors right now and my new kitchen will have hardware that I have not picked out yet. Thanks for letting us know that your cabinets are Hanssem Cabinets as it is a door I am considering if I decide to go with full overlay frameless and not inset.

The floor tile is Emser Europa Bianca Glazed Porcelain. The countertop is Superwhite granite. Tub is Aquatica Purescape Acrylic 014a. Toilet Kohler Cimmaron round chair height. Tub faucet is from Signature Hardware - Leta Faucet. Sink faucet is Delta Olmsted. My splurge item was the trim kit recessed chandelier light over the tub....it is from Beaux-Artes...here's the stock pic of it. I just adore it! It is elegant but understated. You have to click on the pic w/the art to see it all. Mine is in white below: I used a gray paint from Walmart called Country Fog...it is a light gray w/hint of blue. Here's the stock photo of cabinet hardware: Amerelle 8335EN Leaf Euro Pull, Nickel Here's my artwork for over the tub