My cat is trained not to go on the counters. It takes some real patience on your part, though. A real "cat person" loaned me a book called "how to make your cat do what you want" when I got my cat, since I had never had one before. I learned a few critical things from that book: 1. Cats do not respond well to negative reinforcement from you. If you yell or chastise them when they do something, they will do it because it gets your attention, and sometimes out of anger or spite or just to demonstrate that you are NOT the boss of THEM. 2.Positive reinforcement SHOULD come from you so the cat associates you with the positive rather than the negative. 3. Negative reinforcement should NOT be associated with you and should happen both when you are there and when you are not. 4. If you punish a cat every time they do something, they only learn not to do it when you are around. Several methods were suggested, but what worked for me was the marbles. Cats hate loud noises. You put a handful of marbles in cleaned out tin cans and line the counter with them. Leave them there all the time that you are not working at the counter. Space them so the cat can not jump up onto the counter between them without knocking them over. If the cat jumps on the counter he/she will knock over the can of marbles onto the floor which will cause a loud noise as the marbles fall and startle the cat. The scat mats would also work, but you would need to cover the counters with them and that would be rather expensive. I would not want to spray stuff on my counters that is not food worthy, so check out what is in those sprays and how they smell and make sure they will not be absorbed into the stone or damage the resin or discolor the stone. I lived with those cans of marbles for about 6 months, but my cat is now 9 yrs old and never goes on the counters. I confess to having knocked them over more than she did. I found the easiest way to live with them is to just push the cans to the back of the counter while you are working in the kitchen so you are less likely to knock them over yourself, and then just slide them forward again when you are done. When she did jump up on the kitchen table a few times after I stopped using the cans, I would laugh, pick her up off the table and put her on the floor, and tell her "that's not for kitties". If she jumped up again, I laughed, held her up so I was looking at her on "eye level" and said the same thing, then kissed her on the head and placed her back on the floor. If I had to I would have put the cans back rather than yell at her, a good decision as I learned later with my couch. She doesn't go on the table now 9 years later, either. However, I wasn't so smart with the couch and yelled at her and shooed her away from it. To this day, if I am ignoring her and she wants to get my attention, she will go over to the couch and start to run her claws over it! I am not sure if it is out of print now or not, but even if it is, if you can get a used copy off eBay or somewhere, it is worth the price. It is esp useful if you are starting with a kitten, because the learned behaviors will be with that cat (and YOU) for many years. It might take longer for cats that are older and were used to getting up there, but a new kitchen and a new countertop are a great time to alter the behavior. The cat is aware that things have changed and this is new stuff. He/She might as well learn that the new counters just aren't as friendly as the old ones. :) Sue

Sherilynn, that would be supremely helpful!! (not that I was ever going to get them, but it does make walking away easier). I am thinking of some pottery barn stools, either the Tibetan ones mentioned above (which look identical to the ones on Overstock and cheaper at Overstock, so I'd get them there) or the Megan stool. I think the point of a false sense of security with little kids and a stool with a back is a good one... also, a backless stool is going to be better for me so that I can tuck them under the counter as the spot for the stools is a little bit of a busy passageway. AND the backless stools aren't as wide which is also good for me. THANKS!! ps: I like the stool with the piping. I figured I could get an extra slipcover or two (still a lot less $$ than springing for the Moser stools) so that when the kids spill I can change it out. I have found that the straw seats aren't good for us... my 2 year old spills his milk while eating his cereal and so it isn't very easy to clean it out of straw (yuck!). probably wood would be the best for cleaning, but those megan stools look really comfy. Here is a link that might be useful: Megan stool from Pottery Barn

oldbat2be-I'm kind of thrown on the pink tiles. I don't think they quite coordinate. I've been staring at them all day and I've pretty much talked myself out of them. Now I'm back at square one on the backsplash. Not a huge deal, because I really don't need one. Behind the sink seems to be the only place that needs a frequent wipe down. I blame that mostly on using a horrible sink/faucet combo while waiting for the sink decision. I can handle wiping it down until I choose something else. Got any excellent suggestions? Cheap is the name of the game. Whatever it is will likely cover the entire sink wall up to the cabinets and the entire wall in the range alcove. Those tiny mosaics and more brick are the only definite nos I've got. The only tile I've looked in person were in the home improvement stores. Mr. MM liked some Dark Emperador Cafe tiles from Home Depot that we looked at. I think there is a better choice. He's leery of letting me loose in a tile store. I know I'd fall in love with something that was $500 a sq. ft. Like the first backsplash love that I've ever felt. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/new-look-for-an-exclusive-coastal-residence-mediterranean-kitchen-san-diego-phvw-vp~264799) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by La Jolla General Contractor GDC Construction I had dreams about that backsplash for months. It also sings with the voice of angels. Really, in the end, I just want a kitchen that looks lived in. Comfortable and cozy. Something that ages gracefully with little maintenance. That's the vibe I'm going for, if that helps at all. The addition is much needed and has been discussed since we bought the house. The plan was to save up for a bigger piece of property and a new construction, but land prices went from about $3500 an acre to $10-14k an acre in the last 5 years. So we're going to stay put at least until the kids graduate. Most likely will stay put for good and just buy land for the future generations to enjoy. 5 people, two bedrooms, one bath won't work for many more years. The addition would be ripping out the old kitchen, and extending that out another 8 ft, digging a basement under that portion, fixing the rest of the foundation, and adding a second floor. We'd gain a proper laundry room, 2 bedrooms, and two bathrooms, and we'll have more than 2 tiny closets in the entire house. I think we're done expanding the family, so each child will have a bedroom, although I expect they will all stay in one for at least a few more years. They cried when I told them they would all have their own bedroom! I feel about the same as you when it comes to faucets. I'd like to love one, but I have yet to find one that truly makes my heart sing. Maybe a cheapy will do until I find the one. I think the Karbon might be a little too modern for the space, but I do get the urge to find one in a showroom just to play with for a few minutes. As far as lighting goes, I hadn't thought a ton about glare, just because I have exposed bulbs now that don't bother me, but moving them down a foot or two might change that drastically. As far as what I'm lighting, it would mostly be the island and the area directly around it. But if they lit up the entire room, that would be fine as well. Unless we eat around or after dusk, I don't even turn on the main kitchen lights. Just the two above the range. I like to be able to see what I'm doing, but don't require stadium lighting to do so. Maybe I should start a new thread on lighting and see where that takes me. I just hate to post too much, don't want to spam up the board for more important issues.

Straying a bit OT (though I'm obviously interested in the thread as we have 70 sf of Calcatta Gold countertop scheduled for installation next week), but re the issue of butcher block finishes: I have a strong preference. The standard advice is to use "food safe oil"--mineral plus bee's wax is a favorite. We started with that on our BB counters at the lake house. After repeated coats, a two second encounter with a cut strawberry or a drop of red wine would still stain enough to require resanding. This drove me crazy. We had two smaller pieces of BB flanking the range. Becauase of the spattering issue, our installer had suggested using polyurethane. This would preclude any cutting on them, as urethane forms a protective film on the surface, and thus any cut compromises the protection. It's functional but I hate the way it looks, plasticky and way too shiny. At any rate I decided I needed something better for the island. I did oodles of online research. Had considered Watco BB oil and General Finishes Salad Bowl oil but then in a flash of inspiration realized I still had lots of Waterlox left over from doing our floors. I love our Waterlox'd floors! They are bulletproof, but using the satin finish, there is absolutely no sheen and you can see and feel the surface of the wood, unlike urethane. It's easy to apply and can be reapplied without resanding. It is tough as nails--this is a lake house with kids dripping from the lake running in and out all day. I checked and their website confirmed that it's safe for countertops (it is, for the technically interested, a polymerized tung oil product. Tung oil has been used for centuries to waterproof boats etc, but unlike pure tung oil, Waterlox dries quickly and without a sticky residue). I've put three coats on so far, Water beads immediately and there has been absolutely no staining. This is one of my true favorite products and you owe it to yourself to check it out: Waterlox HTH!