Depending on their throwing arms and how much area you need to protect, if you want something easy to fold up after meals, I have seen those old flannel backed table cloths used for that. You can get a small square 52" one, or fold up a larger one. You can replace them easily and cheaply, also. That is only if you want something easy to fold up and put away after each use. The office mats or Plexiglas also sound like good ideas if you want something there all the time. Those splat mats are cute but expensive. I don't know what it would cost, but you might also consider going to HD or Lowes and asking them to cut a small piece of one of those rolls of vinyl flooring they have. They are long, so you could get at least 2 mats from one piece, probably 3. It is less than 6.00 sq yd and you could get a color to match your kitchen. It might take a few days inside with something heavy on the corners or sides to make it nice and flat, but if you put it out in the sun for a little while it might flatten right out in the heat with a weight on it. Give an extra to your daughter. :) That gives me a good idea. My floor finisher told me today never to roll out my refrigerator onto the wood floor to clean behind it because it will leave tracks, it is too heavy. He said to get a piece of 1/4" plywood to roll it onto when I need to move the refrigerator. I think I might get a piece of that vinyl to use instead. I could roll it up and store it away when I don't need it and it isn't as thick so it won't as hard to get the full refrigerator up onto it. (He said to "just" lift the frige up and put it onto the plywood and then roll it, LOL.) Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Sheet vinyl

Perhaps you could clip roses for the bouquet and rosebuds for boutonnieres for the groom and the father of the bride from one of your rosebushes and then transplant the bush to the couple's new home. If the couple is going to be living in an apartment, or will be moving frequently, use a miniature rosebush that can live in a container. Clip roses from one rosebush for the bouquet (perhaps in white), and the rosebud for the groom's boutonniere from another (perhaps red). Transplant the bushes on either side of their doorstep. If you use roses from climbing roses, you could plant one on either side of an arched trellis at their home and have them grow together across it. Dry the petals of your best scented roses, sew inside a sachet-sized silk pillow, and store with your daughter's wedding gown. Make an album with a plasticine envelope containing pressed, dried petals from each of the flowers used in your daughter's wedding. Head the page with a quote about the flower, or the meaning of the flower. YOu can print these out in very pretty fonts on your computer, cut "mats" of colored cardstock, and put them under the clear covers of each page. You can also get such quotations printed on cards at bookstores. Also on the page put a picture of either just the bride, or the bride and groom together that epitomizes the quotation. Ray

You can switch out the fixtures fine down the road, especially if you get LED strip lights that don't require separate transformers. Mags, maybe that's what you are thinking about. Lowes carries a nice product: Utilitech LED Under-cabinet Light Bar that you can plug-in (and hardwire if you like) with no separate transformer that you need to tuck away for the install. They are easy to install and not very expensive. Here's a link to one of them but they come in other sizes too. http://www.lowes.com/pd_406106-57299-7613S-C35_0_?productId=4070745&Ntt=

I haven’t discussed in much detail with the builder yet. But, I think this is more of a design than safety issue. It wouldn’t be cutting corners from an electrical integrity standpoint. Code allows outlets in cabinets here. Apart from the obvious consideration of preserving the structural integrity of the cabinet, it isn’t really cutting corners as far as I can tell.