cate1337, first I want to say it's so nice to see your name here! Many months ago (I think it was last summer, actually), not long after I joined GW, you v. kindly answered a question of mine (which some others labeled as "stupid"), and I've always appreciated you and your kindness. You have a special spot with me! About your floor -- first, let me agree with everyone who thinks you are amazing the way you are handling this. Me, let those curse words fly! I love cork -- it's a beautiful, comfy surface, and I totally get why you'd want it in your kitchen. What color were you thinking of having the cork (since you can get in so many shades)? Would it be similar to your existing floors? If yes, and I'm just picturing this in my mind's eye, I honestly don't think it would be a visual problem having the island straddle two different materials. If they're different heights then clearly that's a different matter altogether, but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed. If you're going to add new oak floors, then I think you should have them laced into the existing. They can do that without having to refinish everything -- they'll just sand a small area of the old floors and do that along with the new (so it'll all blend in). We, too, have oak floors throughout the first floor of our house and next week, maybe?, oak will be put in our barren kitchen. (previously it had vinyl) For me, wood works in our kitchen. BUT, I have children the exact same ages as yours, and we just had the main level floors put in February 2007 (so we moved into this house in March with these floors brand-new). Holy cow you are not kidding about the scratches! One pass of a firetruck with a piece of grit stuck to a wheel and it is curtains. My mother was particularly ugly about why we didn't get a glossy finish on the floors (I begged the flooring guy for as matte as possible, foreseeing this v. thing), but boy am I grateful I didn't (get any sort of sheen). As it is, all the floors are going to be refinished (the flooring guy and I had a "miscommunication" on the color I wanted [I was in another state so didn't oversee the process]) when the whole remodel is done, and you can bet I'll be doing the most matte finish again! I'm okay with the scratches but I'm infinitely more laid-back than my mother ... different story. (I swear lots more than she does as well!) My point being, I think you are smart to think about the littles' impact on the floor. I'm really looking forward to seeing your space progress! GOOD LUCK with the flooring, cate.

Wooh we're in the middle of a blizzard! Being trapped inside makes me want to cook. Herbflavor~I originally had wanted everything in drawers, but my kitchen will be around 8'x10' so I was trying to free up as much space as possible to make sure I don't have to store things in the basement or something. I was testing last night on my toaster oven which happens to be be the exact height and depth of the (maybe floating shelves) I would use, and it was perfect for my arms reach. I store my mixing bowls under counter (although not in a drawer), and it's a pain. I use a lot of mixing bowls. Needinfo1~I know my little place will be far from Parade of Homes worthy. It is a very modest little house (960 sq ft), and the little U shaped kitchen will NOT be open to the living room. It will be nice to not have to worry about keeping my kitchen amazingly beautiful so I can really cook. Oh, and did I mention I'm a messy cook. : (

I would try just sitting a micro there, on its cardboard box and see what you think. It reads open and airy now, but I'm pretty sure it will become "micro in your face", particularly when the door opens. Lots of those pests are 15" deep plus the plug. Retrofitting a cabinet is ok but the micro will still need at least an extended shelf. The problem with the Ikea brackets (using valter as an example and I do have them) is that it's tricky to calculate what will happen when you put a deeper shelf on. And it's tricky to estimate how much to allow for people using it because its elevated. As an example, if my popcorn is burning, I'm going to be smacking that door open button with a fair amount of force and may tug the door downwards a little from panic. 5-20 pounds of force? 35 pounds? I have no idea! Back to the Valter, it's current limit per shelf is 33 lbs. Altho they DON'T EXPLAIN, it's likely they were thinking 2 foot spacing of brackets and an 11 1/4" shelf for ikea. You'll need to use a deeper shelf between 15" and 20". This means that the front edge is a cantilever for 5-10" past the edge of the bracket. The brackets are taller than the space you seem to have to the outlet from the tile, so you'd need to mount them through the tile to actual studs. That means extra long screws that can't have a wider diameter to compensate for the fact that the screws themselves are more brittle with length as well as harder to install. I don't know what to think about using those in that situation. Because the valter brackets themselves are junk white wood, my guess is they would fall apart about 3 months later. You'd know when the micro crashed onto the counter and then the floor. I think what I would choose to to is cut out some drywall below the outlet face plate and strongly screw a nice board (like a 1x3) to the exposed studs - adjusting to make it even to the face of the tile. Then I could install brackets anywhere I wanted plus possibly a french cleat for the shelf. By adding something like 1x2" strips on edge to the front and the back, I would get some weight re-inforcement and add to the stiffness of the shelf. So sorta-kinda like the drawing showing the edge of the arrangement. I'd also ask casey (user name ci_lantro I believe) and/or other competent woodworkers (which I am surely not).

Monkey Puzzle, thanks for the Hakatai link. I have not looked there for a long time. They have some new things. Writersblock, I appreciate the vote for the laissez-faire path! I like how you think. :-) Earth Pal, I am thinking about finding a tile I love and then figuring out the counter color. Rococo suggested in the last big thread that maybe a darker counter color would work better. I want the tile choice to drive the counter choice, as it should have in the first place. There aren't a lot of colors to choose from so it will probably be White Pearl, Alpine White (too bright probably) or Ivory Cloud if I find a tile that is not too busy. If I find something busy, I will probably look at the "refined" colors with a finer grain, like Gelato, Latte or Snow Flurry. I have not yet seen samples of the refined colors. I would like to use White Pearl if I can because I love the crushed oyster shell in the Sage Pearl. I am assuming it will be the same as what I have now, sans the green bottle glass. That would be fine with me. Rococo, the tile will go in some time after the counters, but as I said above, I really want the tile to drive the counters. I learned through this process that tile makes my heart sing more than any counter surface ever will. I have to say, the asymmetry does not bug me on a day-to-day basis. It is kind of a theoretical problem, mostly apparent in photographs. My hunch is that no one visiting my house sees the problem. Sometimes I think that having a backsplash tile that makes me happy, like the last kitchen did, will be contentment enough. But, of course, if I can tweak the imbalance, I should! I want the wall color to change. Have been thinking all along about green. (Cooking Apple Green, Ball Green, Stone White even) The symmetry problem made me think that the wall should be all one color. IOW, not white/neutral tile below and green paint above. That's why I was struggling to find a green for the backsplash that I could live with on the walls. Greens that would satisfy my wall color needs (muted) did not work with the green fleck in the counters (bright). More recently, I have been pondering the possibility of "white" tile and walls. Not usually my thing, but I am trying to keep an open mind. The driving issue to me seems to be that the wall should be monochromatic. The trim color stays. I like it. The cabs stay the same for now and maybe forever. Someday, perhaps I will have painted cabs, but thinking about that now makes my head explode just a little. :-) Metallics are appealing, as is a bit of subdued iridescence (Oceanside Glasstile iridescence). But, I worry about cleaning stainless tiles. I hate keeping after what little SS I have now and would like to not sign up for more. But, I am all ears/eyes! Cleaning beautiful things is not so bad.