Wow,, am I glad I checked this thread. First-- Metro is annother tile company. I'm pretty sure instead of having lugs on the sides of the tiles like Dal's, it has a raised ridge that runs the whole perimeter of the tile, but does the exact same thing. As for HD, they have the very same Daltile, but they also have U.S. Ceramics, as well. Also not a bad tile. Secondly, as for matte vs brite glaze, there's no difference in maintanence. The only difference, pretty much is your taste. Third, the only problem I forsee with respect to hanging the Durock is that any time I've hung cement board where plaster was, the studs never seem to be in good alignment. But that's not a big deal. They can either be hand planed or shimmed, as needed. Other than that, it's a piece of cake. Lastly, DO NNOT take those HD classes. I sat in on one and tore the instructor to bits, to the point that he was ready to have me removed from the store. Those classes are a joke. If you want the real deal information, as well as a BUNCH of pros to pretty much hold your hand through the whole thing, go to John BRidge's forum. the link's below. They (we) won't steer you wrong. Here is a link that might be useful: John Bridge's Tile Advice Forum

So, in these pictures I'm seeing three possible paths to KTWLS. First, kitchens that are explicitly and authentically ''period''. In 2010 and 2030 alike, a vintage 1920's period kitchen will look like a vintage 1920's period kitchen. It hasn't been ''in style'' for 90 years, it isn't pretending to be in style, and it can no more go out of style than the historical waxwork dioramas in the Museum of Natural History. Second, kitchens that are well-executed eclecticism. It isn't of a specific era, doesn't have a specific look, is a collection of disparate elements which are each appealing and go together harmoniously. Even as one of those elements becomes over-exposed and then shades into silly, it's just one risible piece in a still-graceful whole. Third, and I suspect this will be controversial, kitchens that are very, very avant-garde. Tastes change slowly. Furniture of the ''Le Courbusier'', Mies Van De Rohr, Marcel Breuer sort - ''modernist'' if you will - that was so stylish in the 1950s and 1960s, was actually created in the 1920s and 1930s. It took decades for the Wassily chair to go from ultra-modern to mainstream. A very perceptive student of cutting-edge modern design might be able to shoot ahead of the bird, as they say, and build a kitchen that might actually look less silly in 20 years than it does today. Maybe. I wouldn't be able to do it. Well, I can see a final approach, which I think would work in theory for a very few people. Simply transplant a commercial kitchen, or as close as you can, into the house. I think a restaurant kitchen in 2030 will look much like a restaurant kitchen today, save perhaps for more induction, because they are designed for function, not fashion. You'll have a kitchen that is equally institutional and graceless in 20 years as today. I really like seeing the pictures. I hope they keep coming. I'm getting some ideas.

Greetings Anne, If you hit that couch at speed ... I hope you have turning signals on it! I've suggested to some shoppers in the supermarket that we should have turning signals on shopping carts. They have brakes on some of 'em around here - take 'em more than a couple of hundred feet from the store ... ... and a little doo-hickey jams a wheel so that it won't turn. The cart guy, or a cashier, has to hold a little gizmo down beside it and click ... ... to free it up so that it'll work again. Hey - we should get a such a doo-hickey on the cars of drunks - they have to blow clear before they start the vehicle ... or the brakes are stuck. ole joyful

We moved into a neighborhood of 1960s-70s colonials. One of the many things I liked about our house was the black slate foyer floor. A new friend came by and mentioned that "that slate is really easy to remove" and she had just put new large-format tile in her foyer instead. 12 years later and I still prefer my black slate. The other thing I wouldn't and won't change is the kitchen curtains. The kitchen faces the street and includes a breakfast nook, so we need some curtains, but I don't want to block the view altogether. The house came with cafe curtains, as well as an upper tier of curtains (not a valance) for the larger breakfast nook windows. They are somewhat sheer, maybe translucent is the word, which I like: it's like looking through lightly-frosted glass so I can see if someone is walking by the house without really being able to see who they are. The little ruffle probably dates them the most, but given that they are otherwise plain it's cute. What I'd really like is a toile pattern, but I just can't find a fabric that is translucent, without being "shiny".