Hi, We have Tigerwood floors which I would call medium, though there are 'stripes' of very dark within it. I use a microfibre mop everyday (dry)- I have a vacpan which I love, and happily threw away my broom and dustpan! Crumbs and white bits show up, hence the daily mopping- but that takes about 2-3 minutes, and I still get a thrill out of kicking the vacpan open... Spills not so much, so have to look carefully to find evidence that DH has spilt something and not wiped up! Use Bona hardwood spray and a microfibre cloth or if doing whole floor will use the mop. Soon, will have the Tigerwood installed throughout the rest of the upstairs, and doubt if I will be mopping everywhere daily, so may find out if dust shows then!

Thanks colorfast, good advise. I do plan on getting the cabinets made locally and have been to a couple of shops. I will look for alder. Because I am going with flat panel cabinets, it seems that everyone uses veneers for stability. And there are lots of choices out there for veneers, including exotic woods. I saw a veneer today that was quarter-sawn walnut, lovely warm brown colour and narrow grained, like quarter-sawn oak. I will keep looking, to see all the choices. Has anyone heard of or used a product called eco-wood? It is real wood made into veneers that look like other species of wood, ie mahogany, teak, oak, etc? It looked like a pretty good product, sustainably produced, but it feels strange to buy "fake" wood when I live in British Columbia!

I'm totally forgetting about trying to create a modern aesthetic. This kitchen will be what it is. We're quirky and I guess it'll be the same. We ordered this light fixture for over the seating island: Fireclay sent me samples of Tusk and Gardenia tile and Supernova, Cotton, Vintage Blue, and Snow brick samples earlier this week. I love the brick! It's thicker than regular tile. I'm guessing that it's ~ 1/2" thick. I'm not sure if that's a concern or not. As with anything I'm sure there are pros and cons. My Fireclay rep offered to send me a full sized brick and was gracious enough to agree to send me two, one in Cotton and the other in Silk. FYI: Brick is 2.5" x 8" Cotton: With its hazy fine-spun finish infused with the slightest hint of gray, Cotton offers a soft and cloudy white. Silk: A creamy white glaze is infused with a warm ivory undertone for a soft and inviting backdrop, flecked with hints of texture. Here is an inspiration pic from their site where they mixed Cotton and Snow. Cotton has gray tones and the Snow is on the whiter end of the spectrum, so I thought maybe bringing in the warmer, creamy white of the Silk instead of Snow would be a good move. I'm unsure about the two-toned look, but thought I'd get input from you all. Other considerations are using Ceres and Silk. Ceres: Named for an asteroid barely visible from earth, this milky white glaze resonates with the same subtle beauty. So, two-toned look yay or nay? If yay, which two? If nay, which one? Because of townlakecakes' collages, we're going to revisit the color options for the LVP. Our GC sent out an email connecting us with his flooring guy this morning. Hopefully we'll be able to meet in the next few days to look at other options. Taken this morning: the rough plumbing is in. The window is boarded up for now. Starting to think I may have gone a tad too big with that window.

The current white is too stark, but I think that a creamy- or off -white that works well with the siding would be a great choice. . From the way the house appears on my monitor I would have guessed that Hawthorne Yellow would have been too yellow. ( Shagbark Hickory appears to have a lot of gray, so I would be looking for a darker cream/off white that also has gray undertones) Since it looks great though, perhaps a shade a bit paler than Windham Cream would be good. Weston Flax seems closer to what I have in mind. I would go back to the SW store, and start by finding Shagbark Hickory amongst the color chips. Those chips should be arranged with colors with similar values (such as undertone) which is a good way to narrow the choices down. Be sure to take several that look like they have potential, and view them outdoors with the Shagbark chip. On my monitor, Accessible Beige seems like it could be close - the right amount of lightness, if the undertones aren't perfect. Ben Moore might have a very similar color to Shagbark, so you can do the same there. ETA: SW offers virtual color consultations, that might be a help!