First, let me say thank you, thank you Bill and especially to Mongo. I agree with Anita. You guys must get so darn sick of these same old questions. And I'm sure you just cringe when you think of all the screw-ups that go on out there. Now for an update. Hope this one won't cause any cringes, but who knows. I got a "tile guy" over here today and he said he was gonna Kerdi/Schluter the darn thing. He sounded pretty up on it...but don't they all! He was a little concerned about the cultured marble one piece shower bottom I've already ordered (on my GC's advice, ugh) cause I told him I saw it and it had no curb on it. It was just one flat piece. I do recall my GC saying "they" would build a curb for it after they installed it. That frightens me a bit. Anyhoo, maybe too much info here for ya. But, at this point, if you don't feel like telling me to just put a sock in it and leave you the heck alone, could you comment on this? I know in another thread Bill told me to "get Kerdied." But, but, I really do hate to ask...can you Kerdi over this DAP stuff? And now for the punch line to all this that I know you'll just love...or maybe not. My husband was a Controller for Georgia-Pacific for almost 30 years. He has never even heard of Densarmor Plus! But, after all, he was just a bean counter for gosh sakes. Give him a break. HA!!!!! Thank you, pupwhipped

Hi there. Can you show us the floors as well, and tell me your budget in $/sf? Your stone can actually take a strong bs tile even though it has a lot going on, because the inclusions are so small and there's very little veining. I like the 2" x 8" tile and mominHI's suggestion that you alternate the colors. Part of the difficulty you're having is that you are trying to mix warm and cool tones in the same small space. This is never easy, but mixing them in bold swatches across the bs is one option. If you want a quieter look than that you can choose two colors to alternate or go with a hand glazed tile that has color variations. But do you want a quieter look? You chose marble first, and you mention that you want contrast with your hood. Maybe what you are longing for is uniformity of glaze but a real blast of color? Think about it and let us know. Here are your choices together: This post was edited by EAM44 on Tue, May 27, 14 at 7:06

nancy_east -- thanks for your nice words! How exciting about your kitchen -- this will be fun to watch develop! The widest walkway we have is 36 1/2" (countertop to countertop), with it going down to 34 1/2" where our apron front sink "jumps" out. From our cooktop to the widest point of the bowed island countertop is 35 3/4". The only times (or rather, areas) our aisles feel tight are when the dishwasher door is open and there's only 12" of clearance (between the open door and the island cabinetry). But so far, no barked shins! We're careful and aware. The other area is our refrigerator (which is 30" wide, all refrigerator so it's a wide door): when it's open the only one who can sidle by (and then it's just barely) is our two year-old. But neither of those conditions are permanent (meaning, the dishwasher is mostly closed and the refrigerator door is mostly closed as well). While 36" for an aisle isn't "ideal," for us it's working out fine. Our only alternative would've been to give up the island and that wasn't an option! We need the storage space. Your aisles will work out fine; if it there's an impediment in the 36" aisle (like a dishwasher), then you all will learn the same careful two-step we and many others have as well! Good luck with your kitchen-in-progress! (and whole house, too!)

Suzanne, I've been meaning to say that I love your kitchen. The countertops are really beautiful and the overall impression is so serene. Stone guy just left my house. He acknowledged the problems with the seam. He said he can't fix the white area to the right of the seam in front of the sink, as he thinks it was caused by heat? He said it isn't a chip in the stone, and it does feel smooth (not like it is filled with epoxy) so I'm not really sure what it is and what caused it. But he said he can try to remove the top of the epoxy in the seam and fill it with a better color match. The area in front of the faucet where the epoxy ran over the marble by 1/2 inch is actually worse (although it is hard to capture in photos) because it is darker than the marble and you can feel that the rough epoxy was spread over the marble there. He said he can "try to smooth it out" and also fix the seam color there. If I am not satisfied, he will rip it out and start over with a new slab. But he says he can't guarantee that what happened with that white spot next to the front seam won't happen again, which worries me. If I am satisfied with his efforts on the seam, we discussed how to handle the 1/2 gap between the wall and the backsplash. He said it would be costly for him to hire someone to drywall mud it because his guys don't do that. He suggested adding honed carrara tile part way up the wall. I said I would rather he remove the backsplash first and tile it down to the counter. He needs to ask his tile guys if they can float it to cover any gaps between the counter and the wall. The remaining question would be what to do with the side walls, as he had to cut into them as well. He suggested maybe just pencil tile along the marble on the sides to cover the wall damage. Or I could just repair the drywall there down to the countertop, I guess? So, he is trying to remedy the situation, which is great. I am worried about his overall skill level and abilities, though, and concerned that any fix he attempts could make things worse and waste both our time. At least now he knows he can't just do a sloppy job, and he should be more attentive. Thanks for all of your input and support, it has been invaluable. Any further insight on his proposed remedies is welcome. Meantime, the plumber showed up and of course he can't plumb the sink until this is resolved, but hopefully I will at least have a plumbed out and functional gas stove after this! No sink and stove for two months now, getting tired of take-out!