Love love love this topic. Your kitchens are amazing. Looking for pics of stainless; particularly of stainless with white cabinets and beadboard backsplash... Have you ever seen this combo? Any ideas would be awesome. Again truly amazing kitchens!!

for the handles, may I suggest something to pick up on the hues in the flooring? A little more copper toned. you have light cabs, light floors. I think throwing in a dark ORB w/o actual copper highlights would be too much of a contrast. IMO. cypress park Sandra, I like the porcelain one better than the other one. Does the backsplash have to be done immediately? If the tones in the porcelain tile you picked clash w/the ivory tones in the counter, it could be a problem. However, I did find some copper toned ones that should be avail. these are porcelain/SS, and treated so as not to stain or tarnish. I LOVE these for your kitchen. timeless and gorgeous. They are probably not super cheap, but it would be worth it for me. http://www.miusartmosaics.com/arabesque-lantern-beacon-copper-tile-in these would also work. the site is here: maybe they have them in stock.http://www.westsidetile.com/arabesque-tiles/ i like this one too. notice the copper faucet. beautiful w/the glass mosaic. if you got the cream countertop, this would look amazing w/your floors. this last one is a copper colored slate/quartzite.

Formica is a heat resistant, wipe-clean, plastic laminate of paper or fabric with melamine resin. This product was pretty standard in most homes for countertops in years past. Then with the popularity of stone, it was used less and less. You can find samples of formica in any box store near you. The cost is minimal compared to stone, although the look can resemble quartz or granite and does not have the panache stone has.

Whatever they sell at Costco and you can return it if it fails. My mom researched and bought one with good reviews at another store. It stopped working. She dug up her receipt and the manufacturer warranty had expired the week before. They were inflexible about honoring it since it was a few days past. They just do not make things like they used to. I might also pick a model by the convenience buttons that worked for how I use it such as add a minute or 30 seconds.