Face and edge grain are indeed different; John's description is a good one. We initially looked at having our cabinetmaker build our wood counter, and here was his recommendation: - End grain if you are going to be actively cutting directly on the counter regularly. - Edge grain if you are sometimes cutting on the counter but it's usually just a normal prep space - Face grain (also called plank) if you are using the counter primarily as a table or other low-intensity space I think there was a $250 difference between face and edge grain, and a big difference between those two and the end grain (which makes sense, of course!) Aesthetically I liked the face grain best; we went with IKEA in the end because it was 10% of the cost and we needed to close a budget gap, so it became moot. I think theirs is closest to edge grain.

Laura - Sorry that I'm hijacking your thread and really veering this off course. How exciting to be building a new home! I know you've been doing your homework on the forum and I can just imagine how lovely your house is going to be when it gets done. Have your builders given you an idea as to how long it will probably take to complete? I agree about needing something to lighten things up for our kitchen. Initially, DH was loving a super dark backsplash also...NO light stuff anywhere! We've finally gotten past that a bit, I think...we've seen a white glass backsplash that he likes and is open to that. Showed him "fusion" as a choice for our countertop since there's a lot more lightness to it. He was rather unreceptive to it. Showed him Luce di Luna, still not much love. So, I don't know what we're going to do. Colors have been mostly in our head up until this point. Today I went to HD and picked up some various colors of hardwood flooring samples to start putting pieces together. DH wants darker floors with slightly lighter cabinets. I think it would work better the opposite, but he's not loving that. One thing that did actually help though is now that he's seeing dark cabinet, dark floors, and dark granite together he sees it's going to be too much dark. I love what you told your DH about the dark cabinets and painting them. In our house, the words "wood" and "paint" just don't go together! But, it is a solution. What you said about induction is exactly what I've been reading - those who brave taking the plunge (most of them without seeing one function) have all positive things to say about them. So, I'm mostly excited, but a little nervous that I'll need to "relearn" how to cook with a new type of heat. Take your time about the photos for your kitchen...we're still trying to iron things out with a GC for our remodel, so it's not as if I need colors tomorrow by any means! I appreciate you doing it and if you happen to remember the stain color used, that would be sweet also. :)

In don't know about others, but I had a great experience with Build Direct. I bought a enough wood look tile to do my entire 2600 sf home. Arrived on time, not a single broken tile, and all for about $2 per square foot including the shipping. Love my floor. That said, before making my final choice, I did get a sample of the dark espresso color you mentioned. Would be very pretty installed, provided you don't have kids, pets, feet or anything else, and love to mop. That stuff will show every speck of dirt, footprints, water drips, etc. We went with a medium mahogany color with lots of grain detail, and it hides everything from dirt, to dog hair in between cleanings.

Sometimes in life, redefining a problem as a non-problem is the best solution. This is one of those times! It is (or will be) painted wood and seeing the texture of the wood is part of the charm of painted wood. Otherwise it would just look like..... I dunno, plastic or laminate which is ok if that's what you've got, but if you have painted wood, why not just enjoy it being painted wood. That said, quality of your sanding, prep and application is important - a silky smooth finish applied correctly should give you many years of satisifaction. Hope youll post before and afters - Ive seen the Transformations products in Menards and have wondered what kind of results are possible. The choice of colors is good imho. Ive always had luck with rustoleum products over the years - hows that for brand loyalty.