OK, thanks to everyones pictures, comments etc, I have decided to eliminate the glass tiles. Can't believe how quickly I finally did that. The marble is timeless, goes with any paint color, it can be traditional or modern depending on how it's used. Now I can start driving myself nuts on which marble, what pattern etc. lol By the way, the lighting in my house is horrible where I always have a hard time with paint colors. I got that blue/gray sample yesterday. Is it a go or should I look for something else? It gets to looking really blue when the lighting gets darker or at night time. gooster, I forgot to mention that the big sample sheet I had made up yesterday is Chantilly Lace for the cabinets, so it looks like I'm on target for the cabinet color.

I've been in sales for about 20 years and I always resent it when people say that sales people manipulate because I believe a good salesperson gives the buyer enough information to make an informed decision. I think what Trebuchet means when he says they aren't closing, is that they aren't addressing the concerns of the buyer enough for them to make a decision. Tre gives the "dog & pony show" i.e. informs them of the choices and then let's them make a decision based upon the information he gave them. Jakuvall, you say you're not a salesman nor a "closer" but your definition of what you do actually fits my definition of a good salesperson: address the concerns of the consumer and give them enough information to make an educated decision. In a nutshell, you have enough education and belief in your skillset to instill a confidence in the buyer that you're the person for the job. That's why you have a better than average closing ratio: you're authentic. I'm very proud to be a salesperson and a closer.

After much searching on LightingDirect.com, I think I have found a large island pendant that will speak to the island fan. I have also found my favourite semi flush light (most of them are not nice). We will have two semi flush lights in the kitchen for ambient light. These semi-flush lights offer uplight illumination. The large island pendant will off down lighting task light. There are matching wall sconces to go on the decorator plate wall, and small pendants for in front of the windows and/or over the clean-up sink area. The sconces and small pendants are from the same lighting collection as the semi-flush lights. The big drum pendant for over the island is a different lighting company. Here are my favourites. Please let me know what you think, and especially if you think the island light will go well with the island vent (be in balance too). Thanks, Carol Large light to balance the island fan for downlighting task light for over the 10 foot island (light is 19 inch wide with three lights) Made by Minka Lavery Kitchen semi-flush for general ambient light (gives up lighting to kitchen). Made by Maxim from their Finesse collection. Possible sconce on wall with decorator plates (goes with the semi-flush above). Made by Maxim from the same Finesse collection. Possible small pendants for area in front of windows and 1 or 2 over sink peninsula. Made by Maxim from the same Finesse collection. Now I need to calculate lumens (to make sure I have enough light and not too much), and fiddle with the pot light placement. I also need to find a way to Photoshop these lights into my kitchen to see if I am comfortable with the visual clutter. Carol

Thank you again to everyone who has shared their opinions! Pam, "Regarding the 16x24 tiles, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the size, but the pattern and color is too busy in my opinion." Yay...confirmation again. I often need reinforcement for what I'm thinking. Completing the tile installation is a bit more complicated than just choosing the new tile. There are a lot of details to be worked out regarding changes from the tile we were expecting to receive compared to what we got. I'm afraid chaos is expected to continue for a few more weeks, but at least a definitive course of action has been made to stop installation of the old tile which is the primary issue for this posting. Phew! And in working towards which tile to choose instead, we will be one step ahead when that time comes. I'm just grateful to know which direction to take. Regarding the drapes and rug, I am still so consumed with the flooring details that I can't even go there yet. I intend to keep the paint color selected previously if it works with the new tile. Knowing we have a lot of darker woods and intricate decor, we were planning on French White to keep things from being too dark. I was able to take some pictures of individual tiles. There are a lot of similarities in them which is one reason I asked about texture and sparkle because those are the main distinguishing elements between the favorites along with size. Some of them do come in 6 x 24 and 8 x 48 so there are options with the pattern that could also help decide. Also, do you feel any of these tiles has the mix of grey and beige tones we were hoping to achieve? I think the pics under the table leg actually help in determining this since it shows them next to the grey from the concrete. Do any of them look too pink, yellow, green...too anything? :) Going from top to bottom of the above picture 1-5. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) I realize some of them look completely different than their match, but that just proves how lighting can affect them. Any keepers or discards based on these pics? I have a couple I think I prefer, but I'm really excited to hear what you think!