I think the shoe is sometimes used to hide any gap that may appear between the baseboard and floor as the wood of the baseboard shrinks due to seasonal variations in humidity. A wider base will shrink a bit more than a narrower one. So, depending on what materials are used and their dimensions, and whether it's all painted and if so how, this isn't an issue. That said, I have 5" wood base sans shoe and have no seasonal gaps. A shoe can also cover less careful work. If the floor is new, it should be flat and baseboard scribing, which takes some degree of skill, should'nt be necessary, giving you a better chance that the installed base will be tight to the floor, no matter who's installing it. I'd go without, unless your contractor has a good reason to use the shoe. Did an architect draw the plan? If so, maybe there's a design reason for it.

Well, our kitchen cabinets are being made as we speak so I'm talking about what's on paper .... However, our house at present has no crown moulding, so the crown which will be installed throughout the house will also be installed in the kitchen. (I know, not helpful so far.) The kitchen is going to be a fairly bright white -- I mean, the kitchen cabinets and wainscoting. The trim in the rest of the house is almost a pale yellow -- it's a deep, deep cream (Benjamin Moore Calming Cream). We'll have all the kitchen crown and other trim (windowsill, baseboard, door casing) painted to match the fairly bright white. We'll have to have plinths where the kitchen meets the family room, though, as it will be in the Calming Cream and would just look plain goofy (I think) to have white meet yellow. Our colors are noticeably different. I'm having a hard time envisioning your two colors (the white with charcoal glaze and Navajo White) and if they'd fight or if there's a subtle enough difference so that it would be okay to have both in the same room. I like the idea of continuity, either whole-house continuity or room continuity. I think for a kitchen, which will have so much of the painted finish (cabinets, trim), I'd vote for the crown in your kitchen matching the color of your cabinetry (doing all in the white with charcoal glaze). Sorry I don't have anything to show you nor can I give you more help .... Good luck!

Those are all beautiful rooms, Holly. I think part of the problem with both beige and gray as trendy colors is how they are used. When you see a gray room without any contrast, color or texture, it's too much. The same goes for relentlessly beige and tan rooms I have seen, filled with brown leather sofas and not an once of color to relive the tedium. People who are not as attuned to interiors as say designers or decorating amateurs see a Joanna Gains gray interior, but they miss all the other parts that make the room work. The color is easy to pick out for everyone, the details, which make the design work blend into the background for those who dod not look at interiors a lot, or critically.

I have a flat top of the same solid TX limestone that is on/in our home. I have nothing on top. Have tried the plants/etc, but wasn't pleased with the dirt etc. that came through- especially with rain. For us, it doesn't look weird, as the flat top mimics our flat roof. Since it was built by the same mason who did the house, it all flows. I do regret not running electricity to it, for the light on top. I don't regret spending some time and a few extra bucks on a very secure mail box. Not only can't it be picked up an hauled away (it happens) but it's hard to "hack". Plus- smile for the cameras, if you try to do that. :)