I thought that Ditra required 2x2" as the smallest recommended tile. Any thing smaller isn't fully supported within the Ditra pattern. I looked up this on Google. But I can't post the link, due to GW obstructs the link. So type in "Schluter ditra and small tiles john bridge" and see if this will take you to an archived thread about this topic.

The inspection was overwhelming -114 pages long! This included lots of pictures. I said on the other forum that I expected there to be things on the list being an old house. The sellers had gone down on their price, in fact lower than what they bought it for, so I wasnt expecting they would give us much in allowances when the report came back. Also we wanted to be fair. So the report came back and it was bad. The deal breaker was the pipes. They are made of some kind of plastic that over time oxidents in the water weakens the material and it becomes brittle and breaks. Then it can mess up the whole structure of the house. I called my insurance agent about it and they won't cover the house with the pipes. He called several other companies who said they don't. Finally I called the agent and asked who covered the home owners. Theirs did cover it. But the more We read the more spooked we got. Then theres a leak in the roof, in both bathrooms but they can't specify what kind of leak until they "open things up", needs new air unit and ducts, can lights (50?) and then theres just so much more. We called and said we were out. Our realtor said they want us to come back and offering 10000. But that might get a third of what needs to be done. There goes definitely half of reno money. So my heart is broken. I thought it was meant to be the way we found it.

Thanks so much for all the great input! @einportlandor - I get it! :-) I'm really, really uncertain about the peninsula which is why I was really pressing for input. It does seem a bit awkward to me.. just sort of unnatural. I do like the extra countertop space... can never have too much of that. I might just end up adding one more cabinet next to the dw and keep my pub table. We like the counter height seats, if it becomes problematic in the future, we can always get a lower table. The view is better from counter height though! @rantontoo, @benjesbride & @bpathome - the wall between the DR and kitchen is loadbearing and has hvac. Expensive to remove. Regarding the view: We have a better view from the LR slider and from 3 seats in the DR, we have that view too. I know the DR looks pretty dark in the pic I posted, but it's not that bad. It gets tons of light from the slider in the LR. Since the windows in the kitchen and the LR face west, we have solar shades and use them in the afternoon to cut the glare and heat. We wouldn't lower the window. Here is a picture from the table which shows the tennis courts and clubhouse in our view. It really is a small ocean view.

I would skip the marble on the floor and find a simple mosaic ( there probably is one to match the floor tile you have ) . Then do a large stripe or rectangle feature on the faucet wall of the shower with the pretty marble. Do the niche the same as the walls ( or since you are doing a pony wall, move the niche to there ). I would have the walls the same as the floor so you're not fighting whites. That tile is too pretty to be on a shower floor or in a niche behind shampoo bottles - feature it!