Thanks everyone, I'll try and answer all the questions! Blue, never has been a favorite color of mine... until now! I just love the blue gray colors - but not sure how they work with the rugs - that have no blue in at all. Front porch railing - yes, it was installed Friday! I'm excited about it - took 5 months to get! I posted an update on the front door thread. The SW Creme is in the big white color brochure. It is SW 7556 Creme, it really is such a pretty, soft color! The dining room table is 3 years old, I found it locally and ordered it online from Lexfurniture (saved a lot!!) It is by Lorts (http://www.lorts.com) and available with or without a plank top. Great, great, great suggestions!! I can hardly wait to start shopping, but I know taking my time is important! I need to decide on a mantel... we have been playing around a bit - but a week ago.. DH almost cut his thumb off on a table saw! He had surgery Friday to reattach all the nerves and the tendon, and he will be okay - but it is putting a halt to some of our restoration. homeagain, Coastal Cottage or English Cottage.. I'm not sure! I know I don't really want Shabby Chic, and I love coastal cottage, but I do find I'm drawn to English Cottage as well... a bit of design confusion! So, so much to think about - so glad I have all you helping me along the way!!!

Well, what a nice surprise to run across this old post! I was just perusing GardenWeb and Houzz as we get revved up for another remodel, when a google search for “sapele kitchens” turned up this, my “almost-done” victory lap post. Please forgive me my moment of sentimentality, but reading through my post and the subsequent comments has me a bit verklempt; we are, as of this writing, only a few days away (probably) from committing to buy a new house, which means leaving this one, and our wonderful kitchen. Much has changed in the 5+ years since this post went up: The backsplash behind the range was installed; the rather wispy red Japanese maple that you can see in our backyard in a couple of the pics above is now pretty robust and magnificent; we had to say goodbye to our beloved boxer a few months back (our “first born”); we have a son, an amazing 16 month old,who has, of course, become the center of our universe; we are working on a sibling for him. With a growing family, and frequent visits from out of town grandparents, we are feeling a bit cramped in the home we thought we would be in long term. We found a new place in a lovely neighborhood, despite Seattle’s current crazy real estate market (after getting absurdly outbid on some places—like over asking by almost 25% of a big asking price in one case). It’s from 1907, was updated in the 70s and 80s, but needs a good overhaul. (I’ve tried to attach a couple of pics of the current kitchen but this interface limits comment size so much (~21k characters) that it seems that photos aren’t going to be an option. I’ll try to post some pics in comments to follow). It has served the current owners well over the last 45 years, but it is time for an update. It’s certainly a first world problem, but it makes me sad to leave our current kitchen after having put so much thought and energy into it, and after it turned out so beautifully. It has been such a joy to spend time in it. But the real reason I started writing this comment: I thought I would right two wrongs that I have just noted while reading through my original, ancient post: I never once acknowledged by name our architect, who played a primary role in bringing our current kitchen to fruition. His name is Andrew Borges, of Rohleder Borges Architecture (http://www.rb-a.net/), and he was fantastic to work with. So much so, that we are teaming up with him again for the next remodel. I never posted any photos of the backsplash behind the range, as I said (above) that I would do. I still really love the tile that we chose—an etched limestone (I think) with a repeating dahlia pattern. As I was looking at Andrew’s firm’s website just now, I realized that he has a pic of our kitchen with the backsplash in view so I have included that here too. Here is a link to the image, in case I can’t figure out how to post it here: http://www.rb-a.net/res-montkit1.html I suspect you’ll hear from me again soon, as I query the collective GW wisdom on this new project. And in 6 months or so, our current home (kitchen included) will likely be hitting the market, just in case any of you might be interested....

Wow - thank you all so much! I really did design the whole kitchen using this forum for inspiration, so I feel funny taking all of the compliments - I have to give credit back to this site! :-) Circuspeanut - I'm not sure what happened with that post - I did also email you pictures when we finished the counter, but perhaps cyberspace ate them. No matter - I'm glad you like the island - wouldn't have done it without your help!!! And I think of you almost daily as I wipe it down, or look at a particularly interesting spot and think of your "crime scene" that you had in one post. As for the patina - do you have the turquoise/blue/brown areas? Or just all shades of brown? lisa_a - we decided to put the garbage disposal under the coffee bar sink rather than the main sink. We're on septic, and by putting it in the less-used sink, I have significantly cut down on using it, which is better for our system. But, yes, there would be room for a GD under there. Not a monster one, but a compact one for certain. Our builder designed it such that a GD could fit. Is there anything else you'd like to know about the pull-outs? Oh, and by the way, when this project started, I was most definitely paralyzed by the process. I couldn't even figure out where to start. So I started here, at GW, and the rest is history. :-) flowers_n_co - your dogs would NOT be a problem on the cork! And yes, we love our main sink - I can lay multiple large pans in it - FLAT! :-) 22laura - Formica Mineral Sepia in the Radiance Collection. I was mistaken that it was Wilsonart - we got it down to a Formica and a Wilsonart, and the Formica "matched" the floor the best (was least offensive with the floor????). Thank you all again - your comments are so kind, and so appreciated. When I think of all of your beautiful kitchens (those of you who are finished and whose kitchens were my inspirations), I am humbled and amazed by your kind compliments about my new space. :-)

Scrappy25 - funny story with the soffits. When we ordered cabinets, we did uppers based on the existing ceiling. During demo, we realized the kitchen ceiling height was different than the living room height. We also originally thought we'd have to do a support beam in between the opened up kitchen and LR, assuming the wall was load-bearing. Turns out it was not, and we could seamless integrate the ceilings. That presented a problem with the fact that the long-ordered upper cabinets would either have a gap above them (which we did not want) OR we had to get creative with soffits/trim. My contractor suggested the crown above the drywall bulkheads, and I love how it turned out!