Finally - After a long day of gathering information and looking into some options, I went by the design studio and got the pictures of ALL the granite (that was medium to neutral or above, didn't take a picture of any of the darks). From Level 1 to Level 3. First off, after talking to the lady at the design studio I was expressing that I didn't like not having the ability to not have a backsplash at all since i'd like to see how my granite turned out before pairing a backsplash with it. She actually informed me that another option may be available. She emailed me back shortly after I gathered all the pictures and left and said "Yes you can do NO SHEETROCK for $200.00 , but we will add paint and texture " .. a little confused, and never owning/building a home before, I basically responded like so: "Is there a difference between sheet rock and dry wall? I assumed they were the same but when you said no sheet rock i began imagining cabinets screwed to the studs but then realized it probably wouldn't pass final inspection like that lol... So if you could elaborate on the difference of those two or what exactly no 'sheetrock' would entail id appreciate it" Her response said: "No there is no difference, but we will paint and texture to pass code ilo (I think she meant in lieu ) of leaving just the drywall showing. Sorry for the dialogue posted it just seemed easier. So with that said I seem to understand, but why are they calling it "No sheetrock?" when in fact there still is sheetrock/drywall, and it's just painted and textured? Can someone give me some more input on this? Or stray me from this all together if it's a terrible idea? To me it sounds like the best route that I can just add whatever backsplash I want to later...I also wonder if they're going to have to put a little 2-4" lip going horizontal at a 90* of the granite against the wall...hmm I don't want that. Also andreak100 - I'm very aware of the time/cost ratio. Time is money, if I spent 5 hours researching a good granite company and contractor, and I could be making my company $50-100/hr, I've now lost $250-500, and thats just in the research. Now down to the fun part! The granite choices. Remember, my cabinets are dark (espresso), and thats our style of what we're going to go with, so the granite should go with that. I think we'd prefer maybe something that was a little more "warm" then in comparison to the "White Tiger" See the attachment, if its not clear enough I'll upload a higher resolution link somewhere.

I also encourage you to wait and take notice of the patterns in which you use your kitchen and what works appliance-wise and cabinet-wise and what is a worthless black hole and why it doesn't work. You also need to notice the quality of the light coming into the room at different times of day or whether you're using the lights all of the time. A lot of condos need nothing more then copious amounts of undercabinet lighting. You will need to find out if the countertop and existing backsplash can be removed without destroying the cabinetry. If you change all of these items, you will probably also want to replace the floor. You need to know what your condominium allows you to do without having the condominium board sign off on it first and any other special rules they might have about construction work. Also, you may want to consider a two-tone kitchen meaning that the lower cabinets stay dark (they are unkikely to show dirt, niice if you have children or pets) and the upper cabinets are all white. You also need to begin building your budget for all of these items. In my area countertops end up being $60 a square foot, it does not matter if they are tile, granite, quartz, solid surface, or sheet formica, A quick look at that list of countertop materials will show you that the time and materials involved with each countertop is markedly different but the pricing isn't, the weak explanation I am given for this apparent anomaly is that they have to pay their workers comp insurance....notice how that changes my budget? You need to do a lot of research first so that you were not taken by surprise.

Pardon my ignorance, how do you intend using the area above the kitchen on the front side of the house? Could that be used as the dining room? It wouldn't get the powder room any further from the kitchen, but the pr would no longer be opening out of the dining room, nor would the mudroom.

Thanks Patricia. The entire sunroom wall is not insulated, even the Cieling is not insulated. We d have to change the Cieling sky lights and the windows. We have pot lights with new bulbs but the lights are too deep. But yes that is a possibility. The walls will need rebuilding. When we entertain in December, we turn on the electric heaters, fireplace in the Sunroom and it works well. Guests like that room the best, due to high cielung, windows and skylight. If we change it to be more energy efficient, we will lose the charming windows and its default galore. I am not sure it will be beneficial to change that room. The official first floor plan is from the architect. Not sure what you mean by the fist sentence. At the end of the day, our architect said it is up to us.