One thing to think about for a rose newbie is whether these roses will get much care - the big cabbage-type roses like most gallicas look pretty ratty if they don't get deadheaded, and that might deter the "budding" rose enthusiast. If you want to put in one rose of that type for the historical effect, make sure it's fragrant to make her pine for it blooming again. My votes in the fragrant historic category for zone 4/5 would be Madame Isaac Periere, Maggie, Jacques Cartier, or Francis Dubreuil/Barcelona. All of them are highly scented for me, laugh at my winters, and rebloom at least some. MIP and FD would be the biggest contrast to a white like Darlow's Enigma, and for me every one of those roses has a toe-curling wonderful scent (and I have a poor rose "nose"). FD might have the toughest time with a full-sun spot, since he appreciates some mid-day shade. You could also check out "shrubs" for bright spots of color that need little or no care. Lady Elsie May rarely gets deadheaded in my yard because she doesn't really need it, even though she's right by my front door, and she's a screaming "notice me" neon coral color. She blooms literally nonstop, grows bushy at least 4-5 feet, and is vigorously healthy and hardy in our zone. She would have the relatively wild feel you're looking for without the suckering, and her foliage is always clean. Her color doesn't exactly play nicely with others, so I wouldn't put a dark pink like MIP or Maggie next to her (and this is from someone who likes a bit of chaos), but with FID in front of her or Jacques Cartier bridging the gap between Elsie and Darlow, you'd have an eye-catching display from only 3 roses. There are also plenty of Explorer shrubs that would rebloom at least some, or the hybrid musks (Wilhelm is a dark color), or tough low bloomers like Eutin, all of whom have a certain amount of history behind them. Just a thought - you have a lot of options! Cynthia

I have full bullnose, no seam. And yes, there is the issue with water run off but it's not like I don't KNOW when there's a spill and I just clean it up. It's not really a problem. However, I do have the eased edge in my powder room and would suggest that for any bathroom situation. Especially if you have kids and don't know every time there's water on the counter. I don't go and check the countertop every time they come out of the bathroom. I AM finding though that I actually like the look of the eased edge better than my full bullnose. It makes the granite look thicker and I'm wishing I'd just gone with the eased edge everywhere. In short, go with what YOU like for the kitchen, but for bathrooms I highly reccomend a simple eased edge.

Johnliu, that was a great write-up, very educational. Count me as someone OCD about my knives. I also want to emphasize that one's "taste" in knives is very individual. So, for me, regarding ceramic knives - I know they are really sharp, and maintain their sharpness much longer than steel knives, and are easier to care for (as long as you don't drop them). Having said that, I cannot stand the hard sound they make when chopping - that sound and how they feel as they strike the cutting board gives me the shivers. Obviously, this is a very personal thing! One more thing that John briefly mentioned that I want to expand on a bit is the type of cutting board. If you care about your knives, or care about the investment of $$ you've made in your knives, you should not use a plastic cutting board. They will dull your knives in just a few uses. You should use wood cutting boards. No one knows where the idea came from that plastic boards are safer - researchers at the University of Wisconsin have studied this perception that plastic cutting boards are better, and were unable to ascertain why people think this. Their findings were that wooden boards are safer. "The [University of Wisconsin] researchers purposely contaminated wood and plastic boards with bacteria and then tried to recover those bacteria alive from the boards. They also tested boards made from seven different species of trees and four types if plastic. They incubated contaminated boards overnight at refrigerator and room temperatures and at high and typical humidity levels. They tested several bacteria, Q Salmonella, Listeria and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli Q known to produce food poisoning. The results consistently favored the wooden boards, often by a large margin over plastic boards. The scientists found that three minutes after contaminating a board that 99.9 percent of the bacteria on wooden boards had died, while none of the bacteria died on plastic. Bacterial numbers actually increased on plastic cutting boards held overnight at room temperature, but the scientists could not recover any bacteria from wooden boards treated the same way. A major question is why wood is so inhospitable to bacteria. The researchers have tried unsuccessfully to recover the compound in wood that inhibits bacteria, and is continuing the research."

I agree with all of you who settled on the metal strips and with Michael who says it looks great. After hours of research and going out to search for the right finishing trim in ceramic, porcelain, marble, stone, you-name-it, for my white beveled subway tiles, I came across a gentleman in a store who advised me to take a look at the metal edge transition strips for tiles at a neighborhood tile store. I finally settled on a curved (not straight or squared edge) bullnose satin nickel stainless steel trim to hide the unevenness of the thickness of the tile cuts, avoid any chipping, and also to match my bathroom fixtures. My white beveled subway tiles look beautiful! The store had a sample shower niche with the same bullnose metal edge and it looked very nice and modern and had a clean finish. Best to you on your projects!