I had site-finished walnut floors with a natural satin finish stain. I loved them the first day we moved in because they were beautiful, but I would never get them again. They dent and scratch so easily and show every spec of dust. I would sweep in the morning and they would look dirty again before lunch time. Also, we are not hard on our floors but they looked awful after just a few months of living there. There were little dents everywhere from high heels and scratches everywhere from pets. As a side note, I have had hardwood floors before (oak and hickory) and had no problem maintaining them and keeping them looking new. We had to have them re-finished before listing our house for sale because they looked so bad! They did look beautiful again after the refinishing, though. We chose not to live in our house while it was on the market just to keep the floors looking new! The hardwood floor finishers we received quotes from all said that walnut floors are very hard to site-finish because of the smooth grain they show everything.

jxbrown, fwiw, I bought a bunch of those to put on my oven racks. Yes, they do work...but they were a PAIN! I could no longer slide things on/off the shelf. I found them to be impractical...jmho!!! I don't care for mitts, either. Or the silicone pad. I just like the good old-fashioned terry cloth pot holder. I bought some newer quilted ones (not terry) that won't bend easily enough to grip the pan! LOL! I'm always on the search for terry cloth potholders. I must be in the minority since I have a hard time finding them. Here is a link that might be useful: This one is round, but it's the texture I like

Hi, To start with the soapstone- we have had it in for about a month now and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I cannot get enough of the charcoaly black color and feel of it--like a baby's skin. It is from Brazil so is the very soft version of it. It definitely dings and scratches easily. The scratches disappear with an oiling and the dings blend in with oiling. I plan to try and sand them soon so I will let you know how that goes. I am not sure where you are located but we are in PA and got it from Bucks County Soapstone. We paid a tiny bit more to go with them (maybe $5/sq ft more) but I cannot say enough about how wonderful this company is. It was so worth it. It is the best company I have every dealt with--with regards to anything I have ever purchased. They are just wonderful! Maybe I should do an add for them;o). With regards to your island--I LOVE the wood. We had butcher block in our old house and I just loved it. We thought of it for here too but I didn't feel it fit with the style of this more traditional house. (I like a much more funky house with more character but this made more sense to be in a neighborhood with lots of kids). I think a soapstone perimeter will look gorgeous. My aunt has a different kind of soapstone--little more greenish to it and it is much harder. It is equally beautiful and is what made us think of soapstone originally. As far as the posts go, how big are your cabinets (total overall dimensions of it)? When we were working on ours--they suggested a minimum of an 11" overhang on the sides with the larger counter stools. They actually suggested it on any overhang side but we didn't have enough room on the stove side and we knew we would just have a small stool there so it didn't bother us. We did a bit more on the fridge side than the 11" as we had the space. I would say that once the counter is installed, try to put a piece of wood or baseball bat or fed ex shipping tube... to mimic the post in the place you want it by the kitchen table to see if it bothers you. That is what we did with the extra overhang on the island on the stove side as one of the handymen we got a quote from said it might feel too cramped. It didn't bother me. What I would say about the posts is they don't make it feel closed at all. It still feels as open as when I just had the counter without posts. You could also do slightly smaller posts. IMHO I really love the posts. It used to bother me before we replaced the counters and expanded the island that the counter was just floating there with no support--but that is just me. I know many like it the other way better and I think it just comes down to personal preference. I am by no means any good at designing though--I am very mathematical and love symmetry:o) so hopefully someone else who is more artistic or with design experience can weigh in. Good luck. Keep me updated and let know about the dimensions of the cab to see if you can do the posts! Also, LOVE how your kitchen is turning out!

zoey -- This trav is not already filled. You can buy travertine either way, however I do not believe this particular travertine came filled at all. Honed travertine has a matte finish, as opposed to polished. Tumbled or antiqued has a much rougher appearance and usually comes unfilled. To fill and unfilled floor , you do that at installation, while you are grouting you just fill at the same time. I personally wanted a floor that looked like an old, stone , country floor. It really looks like that in person. annekendo -- There is another thread going on right now with more pics of my floors. I also have white cabs, black counters. Its funny, I searched & searched for the kitchen floors and had picked out something totally different. Walked into the last store , saw these & changed it all. SO, SO happy I did. They were 3 x's higher than anything else I had looked at, but as I stated in other thread DH said get the floors you want for your dream kitchen. I bought them from The Tile Store. They are called Philadelphia Series Light. The pattern is versaille. It comes in the right pieces according to the sq. footage desired. I really wanted this pattern so was looking at all tile that was like that. It is not a slam dunk installation process thats for sure. Well worth the extra work though. Thanks for all the nice comments !!! Here is a link that might be useful: another floor thread