BEAUTIFUL! You have to enjoy working in your garden, because it is really well tended and planned also. Love it. I see your high chain link fence is like my back fence....7 foot tall and 100 feet long. I've planted Confederate jasmine...or trachelospermum jasminoides....or something sounds like that? It is evergreen here, and makes a gorgeous privacy fence withing a few years. Maybe in 4 years but by 5 it is very effective....they use it in Italy everywhere, including to climb over arbors, up old stairways, and covering fences to create a living privacy fence. Let me recommend it to you for that purpose. If you like, I'll create a Flickr album about the use of this jasmine in Italian gardens (the ones I saw anyway) in Umbria. Etc. Here the cabana was covered in blooming jasmine, the short fence covered in the jasmine is kept trimmed as a short hedge, no hint of the chainlink frame holding it up inside.

I LOVE your counters - I considered a Blue Australe which seems similar to laboradite, but it was almost twice the price, at the time, of what I ended up choosing, Volga Blue. (very hard capturing either of these stones in a picture, isn't it) So I understand your challenge, I spent a long time puzzled over a backsplash for my counters. I went with the Seneca Tile company's Blue Lagoon from the Studio line. My counter reads black and hints of silver at first glance, the blue inclusions are subtle until you are trying to look for them, so it doesn't read too busy in real life. In the same line, they have a gorgeous variegated green called Waterlily, it might work in your kitchen Seneca waterlily- here's some more inspiration, some of these blue/ green mixes that may work- from http://senecatiles.com/senecablends-gallery/nggallery/page/1 Here's a work in progress shot of our Blue Lagoon backsplash going up- I have no regrets going bold and colorful, I feel happy every time I look at it

I think we are moving in the direction to do the island, perimeter counters and backs splash (all the way up the wall) in the same White Santorini Quartzite. Any feedback on this? Im sensitive to adding too many different materials into the mix. Is this too much of one thing?

thank you, what did you mean by "I would not take up the charge of the sink"? Do you mean you wouldn't bother replacing? Regarding the flooring....the rest of the house has the old school 3/4" oak flooring so if I change the flooring to hardwood in the kitchen and entryway, I would have to change out all the hardwood in the living room and kitchen. This was my thought process anyway. I did check out the cost and for the flooring I like, it would be a lot of $. To answer your question, the sq footage of the combined entry way and kitchen which is currently tiled, is about 170 sq ft. what did you mean about backsplash? I was thinking black granite counter top and then a simple backsplash and yes I def want a coordinated look. warm, inviting and not choppy and misfitting. thanks again