I'm thinking of buying my third house so I can be in remodel hell for at least three or four more years...do you think that sounds like a slight sickness? Oh and those darned hotels...hospitals...friends homes...oh ya, I notice! I always look at tile patterns in showers and critique. I'm big on the trim pieces and how they meet in the corner. The suite hotel we stayed in during the hospital stay had such a stupid kitcen layout. It was small of course, but they left silly gaps in the cupboards that just didn't need to be there if they just moved x to y location...blah blah The hospital had just had flooring layed and painting done. TERRIBLE work. They obviously cut in on corners and edges and left it sit for a few days (oh way way too much paint on the brush as well...the marks were deep) and then went by with a roller. The shadowing made me shudder. The flooring looked like the hotel the OP brought up....one guy started at one end and one at the other and left the cuts in the middle of the floor. Goofy!!! Now for the really sad part....my DS is two. He found that odd cut line on day 3 of the hospitalization and for two months he insisted on using it as a sort of balance beam, runway thing everytime we went down the hall. He'd always make a beeline for it and start either crawling on it, tightrope walking, or zooming an airplane on it LOL Do you think he's caught the bug and just wanted to point out the error???

I also don't think you'd need to change the slate in the entry. Does it have a color you can work off of and love for the kitchen? If you don't think light painted cabinets will suit your taste or lifestyle, then don't use them, or use them sparingly and do the rest in a wood. There are so many colors and species of wood to choose from. ...Or one of my favorite kitchens is one of Crown Point's 'Early American' kitchens done in black painted cabinets with a combo of wood and grayish granite counters...So light colors are not your only option with paint. I've seen 'Colonial' done in reds, greens, and gray blues. What other colors are going on in your house (on architectural elements as well as your other furnishing and decor)? What other color of wood? Is all the trim painted or wood? I think that besides continuity of style it is good to have continuity of the architectural detail colors, like on wood trim. Keeping it simple is good advice, since that always seem to better stand the test of time and fit into more types of styles and decor. If the builder wasn't fanatical about doing authentic colonial details, which would give you cues from which to work, I wouldn't worry enough about the integrity of the 1970s version as to limit all of your material options, like granite color. You just want to avoid styles that will jump out as being different from the rest of the home...as if you've stepped into a different house. But you should have the flexibility to allow your own personal preferences and style to shine through. Here is a link that might be useful: crown-point black kitchen

It's so much easier to get input if you have pictures to post and also a rough diagram on paper of your layout. There are so many talented people on this forum and I'm betting you will gets tons of advice. First, read the thread "Read me if you're new to GW kitchens" by beuhl. As you scroll down, there's a section that tells you how to upload and post pictures. You open a free account with a site like photobucket.com, upload your pictures to that site, click on the picture's HTML code to copy, then you paste that in the body of the message. Numbers/letters will appear and when you click on preview your picture should show up in the message body. Then if it's all good, hit submit and there it is!! Sounds a lot harder than it is. Your kitchen sounds very nce from your descriptions. Can visualize stainless and antique bronze. If you could post pics of a piece of your tile/floor, a picture of your granite, the cabinets, and the marble the experts here can help with the backsplash. My advice, without seeing any pictures, would be to pick a nice, warm tan/cream color that would look nice with the granite and cabs. Or maybe a light gold?? So many things you could do. What colors are in the marble?? Take a deep breath-you seem to be doing just fine and you will have lots of support here. Glad to hear you are ok. We had friends who worked in the WTC and they got out in time too.

I'd never heard of a "galley sink," but they are awesome! In looking them up, I see that they are often installed right next to or very close to the cooktop. It looked weird at first, but it makes sense given how they are essentially your prep counter. And you'd want a prep counter next to your cooktop. As it seemed that the galley you're interested in is large enough for two people to work at, it certainly can function simultaneously as your clean-up sink and your prep sink. So with that in mind, here is a suggestion: Keep in mind that, though the cooktop and galley sink look as if you don't have much prep space between the two, essentially the sink is your prep space. So if only one cook is in the kitchen, that is 5' of prep space on the sink + 3' of counter next to the cooktop = 8' of prep space. Or if there are two people at the sink, the one on the right has 30" of prep space on the sink + 3' of counter to the right = 5.5' feet of prep space. And the one on the left has (if cooking) 30" of prep space on the sink + 4' of counter to the left = 6.5' of prep space or (if cleaning) 30" of sink + 4' of counter = 6.5' of cleaning space. That is PLENTY. This initially started because I was excited about your galley sink, and it sounds as if you were too, and I wanted you to have it. But also with that, I was concerned about your aisle widths. They are technically within reason, but given how many doors you have in and out of your kitchen, it really just looks as if you need wider aisles all around the island/table so people aren't running to each other/things. 1) So I gave you wider aisles and also got rid of that weird jutting out bit of wall next to the basement door. The latter made a big difference to how well the island/table fit. 2) Because wide walkways seem to be called for, it poses a dilemma for the island. If it is to be a major player in regular prepping, an especially wide walkway in the work zone would put the island uncomfortably far from the cooktop on the perimeter. To address this, I put the galley sink on the perimeter (so the island wouldn't be your major prep station -- the galley sink would). And then instead of an island, I gave you a big workhorse-type kitchen table, which would be fine to have a bit farther away from the perimeter. You won't be going back and forth between the cooktop and the table a whole bunch. Those big tables are really handy as an extra large expanse of surface when you are laying out cooling racks or any other big elements of a project. And they're great for social things like gathering the kids around and decorating cookies or making gingerbread houses or whatever. And, of course, they are great for seating everybody in a place handy to the kitchen. And those tables are also nice as a nice place to sit down while you peel a million apples or whatever time consuming activity might not be so fun to do on your feet. But those tables aren't meant to be your main prep station (no sink, usually not counter height), so it's not a big deal to have the table pushed a bit farther away than you'd want an island. Here are some examples: (Most of these do not have wide enough walkways around the table by a long shot, but you get the idea.) 3) Another benefit of a table is that it costs way less than an island. That would help you pay for the galley sink. :) 4) The layout you posted looks like a very dark kitchen with its one little window. I gave you a big, centrally-located window for maximum light penetration. 5) I have grouped non-cooking activities in one location outside the main work zone. So people can come in, get a bowl/plate/glass/fork/spoon/etc., get something from the fridge or freezer or pantries, and use the microwave without ever entering the major work zones. It would make sense to have the coffee maker on the counter next to the fridge too. 6) The dishes are also handy to the dishwasher, so unloading will be fast and easy. 7) Your ovens are now next to the baking zone, which is much handier, and the ovens are placed where it would be unlikely that someone would run into them by accident. 8) The cooktop is on an exterior wall for easy venting. 9) I am picturing the pantries being used for snacks and things that aren't really used in the cooking/baking area. It would make more sense to store the cooking ingredients (flour, sugar, spices, oils, vinegars, etc.) in the upper cabinets of the baking zone. This post was edited by Jillius on Tue, Jan 27, 15 at 15:46