Thanks Ginad! =) We have matte tiles in one bathroom, and glossy in another, and they both look great. The traditional, classic subway tile has tended to be glossy if that's what you're doing for. I'd always loved the look of tumbled marble subway tiles but since we chose granite countertops, the colouring of tumbled marble wouldn't have worked with it and tumbled marble is higher maintenance. I looked into the Ann Sacks handmade tiles, noticed it came in matte, and presto...the matte/non-shiny look I loved, but in a colour that worked with my granite. I agree with the others that you can get the best of both worlds with a shiny and matte tile combination. But your granite needs to be relatively quiet...not too busy...or busy counters and a busy backsplash will be too many fighting elements. I don't find that our matte backsplash reads too "casual" at all...it all depends on the other elements in your kitchen. I think it's partially because our tiles are also handmade which give it more character and colour variation. If they were machine-made matte tiles I may think otherwise. Yes, I think it would be okay to do a glossy granite island, honed counter for the perimeter with glossy tiles. That may just solve some of your doubts.

I think that tomatoes from The Dwarf Project are perfect for your garden if they will produce well in our heat. I have tried several before (Rosella Purple, Dwarf Mr. Snow and some other one whose name I forget) but it was in horrible dry, hot years where they did not produce well at all, and they started producing really late. I am growing seven varieties from The Dwarf Project this year and all of them have done very well so far. With more normal weather conditions this spring than in the other years I grew them, I am hoping for better results. The ones I started from seed on Super Bowl Sunday are growing in the ground (I was going to plant them in containers but decided I wanted one of each in the ground too) and about to bloom any day now....if not today, then tomorrow. You do practically need a machete to make your may down my garden paths in summer. It is nice and neat and orderly in April, and by May is nicely filled in and looking good. Then, in June it becomes a jungle. I kinda like the jungle look, but it does make working in there challenging at times.

We have the Aga Mercury 36" and there are 5 burners on the stove top. A pretty cool feature is to be able to "link" 2 burners together, to heat a griddle. I believe this can be done on either the left or right side, with the front and back burners. One more note, while I'm here: this stove boils water faster than any other stove we've used, including gas ones.

We dislike stainless and all the fingerprints (and the "no-fingerprint" brands all seemed to be reportedly too unreliable), and black appliances seemed too dark and depressing. So we went with the only white ones we could find that had a large enough fridge-- the GE Cafe Matte white-- with the warm Champagne bronze handles. We prefer and have warmer tones in general in our transitional style home that has warm oak hardwood floors (vs. the current ubiquitous gray paints & stainless look), and while the Cafe Matte white was difficult to match for cabinets/counter top, we found close enough matches to work. Our cabinet maker wanted to use Benjamin Moore paint, so we gave him a Sherwin Williams "PURE WHITE" chip to try to match, which was the closest we could find at the time (two years ago). While the Cafe white is a bit whiter than our cabinets, it blends well overall, and we have the Misterio quartz counters that go very well with both, as well as with our 12"x3" handmade white glossy tile backsplash, and a big Blanco black sink that is very striking with the champagne bronze fixtures & handles on the appliances. Their black glass helps tie in the black sink well. The best hardware we found to match the Delta Trinsic Champagne Bronze faucet and Cafe's champagne bronze handles were a mix of ATLAS "Shelley" pulls and their "Browning" nobs. All the cheaper brands we tried just did not match, IMO, and we tried many before deciding. Our main color is in the oriental rugs (rich red/gold/black/with some pale blue & green touches, hides spills/dirt well) and in the accessories we use--on the walls we used a warm creamy beige tone (a bit lighter than Sherwin Williams Eggwhite SW6364) with white trim/molding (similar to Sherwin William warm "Pure White" that matches the cabinets)-- and it all goes together well. The Sherwin Williams Pure White is a warm white but not yellowish, nor a pure contemporary clinical hospital white (like a typical GE appliance). Despite not being perfect matches, it blends well enough and was as close as we could get. ( The lighting in the one showroom that had the Cafe white appliances on hand was abysmal-- impossible to truly match any paint chips, so we just had to do the best we could at the time. I'd attach a photo but am not tech savvy enough to know how!)