I used to have a wood table and had a piece of glass cut to fit. It was care free and best of all, when I used my expensive table clothes underneath they stayed clean and stain free. Even with 3 kids! I replaced my table with a gorgeous inch thick glass on cast stone pedestal. It looks smudgy most of the time, but beautiful right after it's windexed which must be done several times a day. So I keep a table cloth,(which gets dirty easily since it's on top of the glass) on it and now you can't see how lovely it is.......... loved the glass on wood treatment!

One of the woodworkers that was mentioned on another thread uses this Sherwin Williams Lacquer... Thoughts? It comes in dull rub. Here's part of an email he sent to me. (This surface is not for cutting on) "" It is used for restaurant tables, counter tops and islands where the primary use is for service purposes and not for direct cutting. It is available in matt or what sherwin calls dull rub, semi gloss and gloss. 99% of all our blocks using a hard surface finish use the dull rub laquer. The catalyst adds hardness. It is water and stain resistant like waterlox but unlike waterlox it is hard and clear. Waterlox yellows the block. Most people who have hard surface finishes use a cutting matt or block and store it under the top or in a drawer. " Sounds good. I wonder how it wears and also if you can do small repairs by sanding and refinished or if you'd have to do the whole top. I'll call again next week. Maybe I can get a sample piece. I like that it comes in dull rub and supposedly doesn't yellow the block. Here is a link that might be useful: Sher-WOOD Catalyzed Lacquer

astridh-You know, I've thought about colored glass pendants too but I just haven't found any possibilities. I do think the right ones would work--but I also think it would be an easy way to go terribly wrong. rhome-thank you. I'm really happy with the door style too. I think of it as a modified shaker. It's just a bit softer and takes away any inclination to make it modern. The island is really more blue than anything...it's blueish with green and gray undertones. Oddly the color is called artichoke and it looks nothing like one! budge1- I've strongly considered those schoolhouse lights with the band of color. They are so pretty! But I guess you just have to take the plunge and have them shipped. I don't know how else to get a good look at the color, do you? borngrace and pfmastif- The cabinets were custom and painted in their shop. The color gave those poor guys fits! It was a really tricky one to match. egganddart-Making your own cabinets? Impressive! I hunted for quite some time to find the "right" slabs. I just couldn't afford any of the other types of marble. amysrq-thanks. that is just how I'm feeling now too. Everything is convenient for me, but I can talk to my family and they can feel included with out being in my way or in danger. mustbenuts-thanks for the RH link. I've looked there, but I've got a tricky situation and those wont work for me. What you can't see in my pics is that the ceiling vaults over the island so the last pendant will need to be really long and on a swivel/bend to hang straight. remodelfla- I'm so glad that something I posted can help you with your project. As much as I love the pats on the back, the real value of the forum is sharing ideas and helping each other make the best of what we have to work with abundantblessings- I hadn't thought of one chandelier. That is a interesting idea that I will have to kick around a bit. I'm already wired for 3, but I can always cap them. Thanks for the idea. For those of you who spotted the corner cabinet--I'm laughing. I purposely tried not to take a picture of it because it is so messy! Obviously with those open shelves it is meant for display, but I've got all kinds of strange things up there now...dishsoap, stainless steel cleaner, dust rags etc. It really is a nice use of space and breaks up the solid area of the pantry near it. I tried to tie it into the hood by using bead board on both. It also has columns that reflect the sink base. Perhaps when I get more organized I;ll post another pic of it. Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone! It really makes my day! I know it shouldn't matter, because I love my space--but it does of course :) I'm sorry if I missed anyone.

I was going to post the same thing Karen just suggested. Here's how that would look (I also moved the DR doorway for best lay-out). Gains: a lot more counter space around sink and range, plus better storage in the kitchen. This plan also includes a 36" sink cab and a full size DW. What she won't get is a 36" wide fridge. That would require 7" more width (fridge plus clearance plus cab sides) than the fridge size I spec'd at a minimum and likely more than that. I wasn't able to find a 36" wide fridge that wasn't a French door or side by side model, which would require more clearance between fridge and wall in order to open the right hand door. She will lose a bit of capacity but given that the house only has 2 bedrooms, do they really need a full size fridge? I spec'd the plan based on the requirements of the the LG 30" top freezer, 20.2 cu ft fridge. It's well rated with a very good capacity for its size. The other plus is that it only requires 1/8" clearance on each side so it only needs a total cavity size of 30". Add in 3/4" cab box sides (I strongly suggest they choose frameless construction cabs to max out storage) and this fridge requires only 31 1/2" in width. I spec'd 32" to give a wee bit more space between fridge and wall. It's not as convenient to remove items since the counter is on the other side of the door but given the kitchen's size, compromises must be made. I tried it with the fridge on the bottom wall, which would give her counter on the opening side but it creates a dark hole in the bottom corner. There are a few other fridge options including the Whirlpool 33" bottom freezer, 21.9 cu ft It requires 1/2" side clearance and 2 1/2" between fridge and wall if you don't switch door swing from right hand to left hand. Add in cab box and you need 37 2/5" at a minimum. She'd need to give up 3" on each side of the range to make this fridge work (check range specs to see if 12" between range and combustible material is sufficient). btw, that 2 1/2" clearance between fridge and wall says that's what it needed to open the door, not what is needed to pull the drawers out. That is something to check. She might find that she can open a right hand fridge and pull the drawers out with only 2 1/2" between fridge and wall.