I think almost any black horizontal surface is a dirt magnet, or a dirt magnifier. I used to love dark finished hardwood floors until I lived with them & noticed how every fleck of dust or piece of hair would catch the light and seemingly GLOW with neon light :( I think light is easier to keep clean. If you color your hair in the sink I'd be worried about stains. But I find dust is an every day hassle while staining chemicals are a rare thing you can sort of plan for. -Pam

"Vision" is a kind way to put it Igloo! There was something about the house that pulled us in when we saw it, despite the total lack of curb appeal and the hideous kitchen, bathrooms, living areas, garden, etc etc. Flyleft, yes, wine above the fridge (required to give us the "vision"). I know its not the best place to store it, but we're not talking long-term storage here! The wine fridge has "good" wine (1 bottle of) and a couple of beer bottles but is mostly full of Pellegrino water. Your DD is getting a very thorough education in "Advanced Remodeling", she will be ready to graduate soon ;) Soigne, we got the L-brackets at Lowes. i think they were in the hardware area (not the shelf bracket aisle, those were not heavy-duty enough). they were very cheap, maybe $10 each. Dgmarie, I don't know whether the pendant lights are code. I do know i have seen other pics on here of pendants hanging over sinks, which doesn't mean that its code of course. My DH installed them (and the undercab lights). They each have their own box in the cabinet right above the pendant, so if they somehow fell, they would cut out. But i do not know if its code -- anyone else know? Mystery, we like the fridge but wish we had gone with the french-door version you have as we didn't think about clearance between door and island -- there is not too much space to get round the door when its open (at least not for me, but thats another topic!). Yes, I agree the freezer is annoying, but i suppose all bottom-freezers must be similarly so. I do prefer having the fridge on top as we are not huge freezer-users, so for us, the frustrations of the bottom-freezer are worth it. The cooktop is fantastic, my DH researched and bought it and I'm very glad we went with induction. We paid a lot less by importing it (I think it was about $1000), as I've read for others importing from the UK or NZ.

I'm just about complete w/ my re-model on my bathroom...I decided to pull colors from a shower curtain I'd ordered online called Memory Lanes...I incorporated my black tile from it, which had black pots w/ flowers in it...I painted my wainscot walls I installed, "Only Yesterday" color of paint which is a creamy white color w/ yellow hews in it. Will add photos when project is complete...Also, w/ my old porcelain tub, instead of replacing I had a company called Bright Tubs, www.brighttubs.com, come in and refinish it. Looks brandnew now. Very proud of myself and my accomplishments on this old house...

I've resurrected this thread to show my newest experiment. rjr220, you are right! Read on: fori, your suggestion gave me an idea. I decided to use the 'reject' marble tiles for my prep-sink in our new addition. The ten tiles that I used cost $14.80, the substrate materials cost ap. $30.00. Tile adhesive and grout for both the counter and backsplash will be ap.$32.00. I used mostly scrap tiles for the backsplash, but the tiles that I bought cost $15.00. If you're keeping score, that's almost $92.00 for the counter and backsplash. I'm listing the cost of materials, because this may be a wasted effort--if it doesn't work out, I'll tear it out and start over. If it works, then I'll use the 'good' marble tiles for my kitchen counters, whenever we start the kitchen facelift. In the meantime, I'll have ample time to test my new counter. (But I won't be dropping tomato sauce cans on it.) So far, I LOVE the counter, and my husband, who didn't share my vision of taking highly-polished, second quality tiles, and turning them into something that (I hope) will look like a slab of soapstone or slate on an old chem-lab table, LOVES it, too. I haven't grouted yet, or sanded the epoxy in the edge seams, and the sink and faucet aren't installed. I plan to paint the cabinet GREEN WILLOW (leftover paint), and maybe repaint the beadboard to the right of the counter. It's SUGAR COOKIE to match the window-seat wall, but I'm thinking the HEAVY CREAM on the other wall would look better with the tile. There are a few wonky spots in the backsplash, but I cut most of the mosaic pieces myself--cut some of them in the rain, today :(, so maybe the grout will even things out. I plan to use dark charcoal grout for the counter and backsplash. The backsplash in the kitchen will probably be the light tan tiles, cut in subway, with a black marble 'pencil' accent, and possibly a similar mosaic over the stove. Thanks again for your help and ideas. Sorry for the long post. If anyone is still reading, here's my 'new baby': Here is a link that might be useful: Marble counter, mosaic backsplash