I have a soapstone called Santa Barbara, which Florida Joshua used to have (don't know if he still does). It is a really interesting soapstone--almost all talc--very little veining. but incredibly compressed and dense. I have 2 sons--wild, active sons. Within 2 days of installing the stone, they were driving their matchbox cars over the runnels. One afternoon I heard, "clang, clang, clang, clang." I went in the kitchen and found my 3 year old banging a glass up and down on the runnels. They are fascinated by the runnels. A differnt day, my 3 year old had 2 spoons, and he was pretending they were people, marching them around the counter--ding, ding, ding, ding--went the spoons. But NONE of this is noticible. None! When it first happens, you see white marks (talc residue). Plain old water washes much of it away. But a dab of oil, and it is GONE. It seems like magic to me. I have this crack in my stone (working on a resolution), and I have played around with it: scrubbed it with green pads, gone at it with sandpaper (100 grit, 400 grit). It easy to work with! Truly! Add a bit of oil to the top, and it all looks the same. Now, I do think there is something special about the Santa Barbara. It seems to oxidize differently. Some stones need a lot of oil. My stone was oiled almost 3 weeks ago, and barely looks any different. I have to go at it with the scrubber or sand paper to get the dark color off (regular soap won't take it off, nor will scouring powder). So, I say all this to explain that soapstone (Santa Barbara, at least) is incredibly easy to maintain. I have some "patina photos" that I have to get downloaded. Basically, my husband was sanding plaster on the ceiling over the counter, and then--uh--standing on the plaster grit. The soapstone looked rather buffed. But add oil, good as new. Add fine sandpaper, even better. However: I haven't had a giant ding yet. I have dents. No big deal. Can't see them. But a big chunk out of the side of my runnels would be sad. I am just amazed by soapstone. It is just magic! Magic, I tell you!! I can totally see how folks devote their careers to the stuff! Francy

jejvtr: I like the first link you showed, but the second one did not work. You are right the columns look similar. Perhaps you should leave them afterall, they are growing on me. It has a certain delicacy with the arched roof and you may change you mind also once the trim is painted different than the house color. Which is probably another reason my vote is for a non-white base color--to accentuate your lovely trimwork. I'm glad you are looking at other homes similar to yours for inspiration. When we were remodeling last year, I always kept a digital camera in my car and I would snap pics of features/colors/etc of houses I liked--usually while picking up or dropping off my kids from school or sports practices. I would try to drive a bit in the residential areas. Then when we were finalizing paint, I had my paint swatches with me and I would go up to houses which I liked and compare paint swatches. Once you and your DH find an inspiration pic I think this is helpful to narrow down to an actual color. You will always see things we don't, like lighting and how it works from various angles. What does DH think? Still white/red?

What metal did you get for your cabinets and faucet? A possibility would be to use the same metal in the backsplash and that way you could get texture and design. Another choice would be muted caramel color, look at colors in that line. I don't think the countertop is too busy, it reads as a solid with teeny speckles. I have the Sony staron in a similar pattern and I love it with a soft gold backsplash.

I really do like that glass, I have to say. You'd have to be careful how you lay it out, so that the light blue doesnt get lost in the paint color, but I think it is do-able. The slate that your hubbie picked out looks nice, too. In the photo without a flash (assuming that the colors are accurate) the tans of the slate really pick up some of the accent colors of the counter. At least in the photo, I like it better than the ostrich, and I may have to nix my previous comment about the "yellowness" of the slate. But I really like that glass.....