I absolutely love your kitchen but probably because it is very similar to ours. We have creamy shaker style cabinetry with some glass doors, midtone maple floors and the overhang of our peninsula is dark-stained maple - all the same elements as yours (except we have a granite counter - the very classic giallo ornamentale). Our kitchen has been finished since September and I am still playing with accessories and colours. I lived with it for awhile to figure our whether I wanted to stay in the neutral colours or whether I wanted to add some pops of colours. You do need to live with it and let it just happen and evolve. My Process then became: When I put some of my "play" dishes back into my glass cupboards (not the everyday ones) I noticed that blue was a common colour in my dishes and so I lived with those for a while and then I found some really cool orange/terra cotta plant containers at a local garden shop and they "spoke" to me so I brought those home and put ferns in them (they would actually look great in your space). The blues and oranges are really adding to my space. I will now wait a while but when I'm out and about I do keep my eyes open for little touches. I would wait before doing anything over your stove as you may find that you like the openness of the space depending on what else you do in the room. Don't forget that whatever you put there is going to get dirty and will need cleaning. What about a piece of metal artwork ? Just as an aside: I look at some of the beautiful kitchens that people have done with the fancy frou-frous and wonder if I should have done something like that and then when I see yours, which is so similar to ours, and I go -nope- ours is perfect for us. Again, I love the clean simple classic gorgeous lines of your kitchen and the accessories and accent colours will evolve.

Yikes - i gotta go (have my coat on, I don't know why I checked back after emailing Y about DD's dance class tomorrow). Merillat mentioned sanding sealer that is only used when sanding soft woods - it stiffens the wood fibers so you can sand smoother. Not usually used on oak. Sealcoat is a "sanding sealer" b/c it can be used that way but really I don't want you to sand the veneer much at all. I am telling you to use it (if you want) b/c I found it made the oak a little smoother w/o totally filling in the grain like a grain filler, and it is harder than poly, will make the finish more durable than poly alone w/o putting on lots of thick (multiple thin coats) poly. you thin (and clean) shellac with denatured alcohol. You can let excess dry in container and then throw it out. Rags can be thrown out (in small quantities) when thoroughly dry. Sealed in water you'd have to check with town about hazardous waste (same with leftover stain, paint). That's why I have multiple cans sitting in my garage LOL. Clean the shellac brush by pouring alcohol into clean PB jar, swishing the brush around - you can pour the cloudy shellac into your metal can with lots of water for disposal, or pour it into another container and let it evaporate. Pour more alcohol into jar, swish until clear. then wash brush in mild soap and water, hang bristles down to dry. It may dry a *little* stiff, but you should be able to soften it by flexing bristles with your hand. if they "crack" rather than flex, you've still got shellac in the brush and need to clean with alcohol again. you *can* just stain and apply the polycrylic if you want to, straight out of the can I'd do 2-3 coats (which may end up looking plasticky but you can try wiping off the last coat like I did on my island trim), if you use the wipeon stuff you'll need 6 coats minimum, and you're *supposed* to sand b/t coats to get it to stick so I'm really leary of telling you to sand that much. You can do 1 coat of regular Sealcoat over stain, sand *lightly*, then 2 coats rolled on poly (barely sand b/t coats). That *should* be enough protection - at least until you have kids and they kick their feet against the island LOL. I'll check back after 1 pm.

Tina, I really don't need a plan, just a rug. :) The rest of the room is all figured out, I just want a rug that's cheery and bright in the nook. Mona, I saw those rugs earlier, but they're dull in color to me. I'll probably end up getting something with burgandy and black in it to match the hearth rug and the bigger area rug in the same room we'll be getting. I have a total of 4 rugs to buy and I can't even decide on a little one. lol But we'll buy the two large ones at the store so I can see them first. I'm only choosing something different for that area because it's off the main room so it can't be seen unless you're right in front of it. Even when I step out of the entryway, I can't see the room. That's why I thought I could play around with a different color and add matching accent pieces with the books.

That table must weight a tone if real marble, not to mention it probably can’t stand much moving around. Could it be some type of composite? I think if you used white chairs with brown cushions it would tie things together nicely. table is exquisite, would be a shame to hide it w/tablecloth or placemats