I spill espresso and coffee grounds on my Carrara all the time without any staining, etching, etc. Marble does not stain easily as previously mentioned if it is properly sealed. Etching, sure. Staining, no. I do have one very, very faint stain under my espresso machine when my DB and his wife tried to use the machine when I wasn't home. They didn't really know how to work the machine and made a mess. I thought I cleaned it all up until 8-9 days later when DH moved the heavy unit a bit and I saw a huge puddle of dried espresso. Apparently they did some damage to the machine and it had a slow, unnoticeable leak--underneath. And btw, I knew you weren't really planning to use the board for cutting. ;)

I remember you posting a picture of yours on the "show me thread". I also have wooden cutting boards, 3 of them! All are large! This one is my favorite. I took the woodworkers design and asked to have a double black pinstripe put on either side. Had to wait 2 months to get it tho. The exotic woods are left over from the furniture he makes. I LOVE MINE!!!! All I ever do is put "food grade" mineral oil on it. (Purchased the oil @ Tuesday Morning). This one is 8 years old....I use it daily....cut anything and everything on it.....it retains no odor. After cutting pork or chicken on it I wash it with bleach & let it sit. It still looks FANTASTIC.....altho the little tiny red squiggly line that weaves down the middle isn't very red any more. It looks white in the picture. :0) ENJOY! This post was edited by nicole__ on Sat, Feb 22, 14 at 11:43

Thank you, marthavila! I also love this kitchen and know I'm extremely lucky! (You should have seen the shoebox kitchen in our prior house which we lived in for 12 years! I could barely turn around and used to put a large cutting board over my sink to achieve a bit more "counter" space!) segbrown - I took some pics I hope will be helpful to you! Our lights are centered on the peak - we put a flat piece of wood there so they would attach nicely. I did place the island so it would end up being centered under the lights. By the way, the ceiling is a nice grade of cedar with whitewash on it so the knots and grain show through. I love it! The beams are "fake" as in they don't actually support anything, but we felt we needed them to break up the otherwise very large and plain ceiling. Oh, and I don't like my large pendants! The bulbs are extraordinarily hard to change (too difficult to describe, but trust me - it's an exhausting, two person, very difficult and awkward job!) Also, the glass is beaded in such a way that it looks filthy. The glass also can not be removed for easy washing - you have to wipe it while it's hanging. I got them from Capitol Lighting and can't remember the brand right now - will post later if anyone wants to avoid them. I don't think lights that are off-center on the ceiling would look bad. I'd do that to get them centered on the island for sure! Warning about a vaulted ceiling! If you are redoing your cabinets also, be sure to ask for finished tops on your uppers! Since mine weren't able to be seen on a daily basis, the KD decided I wouldn't want to spend a few bucks to have a flat, smooth surface to easy dust every month or so. What I was left with were rough, unfinished "bowls" on the top of my cabinets. The shims showed and the wood was rough and not easily wipe-able. I paid much more to have someone come fit tops onsite after they were installed. It would have been better/easier to just have it done at the factory. Here are the pictures - Here you can see that we centered the refrigerator between two doors and under the peak of the ceiling. Here you can see that we didn't/couldn't center the opposite wall since there is only one door to the left.

I have a zillion cutting boards Some are beautiful craft cutting boards done by local artisans - i have trouble using these - but it has little rubber feet on the bottom to prevent scratching. I have a number of plastic "jelly" style cutting boards - probably won't buy anymore of these - in time, the mold in the little cracks... I have 2 Corian boards that I received as wedding gifts - they are still holding up and I toss into the DW. They have little silicon feet that sometimes wash off - so I have extras from Corian and the hardware store. Some of the nicest cutting boards are made by Boos - they have a website. I recently bought my new island with a Boos top - it is beautiful. OK - I can't cut on it yet and use a cutting board on top of it even though it is designed to to use as a cutting board. For my wood boards - I use a food safe mineral oil and I also have Boos board cream which I haven't used on my new island yet. And Cambria sent me a board to match my ktichen. I haven't used that one - i think it will make a nice cheese board as a bit hard on the knives. Here is a shot of where most are stored - my giant ones don't quite fit. The boards in the plastic bag are bread boards and always have residual crumbs... Have fun!