I didn't pay the Menard's design people anything. I suppose you could get your design for free and then just not go back after the cabinets. I did buy my cabinets there. They were More than I planned when I started thinking kitchen but they were Sooooo perfect. ( My original plan was to replace my existing but my carpenter said if I was going to do it I should have it the way I wanted it.) If I wouldn't have started flipping through the door samples I would have gone oak "just like I've always had". I looked there for everything, though. I had a zipper notebook with everything about the kitchen in it. Measurements, inspiration pictures, printed pictures of the exact thing I was looking for, everything. Then while we were discussing the cabinets I had measurements and everything right there with me for the answer. I did buy a lot on eBay and on line but I looked at things in the store. The thing about the Menard's designers was they were familiar with every cabinet size and function of every style. If I wanted 18 inch base they could pull it up on the design software picture we were making and it only took a few seconds. They could turn it, 3-D, top; everything. Quick and painless and I could change my mind 4 times without feeling real guilty. They had some good ideas, too, and I did listen to them. I got a heads up a couple of weeks before they went on sale. I was just waiting for it to be in my time frame. I also got a free sink base and soft close drawers. My cabinets were about 25 feet, top and bottom for under $5,000. The photobucket link will take you to my page. There are three albums there. You probably want "finished kitchen". Here is a link that might be useful: my photobucket albums

A friend just sent me this link yesterday, which is perfect reading/viewing for you! http://www.classiccasualhome.com/2017/06/black-and-white-modern-farmhouse.html?m=1Above pic is the HO's original granite which went from polished to honed in the re-do. "Since Lisa wanted dark countertops anyway....honing the existing granite gives it a newer look." Google tells me that this is your quartz below -

Is there any way you can get a sample of the White Zeus before you commit to buying it? The reason I ask is that there are a lot of complaints about white staining. You can search this site and find several threads about it, and the best advice is to get a sample and test it out for yourself. I did this when I was considering white quartz, and while I was not considering White Zeus, one of my samples did not pass my stain test in that I had trouble getting plain yellow mustard off it. I wound up going with a more mottled/chunky looking quartz that had white but wasn't plain white. You may also want to consider Glacier White Corian if you want that European look. I am unsure of the thickness it comes in though.

HI joshua123, The kitchen tile is from Pratt & Larson. It is a custom waterjet mosaic piece in marble. The color is a dark grey with a lot of variation. the exact color is bardiglio. the white boarder and interior boarded are snow white marble. kathy and Micah at pratt & lason were extremely helpful finding exactly what I wanted for our kitchen. I'll have to post a couple more pictures from a sunny day, as the ones I have posted dont really reflect the real colors. as far as style and mosaics being dated or not, I'm a firm believer that you should go with what you love and what speaks to you. you are going to be living in the house and walking into that kitchen every day. I dont think our kitchen mosaic looks dated at all, but I'm also not a designer. I can tell you it makes me happy when I walk in to make my morning coffee in that room. I did consider using more of that tile to cover the entire backspace area from the cooktop to the hood, as diana illustrated in some of her photos, to really give it a more modern look, but it was too expensive to justify in this house.