kswl2, The house is very nice. The drawback, as far as location within the town, is that the property is adjacent to an active railroad track. I live 25 minutes from Senoia and drive through there often. The town has undergone a major transformation due to the film industry (The Walking Dead, et.al.). What was once a small, quaint, Southern town has been changed to a tourist destination. Guided tours walk the streets, and the locals do not always appreciate the rerouting of traffic at odd hours due to filming. Housing prices have gone up considerably, often way beyond what they are actually worth. The $900,000 townhouses near the center of town (the location for Alexandria in The Walking Dead) have remained largely vacant. I have to wonder: if/when the film industry decides to move on to a different location, what will happen to Senoia?

"re: kitchen backsplash. Is this more difficult to install than other tile, e.g. floor tile or bathroom wall tile? " When I posted my advice earlier about the backsplash, I had forgotten you were also installing floor tile and bathroom tile. So no, a kitchen backsplash is not more difficult to install than those. What I meant by my earlier comments was that the guy on a GC's crew who might be assigned to install your backsplash when the GC is doing the rest of the kitchen, may not have that much skill besides basic. You will get a better installation if you hire a tile guy separately yourself. Someone whose entire job is installing tile day in and day out for years. As I mentioned, we have seen some lousy kitchen backsplash installations on this forum when the homeowner just had the GC do it. Best to remove it specifically from the Scope of Work and find someone yourself to do it. As mentioned earlier, tile shops (high quality ones) will often be able to refer you, and also look at Angie's List for your area.

Well, hmmm. You're an awful long way in what you have to work with to get to your inspiration kitchen. So I think, instead, it would be a good idea to compile an idea book of 30's and 40's kitchens that have elements closer to what you have to work with. You can put that lovely thing in your back pocket and save for the gut reno, but in the meantime, let's see what else we can find. OK, so what can we do with what we've got to work with, here? And just how much are you willing/able to DIY? Consider a tone-on-tone checkerboard, since that will frustrate you less to keep clean. The white/light green or two-tone green both look nice. If you're really a DIY nut, you surely could do a painted wood floor in there, too. My kitchen floor is painted. It wears off, but then I just slap on another coat of paint. I can change up my flooring for the cost of 2 gallons of floor paint. :-) Rounded, slab doors are sometimes seen in period kitchens, although yours are thick. If you really hate them (I can understand - I would really hate them) this is one of those instances in which I wouldn't be averse to painting. They're oak - you'll need a good grain filler and an excellent trim and cabinet paint, but it can be done. Just keep in mind that it will develop more wear-and-tear than a factory finish. However, if you're committed to a gut remodel in 10 years or so, it's an option. And add hardware. That will really make or break the look. Actually, if this were my kitchen, I'd be looking around for a woodshop that had a planer wide enough to thin down those doors. :-) Which would REALLY help get you closer to your "look". Pull out your current hood and the cabs above it, and replace it with something else. Either a simple stainless hood, or a stainless hood with a surround. Colored, maybe? Then take the door right off the kitchen to the left of the stove and make it open shelving, adding a scallop detail cutout as one of the period kitchens above. Add a tile backsplash with a black liner tile detail. Lots of work, can be done. What colors go where really depends on what your tolerance for color saturation is. You could go very white with some Nile green accents. Or you could go whole hog. It sort of depends on what the rest of the house looks like.

I made some calls to Marvin. They told me there was no after sale blind for their Marvin Integrety doors (they do sell some for other doors). The also told me if I installed the Home Depot one you linked, it would void my warranty. They said their doors were sealed, so I could not pry apart the frame to add the shade/glass you linked. So, it does not look like this is an option. I think I am back to installing sheer shades on the outside of the door -- at least they will match the rest of the main level window coverings. I wish we had the option now to add door blinds like you showed, but it does not seem to be an option as far as my research has revealed.