fourquinn - there are two things I noticed - and not about the layout. First, you say you will most likely be there for 10 years. Then don't remodel today for what you think will attract a buyer in 10 years! If you are good enough to predict what will be "in" 10 years from now, then I want you to predict the stock market for me! Remodel to create the kitchen that makes you happy. Secondly, you mention your house would sell in the $1.4 million range today. Unless your value is all location, location, location, the houses around you probably have nice stuff. I'm in Houston, and we are building a new house (land $200,000, build cost a little over a million),and my kitchen appliances alone cost $25,000! My builder told me I pretty much HAD to use SubZero and Wolf in the neighborhood I was in (I cheated, I switched to Miele for the dishwashers and the induction cooktop, but Wolf for the ovens and SubZero for the refrigerators). So the $25,000 budget seems small to me IF you are trying to create a kitchen where the cost of the kitchen is similar to the neighborhood (assuming the houses are high-end build, not high-end location.) I know I am in the minority, but I do think your existing kitchen looks dated, or at least not "high end". If I walked in as a potential buyer, I might buy the house, but I would want a good deal because I would remodel. I wish I could add design advice - I am one of the "design-challenged" people that got a good KD and a good decorator - but I hope these thoughts add something to your ponderings. Good luck! I still advise you to do what will make you happy today.

We had a sample of the one from February but gave it to our granite guy since he didn't think we'd be happy with it. He doesn't have it anymore but I would have loved to compare them. The new stuff doesn't seem to have as many crystals - maybe that's why they think it won't chip as easily. I'm having such a terrible time deciding on EVERYTHING for this remodel - it started with the appliances, then the sinks and I'm still not sure about the faucets. Maybe it's because I'm getting older and figure this will be my last kitchen project. I also am concerned that it will be too dark. I'm leaving the marble (very light color) on my baking center - separate island. But the regular island and two walls will have the new granite. I guess I want it to be perfect and not look back and say "I wish I would have picked out that other color"

We purchased ours at BR stone in Pompano Beach. Just do not put a straight edge on sides. You can look at my photos, our installer did NOT put an angle on that eased edge because it was difficult to cut. My son has chipped it in a few spots with very hard objects. They are completely invisible and the stone looks like it did 5 years ago. Just passing on learnings from having it installed for years. It came in from the port of Miami. Sea Pearl has a similar look. But the slabs we saw of Sea Pearl were more grey. I really wanted marble - but not the hassle. This Sky Gold was perfect - it took me about 3 months to find it. Not many people even know what it looks like, I had to personally walk the yards to find it. BR stone knew how it looked and had 2 bundles. I was able to buy bookend slabs, so the longest piece on my counter looks like one large piece of stone. Only seam is a small seam at sink. Good luck - be patient and let me know when you find it. It comes from the mine that produced Azul Blue in Brazil. There is a video above.

Anyone who has put the Calacatta Vicenza, any regrets? I’m leaning towards that for my kitchen but I want my counter tops to be mostly white with just little specks of gray here and there. In some pictures I find Kitchens who have huge chunks of gray and very busy. Any opinions? I was also thinking about cashmere Carrara? Any help is appreciated