Thanks so much to all of you who responded. Your kitchens are all beautiful! Boxer, I was leaning in that direction and you confirmed the decision - I just love that granite and think that it will be beautiful either way the flow goes. I just tend to overthink everything! BTW, I had seen some of your kitchen photos online previously and they helped steer me towards the Virginia Mist, so thanks for sharing! I live in Virginia so that makes it special to me, too. I am just hoping the honed won't be too much additional maintenance because I think I'll love the matte finish. Anyway thanks again!

I am not happy with my so called hickory Casabella hardwood floor either. It was professionally installed in kitchen and dining room. Slivers are coming off of the edges of several boards. I saw a few the day of installation and the owner of the floor and carpet store came over the next day. He thought it could have been a problem with a tool used in installation since it was limited to a few spots on boards that went down first. He ordered a Minwax stain pen which hid it. We have walked on the floor without shoes for about 4 months. Several other splinters are coming up and there are other areas where the stain is either coming off or it was due to more splinters. To be honest I am not sure there is much hardwood in the top 1mm of so called hickory engineered floor that is 3/8” think. We clean with bona and a their mop pads.

I've been thinking long and hard about the many good critiques that have been shared in this thread and I've made a first pass at a modification. First the image and then the explanation: The oven and the microwave have been relocated. The oven is now under the cooktop. I feel like an idiot for basically replicating a range, paying double the money for the same functionality, but that cursed wok on the cooktop is going to cost me a pretty penny - cooktop + wok + oven instead of just range + wok. I also lose the flexibility of having a kitchen that's workable for someone is a wheelchair but if that fate ever befalls me I can simply move the oven back to the original location in the wall cabinet, lower the cooktop and sink and then I've got a working kitchen that's good for a disabled person. The design can be modified without too much trouble if the need ever arises. So, now that the oven is underneath the cooktop all of the pots that I wanted handy for cooking had to find a new home. They're now in the island where the recycling drawers were. That was easy. They're still handy, behind me instead of below the cooktop. The microwave is now immediately below the countertop in the peninsula with enough space to have a cabinet drawer underneath the microwave. This is a pretty handy place for the MW because it's right across the aisle from the fridge and just a step more removed from the cooktop/oven. Now as I enter the kitchen I can grab something from the fridge, pop it into the MW, and then I can proceed to the banquette or take the food out of the kitchen. All of the bulk grains and baking supplies are now relocated between the microwave and the wall cabinet which used to house the MW/Oven combo. The side of the island facing the peninsula now has a top drawer and 4 vertical drawers underneath which will hold all manner of baking sheets/pans. The sheets are close to the bake prep area and they don't need to be close to the oven - I will transport what needs to be baked either to the oven or to the wood fired pizza oven. The wall cabinet now stores two recycling bins, canned food, less frequently used baking equipment, and other odds and ends. My fear was having a useless section of counter/cabinets attached to the peninsula, but as I thought about how the space would be used, it can still function as a secondary prep zone but with the secondary sink on the island, it functions well as the bake zone and all the equipment is close at hand. The suboptimal aspect that arises from this new layout has to do with recycling and garbage disposal - it's now a walk to get rid of stuff. Similarly, if I want canned good or boxed goods, it's a walk from the cooking area to this storage area. However, these inconveniences are not as mission critical as the impracticalities of the original plan - the use of the oven and microwave in the old layout were more of a burden than the need to get canned goods or to dispose of recyclables. Here's the exit question for everyone (besides anything new that you can find to comment upon): What are the inconveniences of having a microwave underneath a counter? I'm used to using microwaves either at counter level or in the upper cabinets.

Crenda, so sorry to hear your struggles with Eches. I don't pay much attention to mine, but they do get a lot of water when they get more light. Having also said that, my eches sit on a patio quite high up with lots of breeze and sheltered light. I like many advised here water my plants early in the morning or late at night.. I let my plants get rain on, but i make the effort to blow away any residual water left collected within the rosettes on all my plants when the rain subsides. As for mealies, they just kindda disappear whenever I leave my infected plants outside. I think the strong winds and frequency of watering my plants seems to deter them away. It's only when the conditions are dry that they really thrive.