We went with white on white cultured marble countertop with sinks in our recent MBR redo. After 22 yrs with the old cultured marble top (which still looked great but we had to break it to get the cabinet out) I couldn't justify the extra cost for granite or silestone or corian, although they are certainly beautiful. I also liked the ease of cleaning the integrated sinks and no seams to trap gunk. The original cultured marble top still stands in our kids bathroom - 22 yrs later still going strong. (The kids are gone but the counters held up through them.) We've also always used chrome fixtures for the same reason - they never seem to go out of style and are easy to keep clean and fresh looking. We considered the ORB but it seems to be a "fad" right now, like the gold or antique brass fixtures were in the past. I've heard some complain that after a while the dark coloring rubs off and they lose that pretty ORB finish. Grout is definitely a pain to keep clean in showers. I've noticed many folks turning to solid panels of cultured marble for tub and shower surrounds lately to avoid the mold & mildew issue. Again, it's easy to keep clean. That will be our next adventure, when our fiberglass tub units bite the dust. A regular tub with cultured marble surrounds. My personal preference is for natural wood cabinets for the same reason as others above. (And definitely get plywood construction in the cabinet boxes.) I think it's harder to keep a painted cabinet looking nice in a bathroom with the moisture and wear. Natural or stained wood seems to hold up better over the long run. As for flooring, IMHO ceramic tile or vinyl work best...again it's the moisture issue. Water will be dripping on whatever you put down so you might want to keep that in mind. Certain materials (laminate, bamboo, wood, etc.) don't lend themselves to water-prone areas but they sure "look" pretty. Maybe in a seldom used guest bath I would consider one of those, otherwise I would go with ceramic tile or vinyl. Fewer seams on the floor = fewer problems lurking underneath the floor if water seeps through. When our 3 yr old tried to flush a roll of TP down the toilet, you bet I was glad we had vinyl floors with no seams. We sure had a bathroom flood but no damage! That's my 2 cents. Good luck!

Laura12, I have looked heavily at many of the floorplans, our builder we will likely go with already has it and lucky us my really cool sister in law is an architect. We plan on trying for a solid LEED certification as well "sola tubes, green foam, new roof sealing technology, stained concrete etc" I am stoked about adding the folding rear doors to the pool, think it will make the house. A floor drain is a pretty cool idea for the mudroom. You could almost have a "Italian style" shower drain if you have the room to wash off boots etc, people with reef saltwater aquariums use these a lot and plumb skimmers directly to them. I want to have a large cabinet under the center island for all of the appliances, the only caveat I will have to add is a way to run the cables up the top and close the door still for things like a crockpot or breadmaker. This is a basic DJ control panel, would create stickers for the switches to label them, and probably wire a manual switch underneath to turn the unit on, so two switches and go. http://www.amazon.com/American-Pc-100A-Mount-Power-Switcher/dp/B0002GL50Q Cheap vampire timer http://cableorganizer.com/belkin/conserve-socket/ http://www.igo.com/other-power/power-smart-tower-with-igo-greenr-technology/invt/pm000110004/?source=165_75 Things like this should in theory allow me to plug in nearly all my appliances and just about cut vampire wattage. Thank you for the option on the sinks, I am checking them out vs dark copper. I am thinking of the eletrostatic non replaceable air filters that are washable, any thoughts? If so I could wash it monthly and that would cut down on dust etc. I am also thinking green foam insulation and ceiling up the attic totally, as we have more of a heat issue and leaving the attic floor wo insulation resulting in heat rising "all our cost are in cooling here in Texas". Have talked to an owner that did that and his attic is amazingly cool/home.

My current house is anything but easy to clean. The #1 thing I want in my new house -- our retirement house, which we're planning -- is efficiency. I was everything well-planned for our lifestyle so that I can keep things neat and tidy with less effort. Things I must have in my kitchen: - Huge walk-through pantry with floor-to-ceiling shelves for food, seldom-used cooking items, bulk-purchased paper products, etc. I love self-rotating can storage and will definitely add more when I have the space. I love the idea of everything being visible and in its place, and shelves are much less expensive than cabinets. - A four-foot countertop in the middle of the pantry so that as I walk in from the garage, I can drop groceries and sort them right on to the shelves. Food won't enter my kitchen 'til I'm ready to cook it. - No lightswitch in the pantry. Instead, I want automatic lights that turn on anytime I walk in ('cause don't you always have your hands full in the pantry?). Ditto for hallways, laundry room. - Toe-kick vaccum suction thingies to eliminate the need for dust pans. - I want my cabinets to be nice but simple. No deep engravings or requires-lots-of-wiping-down decorations on the cabinet fronts. No turned legs or feet to make the cabinets look like furniture -- I don't much care for those things anyway. - Depending upon the cabinet arrangement we go with, I might have cabinet doors that open on both sides. My great-great-great aunt had this when I was growing up, and it is SO practical for everyday dishes. You can wash your dishes in the kitchen and fill the cabinet from one side . . . then you go into the dining room, open the cabinet from the other side, and set the table. - Likewise, simple edges on the countertops. Less expensive, less chance of chipping, fewer places for spills to accumulate. - Drawers rather than cabinets so that I can use all the space at the back without difficulty. - We'll probably have one Lazy Susan. I definitely want a light inside that cabinet. - One drawer will have a built-in spot for knife storage. I want as little clutter as possible on my countertops. - One cabinet will house garbage and recycling. This cabinet will be positioned between my sink/clean-up area and my prep area. - Few upper cabinets. No, I don't go for the trendy shelves-instead-of-cabinets (how much space you give up, and if it wasn't 100% neat, it'd look awful), but I'm too short to reach the uppers comfortably. So we're minimizing them. - One upper cabinet designed for spices. I have a fantastic spice storage system (not built-in, but perfect), and I'm making sure the cabinets are sized just right for it. - Light fixtures that are not shaped like a drinking glass. Why? Because bugs get in there and die, and it's trouble to take down the fixture and clean it. In contrast, a fixture that is "open on the bottom" doesn't collect buggies. - I like my glass-top stove, but I love the raised lip around the edge. When something spills, it stays on the stovetop rather than running down the front. - I love my refrigerator with pull-out shelves . . . but I despise that it's in a corner and I can only open the door 90 degrees. The shelves and crisper on the left side are pretty much permanant fixtures. - Appliances that do not show finger prints. - The dishwasher will open in such a way that it does not block access to any cabinets (upper or lower) when it's open. - No appliance, no door should impede traffic flow. - Definitely an undermount sink. Un-fussy one-handled faucet -- the fewer pieces, the fewer places to accumulate grime. Also a medium-sized one-bowl sink with the drain positioned on one side rather than in the middle (leaves more space under the sink for cleaning products to be stored). Good garbage disposal. - No prep sink. The size of the kitchen we're planning doesn't really lend itself to two sinks, and I see two sinks as two things to clean and two sets of plumbing to eventually break down. - Since we're in the South with red clay soil, we're going with a tile with a slight red tint -- think terra cotta, but not quite so red. Or maybe I'll stick with hardwood throughout the house. I'm not certain on that one. - Very important: A top-quality floor mat at every exterior door. Be sure it's at least five steps long. This'll keep a tremendous amount of dirt from entering your house. Things I'm having even though they will be some trouble: - Glass-front cabinets. Love them. Will clean them without complaint. - Large window over the sink. Again, want the light pouring in and will clean the window without complaint. - Curtains. Yeah, I know that most of the magazines showcase wide-open windows, but I like the softness of pretty curtains. The two suggestions I'd give you in planning: - Inventory everything you have in your kitchen. And anticipate whether you're the type to add every new small appliance that comes along, whether you're likely to add another set of dishes, etc. Then, looking at your floor plan, mentally put away every item. Does it all fit? Does it leave a reasonable amount of space for expansion? - Once you're satisified with your cabinet arrangement, mentally walk through some of your typical meal preps. Where will you stand to chop your vegetables? Are your favorite knives stored nearby? How far do you have to reach for the trash can? Where do you reach for your frying pan? Where's the oil? A couple hours staring at your floor plans will save you regrets.

lwerner and iroll: Please accept my sincere apologies for responding only now to your posts above. I didn't even know you two had posted because I don't have any notification system for replies :-(. I had luckily bookmarked this thread when I first posted and today, I hunted through my Favorites folder so I could read it again - and that's how I saw the two last posts. So, so sorry, and thank you both for your kind help.Forgive me the long delay. Laura: You are a brave woman, having all that glass despite living so close to the SA fault :-). Could you please tell me what kind of companies do glass backsplashes? ( Glass, metal, tile shops etc.). I really like your idea of the huge tiles - pretty and practical, too. Thank you!! Iroll: I love beadboard but never knew they came in ceramic!! Thank you for that link; I tried opening it but couldn't - maybe my firewall is blocking it. I'll try again. Have you installed your backsplash yet? If so, could you post a pic, please?? Our kitchen was demolished yesterday and everything went fine - no mold or rot lurking behind anything, woohoo! Now I'm really fired up ( all that talk of glass....) to search for the right backsplash :-). Thanks again and sorry again.