he told us with the humidity and settling of new construction, it would be a huge mistake not to have a backsplash. Don't be afraid o' NUTTIN!! :-) Seriously-- I don't know where these people come up with this crap!! If there's that much settling, just how does your salesman say that adding a 4" splash is going to help that? If your floor sinks THAT much that you need an extra 4", you've got much bigger problems than whether or not to use a splash!! As for humidity, I'd like to know just how that affects the countertop, especially so that a splash will help!! This is out and out BS, and it's not even a good attempt at sounding professional!! The REAL problem doesn't come from settling or humidity. It comes from movement of the cabinets from leaning, banging against them, setting weight on top of them, etc., and it doesn't matter whether that 4" splash is there or not. If the joint's not caulked where the granite meets the wall, you're going to see that joint open up.

NO MORE gray/tan!!! Get some color into that room with a nice oriental with reds/orange in it. Yes, to hardwood floors. Do site-finished floors in a medium tone brown - timeless and will work with anything. That's why floors were stained like that for several hundred years now. If you want a really interesting rug, consider a Bessarabian <https://www.ebay.com/itm/A468-BESSARABIAN-HAND-WOVEN-FLAT-KILIM-CARPET-HAND-SPUN-WOOL/232047703030?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20180105095853%26meid%3D0afdee5879d143a8a3ab332ee30cb6dc%26pid%3D100903%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D13%26sd%3D232047703030%26itm%3D232047703030&_trksid=p2509164.c100903.m5276> These rugs have so much decorative value and the colors are just wonderful. They're very well priced, too.

nexp: I would suggest considering LowE366 glass. Thanks for the suggestion. There is so much to learn in building a house and it is difficult for first time home builders to know what to ask about. I just checked the information in the bid (so many acronyms) and they window company has spec'ed LowE366. So, it looks like they are on the right path. Virgil Carter Fine Art:,The elevation shown has virtually no means of lateral resistance in terms of wood framed walls, so I hope your architect and engineer are designing adequate shear walls elsewhere. Yes, we did talk about that. When we first started the design, we asked for the front to be a straight wall of windows to take advantage of the view and our architect pointed out the stability design issues with that. I believe she used the term "moment frame" if we wanted to do that and suggested that would be expensive and technical to get right. She gently steered us towards form, function and frugality in that respect. Although the straight on view does look like it is that wall of windows, the first floor actually indents in the center five feet where the sliding doors are to create a covered area. That not only provides some of the lateral stability, but also the ability to sit out on the porch, protected a bit from the wind and the rain which plague the PNW. It also makes the front look more interesting than a flat wall. Bonus, it was a little cheaper to build. I'm not sure what other things in the house take care of lateral resistance, but I know she was designing for that and that the structural engineers signed off on everything. Mark Bischak, Architect: If you love your architect, the "we" should include her. Yes. Our only change so far since permitting was to move a closet from one wall to another and we did consult her for that and consulted with her on this suggested change. The builder provided feddback during the design phase to provide input into features that might effect the budget and/or schedule. That way we could refine the details of the design as we went along to get a build that could be done on time and near budget. Thanks again everyone!

Whatever you do, before you commit to a large scale wall painting project please do large test swatches on the wall. I bought a vacation home which has these pickled pink cabinets in the kitchen. Words do not adequately express how much I hate them. I plan to do a kitchen reno at some point down the road, so I set about finding the right wall color to hopefully make me hate them even a little bit less until I can get rid of them. Some paint colors will intensify the pinkness, others are almost magical and can downplay the pinkness. If you google around online you'll come up with color recommendations. I started there, but can tell you one of the first colors I picked happened to make my pink cabinets look almost bubble gum pink. It was hideous. Sigh. I did end up finding the perfect color, which really does downplay the pink very nicely. It's a tan color with just a very faint apricot hue to it, and fortunately for me it actually makes those pink cabinets look like a normal color. Still can't wait to get rid of them, but at least they don't scream PINK anymore.