Wow, I hadn't realized there were other replies after I posted a couple wks ago. I only came back to check now to rehash my decision. Because no...I still don't know what I'm doing :( I'm literally past obsessing about it. And moved on to being plain, ol' DEPRESSED over it. So much so, that I booked a flight to CA for Feb 26th, so I could go to Ikea and just waste some money on accesories. And NOT paint! At the time, I decided to just put glass in the doors, open up the other couple. Try to find something I really liked to go over the cabs. Nice rug, some under cabinet lighting, and call it a day. But, dh and everyone else knows that would only make me happy for about a wk. So, we're painting. What color? Well, we'll decide that when the guy comes for the doors :( Seriously, I'm just going to flip a coin. Last night I was set on all white. Figured adding some other color in a rug, painting the inside of the glass cabinets green, and adding other stuff wouldn't make it look so sterile. But, that darn floor and the white appliances keep staring at me. I could happily do white cabs if appliances were SS. OR..if the floor was wood. But, having both things against me. I've yet to EVER clip and save a kitchen with light tile, and white appliances. There's a reason for that. I don't like the look ! The black..sigh. I love black. But, since my first post I've changed out my living room quite a bit. It's taking on a lighter tone. And I worry the black is too heavy with it. I've had visions again of going green/gray on the bottom. Dh doesn't want to for resale. And because of how he thinks it'd look against the Lenox Tan paint on the walls. Blue, I love the color you've done! I can totally see doing something like that to work WITH what I have. Not against it. But, again..the paint throughout the whole space would be hard to work with. Dh suggested maybe going with the wall color, at half strength..for the lowers. White uppers. OR..back to black lowers. It's quite obvious I'm all over the map still. And am thankful for all the snow. So, my painter can't get started yet :( Here's my living room. Right off the kitchen. I need to make things flow. And I pretty much stink at this whole decorating thing, so it's a struggle!

Okay, I think you have all convinced me to not create my own weekend from hell (by trying to pour leveling compound with just two adults ... and two kids under the age of five). Thanks for this! We have the hardwood on hand, and were already planning on a floating installation as it's recommended for the product (no nailing). So if we now switch and go the cork path - say with that 12mm option from the website you mentioned - that leaves me with a few questions: (1) My previous calculation - indicating the top of the hardwood surface would be almost half an inch lower than the top of the adjacent tile surface - had built into it using 3mm PergoMax underlayment (the "gold" stuff). Would I still use this stuff, on top of the cork and underneath the hardwood? I'm guessing no. (2) Perhaps tied in with the first question, I see that thinset is used to adhere the cork to the concrete. Is this correct? This will (obviously) add some thickness to the whole equation. I'm thinking now that - by removing the PergoMax stuff (-3mm) and adding thinset (guessing, +2mm) - it's pretty much a draw, which I then just float the hardwood on. Am I thinking of all of this correctly? Thanks again for all of your help. You are all much appreciated.

We're all speculating here without actual pictures. But I'll chime in anyway. :-)) Three things caught my eye in the OPs original post. 1. She can see the texture of the drywall. 2 She can see the tape (what she calls tape - I believe she's referring to what's called joint telegraphing or photographing). 3. The wall was finished with eggshell. Pure speculation here, but I think the walls were probably finished properly to a Level 4 standard which doesn't include skim coating the entire wall. You will see texture differential between the drywall paper face texture and the smooth joint compound areas that have been floated and sanded. That texture differential gets minimized and goes away with subsequent build of finish coats of paint applied to the appropriate mil thickness. A Level 5 finish provides the most uniform surface and minimizes the possibility of joints photographing through the final finish. This level is recommended where the best paint finish is required, such as under critical lighting conditions or when paints that have a glossy surface are used. Finishing to a Level 5 is not the typical norm in residential construction. It takes more time and greater skill and requires the entire wall be skim coated. The OP also mentions she can see the tape. In addition to a texture differential between the drywall paper face and joint compound, because an eggshell finish was chosen, she's probably also seeing a sheen differential in the taped areas versus the drywall paper face areas. Priming or sealing the walls before top coating is the best way to avoid this. There are huge debates that rage about what's the best primer or should you use a sealer like Gardz. I'm not going to get into that here. But if the OP is correct, and all the drywall received was 2 coats of BM eggshell, that's part of the problem. Other than sheen, the OP also doesn't mention the color or the lighting conditions. Along with chosen sheen, deeper colors tend to highlight surface imperfections. Also walls and ceilings in areas with lots of light (natural or artificial) hitting at an angle, long hallways, and tall atrium walls again can accentuate the surface imperfections. Some of these issues are more prevalent today due to the phase out of alkyd enamel undercoaters which were high build, masked minor surface imperfections, filled the paper texture in and sanded smooth like butter. Like everyone else, I'm waiting to see the OPs photos.

Wow. I'd call the tile guy back and make him remove the grout and re-grout the area.