Wow, I'm just now seeing this! Beautiful kitchen, Babs! Love everything about it, especially the counters and floors! They are stunning. Couple of questions, one may be too difficult to answer, and if so, I completely understand. It's about your glass cabinets. Do you know how wide they are and how wide your doors are? My cabinet maker is thinking one door on a wider cabinet, and I love the look of yours with two! Also, you may have mentioned it in another thread that I missed, but who did you order your counter stools from? They too, are gorgeous!! Congrats, Congrats, Congrats.

this is a gorgeous kitchen! More on India ink as stain: I've used it on furniture a lot. Be SURE you get permanent India ink. It has some shellac in it to make it more waterproof. It has amazing coverage. I have done an entire armchair frame with only an ounce or two. It's also very messy if you drip it, so wear old clothes and get some disposable latex gloves. It may raise the grain on some woods. Sand the wood smooth before applying it, then do a very light sanding after it's completely dry, if it feels at all rough. Apply a second coat if the sanding removes any of the color. The color is a warm black. It's opaque but the grain of the wood will show through, unlike with paint. It's a pretty unique finish. I have never used Waterlox over my ink finishes, since they were furniture. I think you do need something though--the finish doesn't seem to be super permanent even though the ink is labeled permanent. (That's more for when it's used on paper, not furniture or counters that get a lot of wear and tear.) I used beeswax on the furniture which seemed to seal the ink pretty well. I don't think I would use it on wooden chair seats, though. Too much risk of rubbing off on clothing down the road.

nancy_east -- thanks for your nice words! How exciting about your kitchen -- this will be fun to watch develop! The widest walkway we have is 36 1/2" (countertop to countertop), with it going down to 34 1/2" where our apron front sink "jumps" out. From our cooktop to the widest point of the bowed island countertop is 35 3/4". The only times (or rather, areas) our aisles feel tight are when the dishwasher door is open and there's only 12" of clearance (between the open door and the island cabinetry). But so far, no barked shins! We're careful and aware. The other area is our refrigerator (which is 30" wide, all refrigerator so it's a wide door): when it's open the only one who can sidle by (and then it's just barely) is our two year-old. But neither of those conditions are permanent (meaning, the dishwasher is mostly closed and the refrigerator door is mostly closed as well). While 36" for an aisle isn't "ideal," for us it's working out fine. Our only alternative would've been to give up the island and that wasn't an option! We need the storage space. Your aisles will work out fine; if it there's an impediment in the 36" aisle (like a dishwasher), then you all will learn the same careful two-step we and many others have as well! Good luck with your kitchen-in-progress! (and whole house, too!)

Brushed nicked and stainless frequently don't match. There is a faucet finish matching chart for ISE instant hots. What brand is your filtered faucet, and which main faucet do you have? In some cases between brands there is no match, but in many there are. You might also be able to find a match just by changing brands of filtered faucet. There are also often similar main faucets in different brands that might match better. Would that be an option? I don't mind things that are different but they have to be planned that way or be barely noticeable. A clearly noticeable difference that is not different enough to be planned would probably drive me nuts. I was obsessing about it in my own kitchen, and it was one reason I switched to chrome. I would rather see a black or white faucet in there if it matched the rest of the kitchen than mismatched silver finishes. For example if you had white cabinets and appliances a white filter faucet would kind of "disappear", rather than being more noticeable. If you had very dark cabinets with black glazing and/or black appliances that might work as well. In my kitchen, chrome looks fine at the sink with BN knobs and ss appliances, but everything at the sink matches, ss finishes are from the same manufacturer and match and certainly all my knob finishes match. And none are obviously yellower than another, etc. It doesn't look "matchy matchy" but coordinates well. Like using different shades of a color in a room. You obviously have to decide what bothers you and what doesn't. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Finish matching chart