Hi, I'm back again. I'm sorry I have been away from my computer for awhile and did not realize there was still some interest in this post. My 4 year old had surgery to remove a benign brain tumour on the 13th (she is doing awesome!), so I have been occupied with other things. I am also getting our current house ready to sell, so I have been a cleaning, trim-painting, de-cluttering machine. They had a meeting about my kitchen and the builder agreed with me that too many things had been changed. The kitchen company is going to fix things at their cost. We went through each thing and I had to say which I would compromise on, and which HAD to be changed and what I should be compensated for financially. Basically, they will be removing the upper cabinets and installing 36" uppers and the remaining 6" to the soffit will have moulding and trim work - similar in look to kitchenkelly's. (This forum has been so valuable for pictures and ideas. Even though I mostly lurk I find so many helpful things). They are also fixing the microwave shelf, the baseboards on the island and installing some beadboard trim on the island that was left off. They refunded money for granite, the custom wood hood and the 42" uppers. Anyways, the kitchen won't look EXACTLY as I had wanted, and a big part of the problem is that soffit. However, it will be very close and I think it will still look very nice. As my husband pointed out, I am the only one who knows exactly what it was supposed to look like! We are disappointed with how inflexible the kitchen copmany is in regards to doing NOTHING custom (the original company was more custom) and we would probably have not signed on with this builder had we known. However, the rest of the house is WONDERFUL and I think in the end the kitchen will be great too. It's just not what we would have expected. I will post pictures when it is finished. They will be installing the new cabinets in about 2 weeks - and I will definately be keeping an eye on it to make sure it is done right :)

I would like to use up all the stained glass pieces and full sheets I have by making a back splash along the wall under the cabinets and over the sink on one wall. I have never done mosaic and I am not an artist or as creative as you all. I don't even know where to start! I want to be able to remove it if we sell the house and the buyer dislikes it. I have opaque pieces, pieces with wispy colors, clear colored, textured pieces, and a lot of clear glass with differnt patterns. I have some cut in one half inch strips and 4 X 4 blocks. I have odd shaped pieces from when I actually made stained glass hangings. I even have some cut in diamond shape and some that are still full sheets. I have almost all colors. I can't even remember why I have some of it. I am thinking of something with a pop of color and want to introduce rusty red and purplish red into the color pallet. I have many questions about the process as well as needing suggestions for the mixing of the sizes, textures, and colors. Is there anyone out there who can give me some advice? Should all pieces be of the same type of glass? Should the pieces be cut to the same size and shape and then fitted together? Should it be like a crazy quilt with all different types, sizes, colors etc? Should I mount it on plexiglass or some sort of cement board (I don't know what that is) or perhaps in frames of some sort. See, I really am helpless. I wish there was a pattern with it all spelled out. I would rather follow a pattern than make a mess of it. Can anyone help me? Thank you.

parma42 - yup, free is definitely welcome here too! They actually had a whole slab of Jurassic Green left over from their kitchen that they would have given us for $600. If only we hadn't JUST done our kitchen counters. DOH! I don't think it would have been quite enough to do ours, anyway. andee - I don't know what color they are painting the bathroom. I'll have to ask them. The fireplace is in the same room that the granite will occupy so that's the wall color I'm looking for. I don't really like the fireplace, so I don't really want it to stand out, but I don't want it to feel like I am trying to hide it either IYKWIM. One thing I forgot to mention is that the Love Sac beanbags we have to furnish this room are covered in brick red, olive green and navy blue. I can't really afford to recover them all right now, so it would be helpful to coordinate with them. I keep looking at the greyish greens in the fan deck and I wonder if something like that might work. awm03 - that does help, thank you!

LRy511, since you posted a picture of your beautiful backsplash with the smaller cabinet over the sink and glass shelf, I did a search for your kitchen. Your title picture I had printed since I love the running bond pattern you used which I have decided I am using also. I LOVE your soft white cabinets (love their style, color and hardware), your granite, your beautiful backsplash over your range, your sink set up, your faucet, your 20X 20 beautiful tiles, the way you got the beam out of the way, your wheat-back chairs (I have the same one but mine I think are in a honey maple color now), all the light you have in the kitchen with that bay window and all the ceiling lights, your wall color, the drawer storage, the pantry pull out drawers and your doggie! Thanks again for sharing. You did an amazing renovation that is beautiful as well as more functional.