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<p>Really? We put stainless in our kitchen when we built our house in 1997. I didn’t realize we were so ahead of our time!</p>
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<p>We put wood framed mirrors in all our bathrooms when we built in 1997. No rotting yet. I guess none of us (kids included) are big splashers.</p>
<p>Momof3–I think we may have been twins in a previous life! I believe that a house should be a museum of your quirks!</p>
<p>We did stainless appliances in 1995, for the simple reason that it offered the chance to have a “no color” kitchen. Having had harvest gold (circa 1979), it seemed that then the focus would be on the light cherry cabinets and the delft tile backsplash instead. Also, different manufacturers’ whites are different colors. I’m a little OCD.</p>
<p>When we moved into our house the kitchen had 2 white appliances (DW & MW) and 2 black appliances (stove & fridge). I don’t know what the sellers were thinking; the house was only 3 years old. It stayed like that until the DW died, then the MW. I’m glad everything’s the same color now. But I have to wonder if I ever would have chosen black intentionally. </p>
<p>I hope to remodel the kitchen in 2011. I’m stuck with the all-black appliances for that project cuz these are either brand new or about to die. I’m too stingy to change, but sure hope nobody tells me black is out.</p>
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<p>Good for you. I like wood-framed mirrors. My H is a big splasher, and we’ll have to do something about the cabinets in our bathroom eventually. I guess you have properly designed and adequate ventilation in your bathrooms as well. Before installing anything with varathaned wood trim in a bathroom, it is important to check the efficiency of the ventialtion. If the mirror gets all foggy when you shower, there is not enough air exchange in the bathroom. The fog eventually drips down to the bottom of the wood frame and slowly destroys it. I’ve seen some sad effects of that.</p>
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<p>Only when I figured out what “MW” was, did I realize that “DW” was not a person!! :D</p>
<p>When I had bamboo floors installed in my condo, I put them in the kitchen, too. Two years later, no downsides so far. The people installing my fridge carved some grooves in it accidentally, but that’s their fault, and you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking for them. It has a timeless look and is comfortable to stand on, and I haven’t had any problems yet with staining or water damage, even near the cat’s dishes and other potential trouble spots. It seems to wipe clean even more easily than my old tile.</p>
<p>We are almost finished with the building of a new house. It has been so overwhelming to have to choose everything. I watch a lot of HGTV too but it’s nothing compared to Garden Web. After looking a hundreds of pictures and reading about what’s in and what’s out, I decided to just go with what we like and not worry about it.</p>
<p>So, we’re going have hardwood floors in the kitchen, dining, great room. These three are all really just one big room. There is tile in the bathrooms. I haven’t chosen mirrors yet so reading this thread has been interesting. Our master bath has a shower only…no tub (gasp!). We’ve rarely used the tub in our current home so figured why put something in just because HGTV says so. There is a standard tub in the guest bath if there is a tub emergency (or future grandchildren!). We’ll have plain ol’ carpet in the bedroooms. My feet like to touch warm and soft when they wake up!</p>
<p>My kitchen has antique white perimeter cabinets and an olive green island that faces out toward the great room. I love green and since the island is so close to the great room I didn’t think I wanted a big off white island there. I put three gold painted handblown glass pendant lights above the island because they just looked so warm with the light shining through.</p>
<p>Went with light cabinets because there is no window in the kitchen area and the wood floors are a darker stain. Also chose a light color granite countertop (colonial cream) even though convention and lots of webpages pair very dark tops on light cabinets. There again, I was trying to maintain a lightness in a room with no window.</p>
<p>Went with stainless steel apps. They pick up the gray movement in the granite and black just seemed too dark in the midst of my “lightness”. White apps. didn’t look great with the antique white cabs. and granite. Oh, my backsplash is not very stylish either, it’s regular porcelain 4x4 in tiles set straight that really match the granite well…don’t really make a style statement just blends well and looks casual and homey.</p>
<p>The style guys also say ceiling fans are a “no-no” but in the steamy coastal south, ceiling fans are lifesavers. We are putting them in all bedrooms, the great room and the screened porch. ha!</p>
<p>The house was built with a Craftsman look in mind and looks out over the river.<br>
My goal was a comfortable, bright,cozy cabin in the woods sort of feel.
It is to be our retirement home, the last one we’ll ever live in hopefully. With that in mind, we decided that it’s good to get ideas from TV and magazines but ultimately the best choice is the one you like the best…to heck with fashion.</p>
<p>Hey Hanna—The fridge installation guys scratched my hardwood floors from the front door and all the way to the kitchen. I hope your guys fix/replace your damaged floor! The same thing happened to us and 3 weeks later we had a new hardwood floor courtesy of their insurance co!</p>
<p>No, it just wasn’t worth it to me. The groove is only about 12 inches long, and it’s only visible in the right light (it didn’t cut through the finish at all, it’s more of a subtle valley than a scratch). It happened getting the fridge off its dolly and into position, not all the way from the front door. Honestly, at that point in the process, I just wanted it to be over. Unless they tore through the finish, I wouldn’t have accepted a new floor.</p>
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<p>We put in wood floors on the majority of the surfaces on our first floor. I really haven’t had any problems with having wood floors in the kitchen. As long as you wipe up your spills immediately, it doesn’t hurt the floors. When I had tile floors, I also wiped up spills immediately, so no lifestyle change for me there. I do have a friend whose kitchen floors were damaged by their icemaker leaking while they were on vacation. You could always turn off your water if you ever were gone for an extended vacation. I’ve loved our wood floors and I did worry about “being a slave to them” as someone else mentioned. That hasn’t happened, so I have no regrets.</p>
<p>Packmom, I think your choices sound great. </p>
<p>I kind of wish I could start over. It would be easier than fixing a house that we’ve allowed to get out-of-date (decorating wise) over the past 17 years…</p>
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<p>They should have visited Seattle last summer on that lovely 109-degree day. Ha! 
Then they would have screamed about how much “in” the ceiling fans were! According to a style rag I read, ceiling fans are a “hot” trend now - they add to the greenness of your house. H and I will be adding them in our house this summer. You can have ceiling fans as trendy-modern looking as you want!</p>
<p>I do not care what the next hot trend in kitchen countertop material will be, I still love my grey speckled Corian with a white stripe along the edge. It complements my white applicances and white knobs on the cabinets quite nicely and makes the north-facing kitchen look much brighter. It cleans with ease - Zep countertop cleaner is a wonder product!</p>
<p>And we love the hardwood floors on our first floor…including the kitchen. They have worn well…after 15 years, we are probably going to have them refinished this summer. The family room, dining room and living room still look FINE. There is a little “wear” in kitchen…honestly not a lot, but I see it. We do have little fake orientals in front of the sink and stove…they look nice and catch the drips. Also, we leave our shoes in the mudroom. This is my second house with wood floors in the kitchen…I love them.</p>
<p>As you all know…I want NEW COUNTERS in my kitchen, quartz probably. Stay tuned. College tuition is done and I just have to get the estimates. I’ll get something <em>I</em> like. I’m leaving my recessed lighting in the kitchen…I love that too!!</p>
<p>Here is a link from Cote de Texas, a style blog I follow. It is a section regarding kitchens. yes, high end, but lots of good ideas.<br>
[COTE</a> DE TEXAS: Kitchens 101: Elements to Copy](<a href=“http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/2009/01/kitchens-101-elements-to-copy.html]COTE”>COTE DE TEXAS: Kitchens 101: Elements to Copy)</p>
<p>Speaking of fans…I saw these at DWR last weekend, and we are considering one.
[Fans</a> - Lighting - Design Within Reach](<a href=“Modern Ceiling Fans – Design Within Reach”>Modern Ceiling Fans – Design Within Reach)</p>
<p>We have bought most of our furniture there, and these would fit right in with our clean mid century modern look.</p>
<p>I love my quartz counter! Indestructible!</p>
<p>Reading that TX blog, my first comment is that I really genuinely LIKE honey coloured wood & clear finished cherry!</p>
<p>^^^^Hanna, how do quartz counters compare with granite (price, durability, appearance)? I’ve heard they’re great but haven’t actually seen them.</p>
<p>Packmom, you choices sound perfect! We have dark granite in the kitchen which is filled with light and within 24 hours they are covered with dust. We have a full kitchen in our basement and since it is darker down there I went with a lighter granite and I love it! (they are probably dusty too, but I can’t see it :p) I remember feeling overwhelmed when we built in 2000, but the last few days were the worst because you will have about 20 different contractors there at once and they all have questions.</p>
<p>Please tell me you put a screen porch on your new house…we live on a lake (mosquitos) and the extra $$ was a major point of contention between my H and I, but I won out and we use that space daily from May-October.</p>