I think we are going to use the white subway tile to keep the budget down as I priced new tiles and it would blow out the budget. Really like the contrast grout idea to add a bit of texture and pattern. My partner is a builder and he loves the reclaimed wood shelf idea as we have a lot of spear old wood left over from the renovation. We have made a dinning table and fire place mantel from it already so it would tie in really well.

Hello Marcelle, I am an interior designer . I can tell you a simple inexpensive way to change the look of your kitchen. Looking at the photo you sent the different cabinet heights , and all the objects on the stove wall are very busy . Your modern house is wanting a cleaner , simple look. I would lower the small cabinets so that the top is at the same height as the others in the room. And put doors on , that will hide the clutter. Next I would do a tile backsplash above the stove , up to the same height. The whole kitchen will be pulled together by the continuous top line. There is a small light wood cabinet with baskets in the foreground . I would paint it white , or the same dark accent color of the cabinets you have. I don't think you would need to change the beams then , they would add interest and drama once everything else was subdued. Lisa

This made me laugh: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/09/seagull-turns-orange-after-falling-into-vat-of-chicken-tikka-masala I couldn't copy the picture, but it's hilarious.

I had a few companies competing for my business. I went with the guy who was obviously doing his homework, color matching, great price, he found the supplier who had granite from quarry where the counters in my new home came from. Wow is all I can say. When I told the competitor that I was letting her go, she asked why and I gave her the reasons above. She said she'd do it all for the same price. She had done my friend's sister's bathroom and it looked fabulous, I had not actually seen any of his work I saw pictures, but this was an actual project I saw, so I agreed.The project was to put cabinets and a counter top, that matched the ones I had on the other wall.What happened.The got the wrong style, wrong color, wrong size.I decided the color was a shade off... fine... its not that noticeable. The width of the trim of my shaker cabinets were about 2 1/4 inches, her cabinets were 3 inches.She got two 24in cabinets instead of two 36 in cabinets. She brought 2 sliders for my existing cabinets when she needed to bring 4. I was supposed to have 1 large drawer above each cabinet, instead I got 2 smaller ones. The granite was a crappy match. She promised to include 2 outlets above the backsplash. She wanted to charge extra last minute to do one because it was "more complicated than she thought." I had an electrician do it for $40.I feel like I let so much slide. I just wanted it done. I didn't have enough cabinet space. I wanted to finish putting all my things away. My saved spot with the other guy was lost and I'd have to wait until Dec. (It was the 1st week of Oct.) She said it would be 4-5 weeks to complete.Its 12/5. My cabinets are damaged. She splintered the wood when she applied the drawer pulls, she used the wood marker to "fix" bit it still looks crappy. And she wanted the last installment.I told her she can have 1/2 of the last payment, she said she'd come back tomorrow to fix. I was at work on the phone with her. My wife hands her the check, she takes it and says, you know, tomorrow is just not gonna work out. What other day works for you.My wife tells her Monday. She says ok and leaves.I feel like she's never going to be able to fix all. And I have no idea what to do from here.