The counter in the foreground of this kitchen is a green product made from post-consumer recycled paper mixed with resin. The material is called Paperstone and it's a strong, waterproof option if sustainability is one of your renovation goals.
This is another concrete material made by a company in New York called IceStone. Icestone counters use a combination cement and 100-percent recycled glass to make what is the one of the most sustainable surfaces on the market. IceStone looks very much like the terrazzo shown in this ideabook but the use of recycled glass gives it a sparkling liveliness all its own
Tile the back of your island. I'm a huge fan of this treatment. If you have an island or peninsula that's just painted drywall, tile can take it from ho-hum to stunning. Go with a patterned tile or classic subway — anything goes.
Wall mounted spice shelves are terrific and are available from most cabinet manufacturers. They also can be done in an existing kitchen cabinet. When storing spices I prefer not to have a cabinet too deep; things get lost. This solves that problem: Shelves are shallower to allow for the door mount spice holder. Rev-a-Shelf makes something similar to the one we see here.