regarding the pass through: for the occasional perch while someone talks to the cook for a bit, it's ok. I don't see the function of grabbing something from the kitchen and going around to sit there...may as well have a table and chairs in that space, or the nearest space beyond kitchen .... which will allow interaction with things going on in the room beyond. I wouldn't plan for kids...as in lining them up at the pass through....they'll grow out of "sitting there" so quickly. I prefer the darker wood...".tan" wood could be a difficult thing to get right with the onyx. I like the light kitchen, darker wood, and am not sure about the honey onyx, but would not change the dark wood and forget the concept of going around the house "changing all the wood". the dark wood is very pretty actually......I'd keep the pass through at the narrow dimension. The hood will be a really great feature...hope you show a pic when done.....it will command a lot of focus so you can move on now to the light fixtures above peninsula which will be at that same eye level.

I think that if you put the honey onyx tile only behind the range (but not next to the countertop) and put it all the way to either the range hood or the ceiling it would be fine but I don't think that it looks good next to the countertop. The poster above who explaied yellow vs gray is on point. When you posted it on design dilemma did you also explain the exact colors or were you just asking about tile height? Those folks are pretty savvy.

I have one very light floor and the rest of my floors are a medium wood tone. A friend of mine has dark floors. She hates the dark floors they show every bit of dust. My lightest floor never looks clean. Medium tone rarely shows anything it is definitely the way to go on the flooring.

I don't think you have to be matchey matchey throughout the entire house.

What are you planning on putting on the wood shelves? My guess is that white shelves would look best but if they're going to be used on a continuous basis (as opposed to display) they are also more likely to be chipped.

I think for the pass-through I would put wood, wide enough to set a dinner plate on it because if the dining room is on the other side you know that's what's going to happen. I don't think I would try to have an overhang that people could sit at so much as just wide enough ledge that people could put things down on it safely. So it would overhang into the kitchen some and onto the other side some. But before you do that, I would install your faucet and see how much space do you actually have. If there must be a overhang into the other room, you may want to build up a cabinet below the overhang.

You've raised the question of the backsplash choice, and I appreciate it coming up now, better than after it's been installed!

This is a close-up of the "sweet honey" onyx, was planning to do 3x6 tiles everywhere except in a chevron pattern between the windows. Setting them against a wooden cutting board to stand in as the wooden hood cover. Do the colors look wrong with my kitchen colors?

Is the grey combination better? Here is a glossy dove grey subway tile that would go all around the kitchen, except I was thinking of doing the grey arabesque tiles against the brown wood hood in between the windows. Is this a better choice than the yellow tiles above?

Here are some other options, numbered #1 to #6 (sorry it's hard to see, please click on to see more clearly). #1 and #3 are the grey glossy tiles above, #2 is a white subway with grey shadows, #4 is a pale grey arabesque, #5 is glass tile in "sand", #6 is similar to #5 but with a touch of green. Are any of these better options than the yellow tiles? Thanks so much in advance for your help!!

Unfortunately, on my monitor everything matches.

a) no yellow onyx-I'm a big lover of onyx myself, but I don't see anything in your countertop that would support this color choice. Cream or greige or warm white will tie with a countertop, not fight it. You don't want your hard finishes to fight. You can blend them or contrast them-but never to fight.

I wouldn't choose arabesque, but if you truly love them-I'd go for the number four, the simplest of them all.

Tile number one appeals to me the most..if what I see through the monitor is close to what it is in real life. Because it's often not.

Let your hood shine-keep it walnut-I have a feeling it'll be amazing.

You don't need to keep the wood the same throughout the house..slight variations are more interesting too. Granted, don't mix too red, too blond, too gray, and espresso..but many woods do work together, and do that quite beautifully.

I'd say keep the shelves wood too...but I can't see the wall in question..:)

Your kitchen looks fab so far. Thread lightly, don't add too much glass/shapes..every kitchen is different, I feel with yours less will be more.

As for the pass-through-I have no business commenting..bad with numbers (and not so great with music too lol-I heard these two are connected)-but it seems proportional to me, and I'd leave it at that.

Love the chevron pattern but yes, that color is all wrong. I'm not a fan of the shape of those scalloped (?) pieces but the color is much better. Out of the numbered swatches, I like 1 best with 2 close behind (might be too similar to counter tho).

The floor and wall look warm toned, even the wood swatch goes warm - is the countertop really that cool white/gray in person or is it more neutral/warm?

Jocelyn - the countertop is called "Lusso" by Silestone, and it does have a cool grey/white tone about it. I wonder if I need to go with a more pure white backsplash to coordinate with the countertop.

No to the onyx - wrong colour. The other problem is that your counter has a small pattern in it as does the onyx so the pattern sizes are fighting.

I like the colour of #3 but not a big fan of the shape of the tile.

3

Thanks to all your feedback, I'm convinced to drop the yellow tile as backsplash. Although it was disappointing to learn that I've made this mistake, it's better to change now than after it's installed!

I like the look of the grey colored tile with my countertop, but as a backdrop of a brown wooden hood cover, would the wall look too dark? Would it be a mistake to go with grey backplash + brown hood cover? Would it be better to be safe and go with a white subway tile backsplash (with possibly grey grout)?

I'd go with the white subway tile and white grout. Let the hood be the focal point and don't add something that would compete.

Anglophilia, that sounds like the best choice. Don't ask me why a family with 6 kids from age 12 to 5 months is ending up with an almost all white kitchen, but looks like it's happening. It'll probably turn into an all grey kitchen within a couple months of use. I just gotta laugh! At least it'll look coordinated!

I think you will have to be careful of the white tile shade. I looked at the Silestone site; your counter does not just have grey in it....right?

http://www.silestoneusa.com/color/lusso/

I think the walnut hood with a grey backsplash would be fabulous. keep the grey on the lighter side and don't put it anywhere else in the backsplash. I love the arabesque (I have it) but for your space the chevron looks better to me.