New kitchen ideas

Mitch and I are in the very beginning stages of redecorating his house/kitchen. Nothing extreme (no structural changes) but we're chatting about changing the flooring and the countertops. He bought the house the way it is, but neither of us are keen on carpeting, and I can't stand the tile in the kitchen which seems salmon pink to me. Yuck, I don't care for pink as decor, unless it's a little girl's room! That means the counters (white Corian with a pink accent stripe) are also not my favorite.

So we're looking at replacing the tile in the kitchen/dining nook and the living room/halls (and maybe the dance studio) with bamboo in a dark shade... like this:



The cabinets would stay white, and the counters might be soapstone, which looks like this:





The backsplash is currently the same salmon pink tile that's on the floor, which I would change to something neutral. If we do go with the ebony floor and the soapstone counters, the backsplash might be a real pale grey, tiny tile like 1" squares... if we go with a slightly lighter floor (like a dark oak/chestnut/cherry) we might go with a lighter, granite counter and a neutral beige-y tile backsplash.

Just thinking aloud.

Oh! Just got bad news! Mitch's parents are not attending the family surprise party in Naples FL-- they're staying in Vegas with Aling (Mitch's aunt) who was rushed to the ER last night with nausea, leg cramps, dizziness, and 208/142 blood pressure.

More as developments warrant...