Let there be light. And a counter top.

Yesterday, the lights went in. First, the pendants over the sink, then the main fixture in the center of the room. All of the fixtures were purchased from Rejuvenation. Very similar fixtures can be found for a great price at many retailers. Shopping at Rejuv,' meant we had great options, all in one place, without some many other fixtures mixed in. Convenience trumped price tag.

But something is off:

Notice in the pictures above that our matching 24" pendants do not, in fact, match. One measured 23.75" and the other measured 25.5." Awesome. After a phone call and mad dash back to the store, matching, accurately measured fixtures replaced this first set.

There was concern that the mondo cabinet above the refrigerator would make contact with the main overhead light. Fortunately, the perfect fixture was positioned perfectly, to avoid such a disaster.

Just enough room:

In the realm of home improvement, the kitchen is always a major project. And within that project, the counter top and the refrigerator are key points- you can spend a lot of money, and make a big visual impact with these two upgrades.

We shopped for natural stone counter top slabs, and were very unimpressed with the selection we were finding. We had brown in mind, and weren't finding much. We ended up gravitating towards the solid surface counter tops, and found some good options. We expect to be pretty happy with the final product. The install was a snap (for the professional), and this feels like one huge step towards completion.

And to "top" it off:

Seeing it come together is very satisfying, and slightly scary. But, looking at this last picture... do we even need to tile the rest of the backsplash? What do you think?