My solution:

This is our master bath, which we added by borrowing space from the large master bedroom and closets. It was previously a 1.5 bath house, now officially a 2.5! Our bedroom is now smaller, but it was completely worth it.

Here are the details:

- floor & shower tile - 12x12" slate (special order from Home Depot), cut down into 3x6" subway tiles for the shower area.
- niche tile - 2" honed carrera hexagons from stonetiledepot.com
- carrera threshold at shower and door
- tile on wall behind vanity & toilet - teeny tiny white glass mosaic tile from okglasstile.com
- toilet - Toto Aquia II with Toto Washlet s300
- vanity, sink faucets, medicine cabinets - Ikea
- shower door - Vigo frameless sliding door bought on Overstock.com
- shower faucets - Hudson & Reed
vanity lights(I don't think you can see these in any of the photos) - Artemide talo mini in white
wall color - silver satin, Benjamin Moore
trim color - Anthem White, Valspar

Anyway, on to the pictures!

view from the bedroom:

vanity & toilet:

standing in the shower looking back towards the door. It is impossible to get a photo of the shower without getting terrible reflections in the glass door! The dark tile also makes it hard to get a good photo of the whole thing. Anyway:

shower detail:

niches & hand shower:

floor detail:

mosaic tile detail:

Wall color: BM Gray Wisp. Trim: BM Simply White
Tub: 68" sunrise specialty with hardware
Vanity: Shiloh furniture style vanities in espresso.
Sink: Kohler Memoirs
Medicine Cabinets: RH Cartwright Large
Sconce: Hudson Valley
Countertops: polished carrera marble

Hard to get a pic of the shower without glare.

I would ask Jewel? She posted last month about white
granites.

I love river white granite. It is a beautiful stone but I
rarely see it. If I had to choose I would go for the white
river. The movement adds a sense of artwork to the stone.
I wish I had more pictures for you.
~boxer

White River or River White

White River granite from Marble and Granite co.

Here is a link that might be useful: Does anyone have River White or Monte Bello granite? pics please

I do like the cans in the corners of our DR, in the hallways, over the laundry sink. I could do with far fewer in the kitchen.

Besides the cans I mentioned liking, the lights in use in our house are: Chandelier w/downlight over kitchen table; daylight fluorescents in master closets and laundry room; under-cabinet Juno strips in kitchen; hanging fixture over sink in kitchen; chandelier in DR; hanging fixture in foyer; sconces in bathrooms; chandelier in master bath. Lamps make up the rest. We do have a light on the ceiling fan in the MBR, but almost never use it. Wish I could change out the cans over our kitchen island for hanging fixtures.

I think a key issue for placement depends on if you have under cab lighting. If you don't, I would not install closer than the counter edge. If you do have under cab lights, further out or closer in, a matter of whether you are looking for general light or highlighting your cab faces.

We have much to do yet as far as furnishing and decor but I'm just happy to be out of most of our boxes! :) These pics are by no means, "staged" -- we live here! But just wanted to share a few..

This is a ranch style home -- 3 bedrooms on main and finished lower level with two more bedrooms and kitchenette. South Dakota suburb type lot (3/4 acre) on a golf course. We're a family of 4 -- 2 kids ages 5 and 3.

Lamp, waiting for a foyer table! :)

Mudroom Walk In Closet:

Mudroom:

Mudroom Cubbies:

Laundry:

Covered Concrete Deck:

Backyard:

Pocket Office off kitchen:

Pantry:

Basement Kitchenette:

Here is one version of Delicatus we saw (this one was too grey for our kichen):

Here is one of the slabs of Juparana Delicatus we used and similar in color to one of the slabs that had been labeled plain Delicatus about a month earlier - it looks very peachy in this picture:

Here are some pictures after install. Once installed you tend to notice the overall color and tone first, then the patterns and inclusions.

I am a real stickler for countertop space. Based on the measurements in your drawing, you seem to have enough countertop space to work with. Therefore, you can concentrate more on design than function for the island top.

I love the butcher block top. It wouldn't take away from the beautiful countertops and backsplash, and will still give you that country french look you are going for.

One idea I do have for you is to consider using ceramic tile for the countertops AND backsplash, to keep that country french look. There an example of what it would look like in the link below about half way down the page.

Here is a link that might be useful: Compare Kitchen Countertops