Wherein I break down and talk about work, just a little bit.

Generally speaking, my job is not that interesting.  Mostly I clean (and clean and clean), count cabinet hardware, and occasionally do plan-o-grams.  I've learned more about cabinetry and appliances than I ever wanted to know.  And yes, once in awhile I sell things.  Yesterday, though, I spent four hours updating our countertop sample boards.  Most of them are still hideous, plain, and will never sell, and a lot of the new samples are in the "pretending to be real stone" vein*, but when I saw these samples! (click for a slightly larger version)

I was so excited! They are Formica patterns, and they are so refreshing to my eyes!  I love the retro boomerang pattern, and the colors!  Although I will probably never sell a countertop in any of these, since most people seem to want to match their cabinets/countertop/wall/flooring colors instead of finding things that coordinate.

(Keep in mind the region I am in too--I'd say at least 70% of the cabinets I sell are in oak, usually in a light to medium finish...and more often than I would like in a very dated cathedral door style.  If you have plenty of extra time, you can try asking me about that someday.)

We also carry a number of Wilsonart patterns, but they aren't usually as exciting.  There are a couple I do like, the first one we do have at the store, but the second one I found while browsing the website:

(And two more Formica patterns I like):

I could go on about countertops if I really wanted to.  You know, the benefits of solid surface, granite vs. quartz, that sort of thing.  But...I don't! 

 *Some of them are okay on the sample board, but overall my opinion on that subject coincides with that is shared in this blog post.

As a final note, I also wanted to add a link to this website: Heath's Ceramics. 
I happened on this website only today through Dwell, but I wanted to
share it because, besides the fact that I like the design of their
products, through this weekend they are donating 25% of their sales to
Architecture for Humanity for rebuilding in Haiti (along with free shipping).  I know a lot of
people have already donated directly to relief efforts (so I won't link to any of those), but I wanted to
share this anyway.  Since you never know who might need a new tea towel
or some bowls!  You can also find a number of artists on Etsy who are
doing similar sales, just search "Haiti relief".