Karen Baumgarten mentioned fluoride. That's a whole other beast of a topic. Working in the water industry, I'm keenly aware of this topic and am passionately against fluoridating tap water. Provide me clean, safe water at a reasonable price. Do no add medication of any kind thank you. If you are concerned about dental health, please support programs to educate the population about dental hygiene.

Saw an article on Apartment Therapy talking about mirrored splashbacks recently. Had some lovely photos featured, I personally preferred the options where the glass is raised up from the hob slightly. Could you maybe get a piece of the upstand cut to fill the gap? Also having it 'framed' by wall either side looks better to me than it spanning the whole space. I've mocked it up to extractor fan level and to ceiling level (I've guesstimated the tile scale but hope it gives you the idea). Personally I prefer the latter in this space as the proportions look better. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/mirror-backsplash-ideas-that-arent-from-the-70s-or-80s-248551

Toughened vs non-toughened have been a dilemma for kitchen owners for a while. The objective truth is that yes toughened glass is stronger and heat resistant, but due to significant price difference sometimes it makes sense to take risk and just replace mirror in case of breakage, which will still be cheaper than buying full toughened from the beginning, especially taking in consideration that non-tgh antique is stock product and you don’t need to wait for 2-3 weeks for production. If you are looking for simple coloured or printed glass, then definitely go for toughened since price difference is insignificant and it’s not only safer and heat resistant, but also 4-5 times stronger to impact which is good against accidental hits. The other important fact is that broken mirror can bring you bad luck for 7 years!:) so only choose professionals for your installation. We are now producing probably over 100 splashbacks per month with fair share of toughned mirrors so happy to help!

Nice one Forzaitalia! My best charity shop find is the 4ft wide/7ft tall carved oak display cabinet in the library. We think it may be 1930's and american. However, for £150 I am not that fussed about the provenance! I mentioned it in my library thread along with the other bits in that room which are mostly charity shop/ ebay/ gumtree finds alongside a genuine antique green velvet chaise, a ceiling light my sister gave me when she redecorated and a lovely new Jenny Worrall table lamp. The best thing I have gained from all the lovely Houzz contributors is that how your room is designed has to work for you. I know the mix of stuff in that room would drive some folks crazy and they would hate the 'old-fashioned' style in there. However, it works for us and we love it.