I love houses and getting the chance to look inside, so I kind of like House Hunters. (It's a rare treat to see any of the shows, so I haven't had the chance to get too sick of them.) The realtors can be annoying, because they often seem to know as little as the buyers. I'm often shocked at the compromises people make in their original goal, or what priorities they use in buying a house they claim they want to live in for the next 20 yrs. On one we saw when dd was in the hospital, a couple chose a house weighted heavily by the suitability of the back yard for their wedding. 1 day. 1 event. And after, like other shows, watching several episodes in a row (Is that how cable TV works?!), I had to wonder if married couples ever shop for houses. I'm a traditionalist, so was surprised to see that the majority of shows were with young boyfriend-girlfriend sets. One girlfriend intended to take both of the master bedroom walk-in closets to herself, since 'I worked hard to build my own credit and I'm putting that on the line for this house.' Oh, yeah...that relationship was going to last... Her 'beloved' was told he could keep his stuff in the closet off his basement office. HH Internat'l is too out there for me... Guess I just can't relate, as a non-traveler..and someone without millions to spend on a 2nd home. I like to imagine myself in the scenario and that will just never happen.

Romy, why would you pay someone to do that for you? Get the appropriate runners and just swap them out! The hard part is done: the holes where you should screw them in are already there. Check into A H Turf, who has THE lowest prices on these babies. I'm here to tell 'ya! Yes, 6-12 months is great. When you're lucky, as I am, you'll get 2-10 years. I'm heading on 8 years now, and no end in site. But that's for my whole house. I know, though. Anyone who whines about several months, or is proud of a 2-month renovation? I just laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh (and the neighbors call the loony bin) and laugh... I went through that initially, though. Just looking at the imagined finished picture, vs. the mechanics of all. Again, thanks to poverty, I've had the time to reconsider, change my mind, adjust, discard, and dream a lot. I'm familiar with mocket sockets. I used to install them in conference room tables when I was an IT manager. If they weren't plastic (are they anymore?) they'd be a good choice. The thing is, liquid/spills would go right down them. Good idea, gratela! Raee, I'm thinking that little part of a counter that goes up the wall a little? Do we not use them anymore? (Worrying that I should be looking down my nose at that!?) ahh. It's all in the future. I start a 2nd job tomorrow to try to catch up on 8 months of zero to no income. It'll be a while!

Kitchenkelly, Don'e worry there are some days that he's a free give away. No need to copy. Actually I made and executive I am going to order the CB X Back. I love the look of them from sitting in my familyroom. Yaaaa. Now for cushions. PB has some that I love love they are their Box Cushions Green Hudson Stripe (green and blue)love..Remember I have a demin blue sofa in familyroom and I have blue items in my glass cabinet in kitchen. CB only have a blue stripe cushion made to fit the stool. I like both love the whole blue/green thing in PB. Do you think PB will fit my stools? Of course, called PB once again only catalog/internet sales only. They need to have a better stock inventory. PB show cushion with school house stool which is 18 1/22 x 14.5 to backrest. CB stool is 17 1/2 wide and 14.5 to the backrest. Do I go for it too now that I am on a roll? Crate and Barrel http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=875&f=27638&q=cushions&fromLocation=Search&DIMID=400001&SearchPage=1 PotteryBarn http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p6398/toolbox.cfm?cm_lid=64&pgid=p6398&tool=vInRoom

I would start here, This looks like a fairly big area. It would help a lot to to ground the space with rugs and divide it into 2 areas, the dining area and the seating area. A large rug for the seating area that creates a boundary would be great. Then you could put the table and chairs on a medium rug. A natural fiber rug under the seating, like a jute or sisal would be perfect. Then you could have more fun with the rug under the dining with some color. Speaking of color, painting the room and adding color to this room would be a wonderful change. Then you could use your color palette to add some pillows to the sofa and chairs and accessories. You love the garden (and have a gorgeous one!!), so you need to bring it indoors with beautiful planters, larger scale for the floor and maybe add a table to put some smaller pots on. This can work for both of you, you can make it very elegant with beautiful, simple planters. To pull off a beautiful plant display area, it is easy to just use different types of the same color family of planters and pots. The beautiful windows could be warmed up and accented with simple drapes. I would put panels (like white cotton or linen, Pottery Barn has some that would work nicely) on each side and over the 2 middle sections. So unless there are more windows we can't see in the picture, you would need 4 panels (or you may want to double up on each section for a more luxurious look). Changing out the leather for coastal (solid, light color) feeling upholstery would be fabulous. Depending on pets and children using the room, it would be beautiful to do creamy colored sofa and couch with colorful pillows and a nice saturated color on the walls. If you are intereted in painting, tell me your 3 favorite colors, I will give you some paint colors to consider. This is an awesome room with TONS of potential and it will be easy to pull together! SO MUCH FUN!!!! je Here is a link that might be useful: Haute Home