Izhar! That is one beautiful leaf! Once that plant grows, you will be amazed at how much pleasure it will bring you. I have a few of these and what I like about them the most is that they take up no prime sunny space in the house or yard. I just stick them in the cellar where there is barely any light, or dark corners of the house, north facing windows where almost none of my other plants will grow, or the the yard under trees and shrubs. I just love them. I never get bugs on mine either. I can't even believe that you got one to sprout. I have tried and failed. That is a great job. Thanks for the info on the white stuff. I like your idea about keeping pH down. Very good idea. Toni: Thank you for that although they are not as pretty as Izhars! I will hold of on ordering. I saw some on e-bay from Vietnam too, and now those caught my eye. Sometimes I wonder why so many unusual plants are so hard to find here in the U.S. Hope everyone has a great day today! 82 here today again. I love it. Mike

Christine, well done!! Congratulations! And congratulations to everyone else, for doing one heck of a great job! I picked up quite a few ideas from all of you wonderful OBFERS! And thank you again Sheri, for a very fun and creative swap!!!!! Happy weekend to all! Annie

The hyper heat heat pump can make sense to cool an area with difficult access for ducts. Does the basement fit that description? It will cost you more to heat it with a heat pump than with natural gas. What are the aims of zoning, saving energy or comfort? If the former, you are probably barking up the wrong tree. If you have a well-sealed, well-insulated home, your heat transfer rates between rooms/floors will be much faster than out of the structure. Zoning can be difficult to accomplish, but not impossible. With old-school high mass boilers, it was not so difficult, but a modern, low-mass boiler, if sized to heat a large area, will be shutting off frequently. The same may be true for furnaces, but I am not as familiar with that issue. I've seen you write boilers and furnaces, which are you looking for? You can do forced air heat with hydro coils powered by a boiler, or with a furnace. With a hydro coil, you might be able to heat the bonus room but you'd still need a way to cool it. Cost calculations would tell you if it is worth it to install separate cooling and heating systems there. What are you planning on doing in the basement? Is is going to be just one, open area? I'd consider hiring an energy rater to help you plan and set milestones for the builder. They can help you choose your mechanical systems appropriately. They can do blower door tests to make sure that the house is air-sealed and insulated properly. Where are you located? It can make a big difference in figuring out what kinds of equipment to install if you have to heat a lot vs. cool a lot or both. Humidity is an issue too.

Great thread title. I'm coming in late, but here are my thoughts: - I understand that at this point the size is what the size is, and I think you've made improvements to the layout over the course of this thread. I like the suggestions that bring your "major players" closer together so you'll have essentially a strong core work area ... and your secondary items pushed to the edges. - The single best idea is moving the clean up sink to the left wall so it's more convenient to the two table areas. The original layout seemed designed to maximize your steps /maximize drips on the floor /maximize chances for dishes to be dropped and broken. - Given that you have the other over-sized high-function sink for prep, any basic 36" sink would work fine for cleanup. No need to go with a ledge sink (and extra cost) for clean up. - Do you have adequate disk storage near the dishwasher AND near the tables? Again, I'm thinking about unnecessary steps. - Ideally storage would all be close together -- your pantry, refrigerator, freezer. Spreading these things out across the kitchen makes for more work when you bring groceries home, and it makes for more steps when you're cooking. - At some point you mentioned buffet space. Where is that space now? I'd think you'd want it near the dining room since you'd probably want it for when you have guests. - I'm not sure whether the main work aisle width has changed since the original layout or not, but be sure you're not making it too wide. I have a galley kitchen with an aisle of just over 5' ... and the two sides are 1-2 steps too far apart. The two portions don't "play nicely together". Be careful with this! Too much space is just as bad as too little space. - I like the original pantry + L-shaped desk, though I don't like that you have to cross the whole kitchen to reach the pantry. Other people have said desks aren't needed anymore, and I do hate the desk in my kitchen, but I hate it because it's smack-dab in the middle of the room. This one is large and tucked away nicely in a corner ... it'd be an ideal pocket office, though I would want to extend the windows down from the cleanup sink area /bring in some natural light to the desk. And be sure you include plenty of electrical outlets. - You say you cook only "moderately". As such, I think you're vastly over-applianced. Why does a family that cooks moderately need three sinks, three dishwashers, an oversized cooktop area, and I'm not sure how many ovens? I think you've seen things and thought, "Ooh, this would be nice, and we have space!" rather than asking, "What will we really use?" The space exists ... but I'd suggest you think twice about all these appliances. - You say aesthetics and function are equally important ... with this size kitchen and a window only on the narrow end, I'd suggest you go with light colors to brighten up the place.