Stax, I guess so (my current posting date says "last month")! However, I'm now adding a new thread asking for help/advice on my current move. As I said in my earlier post (5 posts up), my earlier move was done by myself using a rental truck. For my current move, in progress, I couldn't find a rental truck from any local rental companies (U-Haul, Penske, etc. My last one was Ryder, which no longer rents to individuals). So I decided to use a local moving company which advertises local and long distance moves. First mistake - I didn't read any reviews then and when I did yesterday, they were horrible! Anyway, like Dianne47, my move is fairly complex, from a house on Long Island to a new house in the wilderness of Northern NY. I wanted to avoid the movers reloading my stuff between trucks, so I specified a one-truck move, which they agreed to. I also have a piano which I am concerned about. They were very good on meeting their pickup time, but I was appalled that they came in a 24 foot Penske rental truck. There were three men, the driver (Ron) and two helpers. We had boxed most stuff into 24 boxes, mostly paintings (my wife is an artist). The first thing they loaded was the piano and, as they lifted it up, one leg fell off (not their fault). So they put the piano in the front of the truck, along with the leg. They carefully wrapped all the furniture and skillfully placed the pieces, along with the boxes in the truck and stabilized them with straps. The truck was 3/4 full. They said that they would deliver the next day. I agreed to pay them 1/2 then and the other 1/2 upon delivery. We drove up to our new house (a 6-hour drive), somewhat concerned that they would get there before we did, but that didn't happen. We waited the rest of the day and, so far, no show (yet - I am writing this the morning of the third day). When I called that afternoon, the company manager said they were in a meeting and would call me back. Several complications: 1. Google has my address mis-located, so I explained to the driver exactly where we lived and he said he understood. 2. For the final 30 miles of the trip, there is no cell service, except for in my town, where there is only Verizon, so I confirmed with the driver that he had Verizon, which he did. 3. They only accept payment via cash, certified check, or one of two phone payment apps which I don't use. So I paid the first half in cash and have enough for the final payment. 4. I have two entrances to my house, the piano and several other pieces of heavy furniture go into my basement - fortunately I have a walk-out basement with two rather large doors, reachable by a dirt driveway. The rest go on the main floor, which has a porch which can be driven up to via a different driveway. The paintings all go up to a loft, reachable by a ladder from the main floor. All of this was explained to the driver who said that it would be no problem. THIS IS WHY I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE SAME DRIVER (AND TRUCK) MADE IT ALL THE WAY! Since the piano was the first in, it would be the last out, so the first unloading should be to the main floor and loft and the second around the back of the house to the basement entrance. So, I am sitting here waiting....

moccasin - those are some nice lights! i can see why you like them. I bet they're more than 20-30 $s each tho... I loved that the globes come in colors... I'd stay away from the red tho. OTOH that could be good for an emergency signal to a neighbor. I'm too poor to pay much for the lights - even if I find a SWern one i like it's sure to be more than 30.00 and I think I should limit it to that. I need 3 - plus a few (plus) inside need replaced based on they are UGLY. I found these 2 at lowe's. both plain but would do the job - cheaply. it'll probably be the first one unless I find something better for the price in the store. around 25.00 with clean lines. I'd have to see how my chubby little fingers fit for changing the bulb. it's better I don't have to mess with those little screws and chance dropping the globe since things seems to jump out of my hands. I remember changing bulbs in the screw on globe type yrs ago. max wattage is 100w this one is about 21.00. I like it, again clean, simple lines - this one has a frosted globe. has the little screws tho and max wattage is 60w.

Thank you all! Your feedback has been helpful. I can't move the front door or the bedroom door, so I'm left with moving the fireplace either to the left or into the corner. If it goes to the left it is actually more centered in the room even though it's not centered on the wall. chispaThe TV is going above the FP sheadsheadThe FP is a non-negotiable so trying to figure out the best way to make it work. Mark Bischak, ArchitectThis is what I'm thinking furniture wise if we move the FP to the left. I think it could work. Any thoughts on this layout?

Thanks for the input everyone! We finally started the reno, sorry my “before pictures” were lacking… The kitchen was a little box closed off from the rest of the house so we opened it up! We removed the wall the refrigerator and stove were on, and removed the wall with cutout to the “dining area”. We also removed the sliding glass door and replaced it with an awning window where there will be a counter on the patio on the other side. We’re about one week out from having a functioning kitchen and about a month out (due to holidays) to have a complete kitchen. I also want to encourage anyone who wants to do an reno/remodel but is procrastinating because they’re intimidated by the process to find a local cabinet store and meet with a designer. JUST DO IT! Even with an incomplete non functioning kitchen we LOVE IT already!