Acountryfarm--I love the pictures I saw on another thread of your beadboard. I absolutely LOVE your chair rail--it is exactly what our old house needs--not the super-skinny, rounded kind they have at Lowe's. Did you ever find out what the name of it is? We don't have a lot of choices in lumberyards here in Albany, NY--we have Curtis Lumber and Stock Building Supplies...I can't even think of any others off the top of my head. Lowe's had a decent selection of neat historic chair rails--but I couldn't figure out how to make them work with the beadboard. How did you just "set" it on top of the beadboard? I guess I'm confused (I've never done this before, so I'm having a hard time envisioning it.) Did the top of the beadboard have to be EXACTLY flat that way? Or did the chair rail overlap a little? I guess that's where I don't get it--many have said you have to router out the chair rail if you don't pick the ubiquitous "wainscoting cap" (that I'm trying to avoid). Thanks for your help!! Sarah

Proudmama: Yes, that's exactly what I'm looking for in a light maple. Puppy farms? Egads, just another category of purchases to feel guilty about.... I can't buy anything from China without a twinge of guilt either.... Ellen: Thanks for the insight into Amish business practices. I'm glad they've found a way to survive and still hold their belief system together. I admire those people for their lifestyle and discipline. Thanks again for all of the replies!

galaxytools.com has an excellent selection of ss sinks, if that's what you're looking for. but they sell only their label, ticor, sinks, some of which look like copies of blanco sinks. i was set on a blanco myself, but read sterling reviews of glaxytools' sinks here on GW, and wound up buying from them, at a tremendous savings. my contractor thinks it's a great sink. the soundproofing on it, he says, is what they spray the undercarriage of cars with. it's heavy duty and well-made. and i bet if you call in the order for "several" of them, you can negotiate a fat discount. i'm still waitin gon countertops, so can't comment on it's usage. however, i can vouch for their great customer (phone) serivce.

I have been looking and looking online. I wanted something cheap as I've already exhausted my budget. I tried out the ones at Ikea and they were lacking in quality. We went to a local store to just try out different ones and ended up ordering from them. It was more than I wanted to spend, but they are such great quality that I couldn't resist. I'm happy with our choice. We got to choose the finish and fabric and they are really sturdy and comfortable and even LOOK better quality than the cheap ones I was looking at online. We are lucky to have this store that all they sell is chairs and barstools, but I guess what I'm saying is to go out and try some. My husband wanted no back, I wanted a back and no swivel because I was afraid of the back banging into the counter. We ended up with a padded back with a swivel.