Most of my toms are outside as of tonight: Marmande Rutgers Cherry "Supersweet" Cherry "Sungold" Cherokee (my absolute fav and proven WSer with great-- and early--results) Mortgage Lifter Northern Delight Carrots WS great as well. I did them for the first time last year and got a bumper crop. Still pulling them from the ground (whenever I can dig a path through the snow). Leafy Greens- Spinach, Chard, Kale, Lettuces, etc. all WS great. They are usually the first thing to sprout, while it's still chilly outside. I have harvested as early as May on lettuces in the past from WSing. Last year, once I harvested the third time, I direct sowed more lettuce. Arugala will often come up on its own the following year for me, after WSing it. It really seems to like the cold. Corn- I WSed an ornamental and it did great, but it wasn't to eat. Not sure if it can be harvested soon enough for you from WSing. Leeks and Onions- I just put out Leeks and Scallions tonight. This will be my first year's experience with them. Squashes WS well, sproutwise, but I'm not sure if a Zone 5 growing season is long enough for them. I'm starting my zucchinis indoors, along with sweet peppers and eggplant. (And I just remembered that I did WS green beans last year. I did a combo of WSing and direct sowing. Wound up with a ton of plants. I think I'll still with whichever I have most time for this year, since they do great either way). Linda

Lyfia, all great points you brought up, it really helps me plan and think. Honestly we have no set time frame for having this project done, since we have an up and running kitchen in the other part of the house and we are working on the new kitchen as time allows. I spent part of this week filling every little brad hole with putty and sanding everything. This weekend we should get a primer on and if dry time allows the walls and ceilings painted. I think we are at the point we are going to put in the cabinet order too. We still have the floor to put down, sand and seal. Tile the whole range wall, put up shelves. The wiring is done, we still need to run plumbing .. which means going under the house in the Summer .. YIKES! We live in copperhead country, not a fun prospect. Last year my DH got bit, we were very fortunate it was a 'dry bite' though! Valinsv, thanks for the help and suggestions, they are very helpful! Les, I love those 50's dinette chairs and if I was going to do a booth, I'd be all over them. I honestly don't think with a very rustic table I'd be happy with them ... even though they look super cushy to sit on. :) If I do go with these chairs I'd have seat pads made for them. I still haven't put my chair order in, I was all ready to go, now I'm hemming and hawing over details again. Part of me wants to go this way, part can really see everyone sacked out in a comfy booth and chairs playing board games and drinking coco. I know that everyone brought up very valid reasons to stay away from a booth, like people being inconvenienced by having to move to let the inside people out, etc. The thing is though we don't have those types of sit down and eat parties where I see it being a problem. When we entertain adults it's normally in a relaxed, casual setting outside on the deck or around the pool area, where we have large tables in each area. When it's just the five of us here, there would be plenty of seating that we could all spread out. I'm lucky that my girls really do get along, there is not alot of she's looking at me, touching me, breathing my air problems. *LOL* I grew up with 3 siblings, I know how that goes, we spent a lot of time bickering. ;) When it's the kids and their friends having snacks, I don't see it being a problem where the kids would feel inconvenienced. So in short I'm still stuck, I think! *LOL* Sometimes I can see right away the path I want to follow, sometimes I start second guessing myself. *sigh* Normally my Husband will chime in with his feeling on the matter and we'll work it out in a way that we are both relatively happy .. this time he really doesn't seem to care, well other than wanting me to make a plan so we know how to finish the room. ;)

Thank you for all the thoughts and opinions. I don't know if this additional info/pic will help clarify anything for anyone, but here goes anyway. This picture gives you a better idea of the true colors in the current rug. It's not quite that bright IRL, but I am never able to capture IRL photos with my camera. For example, the table you see just a bit of in the pic is much more red, not orange at all. And here is a link to the same CL rug from the Macy's site. If you look at it there, you can scroll over it to take a closer look. I will also add that I have considered going in a completely different direction, as bestyears suggested. I have even thought about simply having a piece of broadloom bound and getting exactly the dimensions I need in that room. I still do have a concern about the larger size of the CL rug compared to the current rug. No one has commented on whether or not they feel the CL rug at 8'8" X 12' would be too large. I think the direction I'm going with this whole make-over, is to find a rug that works with the sofa because that is DEFINITELY staying. Then, after I have a rug, I'll figure out the chairs. Does that seem like a logical way to approach the "make-over"? Here is a link that might be useful: Karastan rug at Macy's

Yesterday, I made a quick stop at Home Depot and came up with nothing to use as a finial. Today, I went to a woodworker's store not too far from where we live and tried the smallest wood finial they had. It was 2" tall, almost like a younger cousin of the ones I removed. I tried it on the chair and it seemed too thin. Not the look I'm going for. Then I found something there called screw hole buttons. I did also look on line, but again, the selection in something smaller was very limited. Comparing the size of what I can find on line to what I tried in the store, I think they're all going to be too 'wimpy'. Ideally, the finial would be about 1" - 1 1/4" wide and about the same measurement in the height. I'm not sure they exist. At this point, my plan is to plug the hole with the wood screw hole buttons and get on to painting the chairs. I figure since I'm going to paint the chairs, I can always change out the buttons to some type of finial if I EVER find something appropriate. So........now I'm going to need a little advice on painting the chairs, but for that I will start a new thread. Thanks again, EVERYONE, for all your responses!