It's sad to hear about the Windmill palm. I will try to cover mine next coming winter. I want to try needle palm again. I have one that still has one green spray left. I bought a Bird of paradise today from Lowes. I wonder if it could be covered and be inground in zone 6. I have a basement where my house plants overwinter, in case I can't put it sheltered outdoors. We are getting a freeze (30 F ) tonight. It's rare for this to happen this late here. I brought everything in that was tender. I saw some crates behind our KMART that look useful for future shelters, I am going to try and snatch them up. They are not your run of the mill wood crates. Arctic tropical, what do you fill your raised beds with? Cactus soil mix or a blend you have made?

Thanks for the compliments. We LOVE this room - esp when "cluttered". Terri - tell your builder that just about every other room in the house is wasted space compared to this one! I would give up my living room for this room without batting an eye! The dimensions are about 11 x19 for the main part of the room. The part of the room with the mud room and half bath is about 11 x 12 total. We adore our dutch door- haven't put the top hardware on yet... it's sitting there ready to go - you know how that goes.... We are using a dead bolt type of thing made for Dutch doors.. .haven't really thought about a second knob. newoldhouser- light fixtures came from Restoration Hardware in the main part of the room- I looked at Rejuvenation too, I think Restoration was having a sale. I bought two more - almost identical at Home Depot for the mudroom for about 25 each! gobruno - the cabinets are Kraftmaid Laminate. I believe they are Barlow design maybe? The laminate works well as it cleans up nicely after muddy tails hit it! mtnlaw - we love the doggie too! We call her Ruby. She was a Saturday night stray broken leg that needed a home. Everyone lucked out that night!! We used Laufen ceramic tile- I believe it's called "Crater Lake" in Lava. We used 18 x 18 tiles in a brick pattern. Hides the dirt pretty well. This room also has a vac pan under the wall of cabinetry- helps a lot! Now at some point I will post "clean pics!" PD

oldhouse1, What beautiful words you wrote....thank you. Strong? Goodness, Hubby remarked a few weeks ago that I should get an academy award for my acting. Acting strong. :) marti8a, Wringer, yes. Strong? Oh goodness....that's why I came here the first time....I needed something to shore me up. lol At that time, the kitchen was so overwhelming, I didn't know where to turn or who to talk to that would understand. The replies I received with that first post....that's what gave me the strength I needed. Thank you so much for your beutiful thoughts and prayers. remodelfla, Your Blessings for me and my family are so truly appreciated, thank you! katsmah, Sincerely, that means so much. Thank you. buehl, Your prayers for us and the medical professionals means more than you know. Yes, I've re-grouped and reading all the replies on this post got me focused again so you can be sure I will be here on a regular basis with.....what else? Kitchen questions. lol But I'm going to warn you in advance, I'm long-winded. Not in real life but seems I write novels when I post on these GW forums. After awhile you all are just going to be reading 'wah wah wah' much like Peanuts, the Teacher. *big smile* kitchenaddict, Oh gosh...noooo tears or you'll get me started all over again. Blessings to you with the beautiful soul......your words, priceless. rhome410, Your prayers mean more than you'll ever know...thank you. I am going to be getting back into the 'fun' things and I'll explain a bit more about that later. Yes, like you said.....A place to get away, like this forum, where people will understand that a misaligned cabinet IS a big thing and yet, in the grand scheme of things, it isn't. Know what I am trying to mean? Balance. Yea, that's it. Balance. Balance in life. ebean, Your words, your gentle thoughts came through loud and clear and mean so very much.....Thank you! bmorepanic, Oh, not amazing. Otherwise I wouldn't be on this forum with my tales of woe. But thank you so much for thinking so. Your wishes mean so much....bless you! bill_vincent, Mr. Vincent *grin*, you were there for me during our closet-sized bathroom renovation and here you are now....means so very much. I read the last line of your post and a strange sound came out of my mouth. I think it was a snort. The good kind of snort. The kind that comes out when you least expect that you are about to laugh out loud......felt good! You are what my hubby calls "A REAL Man". jejvtr, Your words, your whole post.....really penetrated my soul. You are so right about putting life in perspective. One day I am fretting over a misaligned cabinet and the next day it all seemed so piddly. In one day I went from frazzled kitchen mode to 'who cares!" mode. I am desperately needing to find balance. I got a good start on the balance yesterday....right here, reading these responses. Your post means so much...Thank you. rookie_2010 , Oh Rookiie, I wish I was strong but thank you for saying so. Your Best Wishes mean so much...thank you! flwrs_n_co, Your thoughts and prayers mean so much, more than you know. I wish I was good at all those things you listed....I'm working on it. Practice makes perfect, right? :) cat_mom, That hug feels good....I needed that. :) Thank you so much for your beautiful post. motherof3sons, Oh Mothero3Sond, I am sooo sorry to hear you are going through trials and challenges too! I hope things calm down a bit for you, soon! I would LOVE to sit face to face over a cuppa with someone that has a similar life situation.....you! I've always found that sharing ideas, tips or just venting is so good for what ails ya. I did that years ago with like-minded neighbors when we were all raising our kids. It sure did help get us all through those rough patches....thumb sucking, bed wetting, temper tantrums, back-talking, homework not getting done, etc. Sometimes listening and helping out with the problems of someone else helps keep your mind off your own. So if ever you need to talk, to vent, to unload, feel free to email me via GW's email system. And again, I SO hope things calm down for you soon. Sending you Good Thoughts and positive vibes! dianalo, That cyber hug felt so good...thank you! I hadn't thought of it that way..."putting one foot in front of the other"....Yea, I guess that's what I've been doing all along but I just didn't have a name for it....I appreciate that so much, more than you know. florantha, Boy, did you ever hit the proverbial nail on the head! "the GW Kitchens forum is a surprisingly personal online cohort that has lots of special people on it..." No truer words! I've mentioned my parents on other posts in other forums here on GW. I've mentioned them being ill a few times, I remeber coming to GW looking for support when my parents moved in.....I KNEW it would be an adjustment, just never realized how HARD an adjustment it would be, not only to me but for my hubby and my returned-home-adult-kids. But to completely open up about the whole kitchen saga, the illnesses, my emotions?? Heck, I don't know what drove me here in the first place but whatever it was, I am now so very fortunate to have people to 'talk' to that understand not just the stress of not having a kitchen for nine months, but understand other trials that happen in life...and are compassionate and really take the time to 'listen'. I am soooo very blessed to have found you all! marcy96, Your prayers mean so very much to me, more than you know...thank you! shelayne, Yes, that was me about 5 months ago, coming to Kitchen Forum when I was at the end of my rope. Then more stuff happened and I never got back to GW at all. Then things fell into a pattern that allowed me a little time for me and I realized I had never updated this forum, these wonderful folks who had taken the time to respond to those first postings of mine. Those posts got me through! I am really not liking when I read "Oh, it's just a forum, it's ONLY a message board". NO.....for some of us, even accidentally, it can become so much more than that. Your post, your prayers...all mean so much. Thank you. itsnotrocketscience, "Perspecive in life" Boy, I sure learned that one quickly....like a hammer over the head. :) If you didn't know how to reply, you faked it well because your post is beautiful and I will cherish your words. Compared to others, I am relatively new, also. I lurked for a couple years and then finally signed up when there what a question on the Home Decor Forum that nobody had answered and it was about "budget decorating" and that's something I know oh-so-very-much-about lol so I registered to respond to that question and then asked one of my own. Got so many neat, helpful replies, I stuck around. So, Welcome to the Forum Itsnotrocketscience (such a fun name!) and I hope we run into each other again really soon! ---------------------- I read these responses yesterday. Had to regroup. Totally pulled myself away from my kitchen stuff. Called my Sis and we had a nice, long talk and even laughed quite a bit. She's just 50, so it took me a bit to get to the root of my anger? if that's what it is. But 50....too young, her young adult kids still need her. I am very, Very angry about that. And of course, I am constantly asking myself "Why?" But talking with her yesterday, we agreed...well, she made me agree....that "WE" are not going to put our life on hold just because she's not feeling well (that's what she calls it...not feeling well). Not exact wording but her attiude is .... Hey, I am not in a casket yet so why the sad faces? Let's live each day for what it is. Plenty of time to be sad later. Today, today we visit, chat, gossip, talk about our kids, laugh and go on with life. Okie Dokie. I will respect her wishes. But I did take all day yesterday to regroup and I stayed completely out of the kitchen. Today I will go in there (after Mom is done doing whatever she is doing in there...have no idea but I hear pots and pans clanging. lol) and with a fresh start, fresh attitude, I will be back here with the photo album with new pics added and PLENTY OF QUESTIONS...so don't say I didn't warn ya all! LOL HUGS TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! Am p.s. No, I am not going to take the time to preview so you are seeing this post warts and all.....gotta get the furbabies fed. :)

Thanks for the encouraging words, ptamom, dianalo, bmorepanic, editionk, trailrunner, and cottonpenny (I hope I didn't miss anyone). At this point in a build/reno, encouragement is definitely appreciated. Trailrunner, seeing the Tradewind vent liner in your photos and hearing what you had to say about it influenced my choice. I look forward to cooking with it! I will post more about wall color options once I see the final floor in all its true size rather than a small sample. I'm dealing with the kitchen, breakfast, living, foyer, and dining rooms when I choose this one color because they're all pretty connected. I definitely want my cabinets to be the stand out in the rooms. I have a lot of built-ins in each room. There's also a lot of trim work in the entire house, and most rooms do have darker colors that make the trim work shine. Boylanite2, as requested, here is a close up of the green penny tile. The tan tile in the dining room is just like it, only a different color.