My big lesson this year was that I have a lot less sun than I thought. All my lilies that were up against the house bent nearly horizontal to try to keep in the sun as the day passed. Had to move all of them, which meant FIND a place to put them. Lilies have always been fool proof for me up to now. Finding them places to grow that weren't in the middle of the driveway was difficult, and there isn't any 'back of the bed' area for them with sufficient sun, so I'll just have to look at them while they brown and wither away. I could and would plant them along the driveway where they'd get sun all day, but my daughter has parked her dead car smack in my way, and I don't know when it's getting towed away. My learning curve as to what will grow here was a lot steeper than expected, because my winters here can hit high 20's (which killed a lot of stuff) and my previous lows were low 40's, high 30's, and I am SO shady (which killed nothing, but many things were less than pleased). BUT - my Cl Cecile Brunner is really happy where I planted her, and when she blooms she'll be great! After trotting her around in a half barrel for years, where she bloomed every year but never got really large, she's happy to be in the ground. Once I get the bigger things situated, I can start shuffling around the smaller things. All my narcissus etc. are in a wire cage that is barely deep enough because I had to dig it in the Not Digging Season. I could move it now, but I don't know where I'd put it, so it's going to have to wait until next year at the earliest. I need the bones of the bed settled before I play with the rest of it.

Comprehensive financial planning involves a lot of issues - legal, familial, financial. If you are comfortable handling EVERY aspect of your lifestyle situation, then by all means go to a 'specialist', e.g., a broker or investment advisor for your financial affairs. There is nothing wrong with this; I do all the integrated estate planning for my DH and I. But the time I spent working in the CFP's office, as I mentioned, made a BIG difference in my understanding of the various issues that clients and their families face at various stages of their lives. However, many people are not knowledgeable or interested in integrating all their affairs in a comprehensive and wholistic manner. As has been often proven, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, as is doing things half-way but not thinking things through to their logical conclusion. And even if you are comfortable handling every aspect, is your spouse? Are each one of your children? Do they all work together well? Be honest with yourself about these questions. So many people accumulate a sizable estate, only to have the family fight over it, or waste the assets because they really don't understand the various tax/legal implications of their inheritance. There are still way too many people in this world who are less than 60 and think that having a million dollars means they are on Easy Street for the rest of their life. My MIL, for instance, thinks that if she wins the lottery for $3M, that's more than enough money for all three of us - she, my DH, and me - to take early retirement and live in comfort the rest of our lives. By the time you take Cash Value instead of Annuity Payments, that $3M is down to $1.6M. Taxes will take another 40% between Fed and State. Hmm, she's down to $960K already, and even just the dividends off that have popped her up 2 tax brackets in annual income. Nope, not a lot of money at all, in reality. This is why I insisted we find a CFP to handle her affairs. Her financial knowledge is nada/zip/non-existent. Her DH left her financially secure, but completely ignorant. And at age 79, she isn't about to learn how to handle her affairs. She is the poster child for an elderly person ready to be swindled by the first smiling, friendly, respectable-looking broker who's introduced to her by one of her 'friends', who are as sophisticated as she herself is - which is to say, not at all. For instance, do your children and spouse know how to handle an inherited IRA? Do they understand the difference between an IRA that has never been drawn down, vs one where RMDs (Required Minimum Distribution) have started? Do they understand the tax implications of selling out of mutual funds? Do they know where to go to get the cost basis? A good CFP has the fiduciary responsibility to see that your assets are passed along in the best possible manner and that your heirs have all the information they may need to make their own decisions about what to do with their inheritance. This is why only certified planners can do "financial planning". It isn't a simple "nuts and bolts" affair for everyone, although it can be for some people. But the more assets you accumulate, the more value comprehensive financial planning advice is likely to give not only you, but your heirs. If the shoe fits, you can wear it but you don't have to. However, there's no doubt that a sizable amount of $$$$ has gone to lawyers, state and the Federal governments, from estates that could have benefited from the original owners spending a relatively small percentage on their assets on quality professional advice.

Make a list of everything you need to store in your kitchen. EVERYTHING - including oven mitts, dishtowels, tupperware, etc, including whatever random junk drawer/tool storage you usually like to have in the room. Take everything out of your current cabinets and measure them, then group them into how they'll be stored in your new space. If possible, plan for one empty cabinet in addition to all the spoken-for cabinets, and spend some time really focusing on how YOU move through your kitchen. Are you happier opening drawers or cabinets? Do you like some things at waist-level? What counter height is most comfortable for you when you're working? Since standard-height cabinets try to shoot for whatever the median height of a likely user happens to be, a lot of counters end up too low or too high, and it makes prep work a pain in the rump. If you fall outside of the median height, try to plan for at least one surface at a height that's perfect for you. I failed to dump out my cabinets and measure stuff before our remodel in '05, and man, have I ever spent the past nine years paying for that mistake. Can't wait to get into the kitchen in our new build, which will be planned with far more care!

You did a great job....and great lesson learned to yourself about perfection and expectations. And thanks for sharing your experience with everyone. When are you going to remodel another kitchen? What will you do differently? Sometimes when I get clients that over obsess about selections, I try to refer them to a color specialist interior designer to NOT MAKE their decisions, but to have someone HELP them make their decisions. The small money spent for hourly help on this can be well worth it!!! I once had a client like you...I referred her to a color specialist and they helped her with the paint colors. She was thrilled and said she NEVER would have thought of the color he picked for her walls. Before she hired him, she bought like 10 quarts of paint and made her husband paint cardboard and hang them around the room. I think it just confused her more. Hiring interior design help is like having a personal shopper. My husband can shop for me better than I can for clothes! hahaha. Another job I did, the homeowner wanted white. The brand I carry had a half dozen whites to choose from, but it still wasn't that perfect white that she wanted. She then decided to do a custom color which added 30% to her kitchen. I thought it was crazy. In the end, she didn't love the Sherwin Williams white color she picked. She didn't hate it, but it wasn't exactly the perfect white. Her kitchen was gorgeous....and I hope she let that go and enjoyed it.