If you do the vanity in a cabinet line, you can do a 24" sink base with a 21" drawer base to one side or the other, and 1" of filler against the wall. Or, there are several cabinet lines that offer 42" combo's with drawers. A simple and easy way to get a furniture look is to simply do baseboard molding instead of toekick. Or, do an attached arched valance as an extension of the frame downward. Either of those is cheaper than voiding the toekick and having cabinet feet attached in the field.

I guess this one is right up my alley. I'm mom of 4 sons though only one is still on the "payroll" though he's now off at college. Anyway there were a lot of years cooking for 6 and 5 of them were VERY hungry! I still use a plan though it's much looser and of course easier! Living 10 miles from a store and having a crowd to feed, I found doing a weekly menu saved me from living at the grocery store! I have a day that I go to the store and that day, I'll take stock of any items from the week before that I didn't use or any meals from the previous week that I never got around to cooking. Then I sit down with one or two cookbooks and start in. I jot down about 4 breakfasts and a few lunches if I think that people will be around (summer etc) but don't put a huge amount of thought into these two. I can always whip up a good breakfast with whats on hand for the most part. With kids around, plan on some nutritious snacks. For dinner, I plan out however many meals we'll need for the week. I usually figure that I'll have one meal where we either do leftovers or I defrost something from the freezer. We also usually eat out about once a week. So that leaves me with selecting 5 true menus. I do it all from veggies, salads, starch, bread and main dish. Be sure to make a note of the page in the cookbook for any new recipes. Look at your calendar for the week and be sure you have enough no brainers for the busy days. Cook extra chicken/meat and use it for a second meal turned into sandwiches, soup, or a casserole. Shopping for a week is easy and feasible. Do your meals that require the freshest produce at the beginning of your week and save the meatless/soup/pizza/sandwich meals for later in the week. Precook or freeze any meats that you'll be having at the end of the seven days. I'd usually need to pick up more milk midweek as my guys guzzled more than a gallon a day. I keep the menu paper on my island, and I feel free to substitute and change the meal or parts of the meal as needed swapping days etc. Remember nothing is written in stone!!! I think part of your "negative" slant on the menu planning may be that you don't want to be pinned down. Roll with the flow, change meals around.... it's only a guideline not military orders that you must follow to a T!!! Grace

Yes, use your budget towards beautiful furnishings and art work that are in your style. Work with your "givens" -- the light flooring, the existing kitchen. If you thought you had a budget that allowed for some expensive kitchen changes, use some of that budget to hire a one-time interior decorator or designer to help you choose pieces, window treatment, and other purchases that will work with the lighting, floors, and spaces you have. Avoid doing or choosing things piecemeal--I love that rug!--so that everything harmonizes and gives your home a feeling of flow and style. Good luck!

it's not a craftsman. adding a porch and stone will not make it one. It's a post-war stucco bungalow. how do you plan on getting this look, onto your home, without spending oodles of dough? What you could do is modify your home to include a porch, maybe extend the left side out front, but you're talking about a remodel. You could certainly do things to spruce it up, but how much do you want to spend? Trying to DIY this could look really bad when completed.