You'll like the vinyl fencing, Susie. We had one installed 7 years ago. Wood is just too difficult & expensive to maintain here...needs repainting every 2 years. Now, each spring when we power wash the house, shed, concrete sidewalk, patios, & outdoor furniture we also power wash the fence. Gets that green slime that covers everything here off in a flash! Looks like new again. Same problem with wooden screen doors. I LOVE the Victorian styled wooden screen doors that are prelevant here but they only last 2-3 years & rot. Gets expensive. Five years ago, we bit the bullet & installed a powder coated stainless steel with brass trim storm/screen door with leaded glass insert (plus screens). That baby is heavier than beejesums but will last for years! Wood is a great material but in some climates it's a real bear to maintain. Since I grew up on property being operated as the largest pressure treating wood facility west of the Mississippi & the resulting Superfund Site...I refuse on principle to purchase pressure treated wood for fencing, outdoor furniture, doors, or anything else. That stuff is BAD, IMO, for both people & the environment. And, even if you are inclined to use pressure treated wood it still looks best painted &, hence, back to the wire brushes & paint. You'll like the fence. Ours is white because all coastal NE houses have white fences & we weren't inclined to rock the boat, so to speak. So, just getting out the power washer instead of the wire brushes & paint brushes is really great! /tricia

I can't say that you're getting good advice on the sink issue until you answer another question or two...do you have a "real" master bath with two sinks? And did you cap off the plumbing but leave it accessable in your daughters bath? If you answered yes to both, leave the long counter. You don't have to plan for a family that does not live in your home and two sinks in a one person bathroom is rediculous (I've had it...it's awful). IF you capped off you can advertise it's ready for two sinks when you sell if you want, but don't cut a hole without knowing if it's necessary. If you don't have a real master bath you've probably made a mistake giving it to your daughter and you should plan on making a real one when you move...but again, why do it now? It's an easy fix later. Someone mentioned whispy or gauzie for the window. IMO it's absolutely necessary. If you put in a bamboo shade you've added some texture but it's still a hard texture and your bath is far too high on hard textures and way way low on soft textures and the beach is all about softness. White for your towels and mats...keep it easy and soft (again because it's missing) go fluffy on those mats...fun and fluffy. I wish I had a pic but in my condo appt I went with a color very near your color and loved it. One thing I did to soften the big mirror was to use a bunch of picture frames on the mirror painted in a shabby chic type of white. (does that make sense?) They were all cheap picture frames, but mostly bulky frames, with the pics removed and then I velcroed (double stick velcro in white) the frames to the mirror, with a big one over the sink and the balance scattered around. You'd be amazed how the harsh lines of the wall mirror disapear in the debth of the framed pieces. I am with most in that I don't like the lights, but their placement isn't the issue, it's the harshness of the fixtures themselves...but that's an easy fix if you soften up the rest of the room with texture. Fluffy white mats, towels, white frames on the mirror, a soft breezy gauzy window covering (which could be done over a grass cloth shade if you want more privacy) and some lovely counter accessories (candles and sand, grasses etc) would really make the room sing, and fix all of your issues (IMO) I'd consider doing the gauzy covering by tacking the gauze to a whispy piece of thin beach wood for the curtain rod, and then hot glue sea shells or sand dollars or star fish every five or six inches as if they were holding up the gauze... A collection of antique perfume spritzers would be a lovely accessory to bridge your tween into teen.

astridh-You know, I've thought about colored glass pendants too but I just haven't found any possibilities. I do think the right ones would work--but I also think it would be an easy way to go terribly wrong. rhome-thank you. I'm really happy with the door style too. I think of it as a modified shaker. It's just a bit softer and takes away any inclination to make it modern. The island is really more blue than anything...it's blueish with green and gray undertones. Oddly the color is called artichoke and it looks nothing like one! budge1- I've strongly considered those schoolhouse lights with the band of color. They are so pretty! But I guess you just have to take the plunge and have them shipped. I don't know how else to get a good look at the color, do you? borngrace and pfmastif- The cabinets were custom and painted in their shop. The color gave those poor guys fits! It was a really tricky one to match. egganddart-Making your own cabinets? Impressive! I hunted for quite some time to find the "right" slabs. I just couldn't afford any of the other types of marble. amysrq-thanks. that is just how I'm feeling now too. Everything is convenient for me, but I can talk to my family and they can feel included with out being in my way or in danger. mustbenuts-thanks for the RH link. I've looked there, but I've got a tricky situation and those wont work for me. What you can't see in my pics is that the ceiling vaults over the island so the last pendant will need to be really long and on a swivel/bend to hang straight. remodelfla- I'm so glad that something I posted can help you with your project. As much as I love the pats on the back, the real value of the forum is sharing ideas and helping each other make the best of what we have to work with abundantblessings- I hadn't thought of one chandelier. That is a interesting idea that I will have to kick around a bit. I'm already wired for 3, but I can always cap them. Thanks for the idea. For those of you who spotted the corner cabinet--I'm laughing. I purposely tried not to take a picture of it because it is so messy! Obviously with those open shelves it is meant for display, but I've got all kinds of strange things up there now...dishsoap, stainless steel cleaner, dust rags etc. It really is a nice use of space and breaks up the solid area of the pantry near it. I tried to tie it into the hood by using bead board on both. It also has columns that reflect the sink base. Perhaps when I get more organized I;ll post another pic of it. Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone! It really makes my day! I know it shouldn't matter, because I love my space--but it does of course :) I'm sorry if I missed anyone.

I like all the light fixtures other than the small one you say you would need two of. Even with two. Do you think you would need two of the drum? With the length of your table, the rectangular ones might be nice and you definitely need only one. If it were my room, I would go with the first or last one of those. They have the softer glam of the inspiration room. The second one would take it more into a crisp or edgy style -- and that's okay, but it's not the direction you seem to be leaning with the rug and pillows. See if you can read reviews on those two and even look for photos of them lit. Differences in dust clinging or being too shadowy might favor one over the other. The coffee table would definitely work in your LR -- and didn't you say you wanted a shelf? This one has two. The round one you like has no shelf, and the ones that are plain circles that do have shelves don't hold up to your style. They are fine, but in your room I think they would be boring. The table needs something to give it enough personality to hold up in that room. It doesn't need to be bold or take center stage, but it needs to stand up on its own. I like the fact that this one has rounded corners -- easier on little ones who tend to bump them when they are learning to walk and run, playing, etc. Compare the sizes. The round can help open up a tight space, but the one I found was the smaller one. Is it too small for your room? Do you plan to have any kind of table between the chairs? If not, I think you need a larger rectangle for the coffee table so that a person sitting in one of the chairs has a place to set down a drink, a phone -- whatever. Which leads me to the idea that you might use a rectangle for your coffee table and a round one between the two chairs. Gotta run for a bit.... will check back later.