jillsee - thank you! It's actually a cheap-o Home Depot vanity/sink combo. This bathroom is not used a lot and we figured if our icky builder-grade cabinets lasted as long as they have, surely this would last awhile, too. :) I'm quite happy with the look and the whole thing has a pretty substantial feel to it, especially compared to what we had in there before. Plus, it was several inches less deep than the previous cabinet and really opens up the space a lot. When we re-do the master bath, we'll spring for higher quality cabinetry. But this vanity works really well for this space.

birdly... makes total sense that you had to redo stuff if it were that one employee - you should have heard the subcontractors complain about that employees work :) The nice thing is Mark had them redo stuff without argument - a friends contractor fought him and tried to charge him on every little thing that he asked to be redone (and we are talking some obvious things) If you want I can let him know that my glowing review of his work was slightly tainted by a deck that took too long - he won't like that! Its sad that he was late for yours becuase both the person at international kitchens and the person I got the sink from commented on how hes on time. For me he was about 1 month late but given the circumstances that was not bad. Its surprising about the communication - he was great for me. It does sound like he was putting all his effort into my project - did you let him know that you were doing a kitchen and becuase he didn't handle the small project well he misses out on the bigger one? (FYI the contractor that was awful for my friend was Chermak construction - it was a 100k+ project and they tried to charge him when the electrician put in a 3 bank switch that only needed 2 switches so the electrician left a switch that did nothing - they told my friend that a "do nothing" switch was an "acceptable solution" - that was the worst example but there were tons of things like that). I am 95% sure Mark got the doors through PCS Millwork. They were WAY cheaper (talking less than 1/2) the cost of the equivalent doors through the lumber yard he normally uses. gwent, nightowl was asking about the dining lights - if you search (ctrl+f) the thread for "nightowl" and read those posts you should get all the details on the lights. For the pulls, believe it or not we got them at Loews. I went to all the fancy shops for a couple weeks stressing about hardware and finally stumbled on them at Loews of all places.

I did see your kitchen back in Dec. Dec is a huge b-day month in our family. And I remember wanting to write a note and then life got away from me and when I returned to GW my short attention span swiftly went on to some picture search for a fello GWebber. I love the edge you chose on your counters. The backsplash is gorgeous but especially the softness that you can see from slide pic with kitty in front of the refrigerator. You can see the smoothness of the tiles with the warm color compliments the cabinet color. The mix of textures and of course your artistic tiles too. The wood floors with wood cabinets looks amazing and often something people are afraid to do but it came out perfect in your space. I love that you put wine glasses in those beautiful glass cabinets beside your range. The glitter and sparkle looks faboulous. Thanks for posting these great pictures, ~boxerpups

Thanks for all your comments. I really appreciate them. So based on the suggestions, I think I would like to try changing the striped canvas art to be behind the couch and cover that large wall. Here is an idea of how it would look (made with only image editor) The canvas is 48x48, hope is okay for that wall Then take my time to fill the wall above the console with art/pictures that mean something to us (family, places. music, etc.) in different frame sizes and forms to avoid being too square with TV and mirror. I will take my time with that :) Definitely liked the idea of bringing a bigger lamp to the console table.. what a change! Thank you!! I will get another one :) I love the idea of painting the candle holders in orange.. will try. They belonged to my husband's grandparents... need to check I'm not a big fan of 'faux' plants, so I was considering a live one, but by the window next to the mirror instead of infront the mirror - here are my thoughts This is the bar cart we had in mind.. is quite expensive ($600!!) from Crate and Barrel This option, maybe with basket w/pillows and throws next to the plant? and then have a console table infront the dinning window and but our liquor there? Window treatments - at the beginning we wanted to leave the windows open to appreciate the back yard (we plan to have nice flowerbeds, etc), but the Texas sun is too strong to leave the windows with nothing.. I am trying to find something that will provide shade, but will allow to look outside and see the backyard as well. We put bamboo shades in the dining room that I plan to frame with curtains later on (see last pic). Will those go in the living room as well? I bought these, but was thinking to return them... I like them, just did not find a 'good wall' for them. what do you think? Once again, thank you!