Thanks, purplemoon & luvs! $135! Wow! Hope you'll see a better deal one of these days...cause my BabyDoll was my Mom's but she's not antique or anything. My sis has the "twin" (which was dressed as a baby boy) & when Mom gave it to her, my sis changed the doll into "girl" clothes! LOL! (actually, they are identical "it" dolls...hair cut the same, etc.) Think I will e-mail my sis some pics of Dollbaby...she will think I've "lost it" & need something more to do! NOT true! I stay busy all the time! LOL! I buy 3 - 6 mo. clothes...like that jumper was $3 ... but now I'll be watching GS's cause can get better buys! LOL! Thanks, gals! Jeanne S.

"Apply shellac sealer to cat-affected areas of subfloor." If your goal is to remove the odor, shellac won't make it go away. You need to replace the subfloor underlayment in that area (which they can do) just as you are going to replace the damage baseboards. Cats CAN smell any of those spray odors that you are trying to cover it up. If it's soaked into your drywall underneath the baseboards, you will need to replace that drywall also. Wood flooring installation prices in our area run $2/sf to install, $2/sf to sand, $2/sf to stain (if needed) and $2/sf to finish. So about $6/sf. BUT this is in our area of the country, the Mid-South. If you live out east or out west, I would think those prices would be higher. Others can chime in... Our flooring contractor charged me an extra $20/room to install the new baseboard (which I had painted and all ready to go.) Removing carpeting and padding is really easy to do if you have one or two people to help you. That can save you some $$. Roll it up and take it out to the curb (or call the city to come pick it up - some will.) WHen we took up our old carpeting, some of the padding stuck to the subfloor so I had to scrape it off. But a $6 scraper from HD did the job and I did it myself with ease. (female) If your hearth boarder is the same wood as the rest of the flooring, there shouldn't be any extra charge for that. My last comment is to be careful about filling in gaps in your wood flooring. We are coming off the heating season which causes wood to contract a bit. Come summer and higher humidity, it will expand. If you fill in the gaps now and it expands this summer, you will have cupping or possibly the floor may buckle. A flooring pro might be better able to explain this. Wood floors move - that's just the nature of wood. The carpentry work along the wall and subfloor would be extra and replacing drywall is not a difficult job, nor is sanding,priming,or painting it. And I wouldn't pay any contractor for anything except materials until the job is finished. What kind of warranty does he provide on his work? You don't pay for half of your house before it's built so why would you need to give him half of his money before he's even started the job? I would not hire any contractor that insisted on pre-payment except for materials. So looking at your quote and figuring what I would be charged here for all of that, it does seem a bit high especially since you might be able to do some of that work yourself. Does that quote include the cost of the hardwood flooring??? That will make a big difference. And if it were me, I would go buy that flooring myself so that I knew I was getting good quality wood and not some LL rejects. Is there any specification as to the grade of wood he is going to use in the quote? If you have any leftover pieces of your old flooring, you should be able to match it up easily - just take it along to the flooring place or lumber co. Do some test pieces without any stain - just the finish. You may not need to stain your flooring. It doesn't look like it has any stain on it. Good luck - hope that helps!

thregrad and dezinerchick - Thanks so much for your replies and suggestions - you both are thinking along the lines of hilltop, so I'll definitely be taking those ideas and see how they work for the room - if I get the house, that is. dezinerchick, you mentioned blinds on the window - what do you suggest for the door - I'm not one to have a pane of glass uncovered where, though it's in the backyard, one can look through it, esp. during the night. I love my modular I currently have, but it's too big for this room, and the color doesn't go. I don't know what's under the carpeting there - the owners say concrete, but hard to believe that unless it was an addition after they built the house - the rest of the house is wood flooring, though there is carpet in the living and dining room (can't understand the reasoning behind carpeting a dining room, but that's just me, I guess) I hate that carpet in there and will definitely be changing it to something else, probably wood. But that's a whole other issue. I think I'd like to go more cottage style in this room - any suggestions? Still hoping someone will post a picture of their room that looks similar and how it's laid out. Thanks again.

Another vote to try the buffet under the window -- it appears to be the "natural" spot for it -- and it won't block too much light. OR: Leave it on the right hand side -- and do hang your larger artwork beind the table -- and then hang two or three (depending on size) smaller matching or co-ordinating artworks vertically over the buffet. You may have to hang the smaller ones FIRST -- and then stand back and judge where to place the larger artwork so that it connects to the table AND the newer artworks. Another idea would be to add two or three dark shelves (look for substantial chunky ones!!) over the buffet -- and add plates (matching ones or co-ordinating ones) THEN hang your larger artwork -- and both areas would work! Jan