If you've never constructed a stone retaining wall before, whether mortared or dry set, it doesn't matter..., an 8' tall dry set wall is not something you want to start off with. Even changing the design to 2 smaller offset walls carries with it the need for a little real engineering in order to understand the zones of influence of one wall's foundation & load upon the other, the load above the higher wall, the horizontal distance between the 2 walls, ground and surface (rain) water locally, the characteristics of the existing soils upon which the wall(s) may be founded, and last but not least, local or regional codes that may pertain to wall construction of given heights. Certainly, there are an inexperienced many who go forward with projects like this and many are successfully completed, but usually by chance and not design. Old rules of thumb, by which many of us (older folks) still work, tell that the base of the wall should be founded upon and supported by a compacted layer of gravel or crushed stone at least 6" thick, all on top of native soils which have been previously compacted (with all organic soils removed). They tell us that the width of the wall's base should be about 40% of the height of the wall, and the base should be buried at least 12" below adjacent grade. They also tell us that the visible face of the wall should batter back at least 3 (horizontal) to 12 (vertical)...the back of the wall in that case being nearly vertical...and that the top of the wall (capstone) should be 12"-18" wide. Along the way, 'through-stones' should be installed at certain intervals both horizontally and vertically. (Through-stones being those whose ends can be seen at both the face and back of the wall, thereby 'tying' both faces together.) And,with regard to drainage of groundwater from behind the wall, they tell us to remember that the wall is dry set, without mortar, possessing a myriad of spaces that can carry water from front to back without the need for mechanical devices such as pipes (drain tile) or weeps. The important thing is placing free-draining material (like gravel or crushed stone) behind the wall 6"-12" thick to allow the water to migrate easily to the spaces in the wall. Now, all of this should be viewed in the context of the type of stone being used. Rules of thumb are just that, nothing more, and shouldn't be considered engineering advice. Flat stones of nearly regular size and shape are fairly easy to work with. 'Found fieldstone', if anything like the native fieldstone found here in New England, is extremely irregular, tending more to the 'rounded' than the 'flat', and can be very difficult and time consuming to work with. It's not at all impossible, but best done by someone with experience. At the very least, almost each and every stone placement needs to be carefully thought out, reviewed, and reviewed again. All of this being said, 'tis your project and your effort, so at the least, plan on it taking 4 times as long as you initially thought, making patience, care, and safety utmost in the course of events.

I've antiqued a lot of my frames, but I tend to go darker instead of lighter, Jynxed. Either way, the process is basically the same. To get the look you want, I'd try painting the frame with a creamy white acrylic paint . . . or chalk white if you prefer. The kind you can buy at HL or Michaels. When the paint is totally dry, pour a bit of antiquing medium or even a bit of Raw Umber mixed with an acrylic glaze medium (you get that right where you buy the white paint); brush it onto a section of the frame, making sure to get it into every crevice. Wait about 30 seconds and ~ with a small, soft dry rag, start wiping off the antiquing paint, leaving some in the crevices. See how you like that look. You can add more to adjust the color or wipe off more to get the look you want. If you wait too long, it'll be harder to get off, although the antiquing medium is formulated to dry slowly for just that purpose. A damp rag can get off a bit that's too dark. Work in 6-12" long sections, depending on how much detail you have on the frame itself. Some of the larger, more ornately carved frames are best worked in 4-6" sections. Here's one they called a Shabby Chic frame, although I doubt it came from one of their stores! I painted, antiqued and then used a bit of Rub-N-Buff on it to get this finished look. Lynn Before: After.I actually went back and antiqued the gold inner frame after I took this pic. The flash is making it look a brighter gold that it really is.

DH picked up mine yesterday and I just got a look at the bottle. It's Ferti-lome brand and the bottle says "Soil Acidifier Plus Iron". Did we get the right thing? This ran $5.99/quart. It's raining here and probably will be for a few days. I'll be out of town for 4 days, so don't know when I'll get to test it.

Thanks so much for your feedback -- we had to make a fast decision about whether we were going to try to uninstall that molding before the glue dried. We decided to leave the cabinet molding as is. Funny how I never noticed that the light skirt is different from the cabinet molding -- now I'm wondering about that too ;-). We sent an email to Scherr's to ask about the crown molding and here is what they said (in case anyone wants to avoid our 9pm freak-out and plan ahead with your cabinets...) From Scherr's: "You have installed the fillers and top trim correctly, there is nothing odd about it. Occasionally we have customers order the fillers "L" shaped so they end up flush with the doors. This works too, but then the fillers need to be wider for scribe room, so there is a trade-off." I must admit that I don't understand some of what Scherr's (and some of you) have said, but fortunately DH does. Thanks again!