The crown transition can be easily handled by padding out the wall with a filler strip of wood behind the crown. I'd keep the bottom of the filler strip even with the bottom edge of the crown. It'll simply look like the crown is "thicker" where it's padded out. If you need a drawing for clarity let me know. Cutting into tile over a radiant pad can be tricky. The choice will be would you rather have the extra dots or would you rather have the radiant heat under the tiles? The work can be done, but it's tedious, and you'd have to absolve your GC of fault should he damage the wiring. What I'd do is I'd use my angle grinder to grind away the surface of the tile to a certain depth, then I'd slice the dots, taking some material off the back so they are not as thick. Set the slightly thinner dots in the floor and all should be well. Tedious work though.

That's a beautiful ceiling. A couple I know bought a tract house in the development one over from mine. From the research I've done, the homes in their development were about $5000 more than the ones in my neighborhood (in the late 1950's), which was quite a bit of money back then. The homes have a little more sq. ft, little bigger yard and some nicer details. What caught my eye when I first saw the place was the rather simple (in detail) but larger crown moulding in the combined living room/formal dining room. It looks something like the below picture, although a little wider and they have regular, small, stained oak trim around the doorways. My friends' crown 'trim' was on-site fabricated in plaster when the house was built. Talk about a level of craftsmanship that is very rare these days. This post was edited by DreamingoftheUP on Mon, Mar 24, 14 at 21:28

We recently saw a posting with a gorgeous arch over a set of windows at the sink--built out of wallboard by the owner with cupboards acting as pillars at the two sides. Anyone remember which thread that was? The clever unit really made the room special. Wish I'd seen that idea sooner! I think I'm going to build valence boxes to pad with fabric over my windows. Romans will be below. probably off topic... If you choose roman shades or blinds for a multi-window unit and they're really functional, just wanted to say that you are in for a lifetime of short-term irritation when you have to raise/lower each little panel separately. There's no way around this but it's a fact of life each morning and evening. Gotta budget the time. If there is any way to gang the windows and put a single shade over more than one window at a time, it's not as pretty but it's more efficient. I have a double window in center of my 5-window config and at least I could gang that window so I only have 4 blinds to pull.

Thank you all so much for your very kind comments and for all of the "cheerleading" you've done for me! I appreciate the advice and encouragement more than you can possibly know. Covingtoncat - you asked about the lack of venting over our stove ... well, it's a problem! DH is the "chef" at our house and he tends to be a messy one. I'm sure there's gunk on the wall behind the stove (although maybe I'm lucky that my eyesight is poor so I don't readily see it!) -- the pot rack (not vintage, but it did come with the house - left by the previous owner) gets coated with greasy ick and needs frequent cleaning. I do wonder how the now-red wall will show up the gunk once I paint it white, but I still intend to do so. And maybe convince DH to be a little less splatter-prone when he cooks! Onedogedie - yes, the new window is upstairs, on the far right. (That's actually an attic vent on the side closest to the camera.) I still haven't been able to locate anyone who does vintage-style awnings in my area yet. Lots of companies do canvas or copper - but that's not what I have in mind. So - still keeping my eyes open and pondering that addition. I have now begun painting the lower cabinets white, and will change all of the red in the space to white. DH has remarked several times that even with the small amount I've painted so far, the room feels so much larger and open. I have to agree! I've given myself until the end of the summer to get this project completed, although I hope it doesn't take me that long. I'll post another photo update once all of the cabinets are finished.