Just an update...We are still working with Home Depot on our cabinet order. I guess there really wasn't any rush on that 10% after all! We modified some things, taking some things away and adding others. Price went up about $285 based on our changes. And, now I find out they will only give me up to $300 toward the "free" sink base ($502.01)...The Lowe's guy never said anything about an "up to" limit. So, Home Depot sent the quote to the "bid room" (corporate) to see what kind of deal they can authorize...We'll see what they can do. I still have $11,500 in my head, so hopefully they can stay at that price. With such a large order, I would hope so. A couple hundred bucks probably would not make us walk away just because we have spent so much time and energy on this already, but staying at $11,500 would just make me feel good. :-) We started thinking we could do the cabinets for $8500, but then we got caught up in quality (solid cherry wood doors, dovetail drawers, thick shelves, etc) and convenience upgrades (soft close drawers, super susan, etc), so then we ended up just hoping to keep it under $12,000. Our whole budget for the kitchen is (was?) $20,000 including cabinets, counters, backsplash, wood floors, new refrigerator. Not sure if that is realistic anymore. Thankfully, DH is a handy guy and we are DIYers! Although, with one 2yr old and another one baby on the way, DIY is losing it's appeal...Looking forward to putting this project behind us and enjoying the house! By the way, we added a second super susan to the corner cabinet that was just going to be an EZ Reach with 2 stationary shelves (addl $350), increased the size of another cab by 3 inches (addl $25), got the stainless steel tilt out trays instead of the plastic ones (addl $100), added a base filler we needed ($25), and added a tall scribe molding ($25). However, where we saved some money was switching the 27" and 30" "Base Pots and Pans" (BPPS) cabinets to "Base 3-drawer" cabinets. Saved us about $100 a piece. The BPPS cabinets come standard with undermount ball bearing glides so they are more expensive than the Base 3-drawer which come standard with sidemounted glides. However, since we are upgrading all our drawers to undermounted, soft close anyway it made no sense to get the "BPPS" cabinets. They were charging me for the drawer glide upgrade on all the cabinets anyway, so really I was paying for the upgrade twice on those cabinets. Unfortunately, with both Lowe's and HD, this was something I noticed and had to point out. They should really know that. I also had to point out that getting furniture plywood ends on one cabinet ending being about $10 cheaper that buying the wood veneer skin for that cabinet. So, it helped to get familiar with a line and get lots of quotes so you notice these things. Because of these savings, we were able to add that second super susan - Yeh! If anything I've said here raises any flags for anyone reading this, please let me know. We might finalize our order on Saturday if the "price is right!" Thanks again.

Dear Kristie, Make sure you get there at least two hours ahead. You and your family can take turns standing in line. The shows stand outside of tourists attractions and hand out tickets, which means they over book to assure the audience will be full. They never know who will attend and who will not. If you wish to be a contestant, the more dramatic you act while in line, or the outfit that you have on can get you on the show. In other words, be a big old phoney.LOL They don't want someone who will clam up on them while on camera. These are just my experiences and some things that has been passed on to me by people who have been on some of the shows. Have fun.

That seems a bit on the low end to me as well, but that is Milgard home territory right there. +1 Get all the install details clarified and if the contractor is well vetted, that is a decent window.

I've read that, too, Adellabedella. I've mentioned before at the KT that Bob Barker once read a limerick I wrote for him. He and the audience loved it, but I never got to see that episode. This was back in the 1980s, and the show offered to send me a VHS tape of the episode......for $400! I still enjoy the show, though.