Leslie, do not underestimate your abilities! Building a simple deck, specially one that is "floating" just a few inches off the ground is not an insurmountable project for a DYI'er, even one that is a novice to carpentry. You might want to enlist the assistance of a friend or relative who has a bit more experience (and tools!) to give you a hand - 4 hands are much better than 2 :-) Also, HD and Lowe's typically offer free workshops on simple home improvement projects and this is one area where they can and do provide good advice and assistance - check 'em out. Enough has been said regarding gravel as a base to discourage you from this unsatisfactory material and exposed aggregate concrete is more expensive than you might expect and is NOT a DIY project. I would not dismiss a paver patio. Perparing a proper base is no harder or more strenuous than preparing a new planting area and you can get pavers in all sizes. I'd consider what is referred to as Roman pavers - 6"x6" or 8"x8" squares, often tumbled to give a rough, natural looking edge. Very manageable and rather inexpensive compared to natural stone and will present a very tidy and solid base.

Actually, at this moment, we are especially up-to-date on the question of the topic line. We are remodeling our powder room (the bathroom that guests in our home use), and one of the primary reasons is to make it adaptable to a washlet-style seat. My spouse's sister and her husband have had Toto Washlets in both their upstairs and downstairs bathrooms in their home in Kamakura since the early 1980s, and we perforce use those appliances every year when we visit them and stay in their home; our home in the United States has seemed deficient without one. Last month, before our annual visit to Japan, I looked into the options, and one (very slightly, at its feature level) cheaper attractive on the North American market is the INAX Clessence. I admit that, in all my years spent in Japan, the brand INAX had not registered on my consciousness until last month. That changed in a hurry. After deplaning at Narita International Airport, I used the restroom in the Customs area while awaiting the arrival of our bags. All INAX fixtures. The next day, we met friends at Ginza 4-chome to see the art exhibition in Wako Department Store, and, looking down Ginza Doori, I saw a large INAX logo atop a building on the other side of Yurakucho. When I commented on it, our friends responded that the INAX Showroom and Gallery had become a favorite meeting place in central Tokyo, so we went there after Wako. Six floors, including one floor devoted to a gallery. Very hgh-end plumbing fixtures, including complete toilets, tile bathtubs, vessel sinks, high-end plumbing fixtures for both kitchen and bath. Everything was very elegant and understated, in the manner of the Dornbracht fixtures sold in the United States. When we mentioned INAX to our sister and her husband that evening, their comment was that INAX was absolutely top-rate --- if you can afford it. In Japan, INAX "advanced toilet seats" sell for a premium above the price of similarly spec'ed Toto Washlets. Very much the same kinds of comments, we found, were made unanimously by others, similar to comments about Miele appliances here. We took a side excursion down north (in Japanese, any trip away from Tokyo is "down," even when the direction is north) to visit friends and relatives in Sapporo. In the brand new terminal at Haneda International Airport, all of the fixtures were INAX. At Chitose Airport, all of the fixtures were INAX. We stayed in the new (opened mid-2009) Mercure Hotel in Sapporo, and all of the fixtures in our room and all of the fixtures in the restroom off the main lobby were INAX. Yes, we have used Inax "advanced toilet seats," in several locations, and in every respect they seem at least as well built as any Toto Washlet we have encountered, and they function flawlessly. For our part, we have decided that the "washlet" that goes into our remodeled powder room will not be a Toto Washlet but will be an INAX Clessence. Here is a link that might be useful: History of the company that makes INAX

Browneyes - we've been looking at AKDO's Stagger in Parchment. Found here: http://www.akdo.com/products_detail_coll.asp?pid=4905&collid=108&subcollid= It's pretty much what we like, but the narrowest strip in AKDO's tile is a bit narrower than we hoped for. When I emailed Susan, I told her what we saw that we liked and what we were hoping to find that would be different from what we've seen. She seemed to feel that she could help. Right now, on Susan's site, she is featuring a "We have curved milk glass tile, as seen on Houzz" photo, so hopefully there's a good chance you'll have some luck with her. I used the email found on her site here: http://www.susanjablon.com/contacts It's: Customer.Service@SusanJablon.com I got some samples from Glass Tile Oasis and while they were fine, I wasn't finding anything that was quite right for us...may search there a little more if Susan doesn't work out.

I was going to suggest neenaslighting.com and circa lighting, but I see someone else already has. I got one of my fixtures from Circa (neenas carries Circa, also called Visual Comfort, along with many other brands). I got some of my lights from a company called Olampia. They might not have exactly what you are looking for, but they will make custom modification to any of their lights, at very reasonable prices. This is especially great if you have lower ceilings, because they can modify the height of any of your lights to your exact specifications. We even had a light that we changed the location we planned to hang it, so wanted to modify the height, and we brought it into their store, and they did it in a day or two. They are located in downtown NYC in the lighting district, and we were able to go to their showroom, but we also ordered lights from them over the phone, and they were extremely helpful. And amazingly quick! Also check out Gump's. I recall they had a few lantern type lights that were very nice, similar to the look of the second lights you posted. Here is a link that might be useful: Olampia