Thank you Phila_2009 for letting me know since one store told me that the area under the cabinets may never become the same color since I do not have a lot of light in my home office since my windows are only in the front of my office and are only opened at the top and bottom with the middle covered and really only the area in front of my desk gets natural sunlight. The rest of the room has chrome Fluorescent 300 wattage Torchiere Lamps with no other windows. All the cabinets (supply and file) are a light putty color). In the family room, I know the floor will look wonderful and get a lot of light with the 4 big windows that face the woods (but I usually keep the sheer horizontal blinds closed to let in light and have privacy and the room never gets hot so maybe I do not get a lot of sun there with all the big trees shading the area) and I plan to not have a carpet or rug in that room with just the beige sofa and recliner and glass end tables and coffee table. The Oak TV stand is on wheels so I can move it around. What I am worried about is the four 5-drawer 42" wide file cabinets that will be on the home office floors (my living room and dining room I made into my home office) & three 42" wide 2-drawer file cabinets and two 30" wide two drawer file cabinets in the two room home office that has also a desk, computer desk and a credenza. I also have two supply cabinets in the dining room part blocking another desk for a part-time worker. It is amazing how much furniture I have in the two room home office. Maybe I shouldn't worry and when I move, I will just have to explain to buyers why the floor is two different colors with more of the floor light that was covered than dark that was exposed? I don't plan on moving soon but life is full of surprises and if I meet someone and we want to move to a bigger place, I worry about the color change. For now I do love my townhouse that is the size I need and is in a great beautiful location. The Brazilian Cherry floors go so well with the different woods I have in my home especially the cherry office furniture and the cherry legs on the glass tables in the family room. My kitchen has oak cabinets open to the family room and my stair way has a walnut railing. My walls are all light and so are my blinds.

I suggest you post this on the Home Decorating forum. You will get alot more feedback than you'll get here. A colonial is not a craftsman. A bungalow is a 1 or 1 1/2 story house - not a 2 story. Craftsman homes don't have attached garages. There will be lots you can do to update this house. However, don't force it into something it's not. And don't be married to the trendy non-colors that some say are popular today ie greige. Colors of nature are always best for homes in wooded settings. head on over to Home Decorating:)

I have a pretty good idea of the price of windows. 8k cheap - 20k mid/expensive. And the roof would be about 7k shingles and (not entirely sure yet) but I think around 10-11k metal. Gutters will be what we put into them. But we need and will use windows and a new roof and a painted house. I mean, it will take a while to pay back in heating costs, but in the winter sitting by the front window, there is a gusty cold zone. And I'm in a mid-atlantic area, I'm not going to start covering my windows in plastic like my VT relatives! But the porch would just be cosmetic unless we actually put enough into it that we would actually use it. Heating, cooling, more windows, bug protection, lighting, finishes. And I'd rather have that someday in the far future if we ever choose to invest in it in the back of the house which is very private. Believe me, I know, before we even closed I had mocked up this but we tabled the idea after much discussion: And the typical simple extended porch you'd see with with a colonial doesn't excite me either. Sure it might not be that expensive, but why should I invest in turning 'bleh' (to me) into 'that's ok.' I'd rather invest in something I really like. I'm not investing in curb appeal for future buyers, but in my own home satisfaction.

Nobody's mentioned this, so I'll put in a plug for my favorite frypan for cooking eggs. It's a cast steel (not cast iron!) pan from Lodge. I warm it on a medium flame, add about a teaspoon or so of oil in the center of the pan, crack the egg into the oil and cook. Sometimes I flip the egg or scramble it a little. The egg slides onto my spatula. Then I add a quarter inch of hot water, scrub around a little with a stainless steel scrubbie, dump the water, dry with a paper towel, and put back onto the turned off burner while I eat my lunch.