Well I'm really in a pickle now. I wish I had discovered this 3 days ago. I would have had time to kill the grass, lay down some loam, and reseed, but for the last 3 days we've been adding loam to low spots and evening things out, basically covering the bentgrass, and the plan was to start overseeding today. I don't have enough time, (back to work on Mon) to change plans, so I'm just going to go ahead with reseeding and tackle this in the spring, unless anyone has a better idea. Thanks all.

Going against the grain PURPOSELY? Or because there wasn't any choice (money/space)? Most things about my kit would not be recommended on here, but I didn't really have any choice as I wasn't spending $50K+ or totally moving all the walls around. [as palimpest noted above] So for most of it I can't really say, "I went against the grain!" Two things I COULD have done different but CHOSE not to: 1. Kept My Peninsula. Thought about it intensely, everyone IRL (didn't ask on here) said change to an island, but I just don't like islands. I still like my peninsula! :) I think this is MORE against the grain than all the skinny islands with narrow aisles. Most people, it seems to me, do anything to have a island in any size. 2. Ornate c abinet doors with applied rope trim, painted white with pewter glaze. This look is often referred to on here as "dirty". Was also advised to take down the wall between the kit and DR (IRL, not on here) by friends. But I LOVE my formal DR so I did not. So maybe that too? I didn't actually ask for or get advise from this forum as I found it too late. But it did get me to do ONE thing, which I did "wrong"! After seeing photos of MW drawers in islands I decided to put my MW below the counter, and created an open shelf for it to sit on. Love it there. Found out long after those were DRAWERS I had seen and they opened from the TOP. LOL! I still think it's hilarious I had NO idea what I was looking at. Never saw a MW DRAWER before. I stop back here because it's interesting to see how different people change their spaces. Befores and Afters are always fascinating, no matter what you do.

Hmm, Pam, I can't speak to that, and I couldn't find any images online, but what I did find was several posts from Garden Web on the subject. I've linked the page that I Googled, and if you look at the 6th link down, you'll see the Garden Web posts that you can read. Diagonal costs more with TILE due to the extra cuts, but it ought not to be much more for your resilient flooring, but something you may want to check into before you decide. No tile in my kitchen, but in this little half bath I put in my basement a few years ago. This is what I did, and these are 12" tiles. If they look pinkish, they aren't! :-) I went back to your pics again, and I don't feel the smaller size will make a difference, as the 'grout' is so close to the color that it's not all that obvious. Here is a link that might be useful: Lay tile or diagonal or square?

I love a two story room with a wall of windows. I designed my current home with ten foot ceilings on the main floor, and I would like them higher. I would have gone two story but couldn’t swing it because I was unable to free up space on the second story due to constraints with stretching out the first floor (creek in the way). I think though that 15 or 16 feet might give you the feel you’re looking for if you made sure to add lots of windows. We custom built one house where the family room had 15 foot ceilings and it totally satisfied my need for a two story. Loved that room....it had floor to ceiling windows. Many say they don’t like tall ceilings due to a lack of coziness and intimacy . Tall ceilings never strike me that way. I LOVE the space and open feeling....especially with lots of windows. What I don’t care for is a two story room with large swaths of sheetrock where windows could have been installed. That, to me is a total waste....tall ceilings need tall windows.