OK, I'll give it a try. :) Your older chicks: The black one with the silly white poof on it's head is a White Crested Black Polish. The fluffy white bird in the same pictures with it appears to be a Brahma or possibly a Cochin, although it looks too tall in the shank of the leg to be a Cochin. The gray/white striped bird in the turkey pics is a Barred Rock or Dominique, the bird with the 'eyeliner' in the same pic is an Americaunas, the other reddish bird could be a Cinnamon Brown or a Red Star. With your baby chicks, the light colored one with the feathered feet (Clementine) looks like a Cochin, the other one with the chipmunk stripes (Hazel) in an Americaunas. Gertrude looks like a Australorp or a Jersey Giant. Penny looks to possibly be a Rhode Island Red, but she also has big fluffy cheeks like a Buff Orpington--but not the gigantic feet of one. Hmmmm...... feathersite.com has tons of chicken pics by breed, with baby chick pics that might help you really nail these little guys down. Enjoy your chicks! :) Velvet ~:>

jbraz, I am only a lighting expert by some substantial experience as a designer / remodeling contractor. We do our own kitchen lighting designs, and I agree with you, adequate kitchen lighting is important. I would say that (4) 60-watt lamps would well suffice if properly placed over your island. For the most even light distribution, place them 1/4 the length of the island, from each end (spacing @ 9' island, 2'-3", 4'-6", 2'-3"). There is a more scientific means to analyze lighting placement, involving photometric calculations, although you would have to get the photometrics from the lighting supplier, if they have them, and determine desired foot-candles on the surface, and make your calculations. Otherwise, it's a seat-of-the-pants and experience swag, which is what I'm applying here. The length of this pendant is substantial! If you have a 8' or 9' ceiling, can they be shortened? Otherwise, the lights will hang too low, in my opinion. Lamp height is a matter of personal preference, but I prefer to see them roughly at head-height. Good Luck! Mason Here is a link that might be useful: Ask Mason

I agree, your cabinets look very nice. It's too bad there aren't more drawers, but do you at least have pull out shelves? Your granite & backsplash look very nice as well...but I do agree the kitchen is a little dark...but the big windows in the table area do help. I do have to say that I am very glad that you're taking the cooktop out of the island...the safety issues alone are worth it, but you can also add a range/vent hood now w/o making it an overwhelming presence in the kitchen (which is probably why you don't have one right now...definitely a case where someone let aesthetics trump function.) Which cabinets, exactly, are you replacing with the range & hood? Will there be 9" to 12" b/w the range and the doorway? If not, that may not be a good idea and may not even pass your local Code. (You say you're adding 12" ones on either side of the hood so I'm hoping that means you'll have 12" on the door side.) It's generally recommended, btw, that your hood be 6" wider than your range to increase its capture area, not required, just recommended. One issue that I do see, though...the DW will be in the path b/w the sink & range, making it an obstacle when open...both for getting around it to get to the sink and for prepping. The most common place for prep is b/w the range & a sink (water source)...and that means your DW will be in the way. Is the cabinet to the right of the sink 24"? If so, I'd switch it w/the DW to move the DW out of the way. If it's wider, would you be OK w/the sink moved slightly to the right so you could put that cabinet there & the DW on the right (it might actually center your sink on the window)? Upper cabinets should not be an issue as there's a window behind the sink & some of the counter run. There are plenty of cabinets on that side for dish storage...it would actually put the dishes closer to the table area. For the Breakfast bar, are you just putting cabinets on the other side so you have storage on the table side? That sounds like a good idea if you never use the Breakfast Bar (it is pretty close to the table area, so I can see that you might not use the bar much). If you're keeping the peninsula, that's what I would do. The nice thing about that peninsula is that it offers a large expanse of workspace that your island doesn't (and cannot b/c you don't have enough room in your kitchen for a deeper island.) Have you found the location of your refrigerator an issue? I'm asking b/c the island is a "barrier island" right now and will continue to be so after your planned changes. The island is a barrier b/w the refrigerator & sink as well as refrigerator & cooktop right now. When you put the range in where the ovens are, it will no longer be a barrier b/w the range & ref, but it will still be b/w the sink & ref. A possible solution to that is a prep sink, but I don't think you want to be prepping on the refrigerator side of the island b/c it's the main path through your kitchen...so a prep sink may not help. Yes, it would offer an alternate place for prepping or washing hands, but I'm not sure the loss of work & cabinet space would be worth it. These are some things to think about... Now, on to the flooring & colors. Flooring...like you, we opted for tile in our Kitchen & Foyer b/c of 2 dogs (standard poodles)! We have a friend w/one standard poodle and they tell us that she did more damage to their hardwood floor in the Kitchen & eating area in a year than their 4 kids did in the previous 10 years! We don't regret the tile at all. So far, no problems standing on the tile and in the summer it is wonderfully cool...even the dogs like to sleep on it! In the winter I always wear slippers, so the tile floor isn't a problem then either. Surprisingly, our male dog likes to sleep on it in the winter as well. Colors....I'm not sure what your plans are for the existing cabinetry...you say you're "...drawn to light cream cabinetry and black counters...". So, are your perimeter cabinets staying the same color or are you painting them a creamy color? If you're concerned about light, you could put in a lighter backsplash, that will, I think, make a big difference. Oh, and when you replace the granite, I recommend you do not get the 3" or 4" backsplash piece. It will save you $$$ and look much better if you put in tile (or whatever you use for the BS) to the counter. We have cherry cabinets w/Absolute Black granite countertops that we love. But we do have a very large window in our kitchen that brightens it up considerably during the day and plenty of lighting for nighttime.

Thanks for the responses and for the link to karin_mt's very insightful talk. I guess I doubt myself when I hear stories like 'beekeeperswife'. I cook with spices that stain like tumeric, so I dont want to chance it. But when you decide on a Honda, and find out you can get a BMW in the same price (corteccia is $10 more per sq ft, but a different fab is doing the job within the allowance the guy doing the white macaubus), you have to entertain the idea. I guess the scratch test will be the teller. CK-did you do the scratch test? Or why bother when they are saying it will stain and etch, right...sigh. Anyhow, below is a picture of the porchswing stain (courtesy of live_wire_oak when I was trying to find the gray stain look). Ill find one for the brown stain. Thanks again for the responses. You guys are great!