Norma: That's ok. Bunnygirl: Lol, that is my knee. Yes, I did notice the leaves are growing really tight too. They must love the light, and not the snow of course. Josh: Of course you know I am cheating, right? Come in about a month or two, yours should start doing a heck of lot better in the color department! Look forward to that. Thanks;-) Linda: Hello Linda? Are you getting buried anytime soon again? We had our turn last night! Some places here had Hurricane force winds which peaked at 90 miles per hour with 3 inches of snow falling an hour all night..Oh, what a miserably cold winter so far:-( The colors do certainly pick you us which leads to, Marquest: I am happy that I could do that for you. I hope all is ok. It has been a while since I have seen you around! We will always be here to lift you up with everyone's amazing plants all times of the year. Have you seen Tom's thread about flowers this time of year? Very nice! YW Marquest. Cheers everyone. i hope yours start coloring up soon. If Pug wasn't so busy, I bet she would post a few of her beauties..

Wow, thanks for the information- I've never had that kind of luck with getting ModPodge to harden. You may very well be right-- it could be it was either too damp or not warm enough in the house. The nice thing about sealing over ModPodge or other glue products is that if you get enough layers over it, the decoupage has a sort of recessed/inlaid feel to it. If you get a chance, you can see a couple of the past decoupage projects I've got online: http://web.mac.com/thriftshopromantic/iWeb/The_Thrift_Shop_Romantic/Decoupage_Footstool_Purse.html http://web.mac.com/thriftshopromantic/iWeb/The_Thrift_Shop_Romantic/Greeting_Card_and_Lace_Guest_Tray.html I ended up doing these with Aleene's Craft Glue, and then a topcoat. But now you've got me thinking I just wasn't using the ModPodge under the right conditions! --Jenn

Riverspots, your points are very good. The materials really do match the area. I'm from the east coast and am always amazed how many stone houses are in Austin. In DC only the expensive homes are stone. I do think the levels 'look' neat, but I trip all the time. I know, that is a personal problem :) I actually fell down the stairs into the eating area and broke two toes when we first moved in. My thinking in eliminating the levels, which may be the most expensive part, was that in addition to me liking it more, it would make the house more appealing to more potential buyers in an older neighborhood ??? Perhaps I'm biased due to my own clutzyness. I definitely don't need the second island so if it isn't the right match for this house, I could put a moveable big table on the wall in between the range and the dinning room for my purposes. I will definitely ponder what you are saying. I do like the big open space but I've been told we need to fill it up because our house seems very cold. Thank you so much for the candid opinion Jsweenc, Yes, the house will still be plenty contemporary, just not artsy funky contemporary. You asked what it is, aside from the contemporary style, that doesn't work for me. I thought it easiest to list the things I hate and definitely want to change, and things that aren't so bad but if I'm changing the other things, it would make sense to consider. Things I hate: I have bad knees so the stone floor is KILLING me. The textured stone is also next to impossible to clean. There is dirt in those crevices left from the day the builders left. The levels. I hate going down two sets of stairs to eat. If I had bar stools, I'd still have to go down one step to eat. I hate having to go down a step and then around the peninsula to clean it and then back up the step to get back into the kitchen. I hate having a double sink w/o being able to fit a big pot on either side. I realize that is a completely personal thing and many people love them. Things that I would live with but in a perfect world would be different: I normally like dark countertops but the way the light is in this house you can see every spec of dust from a mile away. So, I'd love light countertops. I'm sick of our contemporary cabinets but I do appreciate how nice they are and I could definitely live with them even though I'd prefer not to. When going to kitchen from bedroom hallway, it would be nice not having to hug the right wall so I don't have to go down the stairs and then back up the stair. Would love not having the stair from the kitchen to the living room. If I didn't have the other stairs, it probably wouldn't bother me. We live out in the country so the pantry is too small for bulk shopping. The house is ginormous, but there are very few closets, not even a linen closet (strange, I know). The current room behind the kitchen (which will be the new pantry and laundry/utility room) is an office with no windows and a tiny bathroom. The current laundry room is in the main hallway which is visible from the entrance into the house. The peninsula, while big, is on kinda far from the fridge, range, or pantry to make it really useful as a prep area so it's almost wasted space. I'm not sure what is ideal, but I know I would like my working areas to be on one side of the island so I didn't have to always be walking around it. Ideally, I wouldn't have to walk around the island to access the sink/dishwasher. I think we all agree on the fate of the big thingy around the stove ;)

I don't know what SW paint this picture is closest to, but I think you may be approaching this the wrong way. If this is from a magazine, the color printed may not be close even if they tell you the paint. Paint chips can look very different from the real thing. If you love this color, your best bet is to take this picture to a paint store and have them custom match the color.