Laurie, Restrained Gold, Mustard Seed and Cognac are in the same hue category. They share certain characteristics. If someone asked me for a warm golden, mid-tone color for their walls, all three chips would be put out there on the table together for comparison. Sheen matters as well. Cognac in Velvet sheen matte is slightly different than Cognac in Lifemaster Eggshell. Restrained Gold in Cashmere looks different than Duration matte. Just the nature of color. Ben Moore's Gray Wisp looks different mixed in the Aura base than it does in Regal Matte. Those differences are usually very slight and most people never notice because they are that close. Full spectrum or regular, sheen and bases will affect the final outcome of color. To answer your question as specfic as possible, Mustard Seed is much more yellow that R. Gold. The other thing, or issue, with many of SW's colors is that they have a common lean to green. I think it's their colorants. Certain SW colors like Blonde, R. Gold, Latte, Bagel, Believeable Buff and more have a tendancy to show with a definite skunky undercurrent of green. It happens often and in a variety of expsoures/rooms. It's rare for a BenM color to do that, and with FS colors I've never seen it happen. Even the attempts at matching FS that come close aren't the same as the real deal. I feel if you get chips in people's hands that enables comparison, the best choices can be made. More often than not people go for the FS colors. But not always and that's okay too.

I used to be a Heinz ketchup snob but no more. One of our tastes have changed, whether it's Heinz or mine. I'll buy generic before Heinz now unless Heinz is much cheaper. And I don't use much ketchup anymore anyway so it doesn't make a difference. I tend to use BBQ sauce or steak sauce where I used to use ketchup and I have never been one to bury things in ketchup anyway. I mentioned to a few people I know that I didn't like Heinz anymore and they said basically they found the same thing. And then I saw America's Test Kitchen did a couple taste tests and the perennial victor, Heinz, lost the last couple times to Hunt's. Guess I'm not the only one who doesn't like it anymore. It's also interesting that Hunt's is cashing in on the corn syrup paranoia. I've been meaning to see what sales impact if any they can attribute to that aspect. For most other things I always look at store brand/generic first, then compare to name brand. There's one where I find real superiority and that's Green Giant canned vegetables. But the price is *so* much higher usually that it's not worth it to me. Occasionally though they'll go on sale if I happen to catch it. But I don't buy as much canned veg anymore either. Using more fresh and frozen. Although I still prefer canned corn to frozen. Most household cleaners however I seldom find store brand to be adequate. There I look for clearance, coupons and sales and that's quite often. Dish soap is Dawn or Joy only. I don't waste my time with anything else unless I use it for hand soap. I've bought the store brand "Magic Erasers" and they seem OK. Generic laundry detergents seldom do the job on real dirty stuff unless I doctor it up and that increases the cost so I might as well just use Tide Free. Bleach is bleach, baking soda is baking soda and all aspirin are alike to me. Speaking of aspirin, I found it interesting that the Target I was in this week only carries Bayer aspirin. No store brand anymore. And 100 count bottle was over $9! No way. I stopped at a Walgreens a day or two later and 100 count bottles were $1 each. Now for a quick rant: Since when did people become so stupid they'll pay $7 for 50 count of "low dose" aspirin? A female friend of mine is on that and I said why don't you just bite a regular aspirin in half and toss the remainder? Net cost of a penny per dose rather than 12¢-14¢ per dose. And since it's daily, it'll start to add up. $45-$50/yr savings there and if she cut them in half and used both halves you double the savings. End of rant. I am shopping Aldi more and more so there you get mostly store brands. For the most part they're just fine and usually much cheaper (but know your prices - they're not always cheaper). Paper products vary. Lately I've done well getting paper towels on clearance and put a $1 off coupon on it and have better product cheaper. I buy paper plates at Aldi. They're fine. Toilet paper? I used to be a Charmin snob but then for a while it was so dusty I quit, especially when the price went up. Now I usually buy the 1000 sheet rolls, usually Scott because they're so much cheaper than anything else and I'm pleased with the product. I buy them at about 25¢ - 50¢ per roll. That equates to about 5-7 rolls of any other brand. Won't find it any cheaper and it all goes down the toilet anyway. I haven't found store brand deodorants to work as well as name brand and with clearance and coupons I usually buy good brand names for under $1. I like foaming hand soap and the store brand is fine but there too I watch for clearance and it can be cheaper. With any of them you have to try them and see what you like or don't like. But you also have to be a savvy shopper because they're not always cheaper. Know your prices and compare sizes too. Size of items is ever-changing.

Thank you for your kind words, igloochic. I love rich tones, fabrics and antiques, as well--your plans for your home sound just fabulous; the colors, materials and textures are all rich. Your master bath is the original color scheme I had planned, but as you know--homes tend to have a mind of their own and I wound up with pale blues and greens and travertine in our masterbath, with the richer browns in our bedroom, DH's study and lighter browns in my dressing room. I am visualizing what you've described and it will be gorgeous! I have in my hand a sample of the EK Bronze--EK is Ellen Kennon--an interior designer that makes a line of specialty full spectrum paints, which use many different colors as opposed to just three. Some people can't tell the difference in full spectrum paints and regular paint; many others notice it right away--to me, they look richer and change with the lighting conditions. I used her paints in my new home when we built two and a half years ago--many others here on this forum have used her paints in their homes as well; others make full spectrum paints, too. EK paints have to be ordered through Ellen Kennon's business and she sends the forumla to a local ICI paint dealer. I actually sent Ellen a copy of my house plans, hardcover books and a pair of silk bronze evening slacks--that's what she used to try to make up the bronze color I wanted--isn't that service? www.ellenkennon.com I'm thinking the EK Bronze is probably too light for what you're describing, but I will be happy to send you either a sample of the paint or a card painted with it, if you will email me through Gardenweb. The reason I went with a lighter color she made (a friend--interior designer that helps me with my window treatments--said it looked like the color of Cognac--thus the name!)was the Bronze was too strong for the large space. I still might use it in a small "away" room I'm working on upstairs. EK Mocha is a very rich brown that I used in my DH's study--I don't know if you'd be interested in this. Adobe is a little lighter, but has more bronze tones than the Mocha; Adobe is in our master bedroom. Ellen Kennon will take any color and work with it to make it richer, brighter, muted--whatever you want. I hope you will share photos of your home! Ellen Kennon Mocha:

All of the brands of granite sinks can potentially develop cracks during shipping. It's a byproduct of their durability, actually. Hard items are also brittle items, and in an unsupported situation, like shipping, they can be stressed and develop cracks, especially at the corners. Once installed, they are among the most durable type of sinks around, so as long as you inspect the particular sink well before your counter install date, the sink is unlikely to develop problems down the road.....unless the plumber overtightens the drain connection, which has also happened. That happens with china or fireclay sinks as well. An experienced plumber should be able to gauge the torque needed. And, the HD granite composite sinks are made by Blanco, so you are getting Blanco quality without the Blanco price. Many of HD's private label merchandise is made by fairly reputable manufacturers at a volume discount---and quite a lot of it is completely horrible Chinese made garbage. You just have to ask about the particular product, and often, even the HD person doesn't know.