Marlene, your kitchen looked warm and cozy before, but what a wonderful transformation. You added so much more counterspace--you can never have too much of that! And now you have the perfect "work triangle" with the sink stove and fridge too--bet it feels lots more efficient. Love the rope trim and those pretty tiles you chose. Your husband did an amazing job on the cabinets and that hutch! He is obviously very talented. I can't imagine trying to cut that hutch down like that! Have to ask what kind of saw he used--just curious, I'll never tackle a project that big for sure! LOL You have the perfect dishes to display in your pretty hutch, looks like something from a magazine. And you are getting wood floors too--it's all looking just wonderful and those will be the icing on the cake. The big chick--adds a special unexpected "flair". ;o) Luvs

Thank you all for the nice comments! It feels good to have other people appreciate it too. We love everything and the only decisions we regret are the ones we were talked into by other people at the end of the project and they are all exterior issues: 1. I don't like where the shingle-style siding ends. To me it should be lower. Our contractor talked us out of it. We actually bought extra shingles to fix it, but we haven't done it yet. Still, they all told me, "Give it a month and you won't notice." But you know what? I notice it every single day and it bugs me every single day. 2. The posts and risers on the deck are cedar that is smooth on one side and rough on the other. I wanted to use the smooth side out but everyone told me "No one does that. I've never heard of that," so we put the rough side out. Huge mistake. Dog hair sticks to it like glue. It's a total pain. 3. There was a miscommunication on the back stairs. We wanted an extra step to lower the rise a little for our aging dogs, but two steps were added so the rise is REALLY short and now the dogs hate it even more. Fail.

I can only tell you my experience. We had Douglas fir ceilings and floors and walls in our lakehouse and I loved them but, through the years, I got tired of a darker look so we painted the ceilings white. My husband was horrified that I wanted to do it but it still read as wood and looked so much better, we went on to paint all the walls too and we love it. They sell pastel transparent paints that will let the wood show through. I don't like it myself but it's a personal taste thing.

Another view of playroom