Okay, so I am having trouble with the Aura setting up. I tried using more paint which helped some of the drying problems (smoother finish generally) but the "seams" are still rough. The overlap between some of the columns gets tacky and I end up with a rough feeling area between them that looks kind of like a concrete texture. If I don't knock back (feather out) the column's wet edge very quickly (under a minute) , a small ridge occurs because it has begun to set up. But when I feather it out, then the paint is thinner and dries faster, so it gets tacky very quickly, I think. I have tried various ways of rolling. 2 x 3 sections. Up and down. Not sure if one or the other is better but I seem to find the up and own (8 foot ceiling) more difficult to manage. And I need to run the roller tight to the ceiling and corners. I am not working slow! What would you suggest for the transition areas between the columns? And does Regal Select have much more open time than Aura? Maybe I would find it easier to work with? This post was edited by snookums2 on Thu, Jan 16, 14 at 1:41

Thanks for the great suggestions and the good discussion. Teacats, funny you should link that starburst mirror. I have been shopping (and overthinking) starburst mirrors for months. I have several in mind, but I am planning to put it over the fireplace in our dining room. I also like the other suggestions you make. Those are all along the lines of things that I also do. Like I said, I have framed menus of favorite restaurants, blown up photos, had our kids do "original paintings," etc. May be I'm just tired and being lazy at this point, but I was thinking it would just be nice and easy to buy something instead of making it. I have done so many projects in putting our house together, and I guess my bigger philosophical question is--does everything have to be so darn special and personal in order to be worthy of display? I know, I know, that's a personal question, but this forum is full of people like me who obsess about their homes and finding that "perfect" piece of furniture, paint color, art, etc., and for people like that, do you feel like it's ok to just buy something off the shelf? Thermsen, thanks for your thoughts. As we decorate our house, I do wonder, is some of this obsessing bordering on snobbery? Like the PB stuff that oakleyok posted--I actually like that stuff. But, that stuff is mass-produced. May be it's ok bc PB is classier than BB&B. I saw a wooden billboard sign at JCP and liked it, but I hesitated bc it was from JCP. Here it is: http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=166e8cb&deptid=71371&dep=HOME+D%c3%89COR&catid=71784&cat=Wall+D%c3%a9cor&SO=0amp;pcatid=71371&Ne=5+1027+1031+580+1008+8+18+904+949+833&pagesize=1&x5view=1&N=4294953198&cattyp=RLE&Nao=198&PSO=0amp;CmCatId=71371:71784 Ok, thanks for letting me bounce ideas off this forum!

Yes, you could do that. You definitely want the back of the false drawer front to be supported and flush on the back. Another option would be to use solid stock for the center panel and rabbet that piece instead of rabbeting the rails and stiles. Are you using featherboards on both the table and the router table fence? I use both so that I'm only using push sticks to feed the stiles. I place them tight enough that there is no slop and it's almost difficult (but not dangerously so) to feed. You can also spray your fence and table with a silicon spray for glide. If you didn't do this for your sample door, mill your rail ends first. Then mill the stiles and the long edge of the rails second. That way if you have any tearout on the rail ends, it's hidden by the second lengthwise cut. And also, if you haven't already, make a setup block out of a scrap of wood that is the same thickness as your door material. When you're finally ready to do the doors for real, milling all the rails - and then all the stiles - allows less room for error and is more efficient (i.e., fewer changeovers from one bit to the other).

Sorry I can’t figure out how to respond to everyone individually so here we go.. er612 - we will just have the tile on the vertical side of the window (the window on the right in the photo where the tiles are currently green, yellow and a green/yellow pattern) As far as the red door, I only added a red door as I thought it would make me less boring (lol) so I’m not set on red - I also thought it went well with the tile. Thank you Lindac92 -just how to do them and what colors don’t clash is my struggle (the struggle is real lol) HU-187528210 - I LOVE this look … hummm how to make it work I would love to try to figure out how to actually do a mock up - I have seen that some people here use an app and show people what the house might look like when changed - I found the Benjamin Moore one but when I drew new colors it looked like a 2 year old had an accident with a crayon and definitely didn't stay in the lines hahah