I make variations on meatloaf....Italian meatloaf topped with tomato sauce about 10 minutes before being done and seasoned with oregano basil and garlic and ag emerous splash of red wine. Mexican meatlaof with part of a can of rotel in the mix. And company meatloaf...when i make the usual egg bread crumb ematloaf mix and pat it out like a jelly roll on a piece of foil, them make a spinach filling....squeeze very dry a package of chipped spinach....and chop through it again with a chef's knife. Sautee finely chopped mushrooms and onion in a fry pan...add the spinach...and whil warm add blue cheese....or parmesan and mix well. Spread on the meat, roll up using the foil as a helper and bake. Let cool about1 5 minutes before slicing....and I like to serve it with a sauce of chiopped canned tomatoes, seasones with a bit of onion and basil and cooked down a little. Makes a pretty dish....haven't done that in a while. There are all kinds of things you can put in the center of a meat loaf....asparagus for another....and I have seen but didn't like the looks of...hard boiled eggs in the middle....looked rather like an eye peeking out! Linda C

I like what you did with the matchstick blinds and curtains, better than the roman shades. I wouldn't order those blinds if the shipping is high (I had bamboo ones in my old apartment that I bought at target for decently cheap). Not sure how to post links, as I'm to all this but try these: http://www.target.com/Bamboo-Roman-Shade-Spice/dp/B000KUCEI6/ref=br_1_5?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&searchView=grid5&searchNodeID=15751241&node=15751241&searchRank=salesrank&searchPage=1&searchSize=30&id=Bamboo%20Roman%20Shade%20Spice My one suggestion would be use a more colorful curtain than the white long ones. It makes the room look modern, but a bit to stark and plain. Maybe even just white with a delicate print? Maybe like these from ikea.. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00135551 or these from target http://www.target.com/Home-Damask-Window-Collection/dp/B001J215Y8/ref=br_1_1?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&searchView=grid5&searchNodeID=596480011&node=596480011&searchRank=salesrank&searchPage=1&searchSize=30&id=Home%20Damask%20Window%20Collection (and they're on clearance for super cheap!) As for paint colors, I'm sorry I'm no help. I'm having a mini breakdown trying to decide on a palette for my house as well.. Good luck! And happy decorating! Megan

DO THE CREAM FRENCH COUNTRY ISLAND LOOK, DO THE CREAM ISLAND!! I cannot repeat enough ahhahah. I could have written your opening page and for a minute I wondered if it was me talking ahhaha. We just completed our custom build. Kitchen designer talked me out of cream kitchen with cherry island (gut now says wish I had gone that route) it is such a light and bright feel all around. We did cherry cabs with chocolate glaze and although they are rich, elegant and beautiful they match the wood floor dead on too- it is rather dark at times. We almost went with a black island and I think it would have felt soooo cave like although I do love black islands, not with dark cherry cabs (sorry everyone) and a wood floor - too dark. I wanted to do a french country island and again KD discouraged me as my island is very small and literally talked me into the same island cab as the surrounding and I would have sooo much loved the cream island better. Moral - trust your instinct and ignore these persuasive kitchen deisgners who say "trust me on this one, do....". It is YOUR kitchen and noone elses. We did Giallo Ornamental granite and I LOVE it for lightening everything up with the Wow factor but if I were to do it over I would either definitley do the french country island hands down or do the reverse of all of it ( cream surrounds with dark island). Other poster is right, although my wood maple floor is beautful I am a SLAVE to it and would NEVER do it again that dark as every dog paw print shows as does every crumb or juice spill that my 3 young boys spill on it. I can even see if the dog leaves a water drool on it..UGH > I literally clean them EVERY SINGLE DAY and could vacuum twice a day. NEVER AGAIN! Hope that helps and good luck during this stressful but exciting time.

Thank you, everyone, for this post. I read all of it. My kitchen is still in the state of being renovated but mostly finished. I did my homework on granite before I okay'ed it (Joseph..I about fell out of my seat when I read your message about the "man of the house". That has been my issue with my guy giving the ok 😂). Anywho...I'm having both problems here. Parts of my counter are darker where items have been sitting and vice-versa. I didn't take the granite guys word on anything except to seal it monthly (they were the subcontractors for the local kitchen remodel company). The company my guy hired SUCKS!! I've had to fix many F-ups of theirs and F-ups on the granite, too. I went ahead and bought a kit (StonePro) to resurface my granite. This is the second time I'm doing it when I ran across the dark spot. I am thinking it was the original sealant as it is kinda far back and I'm kinda short so I may have not gotten it properly the first time. My random orbital kinda gets "stuck" where the dark place is. I'm going to go over it again and if that doesn't work...I have 20 and 30 vol. developers I'll give a whirl. 🤞