I ordered some by Moen - grab, not assist bars. They aren't exactly the nursing home look, but are thicker than I was expecting. What's nice is that they have gripper pads on the inside which is nice. In our guest tub/shower we put one on the diagonal on the long wall toward the front, and one vertical on the back. The cultured marble folks put a honking big tall soap dish thing smack in the middle of that long wall without asking if that's what I wanted -- and so I'm grateful I only got 16" bars. Actually, 12 or 16" works fine, especially if you only want them to assist. In the master bath, we put one vertical by the shower head on the short wall because that is where I enter, and one horizontal on the back wall. DH likes to re use his drying off towel the next morning when he wets his hair, and formerly left it all over the place. Now he has a place to hang it. It's a very small master. He also exits from that side, so we just did what works for us.

Joshua Yes, the guys at Bucks County Soapstone were surprised that this was what I wanted. They told me no one wants it because of the spots when it is unoiled. I just loved the veins and the caramel color in the oiled sample so I didn't look further. Bucks County has a fabulous reputation here in S Jersey so I even trusted them to pick my slab for me. I think they did a great job placing the large veins in all the exposed areas. The spots add a slight textural dimension to the stone. I knew I would oil the stone frequently so the black spots are not an issue. I do have to oil (Bee's Oil) it frequently, at least every 8 weeks to keep it dark. I would not recommend this for someone that wants to oil once and forget it because it does fade. Areas under my cabinets that sit directly on the counter faded back to the original color in less than 6 months. I would agree, however, that this stone is not particularly attractive in its unoiled state. My neighbor thought I was crazy when the truck showed up with this light blue gray stone with leopard spots all over it. He couldn't believe it after it was oiled. I think if you display the stone oiled, people would love it.

OK thanks a bunch guys. I bought the ground bar and installed it. I do have a peculiar question though. There were three or four different ground bars all designated for the Homeline box. All had the same mounting screw spacing. However, there is a small bump on the box that keeps the bars from attaching. The only spot free from obstruction by these bumps was along the bottom of the box but this only allows for one mounting screw. The space has a ground symbol stamped into it but does this sound right?

Hola, I should have known better than to try to pull the above layout off. Thank you very much for your gentle disagreement to wake me up to the reality that sticking a large heavy portable island in front of doorways will not work. Question about REMODELFLA: "move the door down that goes into the bar/desk area": do you mean this? Does this layout work better? This modified layout is moving the current doorway down toward the porch, allowing more space for the island. This then allows me more wall space for a full bar/desk. As always, I really appreciate your help in reviewing my layouts. Thank you very much, Amanda Moved doorway down layout: Overhead view: Another view of walkway between island/fireplace: Recall, the island is 5ft wide by 2ft wide with a 1ft overhang for the 2 stools. The glasses drawers would pull out toward the fireplace (instead of toward cooktop) since it will be used more often than the Tupperware drawers. Familroom mudroom, and porch 'foyer'/desk/bar: I thought about doing a wide shallow U-shape kitchen, where the cooktop would be on the wall of the doorway (facing opposite of the wall oven/fridge). But the way I function, I like having a little barrier from people when I prep/cook. W/ the U-shape, people could stand near me and actually be in my way. Also, I need seating for my 2 kids (7.5 and 6yrs old) for snacks. (Meals will be in the diningroom, which is in the opposite corner of the house � labeled Livingroom. Need the space for my 12feet long diningroom table). 1929Spanish: The distance between the island and fireplace = 4ft. I think that is very spacious, since my current aisle is 28inches!!! The toaster oven area will be flushed w/ the wall oven. It�ll be the appliance garage mainly for the kitchenaid mixer that will slide out (so I never have to lift the darn heavy thing again). RHOME410: I wish I knew how to better utilize the good-size room (~17ftx13.5ft - currently the familyroom). But with the 4 doorways, there is no good way to set up the room as a famiyroom. This design feels very wasteful of a perfectly good room, but I desperately need a mudroom, which cuts into the room (instead of building out). That leaves a 'foyer' for the porch entrance. 2DWs: I ALWAYS have something in the drying rack. I cannot stand looking at it anymore. So I need the 2nd DW to hold all the drying stuff: plastics, knives, pots, etc. Also we host a few big parties each year, so having a 2nd DW would be great! AOKAT15: I kinda gave the condensed reason for needing to shrink the budget. We actually have the money for the renovation, but my husband got a wake-up call when we got our home appraisal back. In the comps, he noted that homes with Central air conditioning were valued more than our home (which currently does not have CAC). So he suggested that we do not renovate the kitchen, but instead install CAC. That is part of my plan, but my order of priority is to do the kitchen first, then CAC in a few years (I can live with window AC for now). DH does not see the value of spending so much money for a kitchen renovation, when CAC actually adds value, but renovated kitchen does not. So in our compromise, instead of the full-blown renovation (see link to full-blown layout thread), we would not go hog-wild, but renovate just to meet our top needs. There is always something else that needs our time/money. Waiting a few years does not help. Waiting will just eat the time/money of the future projects (masterbath, patio, finishing familyroom above the garage, outdoor ice-rink, new roof, cobblestone driveway, etc etc etc). We have a great diningroom that we use daily. I do not need a breakfast table/area. (In my previous house, I had a small diningroom right near the kitchen/breakfast table that is right next to the island with seating. A bunch of useless space.) Now we either eat in the diningroom or a quick snack at the island. Thank you very much, Amanda/huango Here is a link that might be useful: hog-wild layout thread