Thanks for your comments everybody, dominoswrath - We use compact superzooms (Canon SX30, S5-IS, S3-IS, and Fuji S100fs) and shoot in Manual mode, so our settings vary with nearly every shot or series. The background blur is the result of shooting relatively close (8-25ft) at long focal lengths (700 -840mm). Happy birding all, Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: Latest Slideshow

I like the New Venitian Gold. I too have to keep my outdated oak cabinets. But with the Persian Brown granite I selected, they will look fine. We are in the middle of our remodel. This site has been invaluable. Budget is probably the most important consideration for most. Keep things in perspective. Good luck and post after pictures.

Hackwriter- Lowe's was just for design and I ended up buying the glass tile, Roman blind, and overhead light, pretty much nothing else. We had to save money because the total was already WAY out there for us, before a designer. It IS overwhelming. To say I never cried, got angry, or wanted to just forget it all, I'd be lying. But the end result will be worth it. Lynn2006- I can't see your kitchen in person, so take my advice with a grain of salt. If the cabinets are truly banged up and are just horrible, replace them. Or if they're pretty much ok, I'd look into adding some interior organizers (like 2 pull outs per lower cabinet for pots and pans). You have a pretty good layout, given how mine was I would have lived with yours. I love your built-in pantry next to the fridge. I'd remove the scalloped trim over the sink, my designer said that's outdated. I'd DEFINITELY replace your floor, replace counter (maybe extend it to add bar stools), change the sink to undermount, replace the light you hate, repaint the ceiling a fresh coat, replace faucet, do something with the backsplash (Paint or tile), and look into either having the cabinets PROFESSIONALLY painted or re-faced. The reason I say professionally is that we took a solid week to clean the grease off our old cabinets, sand, prime, and paint 2 coats and in 4 years, the paint started to fall and smooch off. It was ugly, though it looks great for a few years! I really LOVE your appliances, don't change a thing there. I love them all and the range is so modern! Unless you're really short on cabinet space and you don't want to replace the cabinets, I'd leave the soffit. If you do decide to gut it all because you live in a very nice area and you're 100% sick of it and sick of the quality, do yourself a favor and look into an independent general contractor, these big box stores are a RIP OFF on labor! Make sure your upper cabinets are the right height from the bottom. There has to be someone you can put the tile boxes while deciding. If you were to do real construction, you need a lot of flex room, we discovered. I am not sure about your tile choice, I need more info. But I love the larger tiles over any smaller ones. Tiling your flooring at an angle towards your table would look nice too. Google your area for granite starting at $39/sq foot or just google the granite places. Then check out a few of their warehouses. I heard somewhere, don't quote me, that the floors and countertop should go together and the cabinet should contrast. But that was some professional person's idea, who knows. Flooring, having wood in the kitchen like I do is nice but you do worry about drips of water. I have gotten used to it and clean up quickly, but do what you think. Lay some tiles and try to live with it for 6 hours. Fill 1/4 of the room and see how you like it. But it'd be a big mistake to do the floor and then realize you want to do the cabinets too. I'd make a firm decision now if I were going to do the whole kitchen or just small fixes like the floor, toe-kick, and counters. Here's a problem with doing the floor first around your existing cabinets and then installing new cabinets. The depth of the cabinets may not line up and you could possibly have exposed subfloor between your new toe-kick and your new floor. You can barely see it, but I noticed the new cabinets expose MORE of my wood floor than the old cabinets. Meaning that if my floors were severely damaged or a different color there, you'd notice. But I'm not an expert, so get people's opinions and I wish you the best! And I really do love your arrangement, you should save BIG $ on not having to move your oven, sink, or dishwasher. BIG $$.

Oh...I don't know how you get anything done in that kitchen...I would just stand in awe of my surroundings...looking from one thing to the next and touching them lightly and moving on :) It is so beautiful and warm and just full to bursting with good feelings. c