Denise, It's a lot easier if you have the right outlook on the kittens, they are livestock, they usually bring in money to the farm, so we can't afford to get attached. I used to have blue cats (as a matter of fact our first blue we got when we moved back to CA was Purrum's great-grandmother) which the kittens helped pay for the feed of the other animals. I tend to think of my cats as I do all my animals, they don't get names unless they are breeders, then they are lavished with attention. This doesn't keep the kids from naming them though. This is going to be our last litter, hopefully we can get Purrum spayed once she has weaned her kittens. Since we lost our blues, we don't sell our kittens anymore but offer them to anyone who wants them. The pet store will take them but offers nothing but the reassurance they won't go to the pound. I was looking at the kittens today, one looks like a previous kitten we had my kids named Troll so he is now known as "Troll jr." another looks like Purrum's mama who was poisoned when Purrum was 3 weeks old, Chantilly, so she will be Tilly. Two down, two to go, it looks like either three females and one male or two/two, one is questionable at this age. PS Your girls are adorable.

Look on the bright side. I remodeled my home while I was pregnant with twins (Mistake No. 1). In the remodel, I replaced all carpet with lovely white berber (Mistake No. 2 - what was I thinking - and why didn't someone stop me)? Assuming the twins would always be infants, I did Mickey Mouse babies wallpaper (Mickey Mouse in diapers). (Mistake No. 3) I had built-in shoe racks for the babies for shoes that would fit no larger than a a one-year old (maybe two) (Mistake No. 4) I could go on and on - I didn't have a clue. But after several rounds of in vitro trying to get pregnant, nobody had the heart to reel me in. But I digress. After the twins were born, I would frequently put down a pallet on the floor with plastic underneath and let them lay on the pallet without a diaper to "air out". One of them rolled off the pallet and pooped in the floor. Being a new parent, it didn't matter, I smiled, and said "isn't that cute" and I scrubbed and scrubbed, but it would come out. Oh, well, we laughted, in a few years, we'll look at that spot and laugh about where he pooped in the floor as a baby. Well, the laugh was on me. Within a few months, that carpet was so nasty, it looked like the whole town had come by to poop on the carpet. I bought a steamer and cleaned that carpet about once a month, and it still looked like crap. No pun intended. Then, when one of the boys had his tonsils out at three, he threw up blood clots on the floor - BTW Oxclean did wonders with that. When we sold the house, the new buyers were pulling up the carpet before we were even out of the driveway. Anyway, I have brown carpet in my new house, maybe too dark, but I'm over it already. Just in case.

Beth, I have been so delighted and educated with all these posts. I love the evolution of your wonderfully charming home! You are an amazing woman! I share several of the decorating dilemmas you've mentioned. My "living room" is about 2' more narrow and 2' shorter than your area. I'm learning a lot from your post. The repurposed gun cabinet idea is absolute genius. Please share a photo when you've installed the shelves and contents. Regarding the non-glare glass for your larger artwork. The price of non-glare glass has become simply ridiculous. I have an entire hallway lined with (Gasp!) a family gallery wall. It includes photos from more than 100 years ago to this year's school pics of the great-nephew. Color, colorized, sepia toned, black and white, all mixed together and mostly in their original mismatched frames. That just about breaks all the rules, but I love my wall. Several of the older photos - Mom's 1954 graduation photo; MIL's 1952 wedding photo, etc. - had plain glass. I can't tolerate the glare either. I made a note in my iPod of all the frame sizes that needed replacement non-glare glass. Every time I'm at a thrift shop or yard sale I check out the "frames" area. You can often find large pictures that may be in horrid frames, but they will have non-glare glass! I buy the frame, take out the glass, and toss the rest. I found one very large print of ballet slippers framed with non-glare that was big enough to cut down into several pieces. It made one 8x10 and three 5x7 pieces of non-glare glass for my wall, all for $1. With their permission, I took the glass out at the shop, tossed the faded print, and re-donated the empty frame back to them.

Wow your countertops are exquisite! I thought maybe bamboo granite, but it's quartzsite? I need to learn more about quartzite! Jon, can you please tell me where you purchased your stone? I love green and I love that stone! For your blacksplash. I wish I had a specific product to recommend, but I don't. However I do agree with the others that the tumbled and honed stones don't fit. I think that product is too matte. With your rich cabs, gorgeous countertops and stainless appliances you need something with a little light reflecting sheen. A crackle ceramic subway was the first thing I thought of too or maybe glass, but sandwiched between 2 strong elements I'd keep it simple. I'm not against a light neutral color that's pulled from your countertop, but not sure what. Have patience and take your time because your choices should become more apparent once the countertops and stained cabs are all installed. That countertop is the star and I can't wait to see your finished kitchen!