thanks, dave! whatever they are specifically, they were everywhere, but this was the only one that would stay still. i think it was 4-6" including the tail. there were also, iguanas and geckos. i just love geckos. i am also not sure which kind they were- they were medium to bright green on top with light orange underside. @4" long.

spread a thin layer of drywall skim coat on the wall. While it is wet, dab at it with trowels of various sizes. Then run a toothed trowel through it in short arcs in various directions. Practice on a chunk of drywall first. The color appears to be two shades - pink and teal, sponged on in roughly equal proportions. Looks like huigh gloss paint or a gloss topcoat.

When I had the master suite created in my DH's home up north, it was crowded for bedside tables too. So I got two wooden tall plant stands, with 12x12" tops. They fit perfectly fine. Then swing arm wall mounted lamps for each side of the bed. Enough room for a book on the shelf below and a glass of water or whatever. I never just use an end table when there is an option to have a small chest beside the table. That works even in a small room with limited storage space. Every item has to WORK to make the cut when space is scarce. And, in the bedroom in Alabama, I am going to be sorry to leave it for the BACK bedroom, which will become an ensuite master, because it is beginning to look SO comfortable. It is a west-facing bedroom, on the street. It has two PAIRS of windows, and the closet and entry to the bedroom are on a third wall. That leaves one wall which has no windows and no doors or other obstructions. However, I did not want the bed to be sideways in front of the entry door, so had to put the bed first diagonally in the corner between the two pairs of windows. This worked fine for a while, with the wicker chests I use for bedside tables centered between the windows. However, it was hard to make up the bed. So I decided to center the bed in front of the windows on the street wall. I closed the blinds to block the high heat coming through those windows anyway. And then I found some floor/ceiling grommet drapes at Tuesday Mornings! That is when I got DH to install crown molding wide enough to mount the double drapery rods, and I started planning 3 layers of curtains...grommet drapes wall to wall on both window walls, sheers on the second drapery rod, and finally the top-down roman shades using 90% shade cloth and Thermasuede fabric as a liner. I am almost done with the curtain project, but even with the shade cloth pinned in place on the west wall, the difference in heat gain is significant. This room is 12 x 12 give or take an inch. We changed out sliding closet doors for 2 pair of Jeldwen bifold shutter doors which I painted to match the crown molding and base boards and other wood work. The wicker chests are on either side of a full sized bed, with lots of breathing room. There is a rocking chair near the closet. There is a third chest between the closet and the door to the hall, and a wall mount TV is above the chest. So now I've ordered the Hudson queen size storage bed from Room and Board in cherry. It should arrive this month. I can hardly wait. It is a platform bed with no footboard, and no box springs, and it measures 60 x 80. A full bed is 54 x 75, so only a few significant inches of comfort which I look forward to having. But when the contractor finally comes, and bumps out the master bath for a tub and a long walk in closet, we'll be moving this new jewel to the back bedroom. This current bedroom will convert to a nice study/guest room. Only we seldom have over night guests, and may just put desks and bookcases in there until we move the contents of the up-north house. It seems to me that we have plenty of space in the 12 x 12 bedroom. Since we've repainted and made the room so peaceful, I will now take a horizontal break to meditate or read or chat on the phone. It looks good in natural or ambient light all times of day since northern exposures give true light, and the shade cloth gives a sense of separation from the street. Keeping active pursuits out of the bedroom is conducive to rest and separation from the cares of life.

Davidro1.... You are correct in that the LR/DR black granite tiles are set on the diagonal. The foyer terrazzo tiles are set 'square' to the front door. The kitchen entryway from the foyer is flanked by louvered double doors which I plan to remove along with the door trim. I plan to open up the entryway to the ceiling. The current transition is awful as I think it sits up too high and when I hit it with my foot (which I tend to do a lot), it is reminder that I don't like it. I plan to make the transition flush with both floors. As I mentioned in my original post, I was going to use a strip (two+ inches wide) of AB granite to serve as a visual transition in the Foyer/Kitchen entryway. Since I am now going to use a terrazzo tile, I don't think I need to repeat this transition in the other entryway. The Breakfast space (which is contiguous to the task area) is closed off by a swinging door (that is never used). I plan to remove this also and open up to the ceiling. The sliding glass doors (as shown in my mockups) open up to a balcony which is no longer a functioning space. We moved the doors outward bringing the space indoors gaining almost five feet. The remaining balcony 'space' is about 18 inches deep....just enough space for a few small pots of herbs. I went to three granite/tile places today looking at terrazzo tile. My one positive accomplishment....I think I am going with an 18" square, rectified tile. I had thought to use a 12" size but after adjusting my thinking and visual perspective, I think the larger tile will work - unless someone is willing to tell me otherwise and explain the supporting design principle. The color will be a lighter, less busy pattern similar to ArizonaTiles 'Torreon Stone' My design vision doesn't see to be too far off from yours. I have tentatively selected maple with stain/wash/glaze/whatever to create this sort of look. I realize I might have to change my wood species to achieve it.: The granite selection seems to be a moving target right now. I had originally selected Imperial White which is a very tight, fine grained 'granite' (and I use that term with much chagrin). It was the closest granite that I could find that had a somewhat even look of engineered quartz. I wanted a stone that was not very busy and fairly even in color which EQ provided - but I didn't like the looks of after five years of use. After thinking that this stone 'was the one', I learned via the world-wide-web that this material is actually an Orthogneiss which means it needs lots and lots (did I say lots?) of pampering. After finding this out I've done two things....1) lots of reading about sealers and 2) started looking at Bianco Romano...which I'm not really keen on the garnet accents but at least they are fairly small on the slabs that I'm considering. Imperial White not-granite slab (picture color is not accurate, only posting to show the look): Backsplash, I don't know if you saw my comment on another posting, but I credit your Clippings of reminding me that I had a solid glass backsplash in my Inspiration folder. My only conundrum is whether to paint the back ala Palimpsest or frost it and place it over a painted wall. The drawback with the frosted-over-the-painted-wall version, is if I ever want to change the kitchen paint, then this one portion will present a challenge...which I have a whole other thought tangent regarding paint colors. *sigh* There are other small design elements that I plan to add which I won't bother you with in this post unless you express an interest. Thanks for taking the time to read this and for taking the time to reply to my post! Pepper