I planted four ceanothus between 18 and 20 years ago. Two were the white thrysiflorus (or however it is correctly spelled) and two of the 'Ray Hartman' variety. Both of the Ray's are gone now--they were never watered after the first year or so, but as I pruned they started to die back, the more I pruned the more they died back. One of the white flowered ones did not make it through a bad frost we had the first year or so, but the other has been doing fine until a couple years ago when the die back started with that one, too. As awful as it looks, I am reluctant to cut the dead branch ends off, except that it does seem to stimulate growth from farther down the trunk/limbs. My thought was that I must be spreading some dread virus by not cleaning my cutting tools well enough after cutting another infected plant. My wax myrtles are doing the same thing, although the problem does not appear to be terminal with those. (well, the die back is "terminal"as in at the ends of the branches, but not fatal.)

I spent some time online looking at cove heaters and trestle tables. I think the window seat will be the type that you remove the cusions and open the top. With the table in front, it might be too combersome to have door or drawers that open into the table. It will be storage for less used items anyway. I have to do up the plans before DH can get to work, but that won't be that much work. At least we already moved the light in the kitchen when I was crawling around in the attic back in December to move the dining room light. I'll have to be back up there to install the cove heater though - crawling around in the attic is one of my least favorite DIY thing to do. The bulk of what is left to do are things I'll be doing, but I need DH's help with making the cabinets. He's great with woodworking, but I don't let him near a paint brush/roller - not even to prime.

Epressler - all I did to figure out which hardwood to get was learn which floors were the hardest (on the Janka scale), decide which colors I liked best, and then ask the owner of the hardwood store which brand he loved the best. He said that all the installers LOVE Owens Flooring, and it has a really thick face to it, so it can be re-sanded three times. It was a good choice, because out of 24 boxes, only two smallish pieces were not straight. Anyway, you asked about how many samples I looked at to get the right color - just two. Brazilian cherry has so many colors to it anyway, that the samples you get may be vastly different than what will be in the boxes. It's hard to believe that one type of tree can produce all those colors! But my goal wasn't to match the cabs to the floor - it was just how it happened, because I guess I really love that color of wood! Chitown_remodel - here is a picture of the backsplash without flash, and the mother of pearl tile is made by Olympia. Dianalo - your idea is brilliant. That is EXACTLY what we will do. Now here's a question, if you happen to ever read this (or anyone who has an opinion) - we already have a very pretty mirror above the fireplace in the great room. Should we move that to the mudroom and put a painting above the fireplace, or is it OK to have two mirrors? Msmagoo - I designed the kitchen myself, and I was helped out quite a bit because I used ideas I learned here on the kitchen forum. For instance, we have a cell phone charging drawer. It's nothing fancy, but it wouldn't have occurred to make one - I read about them on this forum. My ceilings are eight feet... and you might get sick if I told you how much we spent. I will say that I got great prices on the appliances and wood floor, and fair prices on other stuff. Here is a link that might be useful: Olympia's Boutique Collection, which includes the Mother of Pearl tile I used

Oh, Deedles, you are so right about the stress. It's especially helpful when the mess that's bothering you can't go away because some of it needs to go in the closet and there's no room! Thanks, bpathhome, I still love the color! And as a bonus, painting the closet was a breeze because I didn't have to patch or prime the side walls, which were looking pretty sad. I cheated a little and only out on one coat of paint, I feel a little naughty. I've been working on getting the pegboard set up, and thought you all would like to see. It has been so much fun! Hopefully i'll be able to keep track of those things i'm always looking for, and have my most common tools at hand without digging out a box, then digging in the box. Got some totes to fill up too, so I'm going to be working on figuring everything out for a bit.