Thanks for that info, Casey. Yes, I've always used the brown backed sandpaper. Like I said, It's a chore to use sheet after sheet after sheet because of clogging. I envisioned myself buying it by the reem. I'll give that red-backed paper a try. I also have a sanding block, and it's got a fine wedge edge on one side and a curved edge on the other. It's come in handy a few times. Do the sanding sponges last? I'm just wondering how many projects I could expect out of one. I'm a fussy furniture painter. I like to finish and paint the insides of drawers, the sides of drawers (that go in the carcase), the back, etc. Basically, the entire piece gets sanded and painted, except for the bottom. You know how you can see a beautifully painted piece of furniture, then you open a drawer, and all you see is bare wood, or the remains of the prior finish with drips and smears of paint and who knows what else? I just think it looks tacky, and it's just lazy not to finish the whole piece. I painted a pair of cheapo pine nightstands that had been stained a gross dark color. The drawer framing was even worse, but I painted it all the same color, then used a vintage wallpaper to line the drawer bottoms, and it turned out really nice.

Prairie-girl, I know how you feel about not wanting to unpack, because it is easier to maintain a house with breathing room. I'm beginning to realize that if I don't miss it, don't remember I have it, then I can do without it. I never thought of myself as a "collector" or "hoarder" either. But I have a friend who religiously throws out EVERYTHING, and she thinks I keep too much around. It made me self-conscious. So now I box things up and if I cannot remember it, then next time I open the boxes, I weed things out. Most folks could live in one of our smaller homes, and do not need to add on to their home. That was the case with my mother, who added a 20 x 20 building for her craft work, then filled it up and had everything in the house packed too. It sure detracted from her enjoyment of her living spaces. So when I watch DESIGNED TO SELL or the other show with Sabrina Soto on HGTV, the first thing they do is DECLUTTER. But that is to make the home more sellable. It does give a sense of spaciousness. What I'm wanting to achieve is a nice balance between storage and function. I want space enough to store the things that I like to USE, and have them within easy reach. I like to sew but have no good spot to keep projects out unless the house looks ugly. And I like to paint with acrylics and also paint furniture, but you cannot put those things back into a cabinet if you have limited room. When you took the pics of your house and it was cozy and warm, it was probably between projects when everything was put up. Looking nice and working on a project make us all walk a fine line. Hmmmm, I have an idea for a thread, and I'll post it pretty soon. Thanks for giving me the idea, Missy! :)

Hey Roseio - sorry to be asleep at the switch. That would be because the kid decided to swim at 5 in the morning ... wha???? Countertop depths. I don't really even have too much more to add to the excellent comments above. If I could have I would have put 30" deep counters everywhere. People I spoke with seemed to think I was crazy to want the depth; I can't begin to understand why. I know I'm messy and stuff just winds up on the countertops. But -- well, I know it's not true; I was just about to say "isn't everyone" but definitely they aren't. I know someone with an absolutely huge kitchen, massive, with not an anything in sight. Kinda eery, actually. And she is a rather gourmet cook so it's not as if the place isn't used. Ahem, off-topic. I think I mentioned that the countertop to the right of my fridge is 30" deep and low, about 31.5"h I think. I use is as my "baking counter" but it winds up being the food-unpacking counter, and food wrapping counter, and mixing, etc. My cabinets are all-custom, though in a factory (as opposed to "Joe's" shop). So the additional cost of making extra deep drawers is due mostly to the hardware as opposed to materials or labor. I really like the deep drawers aesthetically as well as from a utilitarian perspective. I know you can pull 24" drawer boxes out to 27" and put your counter on top of that and have a "deep" counter. It feels silly to me; all that wasted space in the back. That's just me. And some of my drawers ended up with a lot of space in the back that I realize now I could have and should have extended. Grump. Hadn't thought about it. So the thing is, I wanted a 36" super susan corner cabinet but if I made that deep then a bay window adjacent to the cabinet would have forced the counter expanse to have been really massive; cleaning problems and window-opening problems, etc. So I kept that stretch of the countertop at 24"; then later down the L close to the range it goes back to 27"d. You asked: "How deep are your countertops anyway? Why did you decide to do this? What advantages have you discovered to it? Any disadvantages? Does it cost a lot more for deeper countertops? Is it harder to reach into your uppers?" I decided to do this because I had the space to and I can see no reason why you wouldn't want more rather than less countertop, frankly. I also asked for the overhang to be 1.5". This caused major conniptions among many even though I'd asked for this all along and had gotten bids, I thought, including it. It was ridiculous -- I just don't get why you'd go to all the trouble of making gorgeous cabinets and not extend the countertop adequately across the top of them to protect the cabinets beneath. For some reason the standard this person, who works with the cab makers, uses is more like 7/8"-1"; I think it looks silly and is even more so functionally. What I would up with is 1 3/8". Again, it's a win-win - more protection, more workspace (if you can squeeze it out of your floor plan). They actually ended up threatening to charge me more for the extra 1/2" because it wound up adding for square footage, sort of. They haven't yet. I didn't ask for a deduction for the square footage I lost due to their error though at this I was tempted to! Anyway, I'm digressing again.... So advantages are: (a) more acreage on the countertop; that could be seen as a disadvantage if you don't need or use it - it does cost a little bit more. (b) better protection for cabinets beneath. (c) More real estate for sticking deeper drawers into if that's of use to you or appeals. That will cost more too, not lots more but some. And everything adds up. Note that the deep counters can be had without additional deep drawer expense (just pull drawers forward and leave space at the back). (d) Some activities, like rolling out pastry, really benefit functionally for having a deep work area. (e) If you have a monstrous fridge it actually helps hide the size (hadn't thought about this in advance; just happened); that depth is sort of defined already by the fridge and sort of lost when you don't stick the countertop up to it. Indeed I think the 24" relatively short countertop depth may serve to emphasize the deepness of the fridge. Disadvantages: (i) extra cost (can be mitigated in various ways mentioned already). (ii) lose aisle room or whatever; it can be a tradeoff of where you want to use your kitchen layout, in counterspace or aisle space - depends on how much space you have of course. (iii) as mentioned, if you're shorter you may have more trouble reaching to the back of the counter and also up to overhanging cabinets. (iv) Also, if you're older these may be more of a concern. (v) And I bet if you have 27" counters coming in to a corner, that edge could get a long way away (like, 38", which really is a long way away). I do have 15" uppers over my deep counter. They are 17" above a 37"h countertop, and are set at the same height on the wall above my low countertop, whatever that comes out to. There is absolutely no problem reaching the uppers for me or my kids (shortest is, I dunno, 4'9" maybe?) but ... I also have a corner below that upper where the counter goes back to 24" so you can access the upper cabinet from closer, if you follow. My uppers are very tall and there's no way I can get into them at the top or even middle back without a step stool. I'm using that all the time and plan on keeping it *very* handy in a nearby coat closet. This doesn't bother me at all as I'm fairly healthy, middle aged. If I were a tad less hale it could perhaps be a problem. (When I say "all the time" I mean at the moment while still moving in. I'm not storing things I need ready access to that require a step stool!) One thing about my countertops being 1.5" -- and that measurement is from the cabinet *door edge*, not cabinet box. Note very well this distinction -- the makers of these things seem stuck on this erudite measurement from the box which is completely impractical. As an "end user" I don't care what the measurement is from the box, I care what the "take-home" measurement is, what I see and use, the measurement from the *door front*. Be careful to clarify with your workmen this distinction so that you're both communicating about the same measurement! Anyway, insisting on having 1.5" from the drawer front countertops resulted in there being a gap between the bottom of my countertop edging and the roughtop they set on the cabinets to support the stone. Probably this doesn't have to happen, but it's what my guy, who doesn't often make countertops this deep, did. I thought I wouldn't mind, but it is actually kinda cheezy. In retrospect, he should have *listened* to me saying I wanted 1.5" overhang (and I should have clarified I meant from the drawer front, not box), and he should have had the guys cut roughtop not to the box edge but a little bit larger, I think. Alternatively he could have made his edging deeper. I don't know what's standard but this could be an issue you might want to look into. HTH! BTW, I think TopSolutions may be usually right, but I've seen several different ways of pricing things. YMMV for sure.

Sure, Rina. I'm in zone 8b. The pacific northwest of the USA. Usually I mention it in my posts but was distracted with my repotting. I will add it to my name after this post. (NM. I tried to and the page doesnt update and reflect the change. I'll try it off phone later) And...lemme see. It's has been in gritty mix for about a month. My plants are all inside with about 47-53% humidity and under a T5 light for about 14-16 hours a day. They may need to be closer, and I've been very cautiously moving them. I'm...not sure how long one should watch the plant before more adjustments to light are tried. About a week, like with watering and transplanting? How much I water? About once a week I soak. I think...I may have been soaking too thoroughly in the past. I wouldnt just wet the mix, I would make sure every rock was a wet color. The water would run through the bottom and I would continue watering until it.was.soaked. It does look like underwatering to me too, but I'm just very cautious about watering since I've caught myself doing both. It's one reason why everything is going into terra cotta to finally stabalize, hopefully. I pick up the plastic pots and peer at the mix on the bottom and honestly, cant really tell by sight. There IS a lack of that transparent yellow aquarium/pond water look that I've seen on rotting ones, you're right, Frank. Hmmm. I also do know I'm prone to underwatering some. My poor neon breakers roots had dried to papery thin wisps. It's all droopy for now too. These plants are demanding a surprising amount of water, but it IS also around 77 degrees in the grow room. Thanks again for chatting about this, all! I absolutely love talking about plants and the back and forth convo helps it all sink in more efficiently. I'm also noticing patterns like my aloes and then my gasteria needing more water.