rmkitchen, thanks for those pics of your beautiful WTs! Do you mean 'relaxed' roman shades that pooch out a bit at the bottom in the middle? I think yours are more beautiful, myself. Where did you have them made? So much very useful information in your post. If we ever get roman shades (I'm trying these other ideas first) I'll refer to your discussion of issues around them. Funny, but I've now painted all the trim around windows and doors in the semigloss or satin version of the color of the paint on the wall around them, just to try and minimize the trim! (our house is more modern, though, I think). You could always get a bit of trim and just tack it up there with a few nails to see what you think of it--if you don't like it you could take it down again and fill/paint over the tiny holes... And wow, such good information in the rest of y'all's responses! We didn't put up the film yet--DH put a cat-away spray (one called "Boundary" and one called "Cat-Away") around the slider (and the front door--did I mention that they do it to the front door too? UGH), but I think because of the rain it wore off, and what do we have greeting us when we get within 5' of the door? More pee this morning. UGH again. I'm going to order that predator pee granules today--thanks oceanna! I wonder how long it will last in the rain--but it's definitely worth a try. We'll look into the Cat-stop too--thanks, annz. We'll look into the Cat-stop too. I do know where they come from -- one is from a house that belongs to a couple who inherited it from their grandmother, and they are really *not* as caring about anything as much as most other residents in our neighborhood (yard is an eyesore, etc.). When they moved in they immediately let the cat, who's at least fixed, out all day (and part of the night, judging from seeing him out around 11 p.m.). At first he was nice, sweet, a bit timid--now he's a full-on street-fightin' man, one of the ones who got sprayed with a hose and kept on going. Another one (unfixed) used to be fairly sweet, too, when he had a home to go into (the next door house) at night, but when that family moved out of state, they *left him here* to fend for himself. It's unconscionable what they did to him--they displayed just as much of a community spirit by leaving Blackjack (named by the pirate-loving neighbor boys) out as they did in so many other ways while they were here (as in NONE). The little guy's adapted and has survived for --what, 4 years now?--but he's gotten nasty too. Because we know his story, I just don't have the heart to trap him and take him to the H.S., where he'd probably be pts. Not a desirable adoption candidate. Poor little guy. :( There's a third that we don't know at all. The thing I was thinking about neutering them was that my first cat was neutered, but he still sprayed on things in the house (like a heating vent, very smart...it spread the lovely aroma every time the heat came on) -- it may very well be that with these guys, they're so used to spraying that they will not stop if they're neutered. They'd just have an operation site that might get infected or ripped into before it's healed, which could be really dangerous for them. Maybe I'm not looking at that the right way, I know... Off to order granulated predator pee...

It also depends if you are doing it yourself or if you are hiring a contractor. I did a kitchen myself with help from Garden Web, and a good cabinet maker who could draw the plan with my help, and he installed the cabinets. My appliances were maybe 12K. The kitchen was under 50K. It was not without stress as I hired each trade myself, which I could do because I work from home. The kitchen was 7 years ago. Appliances are Miele wall oven installed under a counter top, 36" induction cooktop - prices have probably come down on that, KA counter-depth fridge ( SS) two FP dish drawers flanking the sink. Its a pretty big size kitchen. Cabinets were about 22K from custom cabinet maker who was incredibly slow (stress) but they are unstained mahogony frameless full over-lay with a great finish. Granite counter tops, prep sink, SS zephyr hood. Its an upscale ( for my area) but not ritzy family home. Oh, and I did move the plumbing to the island through the slab. I think a lot of it depends on where you live as the price of labour differs. I'm in Florida.

We had a shallow bay eat-in area similar to yours - the bay window was 22" off the finished floor. When we remodeled, we replaced the bay window with a bay window 36" off the finished floor. We then included it in the Kitchen. It made a huge difference in not just cabinet storage, but also counterspace, workflow, and options! There's a Layout Help FAQ that I recommend you read as well as a series of Kitchen Design threads that you don't have to read right now, but they will help when it comes time to discussing your layout options - you'll better understand the comments and where they are coming from. For now, read the Layout Help FAQ. It describes the information we need as well as how to post a fully measured 2D floorplan of the Kitchen space and a sketch of the rest of the floor the Kitchen is on. How do I ask for Layout Help and what information should I include? http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2767033/how-do-i-ask-for-layout-help-and-what-information-should-i-include Include detailed measurements of the bay area - shortest width, longest width, and size of angled walls. (I think your bay area may be deeper than ours, but I won't know without measurements.) . Kitchen Design FAQ threads: Kitchen work zones, what are they? http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638270/faq-kitchen-work-zones-what-are-they Aisle widths, walkways, seating overhangs, work and landing space, and others http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638304/faq-aisle-widths-walkways-seating-overhangs-work-landing-space-etc How do I plan for storage? Types of Storage? What to Store Where? http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638376/faq-how-do-i-plan-for-storage Ice. Water. Stone. Fire (Looking for layout help? Memorize this first) http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2699918/looking-for-layout-help-memorize-this-first .

I have four LeCrueset enameled cast iron pans and seldom use any of them, the two largest have never been used at all because they are just so heavy. I much prefer the old Griswold and Wagner cast iron I've picked up at yard sales and on-line auctions. Like Plllog, though, I have different pans for different uses. I use the cast iron for my over easy eggs and the cast iron dutch oven for deep frying. The cast iron griddle is for steaks and for baking bread in lieu of a baking stone. We have an enameled Aeternum skillet that Elery loves for omelets and I have those stainless steel All Clad/Calphalon/etc skillets that I bought at auction, I use those for things that need a lot of stirring or that stick, my metal utensils don't ruin those. My biggest enameled dutch oven is a cheap one from Aldi but it works fine for beef stew and swiss steak. I also have a 6 quart Nesco roaster, a crockpot and a pressure cooker, each of those has its own use also. My stockpot/chili pot is a hard anodized Calphalon and all the "anodized" has chipped off the bottom, so it's basically aluminum. Works fine anyway, I really like the short-wide shape so I'm looking at stainless to replace that, eventually. Good luck on that Wagner. I think that as long as it isn't warped or cracked, it'll be fine, just clean, reseason and cook! Annie