Well, thanks for all the posts. I'm kinda surprised this thread is still kicking around after all these months. Not surprisingly, our marriage is still in what I'd call "a struggling phase." If I could find (and afford) a marriage counselor, I'd seek one out. Our problems continue and i guess that's just part of life. Last week, he helped my daughter with a thorny problem. He's a professional and was able to give her some sound counsel on a financial matter. I was so grateful that he was willing to do that. And then when he came home that day, he groused and groused about how he had to skip lunch because of *my* daughter and her problems and it took him two hours to do the research and then send her a note explaining what he'd found and how he sure would have liked to have had lunch and blah, blah, blah. I keep revisiting the Ann Landers question: Am I better off with him or without him and I still don't have an answer. He's just so selfish sometimes and he's smarter than I am (by a lot) so he wins all the arguments. My self-esteem has plummeted since I met him and I've gained 25 pounds and some days, I just sit and cry. Still glad you asked?

What a great kitchen! The main piece of advice I would offer is this: get rid of excess plastic containers. I had zillions of rubbermaid containers that didn't nest at all. I thought I needed every shape and size out there, so I bought far more than I could ever use. After we renovated our kitchen, I gave myself one drawer for plastic stuff. That's it. Now, it's a big drawer, but I have a family of nine people, so we still need quite a bit. First, I tossed or gave away that which would not nest. I standardized on 8" squares that fit into one another. I bought 6 of these and I've never needed more. All the lids are the same size. I have deep rectangular rubbermaid containers for holding flour and sugar in my baking cabinet. I have round containers for lunch boxes: my husband takes leftovers for lunch every day and reheats them in these lightweight containers that are as sturdy as regular rubbermaid. In this drawer I also store two rubbermaid butter dishes, three nesting funnels, 2 two-quart plastic pitchers, 2 small mixing bowls and 2 large mixing bowls, plus about 12 measuing cups from 4-cup to 1/4-cup in size. The key for my kitchen is that any plastic container we have is in this drawer. So I've gone from cupboards and drawers of plastic containers and measuring supplies to one single drawer. I will add that I have a plastic pasta scoop and larger colander that I store under the prep sink. I never save even the nicest of plastic containers that food might come in. If we ever need more, I can use a storage container from another part of the house, wash it out, then put it back when I'm done (like when I need to bring 60 cupcakes to school). I've also done the same sort of thing for lunch boxe supplies and ingredients. I have a baking center, which is to the right of the oven. My baking center is really just an upper cabinet with wire storage things inside that make it easy to cram a lot of stuff in a 30" wide cabinet. I do store extra baking mixes and flour/sugar in my lazy susan cabinet. I don't have a pantry. All of our health food is in another cabinet, near the blender where we make our protein shakes. I bought white plastic wirer coated shelves at the container store to stack dishes and baking goods in those cupboards. And also these tall, narrow two shelf units that fit under my sinks which sit next to the plumbing. They aren't really deep but just hold the basics in view (stuff tends to migrate to the back of the sink cabinet). I also got rid of excess pots and pans. I figured that if my pots and pans couldn't fit into one base cabinet, that I would have a hard time keeping tabs on those as well. My baking pans and cutting boards store vertically in a cabinet designed to hold tall thin items. You have so much wonderful space. If you can be judicious with how you plan your storage, you will find that you can even keep major seasonal items in your pantries as well, or gift wrap, etc. In fact, it looks like you could even put a desk in one of your pantries. Lucky you!

Romy718, Thanks for your input. Thanks for the vote on the cherry island cabinet and other choices. I'm glad you think the choices go together. I might just be leaning closer to cherry dark stain rather than maple dark stain. Your comments on the Houzz hood have got me thinking we should consider a lighter shade of blue (same blue as the paper sample photographed but in a lighter shade)? What do you think about our plans for the deep blue hood with stainless accents? May_flowers, Thanks for your comments on cherry. Glad to hear that you find dark stained cherry does not change in colour over time. Good to hear your comparison with a maple dark stained trim piece. This is valuable info. Thanks for your thought on the blue. I don't think the dover cabinet colour (which is quite similar to SW modern Gray) looks purple in real life, but maybe I am missing an undertone. I have taken another picture of the counter sample with small cabinet square all on a white background. Does it still look purple to you this time? It is hard to tell about the counter until we see a big slab. If it is very speckled, I might not like it as well in a large expanse. I do like that it reads as a grey background and not cream. Carol

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the great advice!!!!! I still have so many major things to do here before Monday morning, so forgive me if I don't thank each of you personally. I've now gotten our local, well-known electrician hired and put in touch with the H&A Company manager in charge of our project. Who, yes, will be here on site, he tells me, every other day. Yesterday, I got also got in touch with our local plumber that we know and trust. He's supposed to get in touch with H&A and get back to me today. BTW, this great H&A company would have been happy to hire their own plumber and electricians, but we know our local ones and trust them. Also, those further away in town charge $50-$75 driving time fees to come up here. I also did some more grocery shopping yesterday, as Localeater suggested. I hadn't thought of that on Monday, but it was a very timely suggestion! Planning easy or make-ahead meals ahead of time I also met one of my close girl friends in town for lunch . . . and to cry on her shoulder (LOL). So, today I'm going through each room, writing down what needs to be moved out when work is done in that specific room. We have a collapsible banquet table that I've just decided to use. I plan to set it up in one nearby room that's not being worked on that day. And, it will be a safe place to hold lamps, statues, and stuff in the room or rooms that are being worked on. Kept all together and making it easier to move back into finished rooms. We don't have an attic or even a crawl space, nor do we have a basement. Out here in these mountains, our ground is filled with huge boulders that make it very difficult and expensive to dig up and haul away. I don't know anyone out here who has one. And, no, I'm not leery of the having strange men in here with me. I'd feel safe with this well-known company even if I didn't have my dobie, Knight. It's just the in and out all day long. As much as it would help to have DH here during the day with me, his clinic is over 30 minutes away and his family practice is too busy to leave for hours. As it is, the poor guy even does paperwork through his lunch hour at his desk! As Arapaho mentioned, make sure ahead of time that there will not only be tarps to cover furniture, but ground cloths and daily clean-up before they leave. And, yes, I'm going to call the H&A people today about whether they will be bringing a Port-A-Potty. Thank you! I'm still up in the air about what to do with the dogs. I do NOT want Knight getting friendly with anyone (for future safety reasons), but I will bring them both out to see the workers many times. We have several acres of land so I can walk them close by. Just have to watch out for any rattlers not hibernating yet! We also have a large guest parking area that can accommodate 8 or so cars or small trucks, so my neighbors won't be affected. I have sent out a group email to them all, though, apprising them of what will be happening and for how long. My biggest stress is still the dogs and the amount of work DH is going to have to do this weekend clearing all personal and patient info/documents out of his study. Oakley, I LOVE the idea of your Beware of Dogs sign on the door!!! And, yes, you're right. IF the foreman seems on top of things, I can leave for short times if I make sure he knows. Yaya, thank you for the reminder to roll up my rugs and move them out! Also, snacks and drinks. It would take me almost an hour to run to town and back every morning for donuts, but I might try picking some up Sunday evening as a nice start for them. And, thanks, turn off alarms before they come and on again after they leave!!! CCrunner: good idea about planning ahead some portable projects to do these next two weeks! Eld: funny you should say that about housekeeping help. I drove my husband AND myself crazy when I had help, as I'd always run around cleaning up the night before they came! Morz8: OMG, I'd forgotten about the skylights in every bathroom. They're all frosted, but still, I will definitely plan ahead! UGH!!!! Well, enough sitting for now! It's time to starting moving things and putting plans in motion. Thank you ALL for you ideas, suggestions and comforting. I pride myself on being super organized but this upcoming project really has me rattled, and you're definitely helping! Lynn