Patty- I've seen it done to fridges by making a box that is applied over the door but not in a long time. Problems are clearance and stress on the hinges. Since fridge hinges have gotten poorer in recent years I would not panel one that was not designed for it. Panel ready DWs have heavier springs needed to support the extra weight. Ontario- have not looked at an Ikea box in a decade, can't say. No idea who is making Canadian Thomasville, US is Shock AFAIK. Brands at HD are same as at dealers so any of their better are fine. Note that around here many (not all) dealers often beat the box price, good idea to check. Even with a tight budget it is a good idea to shop for a person instead of a cabinet. Determine a number ask if they can get what you want for what you want to spend. Just asking for the cheapest doesn't work too well though.

We had a similar dilemma with our own DS when he was a teen. I looked at a lot of different options, but decided to go with a daybed for a number of reasons. 1) Teens tend to spend the majority of the time in their rooms, lounging on their beds and on the floor. I wanted something that would hold up to a lot of flops and would act as a kind of sofa for him and his friends that came over to hang out with him. 2) I chose a single with a separate slide-out trundle (not the ones that look like drawers) in case company needed to sleep there. In my mind, two singles are more versatile than a double. The single gave him more floor space for a beanbag, floor pillows, a rug, and a small entertainment center for his tv, stereo, books, Nintendo, etc. It also gave him and his buddies room to sprawl ;^D 3) DS requested a room that would act as a den for him and his friends. A double bed in there would not have worked for that. He really enjoyed having this room all through middle and high school . . . and in college, when he came home for visits. It worked especially well then, as he loved bringing friends home with him to show them New Mexico. A couple of things I learned if you do go the daybed route. ~ buy a good, sturdy one, without a back and arms. Guys tend to be rough on furniture at that age and he broke his first daybed frame horsing around. He disliked the arms and back, as he said he was always bumping his head and feet on the wood. ~ use a simple, easy to care for, machine-washable coverlet for the daybed. One with a small, dark print or a dark, plain one is preferable for guys. ~ large floor pillows with washable covers ~ ditto with pillows for the bed, so he can lean against them while sitting in bed. They will end up on the floor eventually, though ;^D Lynn

i have had my medallion silverline lancaster cabinets in maple brandywine stain for a couple of months now. we also had to watch our expenditures as we plan to sell in the next 5-7 years (hopefully since i hate winter!) the silverline with mostly drawer bases were 8k (19 total cabs with 1 lazy susan and 1 ez reach corner upper) a similar shaker door was about the same in kraftmaid through lowes. showplace was 12k. diamond were about 1500 more than km or medallion. we had some quality issues with the boxes and finish but my kd got most flawed items swapped out and medallion agreed to supply decorative ends as the upgraded ends had weird spots on them. in the end, i was glad i had a great kd handling things. if i could do over, i wouldn't do the maple with brandywine again as it shows every little mark from fingers, etc. the maple has a few dings so i am thinking it isn't very hard wood. i have never had soft close and love it! overall i am super picky so i was probably expecting a little too much for my price point. everyone who sees the kitchen is wowed, only i see the little flaws:)

After researching thoroughly to buy 3 new kitchen faucets for our renovation, I came to the following conclusions. Best brands are Delta, Moen, Kohler (no order). All brands, even these, have lifetime warrantees on the cartridges; of these 3 brands, Moen's need replacing most often, so parts are cheap and easily available. Kohler breaks the least often, and you will have to call them to ship you out the replacement parts, free. Kohler also has a lifetime warrantee on the whole faucet, including finishes, not just the cartridges. All brands make cheaper versions of their faucets for big box and other discount stores. These versions use mostly plastic parts, and if you're lucky, you might get 3-5 years out of them. We got 3 years from our HD faucets, pretty consistently. We would spend $200-ish on them (in Canada, so you would have cheaper prices in the US). If you go to a plumbing store and spend $400-500 on a faucet from the same companies, you will get a mostly metal faucet that will last you more like 10 years. It is likely manufactured in China. If you go to a plumbing store and spend $600+ on a faucet from one of these companies, you may get a faucet with metal parts that was made in the US or Europe. They are all warrantied the same, so it's really a priority choice for you. When we didn't want to spend any money, we bought the cheap one at HD and got a couple of years out of it. This time we spent the $400 and hope to get significantly longer. We went with Kohler. We use our kitchen A LOT. :)