Thanks everyone! Looking at the shelf, one would think, 'gee...how hard is it to hang a shelf?..', but, I also was removing wallpaper, replastering, priming and painting. I bought the brackets from eBay (was outbid on some vintage Eastlake brackets...darn the luck!) and had to paint those white - once they arrived. I bought the wood at HD, sanded it, painted it, then hit it with a hand sander after the paint dried to 'antique' it and to remove the pointy corners that I would eventually smack my head on. Whatever they made the stud boards out of (cedar? granite?...kryptonite?..) broke my first drill bit. My first attempt, I miss measured and drilled holes too far apart and now had to fix the wall AGAIN. It was actually alot of work to hang this shelf. Much more work than they ever tell you on HDTV! I have another shelf and bracket set which I'm considering putting on the opposite wall. I don't want to over crowd the kitchen, but could use one more place to store items. PowerMuffin: wow - your not kidding! OUr kitchens are very similar! Personally, I cannot live without a dishwasher as I loathe doing dishes. Are your cabinets doors original? I always wondered what mine may have looked like as my cabinets are original but not the doors. I'm thinking of removing the doors and putting a fabric curtain below the sink. Then, for the cabinets on the right, removing the doors and adding wooden wine boxes into the cabinet. I would add pull out drawer brackets to the bottom of the wine boxes (install them as drawers, essentially). I like the French Provence look so I thought this might be cute. For now though, I need a rest from home improvement projects to gear up for painting all the trim in my house. To be clear, my house trim is already painted, but old and chipping...I'm not painting on beautiful old, virgin wood. It just needs a refresh.

Kiki!!!! So glad to see you have appeared on the scene. Upgrading to 200 amp service is a great idea. And having a pro do it is the ONLY way to go. Be sure the paint job is done with lots of drop cloths to protect your lovely newly finished floors. We are doing the floors last, after the major portion of painting is done. But you do what you gotta do. If you have an option to have the kitchen done before you move in, ....that is, you have the time AND the money, decide what you need done and get it done before moving in. All of that work requires tearing into stuff, and lots of dust and cleaning chemicals and new flooring. You might even find that underneath the old flooring is good oak wood which can be refinished with the rest of your house. Lots of folks are going that route these days. If you decide to move in and do it later, a good contractor could get it done in a couple of weeks. That would be a good time to take a vacation. BUT, the dust would get all over everything in your house even if they are careful. it is easier to have workmen tromping around and through an EMPTY house than it is one you have treasured items in. Just the way I look at it. But very pleased to see you back with us. All of us here are passionate about your house. We love to hear what is happening.

It may depend on whether you're painting or staining the doors -- paint goes a long way to blur the dissimilarities in style. If your goal is to achieve a historical look, I'd second the idea to check out all your local resources for architectural salvage, building re-use stores, etc. (If there's a local Habitat for Humanity Restore, they usually have amazing deals on doors.) I was lucky enough to get new fir bungalow-style doors for a song at a local outfit who sell remainders and project leftovers. Google around to see what's out there in your area. (And if you're anywhere near mid-coast Maine, give me a shout and I'll point you to the amazing source, they still have a few hundred doors last I checked.) You might also want to hold off a little bit? Doors do make a huge impact, and you could choose the style you most want at a reputable door dealer (I got Rogue Valley doors and am delighted with my luck at the quality), then replace one at a time over the next year or two as you can afford them? But I don't think traditional Victorian 6-panel would be totally out of place if that's the way you choose to go. Would love to see pix of your Shaker cabinets! :)

My door got trimmed a bit to fit and get rid of some dings so the hinge mortises got trimmed off. Procrastinator that I am, I never got around to putting the pull hardware on and just used the hole left from the knob. There was a recessed cup pull I had my eye on to use though. It would have completely taken care of my knob hole. It would depend on what type of knob and lock set was on your door. One edge on each door will probably never be seen anyway once the trim is on.