For us, I LOVE my big, single Rohl farmhouse sink--we scrape almost everything into the disposal, and then it goes right into the DW. I cook for 10-12 people two to three times a week, so I'm used to LOTS of dishes/pans. On a big cooking night, I know it's going to be a two-load night. First load (right after scraping) is all the silverware/plates/glasses and anything small. Second load before bed is the big pots/pans/etc. Cookie sheets (which are usually almost spotless--thank you, Parchment Paper inventor!!), I just wash by hand...AND they fit in my sink without spray going all over. I guess if you're one of those people who has to have ALL the dishes done and out of the way PRONTO, this system may not work for you. Oh, and we do use a black drainboard & rack that was only supposed to occasionally be out, but now is ALWAYS out just to the left of the big sink. So anything that has to get handwashed dries in there. My mom is MORTIFIED that we have that out--she hates our single sink for that reason and just got herself a big, deep double sink. And she's thrilled. So don't hate yourself if you really do want a double sink--there are positives and negatives to both! Good luck!! -sarah from Albany, NY

One of my long time faves is made of a good quality blue jean material that is well worn and feels just like a great pair of old jeans. It is longer to about my knees and looks like a butchers bib style apron. I can not remember where I got it but it was used when I got it so probably at a thrift store. There is nothing I can do to hurt it and it just keeps looking better with age unlike myself lol It has metal grommets in the denim and the ties attach there. I assume it was made by someone. I love pockets on my aprons. That one does not have one. The one we made in home ec had 2 big ones along the bottom front. It was basically 2 large rectangles of fabrics all edges turned and sewn. Then stitch the two together at the top corners which gives you a boat neck type opening. Stitch a tie onto the front section on each side. And we added another section of fabric all along the bottom front to make the 2 pockets, stitch in the middle to divide it into 2 instead of one big one. You are fully covered front and back. I use it a lot because it is not as long and those big pockets are handy. You can make it as wide or long as needed.

What Jakuval said! I have stopped responding to threads which are mindlessly obssessive about perfect cabinet symmetry at the expense of proportion, overall scale and, most importantly, kitchen function. I don't mean to be rude, but letting symmetry drive your cabinet size decisions, above all other considerations, creates kitchens with the same sterile feel as a living room furnished with a "matchy-matchy" suite of chairs and sofa. No, having the upper and lower cabs of slightly different overall dimension won't be displeasing to the eye. It's likely that if the left and right upper units are balanced between each other, that no one will ever notice that the upper sections don't match the lower sections. And even if the upper can't be perfectly balanced, then judicious use of scibed fillers at the edges would successfully fudge any slight discrepancy. Just make sure the overall proportions are similar enough to make a harmonious visual "chord". I often see people here dividing their cabs into less than optimally dimensioned units merely to try to achieve the goal of design coherence via strict symmetry. Let the main points of functional necessity drive the overall layout, then fit in the subsidiary units in ways that strengthen the plan, not weaken it. At the point where (for instance) you start to consider letting the width of the spice pullout conrol the size of the pot drawer just to make the uppers line up perfectly with the lowers, STOP! Try to get some regularly repeated proportion going on with the strongest elements; repeated as harmonious fractions for smaller units, and largely ignored for the smallest, most trival elements. if your design is good, the boldest elements along with their correctly-scaled (not necessarily dimensionally identical) secondary elements will have enough strength to carry the weight. This make the remaining deviations either "invisible" or just little grace notes to the whole plan. L.

VERY OT for Florantha & Bmorepanic Florantha, I knew zip about Tomtes....never even heard the word. Thank you so much for that very interesting link! My Great Grandma would tell us about her favorite Gremlin....they were best pals. If we left a little candy in the package before we went to bed, the darn candy was gone in the morning! Darn Favorite Gremlin went around our beds specifically looking for left\-over candy...ate it. Favorite Gremlin also did other strange things: Put Christmas tree up after we all went to bed, made cookies with our names on them for our birthdays, etc. But if we were bad to Great\-Grandma, look out! Favorite Gremlin didn't like us going against her and would find a way to get us back. LOL Again, really enjoyed reading link! Bmorepanic, I've seen you mention bondo before. I bought what I thought was Bondo.....it was in a tube, rolled. To activiate it you cut a piece off and kneaded it with your fingers. After prepping the area well, I thinly applied it to the very deep gouge left in our fridge by the pro restorers after the water damage in our kitchen. So the Bondo got put on, thinly and I thought all was going to work out perfectly as once I sanded it I would cover it with the matching appliance paint. Not so. That stuff can not be sanded! I got so tired (arms ached & hand cramped up) the first day trying to sand the bondo to a somewhat smooth finish that I gave up. Tried a couple hours the next day, gave up. Now I just leave all the sanding discs/blocks on the corner of the counter and if I walk by with nothing else to do, I'll give the area some sanding....not that it's doing any good. What's the best way/what tool? to sand this stuff once it's sets? I've got lumps and bumps on the door of a fridge where a gouge used to be. At this point, I'd rather have the gouge!