There were only a few things I'd change in our new house. 1) I wanted but still didn't get enough outlets underneath the TV sets in the house and we still need power strips. 2) Our master bath vanity is too high. I wanted it lower, but somehow, it didn't happen...dropped the ball somewhere along the line. 3) We told the security guy that our walls were being spray foamed, but he didn't pull the wires out far enough and they got foamed into the walls, so now we have battery sensors that need replacing every so often... a PITA 4) I had the house audio use 2 zone and should've added a 3rd for the bedroom area as I like to listen to the same music all over the house when I'm cleaning. 5) The electrician screwed up the gas fireplace. I wanted it hard wired, not remote, but he hooked up the switch to the blower, not the on/off. By the time we found out, it was embedded in all the woodwork on the FP surround and couldn't be altered. 6) I would've put in more expensive windows than we did.

My island is 12'long and 49" wide. There are 3 heights - 42", 36" and 30". To me, the 42" height is useless although it is where DH sits when he is in the kitchen. It was his idea and he now admits that 36" would be better. SO--- I would have 8'at 36" and 4' at 30". I get to correct all my mistakes as I have 2 more kitchens to do - maybe 3. Not looking forward to it! I'll be around here for a long time. I made a lot of good decisions - the best being changing the layout to a galley from a square.

It's just a matter of getting comfortable with layers so you can seperate things to work on before merging them together again and using the clone too to cover up what you don't want. Here's a link to a tut that might help you with the process. Sue :) Here is a link that might be useful: removing objects

Aliris19, I'm so with you on the counter edging! I like to hold the trash can right up to the lip of the sink and sweep the crumbs or whatever into the can. Edging would really work against this! I'm currently leaning towards the walnut butcher block counters from IKEA. I wouldn't put edging on it, although I might paint it black. Desertsteph, it doesn't seem that your junk drawer is truly a junk drawer. If you get a drawer organizer or some cute little boxes, you could very easily organize your batteries, flashlight, scissors, rubber bands, etc. I'm not against a drawer that contains miscellaneous items, I'm just against junk drawers where stuff is kept for years that no one ever uses, and where it is crammed full of stuff so you can't see what's in there, and where no one in the household knows exactly what's in there, haha! If you PM your address to me, I'll send you all the twist ties your heart desires. I can get them free. :-) I have learned two things about this forum lately. One, you gw people have turned me TKO! Haha! Not really! I've been decorating obsessed for years, and right now I'm just focusing on kitchens, because it's the first time in my life I've gotten to design my very own kitchen! Two, the folks here on gw come from many different backgrounds, income levels, and opinions--and that's what makes them (us) so fascinating! I've also discovered, as scone911 so eloquently put it, that if you do a bunch of stuff that you hate just for the resale value, you will not be happy with it. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to do things we don't like, but it's hard when that thing is your environment. I'm lucky with this reno in that I will live in this house for the rest of my life, and then it will go to my daughter. So resale is not an important factor in any of my decisions. Nor is equity. When I'm done refurbishing this old manufactured home, it will be worth more than it is now, but less than what I'm going to put into it. I don't need to worry that if I do such and such I won't get back my money on it. I agree that the fanciness of a kitchen doesn't add to one's quality of life--to a point. First, it depends on one's definition of "fancy," and two, it depends on the kinds of things one enjoys. For example, my range. While I do cook, and enjoy cooking, especially with my daughter, I'm not a gourmet chef. I'm going to purchase an electric range that can switch from regular to convection and has a radiant glass cook top, in black. Is that fancy? To my mind, no. I don't need a Subzero double wall oven and an induction cook top. I wouldn't mind a range with an induction cook top, but I can't afford it. But to some people, my range would be fancy. It's not the cheapest one Sears sells, and I'm not getting it used off Craigslist. I could get it cheaper in white. But that comes to my second point. What do you love? I'm a homebody by nature. There are times I can go two weeks without leaving my house. (I'm also a big international traveler too, which might seem weird.) I can do most of my work from home. And I enjoy being in my kitchen. In my new house, I will have a living room/ eat-in kitchen great room. And I'll be in there a lot. As a researcher, I spend several hours a day reading. And I won't do that in my little guest room/office. I'll do it in the living room. I decided a few years ago that since I'm in my home so much, I'm going to surround myself with beautiful things and create an atmosphere of peace and harmony. But beautiful does not have to mean expensive! I'm a great shopper and bargain hunter. I live within my means (no debt), and my means are not substantial. Yet I have managed to create beautiful living spaces that make me happy! For some, the whole remodel process is a chore, and thinking about design is a waste of time. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to think and feel. But for me, poring over design magazines or surfing the web for home makeovers and obsessing over cabinet hardware is a joy, something that takes me out of what I do for a living and relaxes me. Mrs. Pete, I had wanted to mention to you that my mom was a fifth grade teacher for many years. When my SIL and I cleaned out her home office, we discovered she had kept every single gift, card, and note her students had ever given her! It was a hoarding nightmare, lol! One of the funniest things we found was a letter from a little boy who is now a very famous professional football player. It was an apology for stuffing paper towels down a toilet and flooding the boys' bathroom! We couldn't stop laughing, picturing this hulk of an NFL player being a little boy getting busted by mom, who was a tiny little woman! Cherish your apple mugs because they will always remind you that you were an important influence in someone's life. :-) Oh, by the way, I'm a Siamese cat. ;-)