Great for her! I'm also very glad to see that she is wearing a helmet. Smart girl! DD (skiier) and DSIL (boarder primarily) who live and work at a major ski area are huge proponents of helmet use at all ages. The National Ski Areas Association reports that helmet use is up to 61% on the slopes. The user groups with the highest % are kids and those over 65 (73%). Also just from observation, it appears to me that expert skiers/boarders are more likely to wear helmets at any age, so tell your DGD that the helmet makes her look cool too!

Thanks, Sandy, for your input. Unfortunately we are limited in choices since the old floor is no longer made or available through salvage (from the 1940's). I am rethinking the lighter inset and think we should go all dark-toned, but keep the picture frame idea with mitered corners to define the space. Then if we redo the other floor later we could match it better since the Gunstock tone from Bruce is commonly used now. Most other materials are out due to variances in the subfloor. Since the walkway to the kitchen is smack dab between the dining and living areas, the floor heights have to match or we would be walking one foot on one side and the other foot on the other side. We only had 1/2" to work with, not nearly enough room for tile or stone there, by the time you get your cement board, mastic, etc. The Bruce floor is thin plank (engineered) and at 3/8" we can shim up to our existing height. The kitchen is actually 1/4" cork tiles laid on a diagonal (I wanted something soft due to a bad back). So, as you can see, without redoing the whole floor we are really limited, ya know? So it goes with remodels and a budget!

One of the things I love about this kitchen forum is that I can see so many different styles. Sometime it reminds me of watching salsa dancing where you could watch 5 couples dancing and everyone is doing something a little different to make it their own. When I was working on my kitchen, I could look at pictures and see what things people did that called to me. One of the things I decided on based on the finished kitchen was going with taller crown molding. I didn't even know I liked it or wanted it (chuckle - this forum is great for finding things you didn't even know you wanted ) until I tried to figure out what it was about certain kitchens that appealed to me. Looking at the kitchen magazines aren't much help because they are showing the kitchen that is double my budget, double the space I have, and with whatever is the in trend that season. I like that we keep the finished kitchen thread nice. It is a celebration. You want to encourage people to post because it is helpful to the newcomers in figuring out your taste and style and really contributes to the sense of community. If I post that I really like X about someone's kitchen - then I really like X about their kitchen or I won't say anything. It's interesting because some of my favorite kitchens have been ones that I could never pull off but they had that something about them that was visionary.

Hi, sorry I don't have any photos for you, but if you're wanting a warm atmosphere, I'd stay away from gray. No need to try to bend it into something really warm if you can go a different direction all together with a new build. Gray has been a hugely popular color for decor in the few years past, but current design trends are moving away from gray. Is there any chance you could budget for IKEA boxes with custom fronts made by Semihandmade or Scherr's that specialize in fitting to IKEA? That way you can get exactly the look you want. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your original home.