We are buying a leather couch too. I did a search on GardenWeb and found a great discussion, including brands, retailers, types of leather, and price. Try pasting this URL into your browser: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/furniture/msg0717043415826.html The subject line is "Quality Leather Sofa on Budget." The posts are from 2006, but there is some good information in there. Good luck!

It sounds like such a neat project. I have found when I cut out my pictures(like around their heads,etc.) that I am never happy with them and wish that I hadn't done it. I see cute layouts with them cut out but it doesn't work with me. I don't have a scanner but I don't know if you scanned the photo if you could lighten anything up. Do you have negatives that you could take in to a photo shop and just ask for advice. I had my daughters graduation picture with her cap and gown and the dark gown just blended in to the background so I mounted it on white to try and lighten it up a little. Good luck.

Gourds that have grown to maturity will easily spend the winter outside, stored in a sheltered, dry spot...it doesn't matter if they freeze. The outside dries to a hard shell and will last almost indefinitely. I have several I have left outside, in the garden, for YEARS as an experiment, to see how long they would last. I come across them as I tend the garden every spring and kick them to another part of the garden. :-) The problem is....gourds are very much a hot weather fruit and require a long growing season to truly mature to the stage where they will successfully cure to a hard shell after being picked. I live in SW Ontario near Sarnia and have grown gourds for years. Even with our longer, milder summer, I still have to plan my gourd growing carefully, to get gourds that mature on the vine before the cold weather comes and the vine dies off. I start gourd seeds early and grow them indoors under lights or in the greenhouse to get them to a nice size plant before the last frost date is past and it safe to plant them outdoors. I "harden them off" before planting outdoors. I take old 2 gallon plastic nursery pots and cut the bottom out, then place one around each gourd plant. It protects the young plant from the wind for a while and also creates a nice warm microclimate for the plant until it becomes more of a vine and starts to climb out of the enclosure. Then I remove them. So...yes, you can put your gourds out into a nonheated shed for the winter. Having some mold grow on the shell is normal and can be cleaned off later. You REALLY don't want that mold in your house anyway! I'm sorry to say the ones that have gone soft are starting to rot and won't get a hard shell....time to throw them in the compost pile. Those ones didn't get mature enough on the vine before being picked. I hope you get some that are successful!

@Sammy Thank you for your questions. Please see the responses below: 1. I agree with the space limitations! I really like the look of a wall mounted oven, so was going for that. But you may be right that we do not really have the space for it. 2. The original drawing is with the sink and dw in the island, but we relocated to the counter top since we wanted to have a big open island to prepare food on, serve food on as well when we entertain. 3. The pantry used to be where the fridge is now. We replaced it with the fridge. The fridge used to be right next to the living room which we did not like. In place of the fridge there is now counter top and cabinets. We will be adding a pull out pantry next to where the fridge currently is. 4. Click on it to enlarge! :)