I "harvested" my compost today from one side of my Mantis Compost-Twin. It looked about half full, way less volume than I started out with. I dumped out two small wheelbarrow loads, and now it does not look like there's much left in it at all. Cranking it is ridiculously easy now, so that confirms there is not much left. I had been daydreaming about what all I'd do with my compost when the first batch got done. I've gotten a jolt of reality, I guess. Where I was thinking of putting inches of compost on the first flower bed that I worked on, the reality was I put a few shovelfuls sprinkled here and there, and that was all I had in the small garden wheelbarrow. I'm not giving up on composting or anything like that. But at this rate, it will take me a decade or two to do much to my flower beds. There is a local botanical garden which offers leaf compost loaded into your truck for a donation. I guess I need to explore that possibility. Sadder but wiser Jim

Part of the problem is that people assume that their mattress is the standard, advertised size. Like an standard King is supposed to be 76x80 but MANY manufacturers cut their mattresses short, believe it or not. Tempurpedic is notorious for cutting their mattresses short (Saves them money? Who knows.) The point is - the pocket depth being wrong is not the only problem you will have with getting a tight fit and avoiding swimming in bunched-up sheets on your bed. We have a Tempurpedic King mattress that is actually 74.5 inches wide by 79 inches long and 11.5 inches high. The thing to do is to order from custom sheet companies. These sheets are not that much more expensive than many premade sheets and often are higher quality. We ordered fitted sheets to match our existing sheet sets (similar colors) and the prices were quite reasonable. Good companies we found include CozyTown (https://cozytownlinens.com/ Call or read instructions on how to order custom sheets - they want you to choose the general size in the dropdown list then in the comments section tell them the actual mattress measurements). They use only long staple cotton. Their Italian and 300 thread count sheets are really nice and ship fast, while their 500 TC takes a bit longer to order. CustomMattressFactory.com is another company with 600 TC organic cotton that is even less expensive than the former company. But there are a lot of companies doing this sort of customization. We gave up searching for premade sheets to fit the beds and have finally gotten sheets that fit.

I iron my top sheets and pillow cases. Any wrinkles in the fitted bottom sheet come out when you put it on the bed. I have tried to buy iron-free sheets but they are usually sateen sheets and even though they are 100% cotton, my husband and I don't like the feel of them. We like crisp, fairly heavy sheets and they are hard to find, especially if one's on a budget. I have one perfect set and 3 other not so perfect sets in addition to sets that have gone to Goodwill because we hated them.

And now for something completely different. :-) (not to scale) Here's what I did. Since you want to keep the sight line from the front door to the fireplace, I removed the peninsula lay-out in favor of a galley-style lay-out, shifted the hall door way a bit over, enlarged it and centered it on the front door. This additional bit of wall to the right gives your wall oven column a safety buffer, too. (You can add a coat closet to the left of the doorway, facing the hallway to the right. Or you could purchase an armoire, perhaps more in keeping with your home's vibe.) Some people aren't keen on seeing the sink (and quite possibly dirty dishes) from the front door but you already have that view in your current and proposed lay-outs so I assume it must not be a concern of yours. You could, if you wish, install glass double pocket doors at the hallway entrance like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/druid-hills-master-bedroom-remodel-traditional-bedroom-atlanta-phvw-vp~76261) [Traditional Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2107) by Atlanta Architects & Designers Soorikian Architecture I incorporated the seldom used closet into the kitchen, creating a gigantic pantry with additional storage space for other items. This also allowed me to set the full size fridge back so it mimics a counter-depth model. The pantry doors would work something like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farinelli-construction-inc-traditional-kitchen-phvw-vp~622305) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Mechanicsburg Design-Build Firms Farinelli Construction Inc Or this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/teri-turan-traditional-kitchen-atlanta-phvw-vp~216308) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Tyrone Kitchen & Bath Designers Teri Turan One wall of the galley holds the pantry, recessed fridge, 36" cook top and wall oven/Advantium column (I saw your other thread) with plenty of counter space for prep and small appliance use. I calculated counter and overhang depth at 25.5" (24" deep cabs, 1.5" counter overhang). The island is huge, admittedly, but it had to be in order to hold the DW, 36" sink cab, 18" trash pull-out and counter seating for 2. I angled the very end of the island across from the fridge so that there would still be plenty of room to move past the fridge even when the door was open. The island is 30" deep - 27" cabs with 3" counter overhang total (1.5" on each side) to provide a bit more clearance between back of faucet and counter edge. If you can't afford to do custom depth cabs, do 24" deep cabs and add shallow storage to the back like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/wood-and-color-kitchen-traditional-kitchen-phvw-vp~45952) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Other Metro Interior Designers & Decorators Polly Blair or this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/utensil-rack-traditional-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~44160) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Glen Ellyn Kitchen & Bath Remodelers The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn I also removed the half wall between kitchen and stairway. You don't have to do this - there is sufficient aisle between island and wall - but I thought that widening the hallway doorway and the stairway doorway would encourage people to walk to the left of the island and not through your kitchen work zone. NKBA recommends 44" aisles behind seating but 1.5" shouldn't make a huge difference, IMO. However, if you want a bit more aisle on this side, you could steal that 1.5" from your work aisle. A tighter work aisle will encourage people to walk to the left of the island but you need to make sure it will work for you and not make you feel cramped (NKBA recommends 42" aisles for 1 cook kitchens, 48" for 2 cooks but many here go with slightly narrower aisles and have no issues with that set-up). Or you could go with 24" deep cabs and 3" total overhang for the island. There is a bit of flexibility in this plan. You'll notice that there are no corner cabinets in this plan. That will save you some money - corner cabinet systems are expensive - which will help you stretch your kitchen remodeling dollars. Anyhoo, this is what my brain envisioned when I looked at your first floor lay-out.