Finally remodeled the kitchen in our 50s California ranch style house. Waited 18 years but it was worth the wait. Room is about 12 x 12, U shaped but the fourth wall has the fridge and some pantry space. BEST THING: repainting the original cabinets (creamy white, Benjamin Moore Pottery Barn Mascarpone) and hardware (that old black colonial stuff) to save $$ for top notch appliances. I replaced my old cheap wall oven & fridges in kitchen and laundry with a 48" Sub Zero. It is quiet and it is so flat -- I gained a wider walkway through my kitchen. Even though the fridge is smaller than the two fridges that it replaces, I can fit everything in there that I need (though now I understand the popularity of the "drink station" fridge!) I replaced my 42" avocado green cooktop with the La Cornue Cornufe 43" in Provence Blue with brass trim. I did not want to give up double ovens, but the usual Viking / Wolf etc. 48" would require me to give up too much cabinet space, plus I never liked the huge oven and tiny oven combo and cramming 8 burners into the space where I used to have four plus a big griddle (that I used to plop things down, mainly). Now I have 5 burners so I have room for big pots and handles. I was really nervous about having two smaller ovens. However, you get the half sheet pans from Williams Sonoma and they act as racks. The fitted roasting pans that come with the stove work fine. I roasted a big five bone prime rib in there. I use my ovens so much more now than I ever did before, especially for meats. That stove is a thing of beauty and a real show stopper in the kitchen. LOVE the blue. So YES, the appliances make all the difference. ALSO LOVE having everything look kind of old -- we have Carlisle wide plank hard wood in rustic white oak (knotholes and marks); we have Barroca soapstone with some white veining; my cabinets are not pristine but they fit with the overall look. Patina galore even with new things! GO CHEAP with the faucets and just get chrome. With everything else stainless, it's nice to have something more glittery on the countertop. We have chrome in every room with plumbing and all of the rooms "match" even though we have faucets from different manufacturers. Accidental benefit: We hid the trash can in a pull out inside one of the low cabinets. We just attached the door face to the pullout mechanism. Well, one of my undercounter cutting boards slides out perfectly so that I can chop and then sweep the trash directly into the trash can. Sweet! By getting the new fridge, I gained more countertop space to the right of the fridge. I was able to have a built in shelf made for my microwave to get it up off the counter. We converted one of the broom closets in the laundry room into a tiny little bar. We used a remnant from our countertops for the counter; we spaced shelves for wine and soda storage. My husband routered out a few leftover strips of the hardwood to make wine glass racks on the top of the cabinet. It's kind of cute. What I'd change? I don't dislike my Kitchen Aid dishwasher, but for some reason it is hard to load small things like pyrex bowls, small cereal bowls, etc. It is great for tons of plates and glasses. However, I like to cook and I use a ton of those little custard cups for prep. I store leftovers in 1c, 2c, 3c, bowls and they never seem to fit right. I did not get the dispenser on the Sub Zero because I think it will stay cleaner and also the dispenser takes up room inside. However, I do miss crushed ice more than I thought I would. I always dreamed I'd have a fancy backsplash behind the stove. However, this stove is so beautiful that I do not want to upstage it. I will just hang a pot rail behind it like you see so often in the ads for the stove. Also I did lose storage space -- we moved a hanging cabinet over the countertop peninsula. I lost my baking rack storage when I hid the trash can. I lost my pots and pans storage when I replaced my cooktop with the drop in stove. I have been getting rid of old things and making room for new things but I am still moving items around to figure out where they should go.

Kulagal, hope you don't mind if I send out a question to Judith also! Judith, I too, was just admiring your tablescapes & your blog, & wondered what the name of one of your dish patterns is. I'm curious about the simple cameo pink beaded dishes. They are solid with no design but the beading. Also, did you by chance purchase the more elaborate, richly designed dishes with the pink, coral & teal pattern at Monticello? Seems I've seen them on their website. All of your finds are too gorgeous for words! Still, I can see that you have the kind of talent that would shine through the simplest of things. If you had to shop at the dollar store, I think you'd still come up with something spectacular! Btw, if you don't mind sharing in general terms, where in VA do you live? I live in Southeastern VA. Thanks!

By all means give it a go if there's a sharp gravelly spot in full sun. But average maximum summer temp in that part of the country is about 68f. It rains regularly and pretty much equally all year round, as much in August as in January. As I say, I don't recall ever seeing this plant growing happily anywhere in the U.K. Campanula might know different from the perspective of East Anglia. But County Durham is not known for its hot dry climate!

I have purchased my flooring, but have not yet installed, but I did learn a lot along the way. Lesson 1 - Black top driveways have oils that can make your LVT turn yellow. Someone told me that they had to replace their white a year after buying it because there was a yellow trail from their garage to their kitchen. The staining was not covered under the warranty. The flooring stores acted completely clueless, the manufacturer was vague until I pinned them to an answer and then they admitted that there is a clause that does not warranty against "Environmental Staining". https://www.wolfeflooring.com/blog/why-is-my-floor-turning-yellow/ Lesson 2 - look at photos with a whole room completed with the flooring. A single board or sample may look great, but the color variations and patterns can vary a lot from board to board and may look really busy when all laid out. Lesson 3 - same flooring may be available under several names and different prices at different stores. I saved about 30% of the total cost by shopping around and taking advantage of a sale. Link to a discussion with more information. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5832512/lvp-help-sweet-talker-calypso-oak-sutton-or-royal-crest Lesson 4 - When I couldn't decide between 2 colors I ordered a box of each. The flooring store told me that if I buy both I can exchange the one I don't want for another box of the color I want. It was so much easier to decide with a whole box that I could set out and look at with my furniture and walls and fireplace.