Thanks for writing Nandina and Cady. There is a lot of truth in what Cady said about short attention spans on televsion. Many shows today, gardening and design and general tend to have fast cuts and move quickly from scene to scene. I personally prefer a more slow pace, (like lingering over photos in a magazine), but I have found this to be the case in today's home and garden shows. Keep watching Cady, Michael and I explain the design process as well as give detailed information as to why we prepare the soil a certain way, we discuss different methods, plants and decor options. Not to make excuses, but last night's episode, "Attack of the Sago Palms" was our most extensive and labor intensive design. There was so much going on that it was difficult to include detailed information about anything in particular. The other episodes are not so hectic! Thats one of the reasons that I set up my web site to include lots of photos and relevant garden info for those who didn't "catch it all" while watching. In my marketing research I have found that there are the "real gardeners," (folks like us) and then there are the "consumer gardeners," or people who are not neccessarily interested in gardening, they just want to "decorate an outdoor living space" much like they would their interiors. They either get ideas from television or magazines or hire a professional to do it. They are not interested in the beauty and joy of the gardening process. My viewers are a mix. I get tons of email from gardeners looking for creative ideas and consumer gardeners as well. Next week on Garden Police, we create an English garden, complete with tea patio. We try to get as much design info and plant info in as we can in 30 minutes. I hope you will watch and then check my web site after the show for detailed photos and plant list! I look forward to making lots of friends on GardenWeb! Shirley Bovshow www.ShirleyBovshow.com

The first guy you had out isn't giving bs. I am not aware of any system that will allow mixing refrigerant and I wouldn't recommend using this system if it did exist. As noted, mixing two kinds of oils isn't possible and will result in more costly repairs. Do you realize a 15 yr old system is costing you most likely 50% more each month on utility bills. Basically your making monthly payments on a unit on borrowed time with no warranties. Definitely get several quotes. Don't worry there are professionals that can help and recommend what's best for your needs. Just know it's not going to be cheap. But will be a great investment in the short run. And call companies that have references and offer 100% customer satisfaction in writing. You won't go wrong. And yes ACCA is a good place to get references.

Here's an update, and thanks again for everyone's helpful replies! @M Miller What do you know, but your old post has appeared belatedly! Houzz can be mysterious sometimes. I did look up and bookmark your two suggestions for scratching posts, and thanks for that plus your other suggestions. That's a great idea about hanging things on your cabinet doors. I'm thinking of creating a whole wall of things outside of the kitchen for the cats to scratch including mounting some of the old cabinet doors they've already shredded since they are accustomed to them. We'll also be using a gate to keep them out of the new kitchen, and I might get a couple of those posts you recommended, too. @new-beginning The cat nail covers have fallen off easily the previous times they've been tried in our household, but I guess it's always worth a re-try if nothing else works. Our cats are older and wouldn't jump a baby gate, though they will likely climb around on the overhang side with stools under it and be on the counters when we aren't looking. Hopefully they won't jump from the counters into the kitchen. Thanks for the suggestions. @User Thanks for the info. We did in-depth research on all the woods you mentioned except for mesquite and settled on cherry due to a combination of factors including appearance. We've seen several cherry wood kitchen displays in person and are prepared for the color changes over time. The Waterlox multi-layer coating added a fake, plastic-looking orange that we didn't like which might be easier to understand if viewing in person. We did 6 coats on the sample, and 5 to 8 coats would be typically recommended for an application like this on cabinetry. By the way, my Waterlox sample did dry out and harden up since I wrote the original post, so it didn't stay gummy. I should have let it cure more than 24 hours between coats. We're planning to use the spare Waterlox on garage cabinetry and outdoor benches, so it wasn't a total loss to try it out. I've discovered since my original post that Waterlox actually has minimal tung and linseed oil composition and is primarily a synthetic varnish. @Brian Gannon Believe what you like, but my husband and I are halfway through a 4-room renovation and have been blissfully happy with the work completed thus far, we feel in part because we have taken time to explore some non-standard approaches. Cutting short research in this final stretch isn't an option for me personally, but I do appreciate your effort with suggestions. In summary . . . 100% tung oil might be something to try, and I plan to test it as it certainly is repairable plus simple in application. (Turns out Waterlox falls more into the category of a varnish than oil.) People who use 100% tung oil get best results by progressively thinning initial layers, sanding in between, and letting each layer cure up to a week for a minimum of 5 layers. Some woodworkers recommend 1 coat per week for a month, 1 coat per month for a year, and 1 coat per year thereafter. We had better be sure we like this before applying, because it is virtually irreversible. The CABINET PAINTING & REFINISHING - DIY & Pros offers resources for purchasing Milesi products in the United States. Shipments are temporarily halted due to COVID-19 crisis supply problems but should eventually resume. My wording about "2K" in a prior post is misleading. Conversion varnish (CV) is two-part (2K) as is the 2K Milesi waterborne coating discussed above. It's been recommended in this linked Facebook group that someone wanting to use the 2K Milesi clear coat as a brush-on eliminate the hardener portion and only use the varnish. Some chemical resistance and hardness will be compromised, but withholding the hardener will allow the varnish to dry more slowly so that it can be brushed. When mixed, it dries so fast that it must be applied via sprayer. Ilva, Renner, and ICA remain good coating options if Milesi's supply problems (from Italy) don't rebound fast enough. Sherwin Williams Industrial Coatings locations (different from your local SW paint retailer) offer the SAYERLACK® HYDROPLUS™ Waterborne Clear finish that is supposed to be good for cabinets. In talking to several pro painters, I learned that they often rely on the Sherwin Williams "water white lacquer" which isn't waterborne as far as I can tell and does yellow some in time but not as much as other lacquers. The Sayerlack (a Sherwin Williams sub-brand sourced from Italy) is a newer and presumably superior product in terms of low-VOC and non-yellowing waterborne composition.

I got a tear sheet from the furniture store, Christopher Kennedy, and so here is a photo of the sofa we ordered: It is slightly wider than our current sofa but not as deep and not as high. We will try to donate our old sofa plus an old lounge chair and ottoman that came with the house, but Kevin wants to keep the bulky black leather rocking recliner, even though it no longer reclines. It has a motor in the bottom that no longer works, but we might be able to repair that, as we have the transformer and switch that go with it. I think the black and white pillows will look good on this sofa, and Kevin said that I might need to make even more pillows. I have some orange brocade fabric that might work, but I will wait until we have the actual sofa. I was unable to get a fabric swatch, and so I do not know the exact color it will be. The color is listed as "teal," but the photo looks a bit more turquoise. Anyway, it will work in our living room here.