A few tips from a northern horticulturist now living south of Santee. 1. Soil is sand with very little nutrition and high in phosphorus. Do not use fertilizers high in phosphorus. 2. You will find that many plants grow best in high shade or morning sun, afternoon shade. 3. Epsom salts will be your best friend. It is magnesium which is necessary for plant absorption of iron. Don't be afraid to scatter it around plants. 4. Sandy soils are best amended by placing compost/manures on soil surface under pine needle mulch. Don't dig them in. Compost everything you can get your hands on. You will need it. 5. Winter gardening is fabulous here. Prowl the growers on St. John's Island near Charleston for plants and advice. Spring bulbs should be purchased when they come on the market in the fall, refrigerated until Jan. 1, then planted. Carleton is the best daffodil to grow here and is one of the few that will rebloom every year. Be certain to attend the hidden garden tours in Charleston for great ideas. 6. Careful selection of disease free rose varieties and many of the old shrub rose varieties will prove to be valuable garden additions. 7. Study on-line catalogs such as Plants Delight and Singing Spring Nursery for helpful tips. Best to buy plants rated for Zone 8b-9 to grow in this area. Be prepared to say goodbye to many of your favorite plants and be ready to learn about many new ones. Also, you will find far fewer insect and disease problems here. No Japanese beetles! Fire ants...yes. Numerous northern annuals are perennial here. You will have an enjoyable learning curve and quickly adapt to gardening in this area.

22" deep cabs are very common here in pre-WWII homes out here (SF Bay Area). It was standard to build the cabs on-site - redwood in the '20's, giving way to plywood by the '40's. Frankly, many old cabs cannot be taken out intact. You'll have to check the construction, or have a carpenter-savvy friend take a look. Demolition is something you can handle yourself with friends. You will save yourself a lot of money doing it. Wear proper protective equipment (gloves and eye protection, lots of tarps (canvas is expensive but less slippery than plastic), and hang plastic in the doorways or you'll really regret the dust factor. Cover all exposed ductwork both in the room and nearby. Do NOT try to take out soffits or walls without somebody expert to be sure you are not whacking a sledgehammer through ductwork, plumbing or electrical. If you wish to keep your old cabs - don't do this unless they are: 1) in really good shape otherwise, and 2) bumping out to the standard 24" base cabs will cause you layout difficulty (it would have done this to my MIL's kitchen, which is why we never remodeled it). For counters, there are quite a few options. One is the resin pour-over types done by various specialty companies, like Granite Transformations and its ilk. It's a little plastic-y and glossy to me - I'm a matte Swanstone surface kind of person - but I've seen it done in a friend's older home and it's quick and simple. You can also tile a countertop - whether porcelain or granite tile, it's relatively easy and if you take the time to do it right, even amateurs can do a pro-look job. Cutting a pre-formed laminate countertop to fit, then tiling a backsplash, is also within reason provided you have, can rent, or have a friend with the proper power tools. Laminate can be ordered in sheets as well, so you can lay it atop plywood counters yourself if you want a wider choice of colors/patterns. Do a wood edging and poly it well. You can edge it in solid surfacing (like Corian) but it's pretty costly. Granite, soapstone, metal (such as stainless steel) and concrete are fabricated to order - in fact, concrete you can do yourself although I don't care for it, can't stand the etching and maintenance involved - so a narrow depth should not be a big problem. However, don't go to HDepot or a big box store. Go directly to a stone or concrete fabricator, get references, and check them. Install is critical and you don't want to be penny-wise and pound-foolish in this area. In reading your post, I can't quite tell if you want to update your kitchen WITH metal cabs or just update your kitchen when it already HAS metal cabs, by painting them. The metal cabs are easy to take out and definitely have resale value, so do the ecology a favor and find someone who wants to recycle them for a retro look. Nobody can tell you what this will cost you, in the end. Labor is the big issue and if you are willing to spend the time to DIY in certain areas, you can save a lot of money. But if you want to minimize the time you can't use your kitchen, then whether it's a small remodel or large remodel, you will need to break out the checkbook. Just remember, a "small job" to a contractor is anything under $10K, and a "short time" is usually anything under six months to a year!

Yes, they do sell the pedestals (at $179 each) but I am going to try them out without them first or see if I can find some on Craigslist. We stopped at Lowes first to see if they would do a price match since they are closer to us than Sears. We were really surprised that they gave up an extra 10% off the Sears price! We ended up getting both the washer and dryer at half off ($404. each), we'll get a rebate for the cost of delivery and hopefully at least $100. rebate from our electric company. GREAT deal, but you only have till 9 pm tonight (Sears or Lowes)!

I like them all, especially the last one. So pretty! I like the rug as well. I'm so excited to see your new house all done. And I have an off-topic comment, something you probably already know anyway-- get the stickers off your windows as quickly as you can. When the sun bakes them, it makes them SO hard to get off. I have one high window that was replaced during remodeling, and I didn't try to get the stickers off for a looong time. Even with a razorblade, it was quite a project. And I hate to scratch the glass in new windows.