Interesting post, Laura! I was a pre-teen then, remember listening on the radio to the broadcasts of events. My Aunt Emmi and Cousin Robert were on their annual summer visit from Switzerland, Emmi was an admirer of Hitler, don't believe she was that much into the Nazi philosophy as she was what we now would call a "fan", she'd get teary eyed when speaking of "the dear Fuhrer" - made me snicker, after all, she was, in my mind, an old married Lady. I had a little white silk scarf, edged with all the flags and the Olympic symbol in each corner - loved it. We were still so innocent then -

Hi Rosebud, Here is a website for the Glass Block Lights. My sis made me one of these and her DH says - just remember to drill real slow. http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_occasions_december/article/0,1789,HGTV_3270_3313693,00.html I do believe it is in this forum that there are more posts about the Glass Block Lights. At the top of this page that your are reading, see the light green rectanuglar box that says "Search" in the white box, type "glass block lights" and any posts on the subject will appear, chose and read any that you would like to. Also, in the web browser line of your internet explorer progam (look way above - long white rectangular box), again, just type in "glass block lights" and I'm sure you'll get tons of sites to look at. Hope this helps. By saying you just got on this site, I take it you are a newbie. If so, welcome to you, you are sure going to enjoy it here. Another forum you may wish to check out is "Garden Junk." People are real friendly and helpful with just about any project there is.

What are the cardboard tubes for making concrete towers called? I might want try this, but I need to know what they are called (manufactured name?), so the clerk can find them for me. Also, I don't have a Lowe's, only a Home Depot. rosemarythyme: I like your towers. What type of paint did you use on them? I read on another forum about doing a wash to get the colors that way. Mango Moon

Hackwriter- Lowe's was just for design and I ended up buying the glass tile, Roman blind, and overhead light, pretty much nothing else. We had to save money because the total was already WAY out there for us, before a designer. It IS overwhelming. To say I never cried, got angry, or wanted to just forget it all, I'd be lying. But the end result will be worth it. Lynn2006- I can't see your kitchen in person, so take my advice with a grain of salt. If the cabinets are truly banged up and are just horrible, replace them. Or if they're pretty much ok, I'd look into adding some interior organizers (like 2 pull outs per lower cabinet for pots and pans). You have a pretty good layout, given how mine was I would have lived with yours. I love your built-in pantry next to the fridge. I'd remove the scalloped trim over the sink, my designer said that's outdated. I'd DEFINITELY replace your floor, replace counter (maybe extend it to add bar stools), change the sink to undermount, replace the light you hate, repaint the ceiling a fresh coat, replace faucet, do something with the backsplash (Paint or tile), and look into either having the cabinets PROFESSIONALLY painted or re-faced. The reason I say professionally is that we took a solid week to clean the grease off our old cabinets, sand, prime, and paint 2 coats and in 4 years, the paint started to fall and smooch off. It was ugly, though it looks great for a few years! I really LOVE your appliances, don't change a thing there. I love them all and the range is so modern! Unless you're really short on cabinet space and you don't want to replace the cabinets, I'd leave the soffit. If you do decide to gut it all because you live in a very nice area and you're 100% sick of it and sick of the quality, do yourself a favor and look into an independent general contractor, these big box stores are a RIP OFF on labor! Make sure your upper cabinets are the right height from the bottom. There has to be someone you can put the tile boxes while deciding. If you were to do real construction, you need a lot of flex room, we discovered. I am not sure about your tile choice, I need more info. But I love the larger tiles over any smaller ones. Tiling your flooring at an angle towards your table would look nice too. Google your area for granite starting at $39/sq foot or just google the granite places. Then check out a few of their warehouses. I heard somewhere, don't quote me, that the floors and countertop should go together and the cabinet should contrast. But that was some professional person's idea, who knows. Flooring, having wood in the kitchen like I do is nice but you do worry about drips of water. I have gotten used to it and clean up quickly, but do what you think. Lay some tiles and try to live with it for 6 hours. Fill 1/4 of the room and see how you like it. But it'd be a big mistake to do the floor and then realize you want to do the cabinets too. I'd make a firm decision now if I were going to do the whole kitchen or just small fixes like the floor, toe-kick, and counters. Here's a problem with doing the floor first around your existing cabinets and then installing new cabinets. The depth of the cabinets may not line up and you could possibly have exposed subfloor between your new toe-kick and your new floor. You can barely see it, but I noticed the new cabinets expose MORE of my wood floor than the old cabinets. Meaning that if my floors were severely damaged or a different color there, you'd notice. But I'm not an expert, so get people's opinions and I wish you the best! And I really do love your arrangement, you should save BIG $ on not having to move your oven, sink, or dishwasher. BIG $$.