I actually did exactly that a couple of years ago. 1. I put some lava rocks at the bottom of the bowl, wet them and added a little water so that a half of them were submerged and at the same time wicked the moisture up to the top surface. 2. Then I planted two Haraella Odoratas in semi hydrophonic way (used two small plastic bottles from fruit juice - cut off 2/3 of the top and made some drainage holes 1/2 an inch from the bottom and used them as the 'pots'). 3. I placed them on top of the moist lava rocks inside the bowl AND (this is important)... placed a tiny fan INSIDE the bowl to circulate the air. I'm talking about one of those DC-powered (as opposed to the bigger AC-powered) fans, used to cool the inside of a laptops, etc - I don't remember how I got it but I believe electronic/computer parts/components stores sell them. This way the air got circulated and at the same time the moisture stays within the bowl (this is essential especially for those who live in Northern states where the humidity inside the house in the winter time is close to 20%) 4. I used a single 23 watt CFL as the primary source of light (used a desk lamp fixture) placed right on top of the opening of the bowl and set the timers for 12 hours. They bloomed constantly. Whenever I wanted to smell the fragrance, all I had to do was to sniff at the opening and bowl. It's easy, it's rewarding and cosmetically not too ugly of a setup. 5. I could take out the plants at anytime for watering, fertilizing or running it under water to clean the medium without polluting the rocks inside the bowl (no fertilizer or hard water deposit, especially if you used RO water to wet the rocks inside the bowl). I really hope you'd give your fish-bowl idea a try and please share with us of your findings and let us know if you come up with suggestions for improvement. Other than Haraella Odorata, I believe Dendrobium Distichum is also compatible for that setup (low light, and i heard the blooms smell like vanilla) good growing my fellow orchidgrowers, Dave

Hi Plllog! "That is, I know it's possible, but might not be in your budget." See, there's the crux of it. This little beverage center idea of mine was not in the original budget. (Nor, alas, were new drywall in the livingroom and halls, the gorgeous walnut top on my used cabinet island, the matching gorgeous top that will soon be on the new media cabinet and the near full gut of the bathroom.) And we're still determined to get through remodeling our ugly duckling without taking out a loan or dipping into savings. Conventional wisdom says: Wait until the coffers are full again but that's so hard to do. First off, I'm a cheapskate. Even if the goose who laid the golden egg waddled up onto my deck and built a nest, I'm not sure I would willingly pay someone to mess up the walls I just paid to fix. Second, I'm not quite cheap enough. My new kitchen is starting to look pretty good but, gosh, it would look so much better if the microwave and coffee maker didn't take up so much room on that one counter. I'm willing to spend a little bit more to change that, especially since I'm going to have a piece of countertop leftover that should be just the right size. Still, it's nice to know that it's possible. Maybe when the coffers ARE full again I'll put a tile counter outside on my deck to shade the golden goose should she happen to wander by ;) Thanks for your help!

I am not sure if it would be much cheaper to rip things out and put new ones in, but it will sure be a lot faster. Refinishing takes a long time to do properly. When it comes to dismantling a kitchen, you have to be very careful not to damage things you'll want to use again. I don't think you need a designer, unless you feel you'd like to hire one. It depends on what you are budgeting and how happy you are with the current layout. I am not sure if any of the designers who post here do consulting work via email, but that might be an option for you to consider too... It may be worth your while to hire a contractor, as was suggested above. There are some costly errors that can occur if you have not done this before. Some KD's may also handle the tasks usually performed by the GC's. If you want to do everything yourselves, take your time, plan each step and determine what has to happen when. After you have completed each task look and think about how the rest of your planned additions are going to work with what you have done. ie: is there room to open a door ? Can the electrical circuits handle the loads you are planning for them ? Is the floor solid enough to handle ceramics ? There are a lot of really knowledgeable people here in the forum, and they are a warm and encouraging group, so if you spend time here reading and asking lots of questions you may be fine on your own. It seems that they are always more than willing to share their expertise. Good Luck !

Taken from spray foam under roof commentary........ "Ready for this… here it comes… roofs leak. They always have. They always will. Sometime you see the leak, sometimes you don’t. This is true regardless of what system you use. There is no greater risk of roof damage with SPF, regardless of type, under a roof deck when exposed to a leak than the risk compared to structural insulated panels (SIPs) or typical commercial compact flat roofs. We can build with multiple layers of insulation and membranes and decking, and somehow we manage to deal with roof leaks. It is not the end of the world. SPF is not a greater risk under a roof deck than the risk associated with commercial compact flat roofs with multiple layers of insulation sandwiched between roof membranes and metal and wood structural decks. SPF is not a greater risk under a roof deck than the risk associated with SIPs." Realize when I say roof leaks I am talking about roof leaks from a roof deck with no insulation of any kind (no panels - nothing) They are comparing their foam to SIPs. I am talking about just OSB decking no panels no insulation of any kind on roof deck. If there is a roof leak you will see it in a Katy, Tx rain storm. I am talking about a sloped roof. Realize Houston total rainfall is comparable to places like Oregon. Except the rain fall in Houston area tends to occur in big and some times long rain storms rather than smaller rain storms all year long. Taken from spray foam under roof commentary........ "Ready for something else? Here it comes… sloping roofs are less of a risk than flat roofs. Wow. This gravity thing is a big deal. With a sloping roof you have less hydrostatic pressure and if you do have a leak it is more likely to be seen inside regardless of roof type. Note the “regardless of roof type” comment. Built up compact, SIP, SPS… it does not matter." Sure but once that roof is saturated for hours and hours long of rain fall, if there is a leak the water will find it. If the roof deck is insulated you will have to rip all that insulation out to find where the leak is. Gravity works against you here. That is the point is it not? The water travels how far down the insulation until at some weak point in the insulated roof deck it starts dripping. Yeah that's going to cost you. I can't make this point any more clear to you. You must realize the people selling this product are doing what they can to keep selling it. It creates more problems than it cures and it's costly. If you're made of money then you probably have other problems dividing your attention right now. All across the nation if you've ever ridden on an air plane or flown in a helicopter... look at the top of commercial flat roofs. What do you see? building after building? I'll tell you what I see.... HVAC package units sitting in the out door weather. In some cases even the duct work sits on the roofs covered in what is commonly referred to as a 'dog house' to protect the ducts from the weather. Everybody and their brother has something to sell you, no? I don't know maybe you are trying to sell it to me? (good luck, I know better) They all claim they have the best thing since sliced bread. I am here to tell you it's not what it's cracked up to be. (I have been in rental homes, I have been in home owner homes for over 22 years now... I have personally found roof leaks on more than one occasion, not only in homes of others... but also my own. I am not a roofer by the way.... For those reasons, I will never agree with mentality of insulating a roof deck. It doesn't hold water. After what I have pointed out, if you choose to continue to think it's a better way you may never have a problem with it. Roofs in various parts of the country can last what? 30 years? By the time people start complaining of roof leaks and big messes with an insulated roof deck you could retire huh? )