Thank you guys! They are only in a part of one back bedroom, and pretty minimal. The rest of the low ceilings are in areas that are inconsequential - side entryhallway, hallway between two walk-in closets at master bedroom, between a guest bath and the door. Now that I think about it, Beadle put sky lights in all these areas, maybe to minimize the lower ceilings there? I am so scared that as I slowly progress through this remodel, I will make a mistake. My stepmo. suggested raising the roof, but I am pretty certain that would hurt the architectural integrity of the house. I do not mind the ceiling height and with all the glass and light, it is not noticeable. I just dont want to think about something later that I should have done before the roof was replaced. Is there anything I might be missing??? It is an asphalt roof currently. Below are pics of what the previous owners did. The layers of fascia board will be removed. I am replacing all the wood on the ext. walls ("Beadle board" - pics 2,3) with new sealed and sanded redwood (will retain Beadle board style) and re-stuccoing with smooth finish. Of course, the red rock will stay. The old roof-line was at the bottom of the fascia board (see black/white pic of house in 1958). Thank you so much for your replies. I do feel better about the ductwork.

Chipster, I have a real problem with the tax credit. It is not nearly big enough. The project is likely to be 25K (or more) and the materials alone 15K plus. They should be giving much bigger incentive to reduce carbon footprint/energy use. Barley a drop in the bucket and lack of $$ support makes very hard to commit to the best choice for the planet. Please go ahead and do the "contact" sheet for these guys (Serious) and see who they send out. Please post back. Be sure to ask about cheaper to manufacture but cost more. The accountant/auditor in me would be all over them for that and then the saleperson would leave in a tiff, etc. One guy left because I would not touch his vinyl window and I refuse to ever speak of Long Windows after the "are you able to make a decision" yes Mr. B^&TMunch, I can make a decision. Do it every day of my life without any assistance form the hubby. It does not take two signatures for a bidning contract - it does take, offer acceptance, consideration, capcity, legality of subject matter, etc. Hate those people. I have almost entered the data on Serious twice but really hate the fact they they invite themselves into my home. Why can't they just give the data and let me do the math? Really insulted by the whole window shopping process. Makes a person feal dirty - and yet the house leaks like a sieve.

Ok no worries! I usually use swatchpop and they just give you any ideas that you suggest. So here goes. I’m changing it up for summer. More color. I saw this on property brothers and I love it. Some of the pillows are from Target, especially the one I needed to pull this together. But unfortunately the color block is sold out! Help. I’m stuck for pillows! Here’s the idea and here’s what I got. I planned on using orange lamps because I don’t have the curtains. And can’t hang any in my living room anyway. Thanks for your help your awesome! The pink pillow is one I love that matches my flower arrangement. So if I get pink pillow, orange lamps, what do you think of this other pillow? Orange or blue? Hold on won’t let me post more pics....

I am going to give a more detailed explanation of why I typically replace old systems when I am getting ready to sell a home and the system has a problem. Houses with new units sell for more money than houses with old units. According to the NAR, replacement of old heating and cooling systems has about an 85% return on investment when selling. That seems a little high to me, but certainly buyers price in new units. So let's make some assumptions and do a little math. Let's assume that the new unit only has just over a 50% return on investment and would increase the sales price by $3,500. So, by not replacing your unit, you are paying some amount to repair it, let's say $500, and losing $3,500 in sales price, but are saving $6,750 in replacement. So you are basically saving $2,750, by repairing your old unit rather than replacing it with a new unit. However, there is one additional complicating factor. Most buyers are going to have an old unit inspected by an HVAC company and too many HVAC companies are just looking for an excuse for replacement. So you have the added concern that the buyer is going to want an allowance or to have a new unit replaced. So you could be spending the $6,750 anyway, except you are losing the advantage of pricing the home higher. You are going to have to pay the $6,750 after spending on the repair and pricing the home $3,500 less. So in the above scenario you would be betting on a $2,750 savings against a $10,750 loss ($3,500 reduced price + $500 repair + $6,750 allowance or new unit). I typically sell a home every year, sometimes two, I have been burned on that gamble too many times. --- Now in your area or at your price point the ROI when selling could be more or less than 50%, you might actually be at 85% which makes it a no brainer, or you might be at 25% which would make repair much more attractive. Good luck