red_lover - ours looked like that at the top and when my boys were young my hubby had to make a contraption to avoid drilling into the banister and then we drilled the swing part into the drywall on the railing side. I wish I had a picture but I don't. We weren't comfortable with a compression fit for DOWNstairs - think it would be okay for going UP. That said I think it depends on how frequent your little one will be over. My sister's kids are younger than mine (lives far so not frequent visits) and for her visits we never had a problem just keeping an eye out. They weren't really too interested in the stairs with all of the activity of the older kids going on.

My former cabinet guy kept saying, "don't worry about it" and "I've been doing this for 30 years, trust me". OMG, needsometips08, I know exactly what you mean! I had a similar experience with the cabinet maker our designer recommended. I don't think she meant to come off that way but when I asked about thickness of drawer bottoms, she replied, "Don't worry, we know what we're doing." !!! I never implied she didn't. I only wanted to know what we'd be getting for our money. We're not going with that cabinet maker, btw. megpie77, which kind of soapstone do you have? I don't think we have as many options in the PNW (I'm in Portland) as there are in other parts of the country, which is a pity because I've always loved soapstone kitchens. Did you have any problems finding a fabricator? Your kitchen is lovely, btw.

I know Carol. That is exactly what I said, if we shifted it a closet would lay out perfectly but that is a major load bearing wall with a huge beam that runs the length of the house so dh says no way will he move it. :( I really wish I'd paid more attention at the time but we weren't going to finish it right away and I figured it all could be adjusted. Kicking myself gently. In my simple mind I think hey just move the header down but it's not going to fly. Septic is fine so no worries there. We have 2 tanks. The windows are not for a bedroom at all so it would never be marketed or sold as one. In our last house we had something similar in the basement. We had a bonafide bedroom with window to code including a closet and then another room with a window that was not an escape window and it had a closet also (it was our workout room there too). There was never a problem mentioned when we sold the last one but I haven't checked so maybe I should. Depth would be for hanging so 2- 2 1/2 foot would be all I'd need I think?

The natural jute or seagrass rugs will not look as good on carpet and may permanently discolor the carpet. Plus, it is just another edge for kids to trip on, so I personally would not layer flooring in that room just for looks. Reluctantly agree with above poster who speculated that bar table, while cute, would end up as a horizontal surface only (read: repository for anything you need to put down) and not as an eating area. I would maybe get a bigger ottoman than the chair (if you replace the chaise) would need, and get a nice big melamine tray with sides and a handle for the top for their food. (If you decide you want to try a table I wouldn't try a round one if it is going up against a wall for obvious space considerations, and I would get a regular height one, not the pub height...... think kids horsing around and falling off those high stools, their center of gravity is pretty high.) I bought a bolt of green and white mattress ticking fabric online years ago and had slipcovers made for two sofas. The slips outlasted the sofas! The navy and white (more in real life like navy and off white) is very durable if the fabric is cotton twill and woven, not simply printed on the surface. If you google signal flag pillows (images) you'll see an embarrassment of riches. If you go the signal pillow route you can always just do solid color pennants on the rafters. There are etsy shops that will make them to order in the colors you desire or you might find them already made. I have to say though that I really like the flags on rafters picture posted above!