I think it's great. I was a little dissapointed at first because the flowers were tiny and the shrub wasn't very vigorous. However, it has grown like gangbusters since then. It has crystal clear, beautifully formed, huge white flowers. The fragrance is very light to my nose, but I don't think I have a very sensitive sniffer. Also, the foliage has been remarkably clean w/o spraying.

OK, your replies are just what I needed to hear to get me more focused... and browsing the FKB and everywhere else I could google a picture. Kelleg, I am attracted to clean lines.... and this has been creeping up on me over the past year or so. We have so much stuff. Old stuff. Antiques, etc. I want a space that is fresh. Although the cabinets are shaker they are a modern shaker...so I can pull it off, I think. The black sink will be history... I'm drooling over the Orca...but not worried about that decision yet. I'm thinking about Labrador Antique or Blue Eyes for the tops...and I really liked RemodelFla's idea of a limestone look porcelain tile, or maybe even grey. How about that? Igloochick...been thinking about your story all weekend...hoping things will work out for you. Off topic, but, Yandi...Jasmine is my bestest girl. She will be 14 in June...we lost her brother (ache, ache) a year ago in January. We also have a Scotty and a cat...so are thinking we wanted hardwood, but will probably do tile...we had it in our last home and loved it. It looked sort of like mud :) I wonder if Labrador Antique and Blue Eyes are considered the same price point? Gotta get up for work tomorrow...so I'd better quit obsessing and get some sleep! I really appreciate your responses...

OK, here is where I see it. First, the backsplash in the kitchen on both sides is all white tile between countertop and bottom of cabinets. the actual kitchen itself will not have a lot of red. Just along both walls above cabinets the two sides in front and the wall at back between ktichen and washroom. It's that huge piece of wall by the bay window, when combined with the other three walls that I'm concerned about; i.e., too much red. Here's a plan. Option 1: Paint the whole wall red, except for the bay window and that protruding half wall by the front door. Option 2: Paint the whole wall Bee's Wax (yellowish gold) except leave the bay window and half wall white. (note: I have been having a problem with all the edges between the red and white. A lot of 45 and 90 degree edges. I'm going to have to spend a great deal of time cleaning the half of them up before I learned how to paint them without bleed through.) Option 1, Step 2: Paint the bay window and half wall Bee's Wax. Install a trim strip all the way around the room at that line between the red and white, painted Bee's Wax. and maybe paint the trim around all the doors Bees Wax also, leaving the trim at the floor white. OK - so vote: (1) red or Bees Wax; and (2) trim strips or not. :)

@Sophie Wheeler -- Thank you for taking the time to offer your advice on how to better improve the flow of the kitchen. It is very kind of you to help others. Our cabinets are already ordered so it is too late to change layout. In any event, I think with all choices there are trade offs. When my neighbor redid her kitchen and implemented the design you suggested, she lost her pantry --as Tina Klucsik suggested would happen. She now uses a closet under the stairs as her pantry. I prefer my pantry in the kitchen. In the 12 years I have lived in this house, I never once thought I wish I had more prep space. Actually, I think I have only had three complaints about my kitchen. 1) I hate the shutters over the windows by the kitchen table -- I like bright, wide open windows. I was always afraid to take them down because we have shutters everywhere in the house. (They were here when we moved in.) I have decided to go crazy and remove them. 2) I hate the clutter on the kitchen island. So I studied what exactly gets put on the kitchen island and designed storage options to accommodate that. Fingers crossed. And 3) I wished we had a couple of seats at the end of the island. So we are adding that. I know we can sometimes be surprised with things we didn't know we needed. When we bought the house, the folks who lived here before left the granite top kitchen table -- it is so heavy it was too expensive to move to the East Coast. I kind of thought the granite top kitchen table was a little strange (never having had one before), but now I can't imagine having anything different because it is so unbelievably durable and everything just cleans right up. (Finger paint, spilled easter egg dye -- you name it!) Also, it doesn't get scratched and it doesn't get water rings. That is a long way of saying I really appreciate folks sharing their wisdom and introducing reluctant remodelers to new ideas.