That one looks really great, I agree. I have really bad knees so I have a Chef's Gelmat in front of my sink and in front of my stove as well. It is the only thing that enables me to stand for any length of time. It is amazing, but I agree it doesn't look nearly as nice.

Love the modness of it all - and thanks for showing the beginning of the progress. I was wondering where you got the darling hearts and checked pattern - then looked up through the posts. From your plates! Never thought about using more recent plate patterns - I'm not much into garage sales because my mother was so obsessed with them. (not meant as a dig to anyone who likes them - just that I was recruited to drive her everywhere.) Oh, and I brought a heater into my chilly spare bedroom where I work - that really helped with the cutting. Susan

So sorry that I didn't see these more recent comments. I haven't been on GW lately. Thank you for all of your enthusiasm and lovely compliments : ) I'm only home on the weekends now, since my DD's ballet training is becoming more intense in NYC. I miss my kitchen most days!! I'll try and answer all of your questions. Elisa our DCS is a few years old. We bought it before we remodeled when our old range went kaput. I love it. The five burners are amazing. I can fit SO MUCH all at once. I'll post a photo to show you what I mean. Our oven is large and has a convection fan. When we were shopping ranges, the guy at the appliance store told me it's a reliable workhorse, which it has been so far. One of my favorite features is the ultra low burner setting. When you turn the knob all the way it goes to this ultra low setting. So without having to try and adjust the flame low, you just turn the knob all the way and it goes to this setting and the flame can't go out. Even if the flame did go out, it has the self re-ignite feature. MIssy the counter are Julia Soapstone from Texeira in N.J. I adore them. Kngwd I know whatcha mean! I can't believe my "baby" is 23. When we built the house he was still in my belly! KitchenDetective the greenhouse is my husband's project. It's 60 feet long by 20 something feet wide. The cover is two layers of plastic with pumped air in between. He grows stuff in there in the summer that likes heat. But then he also plants another crop of greens, carrots, beets, etc in the late summer. The idea is to get this second crop to be full grown by the time early winter sets in. When winter sets in the plants become dormant. They don't freeze in the greenhouse because he covers the rows with plastic and they keep warm in this way. The moisture also gets trapped under the plastic so the rows stay moist without being watered. Anyway, then all winter we can go out and lift the plastic and pick fresh veggies : ) View from inside the greenhouse

Solid wood flooring is usually 3/4" thick when installed. The necessary sanding removes about 1/16" to 1/8", leaving the flooring a bit over 1/2" to 5/8" thick. Rehabbing badly dinged/worn flooring can take 1/4" off. Most flooring specs say less than 3/8" thick is not acceptable for good performance. Sanding,dying/staining, and finishing will take three days minimum per room and the rooms have to be emptied. A room a week is probably the least invasive. The cost is probably going to be higher to refinish as well. Also, the odds of matching prefinished flooring colors with on site staining/dying are not good. The colors and the finishes will be different, and the prefinished color is probably a recipe of at least three colors. You will also have a difference in wearability between the prefinished(harder finish) than site finished flooring. And, the flooring you have now will probably be different room to room with the same colorants. I installed unfinished maple flooring in our current house and the process took a week and a half. We had not moved in(bought it as a foreclosure) so all that work was done with an empty house. Had we needed to move to clear each room(3Bd, LR, DR, 2 halls, kitchen)---add two weeks. So, unfortunately for you(and I LOVE old floors because of the character), installing new will be better/quicker/cheaper.