The pole is waaaay up there, at least 14' or 16'. Just sky for a background now, and I don't know how birds feel about their nesting sites. Sparrows and starlings probably could care less! ha. My house is white with a black standing seam roof. I'm leaning towards white with dark green trim myself; but if you look at the photo I posted of the old house on Nov. 13th, it almost looks like the siding of the house was a russet color with green trim. Then on other areas (which aren't in the pic) it looked like it may have been green with red trim. You know my favorite color for outside is "Tinkertown Green",so I could trim it in that (w/white). Hmmmmm.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and comments. Lisalists2000: I guess I'd say our style (if we have one) is eclectic with Southwest accents. Does that make sense? The cabinets are staying pretty much as they are, but are getting refinished to restore the red oak look - they've yellowed quite a bit. Biochem101: Bengals *are* different from any other cat that I've ever had. Much more active, and when they get a mind to, much more destructive. Very loving, and a lot of fun, though. With that, here's yesterday's progress. This shows the framing for extending out the sofit above the refrigerator. The original sofit didn't come out far enough, and the Sub Zero never looked quite right. We're rebuilding its enclosure (and it will be a new BI-36 all fridge). From Kitchen Remodel The tile backsplash is gone. We're replacing it with some cool 6x6 copper glass tiles that we found on closeout. There will be a deco band above the first row of tiles. From Kitchen Remodel We also have some large oak boards that form part of our stair rails that needed refinishing. The cabinet guy took those yesterday. From Kitchen Remodel Some more suprises today, but nothing that can't be handled. It seems as though the crew is making decent progress, but I was only planning to work from home 2 days this week, and so far I've been home every day. Of course, *I'm* getting all of my work done...

Tamara....I know this thread is old, but your kitchen is simply stunning! Are your cabinets Chantilly Lace? I read you kitchen delays and had to smile. I've lost weight and sleep over my darn remodel. Who knew how stressful this would be? If you used Chantilly Lace did you paint your ceiling the same. I just ordered my paint yesterday and I'm freaking out that it might be too bright.....

I like that you are going with wood flooring. I love that in a kitchen! Much softer to stand on than tile, looks great, adds warmth, never goes out of style. Hope it's the real thing and not engineered. The later costs as much but can't be re-finished as much, scratches easily and has a "tinny" sound. Personally, seems like you have plenty of room along the walls to add storage. Having the oven on one side of the sink and a pantry on the other limits the amount of counter space you have at the sink. Feels almost like a tunnel to work within. I'd keep that just lower cabinets with counter space that extends along the wall under the other window... Then at the window if you wish just have that a counter top with a couple of bar stools to sit and look out the window. Can even run that counter along the wall to the side wall making an "L" if that much storage and work space is needed. If that is done, on the upper area where the ovens and pantry unit would have been, just have a couple of shelves. I liked it when I had those in my kitchen reno: I kept the stuff I used daily on the bottom shelf (upper shelf blocks the dust and also things are used so often they don't get dusty) and decorative stuff on the top: it makes for something more interesting and attractive to be looking at from your living room than a wall full of cabinets (functional, but not decorative) I'm not a huge fan of islands. They seem to be a blockade to getting around the kitchen. I think they block the flow of light, and the flow of movement. I'd rather see a table and chairs - they can be easily changed out or moved around to vary the look. You have what looks like a huge butlers pantry: maybe put the ovens in there. You even have a large square work surface/island to use as needed. Well, good luck with it. I remember doing a reno and didn't realize how many decisions I'd have to make - it was overwhelming and highly stressful!