My store in Alexandria VA ships nationwide on Hancock and Moore, I have customers all over the country including many in Illinois. Send me an email to keepingroom@gmail.com and include the model number, the leather cover you are interested in and your zip code and I will get a quote back to you in less than 24 hours. Some notes on pricing. 1) Be sure you get a dealer that stands behind you after the sale, the lowest price is no good if they ignore your phone calls should there be an issue. 2) Home delivery services cost three times more than delivery to a commercial address (18 wheeler accessible off the back of the truck). If you have the capability to unpack it and transport the last mile to your home you can save quite a bit in that area. 3) There are significant price increase coming in January 2021. Supply chain costs have gone up considerably. 4) Century Furniture (Rock House Brands) owns Hancock and Moore. Century has already implemented collection of Sales Tax into Illinois for that brand, its only a matter of time before you will be paying sales tax on H&M into your state as they consolidate accounting systems, this is likely to happen in 2021 as well, along with all the other Rock House Brand Companies. Currently we are shipping Hancock and Moore without that sales tax added. Duane Collie

I once was told by a salon owner to not tip him. I guess because all of what the owner charges goes to that person (even though they have expenses), but with someone working for the owner - a portion of their income goes to the owner. I tip 20% to my hairstylist and also the massage therapist I go to. I recently went to a new massage therapist and did not have much cash with me that day and I always use my card. I should clarify that both my hairstylist and the massage therapist have card thingies set up in their name - it does not go through the shop. My hairstylist knows to let me add tip to the charge, but the therapist didn't. So on my first visit, she didn't get a tip. I didn't have the correct amount to tip her in cash, and she didn't have change (LOL!!). So, Pesky, the next time I saw her, I simply doubled the tip to make up for the previous visit. She does a fabulous job, works me in, and has done wonders for a shoulder/muscle problem I was having. I usually use my card, unless I know they would prefer cash, but that's simply for my own convenience. tina

I have a lot of white (calacatta) marble countertops, but only two little children (four and two), so they're not the ones messing up the counters (that'd be their daddy and me!). I just turned 39 (I mention this for perspective), and I remember being in junior high school (so I was like twelve or thirteen) and seeing a raspberry pink bijou (as in teeny-tiny) kitchen with white marble countertops. It became my dream. For 26 years, I dreamt of a kitchen with white marble countertops. Nothing, no slobby husband, no potentially messy kids, were going to stand in my way. (I gave up on the raspberry pink cabinets years ago, though. I realized that while I love raspberry in doses, it would just be too much in a kitchen of any size.) I think you'd be better of with just your baking stretch of marble (and not the whole island). Every other marble person here I "know" (you know what I mean) is like me: it was going to be marble or nothing. We couldn't envision our kitchens without the marble, and nothing and no one was going to prevent it. I would hate for you or anyone to have any material in their kitchen which leaves you holding you breath, as in holding your breath when your kids are in the kitchen to see if they're doing to ding / stain the countertop. I'd love for a material to take your breath away, but that's totally different! A kitchen is supposed to be a workplace; I know many have made them showplaces (and those are the ones we tend to see in magazines, right?), but it's like having a living room with those plastic runners on the floors and plastic covers on the furniture. Then it's not a room for living, is it? Going through a kitchen remodel is a wonderful thing, and you are so lucky to get to do it. I want you to enjoy your kitchen and I want you to be able to enjoy your kids enjoying the kitchen!

Regarding the refrigerator...you're right to be concerned. It's not located very well. First, it should be on the perimeter so you aren't drawing people who are not working in the Kitchen into the main working part of the Kitchen if they are trying to get to the refrigerator for a snack or for condiments/drinks when setting the table. (Or even just for ice for a cold drink.) The current location is made worse by the peninsula that blocks access on the left. Anyone going to the refrigerator must go around to the right. Second, the doors of the refrigerator must extend out past all items adjacent to it -- walls, counters, cabinets, etc. As it stands in your proposed layout, you will not be able to open the refrigerator doors fully for full access or for cleaning. You need around 12" b/w the wall and the refrigerator. Third, are in the USA now? If so, know that refrigerators are standardizing on 36" widths, so don't constrain yourself with a narrower space b/c it could be difficult in the future to find one narrower than 36". So, plan on at least a 36"W x 72"H space for the refrigerator. My suggestion is to move the refrigerator to the range wall on the end. You can also now have dish storage above & next to the DW. You could also move the peninsula to the other side and have the refrigerator & pantry cabinet(s) on the other side. Something like one of these (note that these are based on very rough estimates of your dimensions. Actual dimensions may change cabinet sizes and workspace sizes): All work zones are nicely separated. There can be multiple people working in this Kitchen at the same time...prepping/cooking, cleaning up, unloading the DW, etc. There's room for at least 3 people. If no one is cleaning up or unloading the DW, then the Cleanup Zone can be used as a third Prep Zone. The refrigerator is on the perimeter where it's easily accessed from the Prep & Cooking Zones as well as for someone looking for a snack or setting the table with condiments or drinks. Someone getting a snack or getting dishes for setting the table will not have to cross through the Prep and Cooking Zones. Note how the Cooking Zone is protected from through-traffic, this is very desirable as this is the work zone that should be the most protected. The best MW location is in Layout #2, also on the perimeter like the refrigerator. There's a Snack Center. However, it's at the expense of the two tall pullout pantry cabinets. In both layouts, the counters on the sink run are 3" deeper than standard to add additional counterspace. If it's within the budget, get 27"D base cabinets/drawer bases as those 3 extra inches of depth add a surprising amount of additional storage space. If deeper cabinets are not in the budget, then simply pull the cabinets out from the wall 3". Note that narrower pullout pantries are more efficient and more accessible storage than wider pantry cabinets. With pantry cabinets wider than 18", things can easily get lost in the depths of the cabinets. However, with pullout pantries no wider than 18", everything is visible and easily accessible.