I'm Becky. I'm finding out that my behavior is not that of an addicts, but completely normal (at least here!) LOL! I started 29 different varieties of heirlooms - all from old seeds (2009-2012). All 29 varieties of tomato seeds germinated!!! Some with more success than others. Now I have 100+ seedlings taking over the living room, dining room and spare room. Its like Wild Kingdom in here! Of yeah, in the garden, I have room for 40 or so plants.

That is what makes this especially meaningful and fun for me to share. So many of you have been through my myriad of posts over these few years with each acquisition, bargain, odd doesn't seem to fit in but I had to have it find. I was hoping to come home to some drawer installations today... but DH wasnt' in the mood... he's allowed. I've done all of them so far so it may end up being my responsibility. I'm so tired after work... it's a waaayyyy longer drive from here. I always stop at the other house to pick something up, check on this, stop at the store. By the time I get in I just want to chill a bit and take a nap. This is why it's taking forever! Plus.... we are out of money for now!!

A2gemini, thank you for the kind words! I love your kitchen and had spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make the Rixi work as it looks so gorgeous in your kitchen (and Ellendi's!). If you click in the picture, that should take you to a few more pictures at different angles, etc. I also showed some close ups of the edge we switched to which was more of a rounded edge with a flat bottom. We originally had a mitered edge to hide the seam somewhat better than a regular laminated edge as we have a plywood base. What I found out was that some granites chipped more than others, especially when they become paper thin at the 45 (??) angle necessary to fit the two pieces together. JP was one of those granites, so there were more epoxy areas than I had envisioned. It also bothered my elbows when sitting at the island. We also had them match the rounded aspect at the sink edge and the backsplash edge, which IMO, makes it a bit different than the 'norm.' As far as the island, for as many con's were against it, we had just as many pro's for it. I always said I wanted an island in my next house. Well, we've been here 15 years and it doesn't appear that we are moving anytime soon so we made it work. I am so glad we did, it really gets used a lot. We had to forgo the kitchen table, however we still have the dining room table if we need more or formal seating. Resale may be affected down the road, however as there isn't any sink or cook top on it, it could be very easily removed and put back to being able to fit a table. Another issue was with the existing bench seat (non removable as the wall behind the bench does not go all the way down to the slab...association rules against changing any exterior) but it's fine. I am still toying with painting the dark trim piece that is there so it fades a bit more into the background. I got a pretty basket that I set on the bench in the center to hold the daily mail and newspaper....so it doesn't function as a bench but more of an overflow space. Thanks again for your reply! I am happy to say I have not shed a single tear over this kitchen since!!

I cannot comment on the reputation of TAS but I know in my area (Spokane, WA) a lot of TAS laminate has been laid, especially the Bentley varied-width planks. It seems to be very durable and scratch-resistant. We had an almost identical floor installed as the TAS Equinox you're asking about. We installed Calypso Tundra laminate (from PacMat) which is a 12mm water-resistant floor with the special treated core just like Equinox. The Calypso has a lifetime residential warranty and 15yr light commercial warranty and also has a 2mm pad attached to the planks. I did test it with pooled water for several hours and nothing absorbed or damaged the planks even though I poured the water between the plan,s on the seam. TAS Bentley Smoke (not water-resistant) is the exact same color/pattern as Calypso Tundra so they get their designs or whatever from the same place and market them differently. We don't move into our new house until the end of June/early July so I can't comment on personal experience but the installer said it's very durable from his experience installing it and it's so rigid that he has to use a new blade to cut it every job. He also said he has installed a LOT of it. I love that it can go 66' without a transition strip! We have it installed in our entire main floor (including kitchen and powder room) and the only areas you have to put transition strips are where there are doors, so for us we have a strip at the powder room door and at the office French doors but nowhere else. I can also comment on how solid it feels to walk on it...no clicky sound like previous laminate floors. We have a partial dropped floor system where the front of the house floor joists are 16"OC and the back of the house is 12"OC and it all feels solid and quiet...though I will say that walking on the 12"OC joist floor areas literally feels like a slab foundation which I love. So, the laminate is nice and solid feeling. :)