Thank you all for the comments. For most of the photos I do, I use my husbands Canon camera which has a telephoto lens. I am assuming that when I focus in closer to the blooms, it blurs out the background. Sharie: I live by Seneca Lake (Yates County). Half way between Watkins Glen and Geneva. Plenty of good wineries over here LOL. Yes, I just got the slate table at Home Depot on sale. I ordered some slate sealer to put on it to help keep stains, etc off of it. I have no idea and the instructions never said whether they applied a sealer to it originally. BTW, I noticed that Kohl's had a square one but some of the reviews for it didn't look too good. Have you ever seen that one? I'm tempted since the price is so low. Avedon: I used an organic fish fertilizer several weeks ago.Do you think that was a bad idea? I know someone said they couldn't get theirs to get any blooms and so a forum member on the Vines Forum mentioned to use the bloom booster. I tried it a few days ago. I'm not sure if I should do a second round or not. I have these MG's growing in large planters so at least I know Grandpa Ott's blooms and I know the vines can grow in large pots. LOL. Break is over and time to get back outside and tackle the vegetable garden. Yikes, what a mess but lots of tomatoes coming. Julia

I knew you knew you were having another boy anyway.. You've been "mis" typing he alot in your baby stories this time around. LOL Congrats..I see alot of boys against the girls competitions in your world..LOL

Tina --- How long will it take you to get to Iowa??? That is awesome!!! I know your pain -- we have a 1600 sq ft old house that had one closet in it and that was under the stairs. We have added built-in storage but it is still difficult. You are amazing!!!!! Pat yourself on the back....... and then book a ticket to Iowa -- I need you in my craft/storage closet!!!! Cathy

Interesting..... I had this vision in my mind to do the cabinets in a dark cherry to tie in with the bedroom and bathroom for over a year now. It was only yesterday that the designer suggested white and I immediately dismissed it, yet since then, the idea has been growing in my mind. There is a lot of white trim throughout the house with the doors and molding plus the blinds there now are also white so it is really not adding another woodtone look. I could see myself making it less stuffy too with a fabric valance on the bay windows. The other advantage is that it is less expensive and it puts the third designer we met with (who will work through Costco and most likely the less expensive of the three--we get a $10 cash card at Costco for every $100 we spend, plus we pay through Costco and it counts for our EOY rebates). I am just going to sit with this idea in my mind for a few days as it is a big shift in my thinking for this room, but this type of input is so impt. for me. I will call the other two and tell them to quote in both the african walnut and white, but as of today, I'm leaning towards the white myself for a more airy, less stuffy look. It is very hard to visualize how very small this is. It is only 8'9" (including the 3' bay bumpout) x 10' (including the step). Doing any type of cabinetry on the north wall would block the entryway. We wanted the desks to face out into a window so we have a view of our backyard while working. That way the blinds can be open yet no glare on a monitor. The desk locations are really fixed as all wiring and lighting has already been done with that in mind. funkart: You brought up some very good points. We are working with closet companies for now that have all the insides for offices and do the wire management so it's not fully custom without an upcharge. So choices really are either 20"D or 24"D cabs but the countertop will have an overhang of 1-1/2". Yes, my kids (3 of them) do use it occasionally though DS has his own laptop, older DD we are in process of buying a laptop for her and my 7-year-old will probably start using it more and more--just the computer. Everyone (all 5) will use the printer (networked) and we may add a second one for laser printing (either here or in DS's room who has greatest need right now), but the narrower depth should still accomodate that. The narrow depth will definitely make it easier to reach over and open the windows. DH wants 20" and I'm leaning towards that as well. I actually want to cut down on the desktop clutter so I'd say more impt. is having enough storage to put it all out of sight--that alone I think will have the biggest impact. I guess things get lost in the back of drawers/cabs. anyway. The uppers will probably be 14" deep, though only one upper. The one tall cab could be something different--could even be 24"D and desk cabs 20"... I'm still trying to figure out the size of the cab since the wire we put in for the plug mold is right smack in the middle where we would do two equal sized cabs and I'm not sure how much it can be move--so the tall cab may end up being larger--closer to 36" and we also need some filler of the left to accomodate the drawer clearance. I'm still debating putting an upper on the west wall or just leaving a bare wall as I don't want to feel closed in, though I'd really like some overhead paper trays over the printer to load it up. Today I'm going to head out to 2 of the showrooms and will visit the third tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have a clearer idea then. It took me 6 mos. to design my kitchen (time well spent) though I'm hoping to do this one in much less time as we are so sick and frustrated with dealing with it as it is....