I have silk panels from L&T but haven't put them up yet so I can't tell you how satisfied I am, though I certainly expect to be. I did want to give you a heads up on how to save even more money, though. When I bought my panels they had two promotions that overlapped - the 25% off sale, plus they had any size panel for the lowest size price. So I bought my 84" panels for the price of 64", plus the 25" store promo, plus the 20% off coupon! I figured out I saved about 60%. It was just a fluke that I walked in the store when they were running two promotions, but maybe a friendly salesperson there can tell you what kind of sales are on the horizon... Nicole

They were always way too overpriced to begin with. I found most things they carried, ie small kitchen gadgets, appliances etc could be bought elsewhere much cheaper. I'm really surprised too that a store like Williams Sonoma manages to stay afloat. When I was in Toronto last week I popped in the downtown WS store and couldn't believe the exhorbitant prices of their wares which are cheaper just about everywhere.

You remember the reasons given for it being essential to let the market decide which is the best way to go? That competition will ensure that everyone offers the products and services that people desire ... they claim. And it's partly true ... the corporations love competition ... among their suppliers. That way, the big guys can dictate to each supplier what they're willing to pay: take it or leave it. If they're big enough, many suppliers will take it ... until they are near bankrupt. They love competition among their customers: if there are only a few, they have too much negotiating power ... there is more or less a level playing field. But ... they hate it on their own level. Remember how we had a lot of little (granted, inefficient) dairies? The locally dominant dairy'd come in and offer the little guy about half what his business was worth. If he refused, they'd undercut his prices till he could no longer survive. Then the big guys came along and ate the middle-sized ones. When you have half a dozen players doing 80% of the business, do you figure that there's much competition? We have a small number of gasoline suppliers in Canada. When there's a price rise ... four local stores all put up their price to the same amount ... at the same time. After many complaints were heard, the government carried out several evaluations, over the years. They all came up with the conclusion that, yes, there is competition in the petroleum business. And all is well. As communism fell in Russia, many very large businesses and agencies were sold off to certain well-placed individuals or small groups. So they start off with heavy centralization, from the start. The same is going on in China as they gear up for participation in the market eceonomy - many very large companies are being set afloat. A number of them with close association to the Chinese government ... or the army. So theirs is to be a mature, over-centralized, economy from the start. We talk a lot about "freedom" and "democracy" ... which we mean to be operational in the political, and substantially in the social, realm. But a measure of "economic democracy" that some of us feel to be a worthwhile way to fly, doesn't get much consideration. Corporations run by the golden rule: he wot has the gold ... makes the rules. Good wishes for wise management of your life and assets. ole joyful

Justgottabeme, thanks for the Lowes suggestion. They don't sell the unfinished rings anymore, so I'd have to find those elsewhere. Ordering them online would jack the total price for everything up to what I cna find for everything prefinished, so I think that's out. I went back to Lowes last night and found one set that I like pretty well. It's their new allen+roth line. They have the 6 ft fluted pole in Mahogany stain (lightest Mahogany I've seen!) w/ a square finial (see link below). The total for everything (pole, finials, rings, brackets) is around $63.00. I went to JC Penney at lunch today. I found some Kirsh wood harware that they didn't have on the website. It's basically the same as the stuff at Curtainrods.com except one of the 2 finails they don't ahve on the website. The stain I like at the store is called Hazelnut but it looks like the Walnut on the curtainrods website (the Mahogany on the website is a lot darker than Lowes' color and the Mahogany at JCP). W/ the 20% off sale they are having today and tomorrow and the extra 10% off coupon I have for today only, the total for everything would be around $68, depending on the finials chosen. In the Walnut, at JCP, they only have 2 choices, the plain old round ball (blah! but I could deal with), and this fancy wood carved one (not on the curtainrods.com website) that is not my favorite. My end tables are mission style, and my TV cabinet is supposed to look like an old ice box, kinda Shaker-y in style. So, I have to decide which is more important, the finial I like better but the color is not exactly what I wanted, or the color I want but I'm not crazy about the finial. Ordering everything from the website would be over $100, and I don't like the finials on there that much more to pay an extra $40 - LOL! Never thought I'd be paying more for the hardware than I did the drapes LOL! Thanks everyone! Here is a link that might be useful: allen+roth Mahogany square finial at Lowes