Keep a couple of things in mind before making your decision: digital format stores nicely and is convenient; however digital formats have changed greatly over the past few years and are expected to continue to change... think about those irreplaceable -and unreplaceable- Polaroids. If you do go digital, wrap the original photos in acid-free paper and then vacuum-pack so your great-grandkid has a chance to see them. Which is another thing, if you don't want these and your kids don't want these; maybe they aren't worth keeping under any circumstance -especially if they are out-of-focus or photos of your cousin's first dog. But if you do keep a few photos, be sure they (each and every one) are well-labeled and dated. DH has albums with pictures of many, many relatives -- some are marked 'Uncle Joe' or 'Mom's Aunt Sue'... no one now alive has the vaguest idea who these folks were, and although I've heard that Uncle Joe's real name was Donald I don't know his last name, and none of the cousins today know who was the "Mom" that had an Aunt Sue. Now me, I have no photos of any relatives, because mum was sure no one would ever be interested in the past -- and when I was in my twenties and thirties, I surely was not interested. So mum disposed of everything before she passed on. Nowadays, I would dearly love to have at least one picture of my parents or grandparents. And the last thought: If the group pictures are dated and you know the details (where, why, when the pic was taken), you may find an organization that would like to have them. Genealogical societies may interested if the people are well identified; and there are historical sites that collect dated photos of the world around us.

Hah! I never thought of that until you mentioned it, Minnie... just use my computer and printer to make as many copies of a picture as I need! So much more versatile (and cheaper!) than buying sets of prints or greeting cards to cut up.

Marie, I couldn't see the pictures, but I think that's the website that I used. I'm doing one for my DD's baby quilt. Might actually be the project I work on today at Retreat so I'll be able to post a picture soon. You don't need anything extra to help it stand up, and wouldn't want stiff stuff anyway unless it's to be a wall quilt. By the time you fold the way you need to, it shows dimension just fine. It is a bear for quilting...many professional quilters would turn this job down, I think. I'll post mine soon.

Thank you all very much for the inputs. They are extremely valuable. Here is a drawing with the dimensions. For the next few years, the house will be for me and my girlfriend. Down the road, perhaps some kids but I will likely upgrade to something bigger then. This is a 2 story house and the bottom is all garage/undeveloped area because the house is on a slope. I will develop the downstairs later but it is a more complicated and costly affair. There is no internal garage access but I did not want to sacrifice the little space there is for stairs. The big windows to the right (in drawing) have very good views, so I try to preserve that. There are some views to the upper right as well, that is why the corner has windows. The windows can be moved if necessary but the only one I could practically see moving is the one above the sink. I considered making a wider island but as another poster guessed, I wanted to put a dining table by the windows to be able to dine and enjoy the views. The main room ends up being quite awkward because of its length and I have not figured out what to do with it. Indeed, the front door is directly across from the bathroom and that was something I couldn't quite get around. The original door was the same and although the bathroom was expanded, I could not come up with a practical way to move the door elsewhere. The prep sink and dedicated garbage are great ideas. How about a slide out garbage drawer in the island? Thanks again.