It is also possible that it bloomed before you bought it. The $2 price tag makes me think you got it in the after-Christmas sale. Many, many bulbs bloom in the box between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Haven't you ever seen the scapes shooting out the top of the box or zigzagged back in forth in the tiny little compartment? The store employees cut off the blooms sticking out the top of the box, put the bulb back in the box and sell it for $2 in the after-Christmas sale. Nothing lost - it's not like the store could have stopped it from blooming - and the bulb will bloom again. Carol

You need to watch for putting too much of the design in the actual contract. You'll be bound to that decision which could end up being a problem if you later change your mind. On the other hand, if you're exactly positive then it could be a good thing. I hired an architect first (or a KD could do the same) who specified high-level what was needed, for purposes of a quote. That included preliminary decisions around appliances, just for pricing purposes (they weren't what we picked in the end.) The estimate came in based on that document. I then attached my initial spec in as an Appendix, then had some wording talking about how to negotiate changes to the preliminary scope. To me things like where to put electrical wall switches, etc. shouldn't go in without some proviso saying you're free to make final determinations later. Do you want to be bound now to the decision you make in these cases before you start the work? It's important to work though changes in scope and impact on cost. Unless your design is really complete or unless you've done this before a few times, it's unlikely your final price will be what you're quoted now unless they come in with a fixed bid (which I'd argue isn't in your best interest unless you have no ability at all to go beyond your set price limit). If your planned interaction with the GC will be minimal (e.g. you won't be in the building or need to rely on specs to communicate decisions) then I'd put the specificity in specs and refer to the spec documents. Permitting, code compliance, etc. are all very good things to have in the contract -- for me they were drawn up in my architect (or KD) initial drawing / spec. Payment plan is also important (at what milestones do you release portions of payment). Also, I'd include the prime / sub contractor relationship (or say that all payments go only to the prime) and ensure that you'll have lien waivers to protect you in the future. This post was edited by calumin on Mon, Jun 24, 13 at 16:10

No regrets. After being in our kitchen for 3 1/2 years I think our best decisions were based on getting items that we knew would be helpful for the way we function (i.e. everytime we had traffic jams at the sink in our old kitchen---usually several times a day---I daydreamed about the way our new kitchen would function with a separate prep sink on the opposite side of the kitchen) and cutting the items that we thought "could" be useful or we thought we might regret not getting down the road. I appreciate not having any more appliance, plumbing, or electrical worry than we already have. There were a bunch of items,including a potfiller, I wanted when I saw them in magazines or read about them on this forum. Dh and teen dd steered me toward simplicity and I'm thankful they did. Stick with the items you feel sure about (and for some, a potfiller will be on this list)---those are the items you'll most appreciate. As far as fridge water supply with no drain vs. potfiller with no drain: we had never had a fridge hooked up to a water supply before. I was willing to risk damage to our 100-yr-old wood floors because I was pretty sure the easy access to ice would increase the amount of water my family would drink---and it did, by a lot. I'm pretty sure the risk vs. reward ratio would be a lot less favorable for a potfiller--for my family (and the opposite may hold true for other kichens.)

This lady has ... some ... cool!! Busy getting things ready ... with not much time to spare ... has a real spill ... that makes not just a plain=-run-of-the-mill mess ... ... but a really gooey one ... spread over a wide area ... with complications (which requires help fom the dogs to get cleaned up) .... And, with company due soon, comes to write an extended story to her cyber friends about the whole mess - ending up saying that the company is due in 20 min. or so: that's equanimity for you! This gal operates with appreciable cool! Of course ... she's a social worker. Hope you all had a great, accident-free, celebration. Good wishes for having a great, uncomplicated New Year's celebration, Susan ... ... and a non-messy, great, uncomplicated New Year, as well. ole joyful