Mommy2twocuties, we determined our main floor square footage by first deciding which rooms we had to have on that floor. As far as room sizes, one thing I did to visualize was to measure the sizes of rooms we had in our existing house and use that as a jumping off point. For example we had a dining room at the existing home that was 11x11. I knew from living in that space that it was much too tight for the table and china cabinet that we had and the buffet that I want someday. Based on that, I knew that 14x16 was the minimum size that I wanted. We also used the same formula for determining approximate sizes for the family room, bedrooms, walk in closets and kitchen. Because our existing rooms already had the furniture and stuff that would be moving with us, it made the numbers feel real to us and give some additional perspective. Once you know what you want/need for rooms on a floor, and the approximate size of each, you can better ball park the square footage that you are looking at. It will still bloat up with hallways, stairwells and closets, but you will know if you need to be looking at 1500, 2100, or 2800 square feet to accommodate your wants.

I want to thank you all SO MUCH for the book suggestions! I know I'm a broken record, but now that my younger son (he's two years-old) has gained more independence I've been able to read more (as I'm able to get chores done while he's awake [and he "helps" me] rather than waiting until he's asleep to tackle everything), and I am not kidding, I am in heaven. Heaven! I do most of book searching by reading Sunday book sections as well as Entertainment Weekly / Newsweek book reviews and Amazon recommendations (you know, people who've purchased this book have also purchased X, Y and Z). I haven't been able to happily browse in the library since my children became mobile (my eldest is four) -- they love books and reading (or being read to) as well, but I'm uncomfortable leaving them alone in the children's section while I peruse the adult books. I first read Bill Bryson when we were living in Australia: I read his In a Sunburned Country and fell in love with his writing! In junior high school I read Fannie Flagg's Coming Attractions and think she did a great job evoking the time and place and style. Plus she made me laugh aloud, repeatedly. I participate in PaperBack Swap, a place where you can post your books to send to other members (it's a free club) and you can request books, too. Like, I posted a handful of books I no longer needed to own (paper- and hard- back) and various members requested them. I sent the books to them. I requested books in which I was interested (doesn't matter whose they are -- you receive credits for posting books, and you use those credits to request books from other members). One I recently read and which made me howl was Trisha Ashley's Every Woman for Herself -- definitely old British manor house descriptions galore in that one! Oh, and I Capture the Castle (lovely, lovely story) by Dodie Smith in which a family castle plays a significant role. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell takes place in Greece and besides being a delightful read also colorfully describes the family's home there. There was a horrible Katie Fforde I recently read (cannot recall the title at present ...) but boy did she do a terrific job describing the beautiful house, its wallpaper / furnishings, the kitchen and its set-up and the garden. Too bad the story itself was crap. I've never read or really read about Death by Inferior Design but I do love the title! I remember a few years ago reading a blurb about a nonfiction memoir by an American woman who married a Scots and how she rehabbed his family castle and had marital difficulties ... but I was never able to remember either the author or the title. I think I read about it in either House & Garden or Town & Country; searching online has yielded nothing (and I have tried). Maybe when my two year-old starts nursery school next year I can go to the library and comb through old issues of both magazines and see if I can come up with it. It sounded right up my alley!

Hey Radiodok... Nope...I just paint fantasy art. My brother had the book back in the 70's and had a friend of mine paint it. I did a copy of the painting back in 1985. I am now making another copy of it for an art fair. i didn't think I would ever see the cover again SamKaren your resident DJ

It's good to be back - I've been having so many probs with aol etc., and hopefully going to Pembrokeshire in a couple of days. Small world - another of my lit group's friends is in 'Another Life' - I watched it on TV a few months ago. Rene has been and is still researching Edith Chapman as you will see from his email to me yesterday. "... It was a great pleasure this morning. I should be delighted to come and talk about Edith Thompson whenever you want me to. As Barry may have told you, she is commemorated in the very church in which she was married every 9 January; the church being Barry's beloved St Barnabas in Manor Park. I was very pleased when the present incumbent kindly agreed to carry on with the tradition. The very first sentence of Edith's sister Avis's will (she died in 1977) refers to 9 January and her desire for her adored sister to be remembered in perpetuity..."