Larry, They both have cancer? Oh, my. That is a really tough break. I understand what they are going through, having been through it myself and having a family member battling cancer now too. I cannot imagine what your daughter and son-in-law would do without you right now, and am glad you live close enough to them to be able to help them. Mia, The north-south or east-west issue is as old as the hills. I believe the technically correct answer is that in most cases it is preferable to run beds north-south to take full advantage of both morning and afternoon sun as the sun passes from east to west. When you plant this way, as the sun passes overhead, the plants are not shaded by the plants on either side of them. Taller plants like corn, tomato plants, pole beans, tall forms of okra, etc. should be on the north end of the garden so they do not shade shorter plants. However.... We all live in the real world and have to take other factors into consideration. I consider the slope of the land to be the deciding factor in how to run rows if you are not on relatively level ground. So, for those of us gardening on a slope, I think it is better to run our rows sideways across the slope instead of up-and-down the slope. When you run your rows across the slope, you can reduce the impact of erosion. Someone like me whose garden slopes both from west to east and from south to north has to use creative bed placement to stop erosion as much as possible. I have most beds running east-west because that is what works with my slope, but some running north-south, also to reduce erosion. It isn't perfect, and I tinker with the layout from time to time, but I'm happy with it overall. For someone in a very exposed area where wind exposure causes lots of damage to the plants, those gardeners might choose to site the rows based on the direction from which their most damaging winds tend to come. For someone whose garden is in a yard with homes or other buildings, wooden stockade fences, trees, etc. nearby, a person needs to site their garden rows in whichever manner works best with the surrounding items that may case shade on the beds or funnel rain runoff onto them or whatever. In a new home, you partly have to guess at how this will work your first year. The sun and shadow patterns you observe at this time of year will not be the same patterns you'll see in summer. Now, having said all that, I sat here and thought about the gardens belonging to people on roads nearby and most of their rows run east-west. We all have different issues with terrain, but even the gardens I can think of that are on flat land or relatively flat land near us run their beds from east to west. I can think of only two that run north-south. You'd have to pick the brain of each individual to see why they choose to run the beds east-west or north south. In the one area where I have beds on relatively flat land, the rows do run north-south. Dawn

Thank you all again. I begin to doubt my choices after awhile as I'm getting worn out! I have decided on ORB. It seems to go well with my counter tops which are actually a bronze tone. I was expecting more of a black when I ordered them but the specks of color made them look different. The ORB handles have a great projection also, which my husband and I decided was important. My second choice would have been antique nickle as I think those would have looked nice as well. Again, I appreciate everyone's input... off to the finish line.

ok, i just wanted to follow up now that i'm back on track. thank you all for the feedback. for full disclosure, i went through my own stages of grief. my first reaction was frustration that many of you were telling me not to use these curtains i was 100% planning to use and absolutely LOVE passionately when i was only asking for help on the means with which to hang them! then it turned to sadness that you don't like my drapes. then it turned to realization that i've had the same concerns about the formality and the length all along but didn't want to admit it because i love them so. then finally acceptance - these drapes have to go back. lol i more of the elements in the whole open space, and i think i'm on a much better track now. i'm scared to share my new plans because i love this new direction. :) i'm going to go with 1 panel on each window, hung all the way up near the beam at 120", side swooped outward and tied back with rope. i can't decide between opaque linen and textured linen, but i'm pretty sure i'm going with the spruce color from Restoration hardware. here's the look: but this is the color: unless you have tips for sources for lovely linen drapes in 120" length. i'm looking for something in a soft subtle minty green. these RH spruce drapes are more on the blue side. The RH ones are my max price range. any ideas for other places i should look? thank you all so much for your help in digesting the perspective i didn't want but desperately needed to see!

Thank you all for your pics... I'm so visual and it has really helped me. I have 111" once the wall on the right side of the frig and the wall leading to old laundry room come out. With my bakers table that leave me with 40" for frig space and the existing left wall. I like the way all the frigs are framed out and I think erika's look could work for me. I'd either have to have DH build the wall just a little narrower then the standard 4" thickness OR just get a narrower frig then 36". I need to leave ventilation space since it won't be a built in frig.... just look like one. He's gonna love me when I tell him he has to take out a wall just to rebuild one 9" further down! Yep... I really happy with this solution. I think it'll make the bakers table stand out. I won't have to worry about how cabinetry would look against it. If I have a cabinet above the frig I'll either do open shelves with baskets or stainless frame and frosted/seeded/some kind of glass doors. I think I want stainless shelves above the bakers table. In fact, I know I do! My only uppers will be on the inside wall of the sink run. If I can get away with not needing them, I don't think I want to do uppers on the cooking run. If there wasn't an ugly storage shed backed up against the cooking run I'd put in windows. I tried to convince DH to take the shed out cause I'd have a great view but no dice. We keep pool and lawn stuff in there. The door you see in the layout across from the ovens we're going to switch out to a glass front steel door. That'll bring in some natural light. I would LOVE to put a Solartube across from the cooktop about 5' in. I'm babbling... it's a stream of conciousness thing!