Hi Chefwong, I want to reiterate a previous posters comments about white paint in dark space; white won't make your room look brighter lighter. White needs alot of light to come alive. If you look at white rooms in magazines you'll notice they have a tone of daylight and they light the room professionaly. In dark rooms it's really better to go mid tone colors. What colors do you respond to? Blue, green, yellow? You might get a paint deck from Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore and browse the deck and see what you respond to. Also, the site below might be useful to help visualize colors in room. But note too that most of these rooms have alot of light when they are photographed. Here is a link that might be useful: Favorite paint colors blog

Here's a recipe from Food Network Canada chef Christine Cushing. She says to put pot in bowl of iced water to stop it from cooking and to let mixture cool to 200 degrees before dipping apples. Caramel Apples Yield: 4 McIntosh apples seem to be the classic apple to use for caramel apples but try Pink Ladies, Granny Smith or use your favourite apple. 1 1/3 cups light brown sugar, packed (325 ml) 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (75 ml) 1/2 cup 35% whipping cream (125 ml) 4 tbsp golden corn syrup (60 ml) pinch of salt 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (7 ml) 4 McIntosh apples or other tart apples, wash, dried 4 cinnamon sticks, popsicle sticks, dowels or clean twigs Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Make sure to wash and completely dry the apples, give them a polish too - this will ensure the caramel sticks to the apple. Firmly insert stick into stem end of each apple. Set aside. Add sugar, butter, cream, corn syrup and salt to a tall saucepan (the pan needs to be tall enough so the apple can be immersed in the caramel but smaller in width so you get the right volume to dip.) Over medium-low heat, stir the mixture until the butter is melted. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature reads 245 degrees F, about 9 minutes. The mixture will thicken. When the caramel has reached 245 degrees F. remove immediately from the heat and place the bottom of the pot in a stainless steel bowl (or larger pot) of ice water to stop the caramel from cooking further. Be careful not to get any water in the caramel. Remove caramel from the ice bath. Stir the vanilla into the caramel. Let caramel cool slightly to 200 degree F., about 5 minutes, before dipping. Dip the apple into the caramel, holding the apple firmly by the popsicle stick. Be careful not to touch the caramel, itÂs extremely hot. Slowly lift the apple out of the caramel letting the excess drip off back into the pot of caramel. Twirling the apple gently will help to remove excess caramel. Place apple on prepared baking sheet. Note - if all the caramel runs off the apple, let caramel cool a couple of minutes more. If caramel becomes too thick to work with, gently warm it over low heat for a few seconds. Let caramel cool completely on apples before eating, approximately 30 minutes.

Hi, X Glad you are back. I played with your new graph a bit and still can't make it work for me with the DR at the top. Disadvantages: 1. Go through kitchen to reach dead end DR. 2. Not enough clearance around table. 3. I would find the room, even with the windows, enclosed feeling. I do still like Lavender Lass's sketch. But it seems to me that you would not often use the keeping room. Again, you have to walk through the kitchen to reach a dead end space. But it is charming. So I went back to my first plan and played a bit. Yes, I KNOW you don't want a prep sink. I just can't design this iteration of the kitchen without it. So convenient to the DR table and Fireplace sitting area for drinks. So nice for prepping on the island. But that's OK. Go ahead. Ignore me. No prep sink. See if I care. ;o( Considerations: 1. The island is wide--3 feet. Not needed for space, but it seemed to me to ''want'' to be that wide. I wish mine were! 2. I didn't put seating at the island because you have seating so handy at the corner window seat, DR table and the Fireplace seating. 3. This assumes you will eat all meals at the DR table. Not sure if that is your plan. 4. Not sure of your DR table size. This shows 4 x 6 feet, which is a bit tight in the area around it. Suggestion: Have the fireplace chairs on wheels so they can be slid around easily as needed. Anyway, a slightly different arrangement to add to your growing pile of considerations. Hope you are having fun! Sandra

I just took this picture on my phone and I'm typing this on my phone. My kids are playing a lot of video games which is why you see so many cables and wires. Ordinarily, it's fairly tidy. We designed this cabinet 10 years ago. The base cabinets are nearly completely unstructured which allows use to put just about anything inside. Originally our old TV was in the base cabinets but five years ago we bought a flat screen. There are four base cabinets and the three right ones are completely open to each other underneath. The cabinet under the world globe is self contained. There are three separate shelving units above. The entire unit is made of MDF except for an oak edging along the front. We have ten foot ceilings in this room but the built-on is about seven feet tall and twelve feet wide. It's not perfect but it has served us very well. Family games are stored in the right-most cabinet, then videos, then equipment like DVD players, VHS player, the next can has a receiver, CD player... You get the idea. You may not see the cream colored speakers on the top, but follow the ugly wire up on the right. The base cabinets are about 38" tall. Good luck with your project! Caroline, I posted this on your other thread. Directly across from the built-in is a large fireplace. The rest of the family room is mainly doorways and windows. The room measures about 18' by 21.' I really love this piece, it holds a lot of stuff.