Um... There were symptoms last year before the kitchen remodel, but the CO alarms were in the fall. There is a gas water heater in a closet set into the wall with an exterior door. I think it has it's own flue straight up. The heater serviceman did check it, and the exhaust pipe and thought that wasn't the problem. There's another gas water heater in a shed behind my studio, separate building, completely not part of the main house. There are gas starters in the fireplaces that I've never used. The gas dryer only gets used an average of 6 times per month--but not since last April until a couple of weeks ago because of the remodel. It's been unhooked in the dining room. Not a factor when the alarms went off. I added the vent hood in the old kitchen, but wasn't cooking much in the year before the remodel for various reasons. The new hood is twice as powerful, and goes in next week. There might have been some insulation added in the attic when I bought the house. I change out a couple of windows in the kitchen during the rough construction last Spring. I think some gaskety things were added to the french doors in the dining room and living room, but they're still not 100% airtight. During the construction there has been plastic sheeting over the whole dining room opening and the kitchen door, isolating the back of the house. The air intakes are in the middle, but on the main house side. I was told that the volume of my house meant that make up air wasn't required for the new hood. I hope that's true, or I'm going to be having to open a window, because that's how the room was created. The CO problem has nothing to do with the new, not installed, hood, however. The only thing going during the time when the alarms went off was the water heater. The only cooking appliance during that time was a microwave in the front of the house.

I may be reading into your 'gut,' because I think it agrees with what I like ;-)... But the one with the white/stainless fridge and yellow oven/pantry really speaks to me. I thought having both tall cabs in white somehow chopped up the kitchen and diminished how the yellow grounded the room. And I didn't like them both trying to be matched in either color, because then they connected and took over the room. The oven cabinet looks somehow warmer and homier in color. It creates more of a natural-feeling unfittedness. The oven cab seemed too sterile and modern in the white, and as I said, the yellow bases flow better with it the same color. I know my input is just an opinion, and on just a drawing to boot. It seems you know what you want in your gut, but are 2nd guessing and wanting some kind of sure encouragement. But it's your kitchen, and we'll all have our own preferences. Your choices prove your good eye. I thought I grew past yellow ...used to love its sunny disposition in my bedroom as a teen, but it usually seems too baby shower to me now. So when I just started this thread, I thought "Too much yellow!" But as I read and saw more pics of your choices and how it's all coming together, I really love it all, and am excited to see it finished!! I think a lot of people want to use it and fight against it, at the same time, and you are just "all in." The layering of the yellows work like the white-on-white that's been popular recently, but with a braver twist. I think the 'mistake' with your wall color was a good one. ;-)

$100 is very very inexpensive for a comprehensive audit. but it is what it is. the good news is the rooms are sealed at wall/ceiling. usually in homes with ceiling moldings, the gap at wall to ceiling is covered up, & not sealed. so you are one step ahead of the game there. in home efficiency the importance of the location of the air leakage counts. most efficient is to seal the air barrier between living & attic space. you are good with the leakage site described above, and having no recessed lights. second most efficient place to seal/insulate is the floor. this is your air barrier between crawlspace & conditioned space. when the house was built, chances are the sole plate of the exterior walls was not sealed to the subfloor. again..a tiny leakage site that quickly adds up to a lot of leakage, given the amount of wall area. ideally sill seal or caulk would have sealed sole plate to subfloor...how to retrofit now? caulk top of floor molding to wall, and bottom of molding to floor (if not carpet) or take floor moldings up, caulk & re-install moldings. if you have pets...you do not want to caulk moldings to floor as the caulk will always collect pet hair. (this I know from personal experience...) when you talk of feeling cold air circulating (in first post) where do you feel the air? at your feet? shoulder height? more details needed. but back to floors over crawlspaces...no insulation in the floor? is the cold you feel from the floor area? post more details & we will walk you through some basic air sealing. drop me an email & I'll share info from lsu ag center's study on air sealing floors of raised homes. we have found that the best way to air seal & insulate floors is spray foam insulation. closed cell...3". makes a world of difference. pricy, but you air seal & insulate in one step. having done several homes where we manually sealed holes, then insulated with fg batts & came back on the bottom of the joists with 1" cc foam sheathing...it is the same $$ as spray foam. and a lot less labor intensive. in the meantime here is some excellent air sealing info from southface inst. http://www.southface.org/default-interior/documents/airsealingkeypoints.pdf best of luck

In the desert southwest, there's long been a problem of dust in the air (although the massive dust storms in places like Phoenix AZ that are so huge that day looks like night until it has passed...those are relatively new in size/frequency and science data indicates the region's dust inundation is worse than what was seen in the central/southern plains Dust Bowl period of the 1930's). It's a matter of prolonged severe drought killing plant life with even the deepest of roots in the ground, leaving nothing to keep the soil from being blown away by the winds. It's next to impossible for a house to be 100% air-tight, and dust can get in through the tiniest of cracks and crevices, not to mention any time you open a door to the outside. How often do you vacuum and dust the entire home? I know it's not terribly fun to clean, but those of us who lack the funds to pay someone to clean our house (or simply have decided to use them for other budget priorities instead of paying someone to clean our house) are responsible for doing the various tasks involved in cleaning our home(s). It may only seem like the accumulation of dust is limited to the kitchen, while soft surfaces such as carpet and upholstered furniture gather just as much if not more - accumulating dust that something as normal as walking around the room can grind down into the carpet fibers, so there's that possibility. A vacuum (even a Dyson if you don't regularly rinse the machine's 'on board' filters and allow them to fully dry before putting them back into the vacuum) will lose it's suction capabilities over time, and manufacturers don't make them to last forever anymore - they need people to buy a new one more often if they're going to stay in business! If you recently replaced your carpet, that can also be adding to the dust circulating through the house. We had water damage in our basement and had to replace the bottom 24" (give or take) of drywall plus the insulation behind it that the water remediation company cut out to prevent the water absorption by these materials from reaching any higher up the wall. In the process of putting in new drywall, mudding and sanding it, etc...there was SO MUCH fine white drywall dust that the central a/c-furnace filter was caked with it and it was all over the house. Because drywall dust is so fine it would have damaged my vacuum in the process of using it to clean that dust myself, the workers had to bring in their own heavy duty vac unit to clean everything up and of course replace the filter plus clean all the ductwork. The dust and pollens that are blown indoors after the area farmers have finished the harvest...those are an altogether different (and seasonal-ish) problem but at least I can vacuum that stuff off the floors and upholstery!