Normally if a local store is not competitive, there are one of two reasons: 1) The store owner has not adapted to current market conditions. Quite simply, as the profit margins move downward - and they have - they have not revised their business structure to capture sales that would otherwise go to out-of-area dealers. Some store owners insist on adhering to a margin-based price structure and will not adjust. The smart businessman NEVER lets a customer walk out to do business out-of-area. I know a number of store owners who are hard-headed and won't adapt. Its up to you, their local customer, to bring in a price quote and show them that they need to match it or you'll go elsewhere. If enough customers do that, they'll get the message. But if you never tell them, then they don't know. 2) Some furniture makers have a 2-tier price structure. Small stores don't get as large a discount from the maker as larger ones do. Typically its based on dollar-volume sold, or number of pieces put on the floor. So there is a chance that within a certain brand line that you local dealer is paying more for the goods than a larger, out-of-state discounter. This happens to me with Southwood Furniture as an example. My cost basis is 10 % less than the big store in the next county because they do more volume by accident than I do working hard at it. Still they get the volume price and I don't. Nevertheless, I adapt (being a savvy dealer!) and match price or go under them everyday. It results in thin margins, and it does not exactly make me want to invest in a lot of their product for the floor. Personally, I think it a bad policy from the makers as it tends to keep the little guys small regardless of how hard they work for the brand and limits floor exposure for their dealership network. Walk your best price into your local dealer and tell them in no uncertain terms they need to beat it. See what happens! Keep in mind however, that local sales tax is not something that your hometown store cannot waive and should be factored out when price shopping (the flip side of this is that these taxes do come back into your community infrastructure when you buy locally). Duane Collie

DeDe, while there are some names that seem to be the same between soapstone companies and yards, some others create their own names for certain stones. It's hard to compare sometimes. You mentioned having spoken to someone from "the stone place." Please be careful! Soapstone is somewhat special; some granite fabricators claim to be able to handle soapstone, but I'd strongly recommend finding someone who specializes in soapstone if you decide to go that way. On hardness: the hardness is determined by the amount of talc in the stone, and generally, the greyer the stone the softer. Most of the dedicated soapstone companies (i.e., Dorado, Teixeira, Teresina, etc.) will send you samples. (I ordered 12x12ish remnants of the stones I was interested in and then actually worked on them to see how they would hold up against scratches, etc. Very glad I did, because it let me rule out some!) HTH

So interesting to think about the implications of lighting - I will definitely have to play around with different bulbs! Gracie01, the art is actually a 4 piece panel (antique, Chinese, gold w multicolor cherry blossoms, birds, etc) I agree that's not showing as such on the monitor. Pillows are gold in same fabric as chair on opposite wall. Second set of pillows has a creamy background with green-ish geometric pattern - again, absolutely agree it's not appearing that way at all through these pics. I'm realizing that part of my issue is that I never really wanted yellow walls to begin with, and sort of let the painter (whom I actually think is great) influence the decision to do this Greenmount Silk. I'd actually prefer something like a BM Gray Mirage at 50% or so...as it is, the blue against the yellow still looks garish to me. I don't want to change the window treatments, unfortunately, as they were custom made for this space, and price-y. I really appreciate all of the helpful suggestions!

What is your budget? Without knowing, I'll suggest the following: +1 to Lee Industries. Also check out Ballard Designs for furniture (inc club chairs and ottoman) and decorative items, and Wisteria for the decorative items. Ballard offers custom fabric choices, and has a similar side table, https://www.ballarddesigns.com/georgia-round-side-table/furniture/living-room/coffee-accent-tables/479501?listIndex=42 It's interesting that Sandra Morgan refers to this room as inspired by the movie "Something's Gotta Give", so I'd look at photos of the original movie room for some more inspiration, https://hookedonhouses.net/2018/03/01/somethings-gotta-give-hamptons-beach-house/