Hi amelie325: I checked out the roses you listed in HMF. You have a great selection, that's the first time I see William Jesse, it's beautiful ... please inform when they bloom, would like to know how they smell. I am leaning toward Old Garden Roses for the scent. I have 15 Austins ... but when I bought and sniffed Comte De Chambord, Jacques Cartier, Paul Neyron, Annie L. McDowell, and Gruss an Teplitz .... I'm hooked ever since. I'm excited about these 6 roses coming this Wednesday.... I got them for $8 each during Roses Unlimited's summer sale last week: Lawrence of Arabia, Summer Samba, Duchesse de Rohan, Angel Face, Le Rire Nias, and Gene Boerner (this has no scent unless the weather is cold, but it's almost thornless & DR).

Hi again. Sorry for the delay. Holiday madness struck! I ended up using the clear torpedos for a couple of reasons. The drippy tipped ones won't work with shades when I get them. And they were just the easiest to go with when I had a thousand other things to do to prepare for the parties I was hosting that week. DH installed a dimmer, and we were good to go! I can't explain how luxurious and grown-up I feel now with the light fixtures completed in this room! ( We'll ignore the rest of the bare bulbs hanging out around the house still. One room at a time!) Now all I need to do is get some sort of little backsplash on the bar area and find a couple more antique oak chairs and that room is DONE! Hydrangea--those clear bulbs in the photos above do have a bluish tint to them. They were those clean, bright white kind of bulbs that are tinted blue. Took them back! A2--I did see and posted there last night. Not sure I had much to add other than I'm so glad your ovens were quickly and easily fixed without much fuss! Here's how it looks with the remainder of the bulbs in place. Thanks again everyone for the encouragement and opinions!

AnnKH - your before and after pix show a beautiful kitchen. I also can easily visualize what my kitchen will look like if I use some of the advice given on this board. If you were to switch the placement of the sink and range, and put a full cabinet over your sink area, you have a very similar arrangement to what I want. The added height of your cabinets was a great idea - my 36" vs the normal 30" height will be a good idea. I do use a hand held "reacher" device to get things down in any kitchen I have ever used, so the added height will be used. Although your kitchen may be perfect for you, I see items that make me return to some of my original plans. I would not want the angled corner lower cabinets -- that, to me, squeezes in the kitchen visually far more than angled uppers. With squared cornered lowers and angled uppers, I will actually be able to reach corner storage better (being shorter). Using the wider cabinets around the window was a good idea -- I would have made them even wider, to frame the window even more. Although you did add length and needed storage by adding the pantry next to the fridge, the full size fridge does intrude into the room too much for me. I will pay the extra to get a counter depth fridge. The pull out for the cabinet above the fridge is a good idea. Regarding the 42" lower, I have already had one in my old home, and it was very well organized. I guess it make a difference what is placed in the cabinet, my pots and pans either stacked well, or I had lid holders mounted to the doors and sides. I like the yellow tone of your kitchen - it makes it "happy". I am looking for a yellow or caramel tone that will match the warm browns of my cabinets and the knotty pine cathedral ceiling over the kitchen. An enlarged picture of my old kitchen above will show the 10' side walls of the kitchen and the soaring knotty pine ceiling above.

Littlebug has a point. We've discussed the powder room/mudroom situation before, but here's another possibility. Mary- I know you DID have a bay window on the back of the house, at one time. So let's say you did it again...with a little banquette. Then you could have a breakfast/game table with built-in storage on the opposite wall. The island/table would give you plenty of seating for entire family (as would the dining room) and the breakfast/bay table would be great for drinks, games, snacks, etc. And a pretty view out the back. I would also add windows back to each side of the range...and maybe a wall oven with microwave over it. Great for a baking area! This also gives you room for a larger mudroom (storage on both sides) and a little hall to the bath, with linen closet. Just a few ideas :) Along with one of my favorite pictures.....