xoxosmom, generally speaking, the end user of a product pays the sales tax. In this case, that would either be you or your builder, *one* of you would likely own sales tax, the whole thing. Your contractor is likely paying sales tax on all of the other materials, there's no reason why appliances would be different. As weissman says, though, the rules are different everywhere. Here in Washington (state), for example, for new home construction, sales tax is paid on the entire price of the house (!) - on materials, the contractor's mark-up, everything - so you should feel lucky if you only have to pay it on the appliances. As far as contractor's discounts go, in building our house, I found them to be largely fictional - like a phony department store "sale", prices are marked up so they can be marked back down again. In the case of appliances, discounts from MSRP were marginal - say, 5-10%. We found the best strategy to find prices and then ask the dealer favored by the contractor to match them. So if Sears has exactly what you want, get a quote. Ask the independent dealer to match it. If they don't, take your business to Sears if you want but you'll need to balance price against possibly better service from the independent dealer.

>I've actually noticed an extending of the timeframe of available statements online, from the past, which was kind of a short time period, imo. For personal accounts, yes, but as someone with a small business, when my big bank got consolidated into a bigger one, the amount of stuff I could get online went way, way down. I can't access anything older than 90 days online now. I have a fancy expanding file folder for the current year and everything goes into that by month. At the end of the year they don't take up all that much space and it's amazing what all you can get into one. Just be sure it has a good quality band to keep it together. Scanning is too time consuming for me. I find it easier when reconciling to sort through paper, and I know that if I get audited the IRS is mostly kind of backwards thinking, too. If you don't have a huge number of receipts, Homegoods often has very attractive monthly expanding files.

Looking at the east wall elevation, it is strange to have a window frame right in front of your eyes while standing at the sink. It makes me think the two 36" wide cabs adjacent to the DW (on the LEFT) should be also moved to be centered under the two windows. Keeping the DW where it is will be cheaper but not all that much, so how about moving the two double doored cabs over to be centered upon the windows? Your sink would be in the one on the right, and the DW would be next to the fridge/freezer. If this is unacceptable, then make the windows into a big middle window with two skinny "lights" on either side of it, so the window is directly above your sink. That window could be fixed (not open), and the two side lights could be casement types that roll out for ventilation....if you are of a mind to do so. Otherwise, they could be like the fixed panels on either side of a front entry door. I like having freezer/fridge together. Also, there is some sort of code which sets the minimum measurement between upper cabs and an adjacent cooking top surface, so the wood or other material won't overheat. In many kitchens, those cabs are much shorter than the regular upper cabs. I've noticed that many of those cabs adjacent to the stove hood, only come down as far as the hood bottom itself. A good idea, to keep from constantly cleaning the cabinet surface of greasy residue from the steam of cooking. I like having a utility rack turned toward the back door, for jackets and boots, etc. But I think you have room there for a short bench beneath it, room enough for one person to sit down to remove shoes whatever. It is at least a nod toward having a mud room, something you might not need in your climate, but which in a colder climate is so essential. Down here in south Alabama, I have a triple swivel hook on the wall for our raincoats, and the work pants that DH removes back there beside the washing machine. A very handy little feature because he gets garden soil in his rolled up jeans and stuck in the treads of his sneakers.

Isn't that what they mean when they say primer and paint in one? That you will get good coverage (opacity) in two coats of finish paint without needing to cover the old paint first with a base coat of "primer?" Good question snooks. But not necessarily. It's splitting hairs with a spin. Isn't that the best kind of marketing? lol! :) There are colors in Behr's palette that won't cover in one coat. Once you get into the deeper, darker colors that use the more shear or transparent Behr colorants, you're looking at needing a tinted primer. If no tinted primer, then you'll need to do more than two coats to develop the color. So, it's not about the color *so much* with Behr's claim of paint and primer in one. It's more about slightly amped up sealing performance properties. Which, like I said before, many top tier brands have and continue to offer the same thing. If you notice BenM doesn't claim paint and primer in one. In my estimation that's because BenM's focus is on their Gennex colorants and how they cover in one coat; most all Aura Affinity Collection colors fully develop in two coats without tinted primer/undercoat. And since Aura is a top tier, one could (and I do) assume that like many other top tier paints, there is a factor of amped up sealing performance properties in in the can. In the grand scheme, a brand that offers coverage in one coat and fully developed color in two coats, even with deep/dark colors, is of more value than one that offers industry average/standard paint performance properties. As a side note, one coat coverage is not the same as fully developed color. You need to do two complete coats to hit all areas of the walls evenly and to achieve fully developed color. Depending on brand, grade, and specific color you might need to do more than two coats. But the point is just because a paint color covers in one coat doesn't mean it's okay to only do one coat. You need two for several reasons beyond what I've mentioned here. Behr is pumping up their paint's performance properties. BenM puts the focus on the colorants. Both are playing fair. It's just confusing for the consumer when it comes to prep and colors. i.e. Do I need a *real* primer or will the amped up sealing properties be enough for my project? Does the color I chose need a tinted undercoat/primer to help build opacity or will I be okay with two full coats? The best way to navigate the marketing landscape of paint and color is to always ask your paint store pro those two questions. Rise above the fray of marketing spin and don't assume anything. This post was edited by funcolors on Sat, Dec 29, 12 at 20:11