I'm with bmorepanic, I don't mind the fridge on the other side of the wall if it makes the rest of the kitchen work better. My MIL had a set-up similar to yours and it was a tad odd, but perfectly functional. If you already own a FD fridge and that is what you're using, it really, really needs enough space to open the door fully, as in close to 180 degrees. Maybe swap the positions of the fridge and pantry? Small space kitchens need to maximize every square inch - I know, I have one! For this frameless works better than face frame cabinets. Ikea and Scherr's both get good reviews from folks here who've used them for both price and quality. I would avoid door + roll out shelves for standard bottom cabinets. We retrofitted our old cabinets to this configuration 20 years ago, and it was a big step up from crawl-inside-to-find-things, but a big step down from all drawers. They waste enormous amounts of interior space and you just can't afford it. Our new pantry (we never had one before!) has roll-out shelves in the bottom section, though, and that works well for the pantry. Counters: I'm not aware of a one-stop info page on the different types, but that's a good idea. For your kitchen you want to be good, but not the most expensive. You could look at the lower priced granites, which means more common, not less good. They've come way down in price evidently. Quartz will run you about the same as granite and are a great choice material-wise. Laminates come in everything from el cheapo to near the price of granite depending on the pattern. The link at the bottom is to a recent discussion of why laminate is a good idea. Wood countertops can be both fabulous to look at and cost-friendy. When you check out Ikea, check out their wood counters while you're there. Other choices can include stainless steel and tile, not my favorites, but loved by many. Here is a link that might be useful: Does anyone on here actually have formica countertops?

The Simonton 5050 is their low end replacement window. I would suggest looking at the 5500 series or the Prism Platinum (same window)depending on what's available in your area. Both have lower air infiltration numbers than the 5050. The Tapestry isn't as well built nor is it as aestetically pleasing as the Simonton 5500 IMO. Simonton is also the industry leader in terms of warranty sevice. Using trim coil to wrap the wood isn't going to affect the energy efficiency, nor will it cause problems with air infiltration if installed properly. The purpose of capping with trim coil is to reduce maintenence primarily by eliminating the need to paint. Don't get so invested in finding the right window that you ignore the skills of the installer. The best window on the market will not perform as intended unless it's installed correctly. Many of the problems we see are caused by a poor quality install or a poorly designed and/or engineered window.

Woody, you need to get rid of the chipmunks. They are a carrier of deer ticks, possibly more so than deer. Where there's two or three, there's so many more behind them. Gosh, they breed like crazy! We've gotten at least 75 this year, and that's only when we see about six at any one time. They just keep coming! NH is one of the worst states for Lyme, so it's pretty serious here. We have a son with a genetic disorder, so we have gone so far as to spray each year for ticks and mosquitoes. I'm not a fan of chemicals, but we can't take any risks. I've watched my garden over these years and still see all sorts of bees, including honeybees, butterflies, dragonflies, etc. No ticks or mosquitoes though. I actually had a therapist tell me that some in the naturopath community up here think spraying is a good idea, even though it is chemical, compared to the risks of so many tick and mosquito borne diseases that are out there. We also have Triple E...deaths associated with it in NH. My mom recently met with a company that sprays for ticks, and they have issues with chiggers (seriously, that would be grounds for me to move! LOL!) and they have been applying a natural spray mainly consisting of garlic. They have seen a great reduction of ticks. Whenever I've worked in their garden I would have multiple ticks on me throughout the day, and many times find them on me on the plane ride home! Yikes! So for them to say they haven't had any ticks on them since this garlic treatment started makes me think it must really work. Seems to keep deer away too. Our spray regimen does as well because there are aromatic oils in it. If you check with a local pest company they might have organic sprays that might be worth looking into. Over the course of a season it is quite expensive though. But, if you don't pull ticks off you regularly after working in the garden, maybe you don't really have a major tick problem? We started spraying when every time I came out of multiple areas of the garden I'd have four or five ticks crawling on me. And I wasn't even working in tall grasses or woods. I guess the good thing about Lyme is that you have a bit of a warning with the bullseye, so there is time to get meds before running into real trouble. Deer ticks are tiny so tick checks are so important. Although, I have such a head of hair (I suppose much like your dog, only blonde!), I don't think I'd ever be able to find any ticks on my head........ Good luck with whatever you decide to do. T2D (Susan)

Renewal by andersen is crazy money. You can do much better than that. Do some local homework and find a contractor with a good reputation. He'll no doubt know the local suppliers instead of just going to a big box store. I'm in the northeast and had 11 windows replaced for about a 1/3 of what Renewal quoted (even with their "must sign now!" discount). This was after listening to ~3 hours worth of sales pitch stuck in my own kitchen. Don't like their sales/marketing style at all. I think the Andersen product is an ok product. A neighbor is a retired contractor and he arranged for a couple of guys to come in and install our replacement widows. I went with Harvey Classic vinyl windows. Windows were custom built to measurements by our contractor so there wasn't a lot of shimming/adjustment for the install. Our house is not super high end and I didn't want to spend the premium for wood interior/vinyl clad exterior windows. Harveys are double pane/E-glass. Have screend and tilt for easy cleaning. I replaced a slider also but opted for an Andersen unit because I don't like vinyl frames on panes as big as a sliding door. 11 Windows were installed in a day. Very happy with the result.