Coconut, I do understand about people being especially busy this time of year - it's sort of like trying to get the most out of the last part of the summer. I've noticed that I have to do my barbeques earlier in the day now, but I do plan to keep barbequing throughout the year, now that the back yard is more accessible. Scott, I was planning to go to the Abbot Kinney Street Fair this year, but it will be strange since I lived on Abbot Kinney for 15 years and now am no longer there! We are also planning on going to the African Marketplace Faire on August 23 or so. I've always found great things to buy there. The Target store that I like is at the corner of La Cienega and Rodeo, just slightly SE of Culver City. I rarely go to Target, but if I do, that would be the one I would visit. Mitch, I'm glad you appreciate the effort we put into and the results. It's still now over, however, and I especially appreciate your comment that it looks like we've been there a while. It was important to make the house ours, especially since we actually did meet the previous owners, which made it a bit strange. Plus we are getting some of their mail! Ellen, maybe you will be able to visit my house at some point in the future. I'm still about half way between you and the South Bay girls, although I'm a bit closer to them now. I have to say that I now live in a boring neighborhood, however, at least compared to Venice! Kevin seems to like the quiet - I think the beach traffic was beginning to get to him. I don't miss the bike trails and all the accidents that I had there. Thanks for the comments! Lars

What a wonderful playful looking space! Great green accents. I like how the added lights in the curved ceiling section really plays up the architectural lines. Really makes it a standout feature. Love all the drawers, the backsplash (of course!) and the improved layout. Thanks for sharing your LED color temperature solution. That drives me crazy too when they're not the same. It has been difficult to find the more neutral color temps (forget the exact kelvin temp at the moment), so your solution sounds great! I saw this really cool Lutron dimmer that reminds me of your space and would look really cool if it could work with your Insteon (I'm not familiar with this) dimming system, or if not, maybe something separate. In a single or a double switch plate, there is a thin vertical slot that has Green LEDs (also comes in Blue or White) that you can touch anywhere for the dimmer (all the way up is full On and any position lower is dimmed by seven levels I believe). And there is a small Amber light at the lowest point that softly glows when it is all off so you can find it in the dark. The wall plates are available in the 10 standard colors and 11 brushed metal colors so you could get a brushed aluminum or stainless steel looking one to match what looks like what you have (see the picture below). I'm going to use these in my bar in the Blue to coordinate with the granite countertops there, so just thought these would look cool in the Green for your great space. This is one of the most distinctive dimmers I have seen. The picture below is of the single in the Green with an aluminum plate (also comes in a double plate as well) and a link with the specifics. Just a thought for you if you haven't finished all of your switches. :-) (edited for a typo I didn't catch the first time) Here is a link that might be useful: Lutron Vierti dimmer switch This post was edited by cindallas on Mon, Sep 8, 14 at 16:56

take out the wall between dining and kitchen.When you close up the door and get a window in,create a run along front wall that jogs around the support beam by brick zone, but does not make a 90 degree turn.Instead you'll pass thru to hearth room where the turn of counters was. Create a small L consisting of fridge/cooktop wall and perpindicular out from current fridge location.The fridge gets shifted over and recessed to where cooktop is- back into some sq footage of washer area[get a stackable setup for W/D in space remaining.] The other arm of the L could house a sink or possibly below counter oven-can you get the sink and cooktop along front wall? I see kids-the hearth room side of L can have stools/overhang. The house needs some flow-with the tight dining room and now removal of wall it will be more inviting and yet the living room still has that dividing wall for some separation. You'll get a visual"through" effect so the marginal view out the kitchen window will be minimized. When coming thru to hearth room,instead of the island in the middle of it all, you can do comfy chairs around brick/and the peninsula part of the L will have stools: you keep different uses for the hearth room - instead of all kitchen and all island taking over. Your linear feet available for these runs isn't really clear from your sketch-have to figure that out, of course. If you don't want complete elimination of wall between kitchen/dining-at least cut it back significantly...pretty much similar effect.You can keep the nifty original hallway storage setup behind the kitchen-don't you think that means less worry about storage in the kitchen and you can streamline the kitchen with a compact L and a long run at the front? Unless you gut your house,the kitchen is basically a pass through area-but by opening to dining and on through to hearth area and actually placing furniture at that end of the room,you connect the spaces in an inviting way....this would not be super expensive....I think you'd have budget money left for an outdoor kitchen.

"If they get approved for the loan those far more educated and experienced in evaluating finances will have made the decision." The problem with those far more educated and experienced... is that the risks to them are spread out and will likely have little impact on their day to day lives. The person who locks themselves into a loan (or situation) that they cannot handle, is likely to suffer much more. I agree that a 50% down payment is wonderful and if you were talking about somebody who knew what they wanted out of life and had demonstrated the means of getting it, the risk would be lessened. However, somebody who is still in the midst of trying to figure things out and whose income potential is limited, even a 50% down payment is not optimal.