I have no idea what kind of poly the floor guy used in our kitchen. I had the devil of a time finding someone that would do such a small job and had it done while we were out of town (no way to do this with cats/dogs and this the only exit to the fenced in back yard!). He did not do a great job, but I'm accepted this. I have had a wood kitchen floor before and liked it very much. Having tried multiple types of tile on this kitchen floor and found them all very high maintenance with muddy-pawed dogs (at one time I had FIVE!) and a muddy-pawed husband, the only two floors I have found user-friendly were site-finished hardwood and Vermont slate. I loved my slate floor in our Maine dorm apartment, but my realtor told me that in KY, people in my neighborhood expect hardwood in the kitchen and don't even understand slate. Slate is also expensive and difficult to remove, so hardwood it was. This small kitchen gets a LOT of traffic as the door to the back garden is in it. Dogs and people use it. It's been in now for nearly 15 years and is only beginning to show a tiny bit of wear on the finish, all right in one place. It's small enough, I may have my SIL screen-sand it and apply poly - he's done that in their kitchen - again hardwood, small, door to backyard, and two boys plus a SAHH - lots and lots of wear. Oh, also 3 cats! I know that in our house in St Louis, we used oil-based poly but that that was in the late 70's. I sort of remember that water-based might have been used in our KY house, both upstairs on new floor and when flooring had to be replace on 1st floor due to broken pipe. Whatever it was, it still looks great - upstairs 32 years later, 1st floor 18 years later. A good site-finished hardwood floor lasts a long time. I do prefer the gym floor finish (high gloss) as it's the easiest to dust and the gloss does wear down quickly. I think the high gloss just plain wears better than satin - DD has satin and it does not look as good as mine does, many years later.

Rita- I’ve been convinced on that. It would really stink to go to the trouble and expense and then always wish they were fuller. Thank you! sowkmom- thanks! Glad to hear you accomplished it. The pillow was a lot of fun, I hope the drapes are as well. becky- thank you! The bird isn’t my favorite part of the fabric, so I spent some time figuring how to cut around it and mainly feature the blue flowers. I love how it turned out!

I've been thinking about you, Anglophilia, and wondering if you were okay. I'm so sorry to hear you're not doing well. Prayers for remission and better health. Hope you feel better very soon.

So sorry to hear this, Anglophilia will be dearly missed! I refer to you all, (to my family and friends IRL) as my 'forum friends' and while we may not always agree with everyone's personal opinion, I think we all appreciate the virtual camaraderie and sharing of unique experiences here. I'm happy that Anglophilia is no longer struggling with poor health, and hope her family finds comfort, in all their memories with her.