If Barry didn't get banned for the photo he mistakenly posted then this conversation would have to get a lot more base before anyone even noticed. i know there's still some people who remember Barry's "map" picture. lol Let me say that Barry had no idea what had posted. he used a photo from another site without permission so instead of the map we got a pic of geriatric homosexual porn. I was laughing for an entire morning! Karyn

"...It's possible to make a car that does not break. Period..." Really? Even LEXUS owners have problems with their cars! And my old boss bought a new S class Mercedes. (S500) And it was eventually declared a "LEMON" and was replaced. Automobiles are still assembled by humans. And those huumans can have bad days and miss something on the line. It happens. And yes, not too long ago all American automakers built crap. But the quality has improved a great deal. So a Buick that's over 10 years old is not even in the same league as a Buick that's 2 years old as far as engineering goes. As a matter of fact, in 1999 we rented a brand new Park Avenue while on vacation. My wife called it a piece of garbage compared to our '88 Volvo. The power seat controls came off in her hand! Yeah, garbage! But I'll guarantee that the Lucerne is light years ahead of that Park Ave! In both quality and engineering.

I think of varnish as being a type of finish (and finish as a generic term to apply to any treatment of the wood) but I'm sure woodworking people can steer you right on that. On the California CARB question, though, there are two sets of rules guiding this: one is the rule about what you can emit while doing work like finishing, which is what prevents cabinetmakers and others from using traditional catalyzed finishes in state. Like that link says, there are many CARB compliant finishes out there, though I'm not sure anyone can say with certainty how they will perform side by side in the long run, since most are relatively new. The second set of rules governs what cabinetry (and other woods) can emit themselves after they're finished, and that affects cabinets made *or* sold in California. A higher tier of rules just kicked in last month so I don't know if it knocked any players out of the marketplace, but in general the big companies have been watching this carefully. As of last year at the lower level of regulation, you could get most/all national lines here. Interestingly, some of the small shops we talked to were willing to bend these rules on the paint front (and paint with oil-based, which is not allowed for residential use). The guy we ended up with was adamant about not doing this as he could potentially lose his license for it, and that seemed very reasonable. So we used low VOC paint, and I do have to say that I really love that it doesn't smell at all, in contrast to the oil-based, which the PO used on our old cabinetry. Very resilient/easy to clean, but still stinky months later. So there are upsides to being CARB-compliant. ;) HTH!

Its a 3200 sq foot house which is really too small for us but we love our neighborhood (lots of friends, close to work) the school (top rated public gifted magnet school which is IN the actual neighborhood) where our oldest just started kindergarten. So we'd really like to move to a bigger house but right now we are thinking to stay for the time being, making the compromises becuase the neighborhoods great and we are almost done with the mortgage. So that is our psychology. I surf GW, then realtor.com, then GW. Once I sign a remodeling contract, the decision will be made. I know 3200 doesnt sound small, I grew up in a 2000 sq ft house I thought was big so who knows what happened to my perspective. We have very little storage space b/c we finished the walk out basement with a dining area, rec room, full kitchen, full bath and bedroom. Our nanny lives down there and the only storage is a walk thru area between the nannys bedroom and her bathroom- it has two huge racks on the wall with bins on it. That is our only other alternative for the washer dryer- but I have to weight it against losing one of those racks and having to sort of be in her space to laundry. She wouldnt mind, but it feels inconvienant to me. Otherwise I've checked all the walls and spaces and there is no where to put the W/d (which are huge front loaders). Even my garage, I have to turn sideways to walk by my car- and my husband is a fanatic about keeping cars in the garage. My friend has the same house and just did a remodel and also searched in vain for another spot and came up empty. She said she felt like she had a ton of more space after her remodel with bigger cabinets. So, I agree the pantry space is not great. I do feel like I am going to throw out a bunch of stuff when I remodel. I have like 10 pie pans for example- dishes I dont use- etc. all must go. I'm going to be ruthless. I hope I end up with a little more room than I have now and I have a hall bath remodel Im doing too that I might be able to pack some additional storage into (on bath forum) but overall I think I could live in my space today (and do) esp. if I got rid of some of my dups and do-not-use items. Then again I am making my window a foot bigger so I will lose a cabinet there. Wine bottles we have a pottery barn bar in the living room that holds about 20 wine bottles and a stand alone rack in the dining room that holds a few then we also have a large sideboard in the dining room where we sometimes stash cases of wine if we buy a lot. We dont collect wine (except for about 5 bottles)- we drink it! But maybe I will ax the warming drawer in the island if I go with the AGA PRo+ range which converts to a sort of warming oven with the divider in. That is a big question mark for me. How would I move the microwave to an upper? That is sort of interesting- do you have any pictures of that? Is it like an open shelf with a smaller top above? If I do ax my warming drawer, my island will need a 24 inch cabinet for the sink. A 24 inch for the micro with a drawer under and then I am left with either a 36 inch space (drawers?) or two 18 inch cabs (that'd be dumb right?) Re: the hutch, does anyone think it ruins the hutch look to use one of the bottom sides for a wine fridge? Should I try to get it in the island? (forcing me to that 2-18 inch cabinets noted above). Thanks for the responses, I really need a sounding board!