monablair - right now I'm slapping my forehead in a duh "coulda had a v8" style. I didn't even bother looking at the others on that site. I did find some others I like and one that I really like is way out of budget. I do prefer to have some sort of post on the edges to anchor it. Really like this one, but out of budget How about this one? More substantial, but lower foot board altough still a bit heigh. or I'm open to other suggestions from anywhere as long as they are CA King and provide some type of air circulation. Slat beds are ok with me, but DH is on the fence on it and a lower footboard (DH got to have the footboard). No sleighs either due to extra space they eat up.

Hi, I have been lurking here and figured I would give some feedback also. When my children were little we had two sofa'a. The first was a brushed velvet in a deep plum color from Scandanavian Galleries (long time gone now). The fabric was awesome and hid everything, no matter how many times the kids were sick or the cat slept on it. Then we had a beige sofa in a cotton fabric, which also held up well, but was washable. Now I have a dark expresso leather sofa, which was a huge mistake with 3 cats. Despite having no claws in their front legs, they have destroyed the sofa ($$$ from Stickley) with tiny scratches all over it from chasing each other. My other sofa is a cream colored chenille. I can honestly say I miss the cream color in my living room and as long as the sofa you choose can be washed I wouldn't worry. I think the important thing about a sofa is not the color but the fabric. Who would have thought velvet would hold up against kids spills and other assorted stains? The chenille, even when gently cleaned, shades too much. Despite being light it held up well against cat hair and some spills. It doesn't hold up well against blue jeans and that's an impt fact. The color on the front edge of the sofa picks up the most dirt, color transfer etc. I love, love the style of your sofa and probably would get that style myself. I wanted it the first time and saw one by Lee Industries. I believe Pottery Barn also makes that style as well as Restoration Hardware. I also get tired and bored with colors and still would pick a neutral color cause you can always add pillows for punch or even repaint down the road. I would pick a color deeper than off white with a fabric that is washable.

Right, I've gone back and looked again at soapstone, and I now remember why I didn't give it much of a second glance: 1) we need a 3m slab or else need to have seams, and it doesn't come in pieces that big, and 2) it's too soft for us. We have 3 young children and an L-shaped overhang off of our island, which is a recipe for breakages with that particular material I think. I can just see someone accidentally slamming something down on the overhang bit or trying to swing on it or something and cracking off a section... Our family is hard on kitchen surfaces and I need something that's going to withstand a beating. It's also why we haven't gone with the single-sheet ceramic worktop (which I quite liked the look of as they're so thin and elegant and incredibly durable, but too thin for that overhang). Would rather not have multiple materials/heights there on the island (so, no L-shaped wood overhang on one corner, for example) as I find it too fussy and prefer to have one large big clean workspace for things like baking, making pizza, etc with the children. I absolutely love the kitchen of a friend of mine and it was my main inspiration pic. It's too dark for my space I think, but the island in particular is what I like. That's interesting about the German/Italian dynamic. I've been impressed by Italian ones in the past (I love a Varenna kitchen, just out of budget), but to be honest I met with about 3 different designers touting Italian kitchens when we were shopping earlier in the year, fully prepared to go Italian, and the ridiculousness of some of the form-over-function features we encountered (at a hefty price tag) really left an impression on me... it felt like they were being designed for people who like having large, beautiful kitchens but never actually cook. Features like hiding an already integrated fridge door behind another fairly cumbersome bigger door to create an 'ultra unkitchen', or keeping it 'clean' by only having a single pop-up island plug station to serve the whole bloody kitchen.... which looks great but HOW is that functional design for someone who, you know, actually cooks... or owns any appliances they use on a daily basis and don't want have to lug out of hiding every day... or maybe just drinks coffee from anything other than a French press? I digress. The annoyance is still there obviously, ha ha!! I'm sure they're not all like that, but a month or two of meetings had me running across the border to Germany!

Don’t worry about the pink, it’s fine. My boys wear pink and purple t-shorts all the time and my girl has a lot of grey and blue in her room. If they and you like the lighter one better, that’s the one you should choose. (Ps. I like it better too)