It's a good list, including the Sharp. You have done a lot of homework. Some people have double wall ovens, a microwave, a toaster oven, a toaster, and more... So, for this reason, I wouldn't get double wall ovens and a separate microwave. With more homework, you might come back with some other combination. Steam. Speed oven. Some combination with a small or medium size capacity "oven" or heating device. What are you planning, about a toaster oven? Is it a no-no, or will it be bought as an afterthought? What are you doing for toaster? It too takes up space and is one more gizmo in the visual field. One GW participant posted recently to describe how to get perfectly done toast using some other appliance (I forget the specifics right now.). What capacity of exhaust venting are you thinking of getting? There are alternatives to SZ fridges. They are from Korea, Japan, Germany, Austria, Turkey and Denmark.

I love this forum and the fact there are so many very intelligent members sharing opinions, facts, life experiences. Thank you, Florantha, for taking the time to share with us. I hope you will forward this to the highest levels at HD. AND share their response with us. HD had my respect years ago. I shopped at what I think was their second store in 1981 and in the following years. Continued for many years until I came to my senses. No more on that - not the right place. My hat's off to you! Rosie, in Sugar Hill, GA

Here are my thoughts... The people that get in power on the board for your HOA are usually real idiots who will mismanage the funds and make everyone's life a living hell. It doesn't matter what the price range of the community is. You have to live with this. The maintenance fees can and will go up especially if you have a lot of ammenities and not a lot of homes to offset the cost. New construction homes typically come with no improvements so you have to put up some cash in the beginning for blinds, and appliances and whatever. If you have a reputable builder who gives a warranty... or not... you will be fixing minor (hopefully it's minor) stuff for the first year or so. If you're one of the first homes in the hood, you will be blessed with construcion noise for however long it takes to finish. Now for some plusses, you get to live in what sounds like will be a well maintained community consisting of well to do residents and your property will probably be very desirable years down the road long after the community is closed out. You get a new house for less than a custom build on a city lot. (usually) You get ammenities that you will probably never use but even if you do, it's a lot cheaper than building your own tennis court. And last but not least, having neighbors is kind of nice sometimes if they are nice neighbors. If you have kids, there will be other kids to play with and other social events. Things to look out for... The placement of your lot... make sure it's not at the beginning of the community or you will have a lot of traffic passing by you. On the other hand if you are way in the back you will have to drive slowly through the neighborhood anytime you want to get somewhere. Make sure you're not on a thoroughfare where people will speed and not on a corner lot where people run stop signs and drive on your lawn. Sizes can be decieving. Make sure the driveways are sizeable and there is adequate space between each lot for comfort. Look at all the other floor plans and make sure you've got one of the smallest ones. Never buy the biggest or most expensive home in a community! And make sure you don't have a lot of townhouse type things that might be potentially rented out if provided for in the rules. Last but not least, talk to existing residents either in this neighborhood or others the builder has done and ask them what their experience was like and if there have been any major problems to look out for. Ask them if the temporary management company is tending to community maintenance and responsive to phone calls.

We put a charcoal gray (anthracite) Blanco Silgranit sink into our last home (about 12 years ago) and after a few years of use, we were less than pleased with its performance, especially for the price tag. At first, it was amazing and we loved how it looked! Over the years, we used it for everything - normal kitchen/dish washing use but also occasionally to wash out paint brushes, soaking clothes, even washing show chickens in it. (No utility room sink, so the kitchen sink was the go to spot.) We kept it clean and well cared for. We believed all the hype back then that Blanco sinks were impervious to just about everything and I guess we should have been more careful. It basically started looking blotchy and losing its color on the bottom. It then started pitting on the bottom and was no longer a smooth surface, especially around the drain. And the blotchiness wasn't really stains but rather "burns", according to what we had read online. By the time we were ready to sell the house, it was pretty unsightly and we had to replace it. (Due to the less than helpful Blanco customer service folks who refused to honor any sort of warranty, we went with a Kraus sink.) But we only had the Kraus sink for a few months before moving, so not sure how that one will hold up. So now I'm trying to decide what to do with our new (but 15 year old home). I like how durable stainless sinks are and how cost effective they are but since spots and smudges on the stainless steel appliances drive me crazy and I'm CONTSTANTLY wiping them off, adding one more stainless item to care for in this kitchen doesn't seem like a wise decision. Anyway, thought I would add my 2 cents. I still can't decide if I want to do another composite sink (but do a more reasonably priced manufacturer like Kraus) or go with something else. If I do composite again, I will definitely go with a darker color and be super diligent about ONLY soap and water going into the sink.