olliesmom - thanks! I like the MW English Chestnut also, and we're using that to stain our wood floors. Since I wanted the doors to be darker, I used a custom mix of MW English Chestnut (1 part) and MW Dark Walnut (5 parts). To test the custom mix, I bought the small cans of each stain and a piece of knotty alder (cut into several sample pieces). Using a plastic spoon and paper cups, I made several stain mixes, starting with one part each and working my way up to the 5 parts of Dark Walnut to 1 part English Chestnut. Then I tried each mix out on the pieces of wood to see which I liked better. Once I found the right mix, we bought the larger quart sizes to stain the doors. After staining, we used several coats of a sealant (with UV protection) in a satin finish.

My Mom's is more transitional than traditional so we are trying to layer textures and pattern and add some drama with colour. Kitchen is a featurless interior room in an 80's build high rise condo. It has no window so shooting it can be tricky, my Mom sent me these today to show me the new central light installed: Just daylight (it was overcast and snowy today) and the flash with 3 different light sources (flash, the light and daylight), yikes too man light sources!: I find the whites are more accurate in the first shot while the colour of the walls is more like in the second one. It is BM "Rusty Nail in a flat Aura paint while the ceiling is BM "Cloud White" in the same finish and paint. This is in daylight with a flash but no overhead light: This is last night with the overhead and under cabinet lights on and the flash: It's a strong colour that sort of frames the cabinetry but there isn't a whole lot of it. Backsplash (inset backsplash in both sides of the "L" only no side splash) will be a 1x1 mosaic in off whites and soft beiges. My Mom didn't have a huge budget so she wanted to go a bit bolder and take advantage of some of the fun patterns and textures available in man made materials like laminate and sheet flooring. It isn't a space that lends itself to a cottagey white kitchen, old world elegance or sleek and modern so this was ideal and suits my Mom perfectly.

sueb20: I love the names of paint, that sounds beautiful and, interestingly enough, it was the kind of color that I wanted to find for the siding of our home; we finally went vinyl to my husband's delight. I found the color on BM's virtual fan and I'll be pulling that color when I go to the store next week. It's overwhelming when I go there and to think that I'm going to need to find the right colors for five other rooms; OMG! Thank you for your suggestion.

Pls provide a cleaner set of plans when possible. I magnified what you provided but could not see the detail needed. So a few questions... 1. I understand removing the 3 posts so the wraparound deck is going away. Is he reducing the price for this change as that does result in fairly good savings? 2. What is he cantelevering? You said INTO the house. That is not so much cantelevering as it is sistering joists going back into the house. A cantelever is an unsupported area that extends beyond the location of the last support i.e. the posts. Usually code does not allow for roofs above the cantelever area & they usually don't extend but approximately a max of 2 feet. Hopefully he is not saying he will cantelever from the outside edge of the screen porch further to allow for the wraparound deck. 3. If you just paint the treated lumber arches, rails, & posts be sure to wait a minimum of 6 months for the lumber to dry out. As far as recommended wrap trim materials there are plenty ranging from regular lumber, prime treated lumber (which you need to let dry prior to painting), trim board primed finger-joint, to TruWood, HardieTrim, AZEK PVC, Miratec, & other vinyl options, etc. Just go by Home Depot or Lowes & you can see the price range for these type products.