Drew: MI and WI have fairly uniform rainfall across the state and average what, about 30-35 inches. Texas varies from more than 60 inches to nearly zero. So whether TX averages more or less than those other states doesn't mean much. I did state west Texas. Around this part of west Texas that's 12-15 inches. The other factor that's just as important is evaporation. Here it's about 80-90 inches per year so rainfall is about 15-20% of evaporation. In WI, MI, and NY rainfall and evaporation are about the same. If they weren't about the same you'd not have all those big lakes. Around here a ranch with a trickle of water sells at a premium and is said to have "live water". Coming from IL that always makes me roll my eyes. NY, MI, and WI are like peas in a pod compared to west Texas or CA. That's basically what I said earlier and I'm sticking to it. PS: I am aware of at least some of the affects of the Great Lakes on MI precipitation. Snow is increased in some areas near the lakes. Rainfall in summer is reduced about one inch per month in some areas. That is a benefit to some fruit crops. But it's often the changes from dry to wet or vise versa that cause issues such as cracking. Why don't we table this debate until your nectarines and pluots are producing. This post was edited by fruitnut on Mon, Aug 19, 13 at 22:24

Thanks kswl. I totally agree with you on what a dream house is to me now as I get older as well. I will admit it has taken some time for me to come to terms with this being "my house" or "the one" especially after we have looked at so many over a period of about 7 years. Over the last several weeks, I have grown more excited about it. I think I was having trouble getting attached to it because of the floorplan. It is just funky if I may say so myself. But we will be making some small changes to it that hopefully will guide it into a home with a more definitive layout. One of those issues was that the foyer just basically "vomits" if you will right into the casual living space with no definitive boundary. It is just weird basically. I will post a picture of this. I also will post a picture of the den wall as I am really having trouble as what to do with it. I understand what you are saying about the darker color scheme for the outside, and even though it was my second choice, I was not going to consider it until the neighbors just finished (like two days ago) painting their exterior a color very similar to my first choice. So I don't want to move in and immediately set them off by painting this house a color so close to theirs (even though the natural color of the brick is pretty much the same). Any other color suggestions, feel free to throw them at me. I have until next Tuesday/Wednesday to make a decision as that is when we order the windows. The window order will pretty much set in stone the exterior color palate. Oh, and the wrought iron is staying. I am actually looking for corner brackets now to beef it up a little. I thought they would be easy to find these days with so many people ripping it out but it isn't. That was my original issue with those is that they don't seem substantial enough. Anywho, if I can't find the brackets we do have an ironworks place here that can make some or find them hopefully. They are the oak leaf and acorn pattern. More suggestions.....throw them at me!

Blfenton, Worry not! There are people who abjure navy blue suits too!! It's okay not to like oak! But, yes, it's probably worth mentioning your dislike if called to critique it. I do that with things I consult on. Sometimes it's something that I know I have a prejudice against, like the colors melon and mint together. I just hate the combination! I know that people love it because they do it all the time, so I bow out and say that if they want to go that direction, they have to make their own judgements. Palimpsest said: I think the equivalent of classic might be whatever goes best with the house. Intriguing. I've always agreed with you about making the kitchen go with the style of the house, but I'm trying to wrap my head around classic. Interesting thought. ... Palimpsest also said: Any house that had the right kind of kitchen to begin with, would probably look okay with a Version of the original, interpreted in whatever is contemporary to the time the kitchen is remodeled. I don't think it needs to be a slavish copy either. Thank-you for this forumulation! That's it! That's what I meant up thread when I described the fantastic, inexpensive kitchen in the tiny Hollywood flip. The kitchen was obviously new, but it was pretty much the kind of look you'd expect to see in that kind of house. Slight change of doorstyle with new cabinets, obviously new style appliances, but the overall look very first half 20th C. and proportioned correctly for the small house. Jilly, I was thinking about the disco jeans. Sexpot cabinets, instead of sexy. Thinking about gold. Into my mind's eye pops something straight out of the '60's: White Provincial cabinets with raise lozenge panels, gold picked trim, and gold mirror marbled with gold veins. Sexpot cabinets, definitely. :) Ghastly, but kind of cool in a space that can carry it off. :)

I want to add I know vinyl/fake leather would be cheaper and is less ‘fussy’ to clean than regular leather, but I think for some things it’s probably worth it to spring for a good quality leather because vinyl doesn’t give the same ‘feel’ and also if people are sitting on vinyl cushions on a warm day, it is rather unpleasantly sweaty. Given your somewhat unique situation with power, you’re probably going to have to think outside the box a bit, but I do think it is important to have more softness in the sitting and meal areas, so try to brainstorm what you could manage to keep washed or cleaned reasonably well. Maybe table runners would be easier to wash often but still give some fabric texture and color? Throw blankets on the seating areas? Also definitely look for local or regional artists or artwork to feature. Given the restraints for cleaning soft furnishings, I’d keep an eye out especially for things that can introduce softer-looking textures, like fabric wall hangings. You don’t want to make the place look like a quilt shop, but I think only framed ‘hard’ surface paintings or glass-fronted photographs wouldn’t do enough to help break up the hard floor/tables/walls. So you want to aim for a blend of textures in your art pieces. I still wouldn’t paint the wood - I think painting it will just highlight the 70s-era diagonal pattern in the paneling, which is not what you want to call attention to. But some more light really would help. I don’t want to tell you your business, but are you sure you’re maximizing the power you have? There’s lots more possible with relatively low power LEDs these days than there used to be. If you haven’t recently I might look into that again just to be sure. Plus, again, think outside the box - if you don’t want to use actual candles or lamps due to fire risk, maybe you could use solar lanterns? You’d have to remember to put them out to charge, but they do make some that give a nice light. Or battery candles with rechargeable batteries? Perhaps you could schedule recharging the batteries for the candles for when you’re more likely to have a surplus of power, or maybe someone has standalone solar battery chargers you could use. (Again they’d need to be put out, but if you had enough batteries on hand you should be able to have some in the candles and some charging and some ready to go, so even if a charging was missed it wouldn’t be a dire situation.) I’m just throwing out ideas, I don’t know what will work for you.