Thanks for asking :) Yes, last Thursday was Match Day. How stressful! We were with 270 other medical students awaiting our fate for the next four years. They have a big bag of envelopes - one for each student, and they randomly pull them out of the bag and announce your name. You go up, get your envelope, and in it is the name of the hospital that you will work for during your residency. There is no negotiation, this is the final result. DH had listed three Mayo programs as his first choice, and they all involved a big move for our family. Indiana University was his fourth choice, and we'd stay close to home, in our own house, with my job, and our family close by. He opened the envelope and... He matched at Indiana University! While DH is disappointed that Mayo didn't pick him, he is relieved that our family's life will remain as normal as possible during the rest of his training. IU will still provide him a good education, so that isn't a concern. It's a good program with good physicians to educate new doctors. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. I hadn't realized how much effort I was using thinking about an upcoming move, house for sale, etc. Thank you for thinking about us. The KT is always so supportive. Audrey

I build custom cabinets and furniture in Los Angeles. I mostly build my own doors because everything I do is non-standard. However, there is nothing wrong with a cabinet maker outsourcing doors, if fact, in some cases it could be better. The large companies that build just doors have specialized, very expensive, very accurate equipment. Some are better the others but clean corners, tight joints, square and flat doors are what you should be looking for. The cabinet maker and his reputation should be responsible for the quality control not you. The drawbacks with out-sourcing are they all tend to use very similar profiles. That said, these profiles are similar to the look of the lower to middle-end national brands and that's why they're used. Second, when it comes to stained wood doors they're not going to be as discriminating as a custom guy should be at selecting matching boards. With the finishes like the ones on the national brands sold a HD and Lowes this doesn't matter. They do much to hide the wood with conditioners, toners and glazes. Of course, with a painted door, matching the grain wouldn't matter. There inferior quality shows up in a different way with paint cracking at the stile and rail joint. This leads us to the other thing you have to worry about once you get your doors. Having the finish done. The two things you notice on a cabinet door is the door style and the finish. The finishing skills of most custom cabinet shops are not on par with their woodworking. Some have finishing departments and do a good job. Some outsource their finishes. Some do a crappy job and say "what did you expect for the money". Quality finishing is a specialized and complex trade all to itself. I spend a good part of my time perfecting finishes and replicating the finishes of the highest price cabinets on the market so I can speak to this with experience. I will also be outsourcing some of my doors but they will be custom profiles that I will specify and be very involved with at every step. John

Believe it or not, we ended up getting a real wood stand from Ikea after months of looking at much more expensive ones. It's an extremely transitional piece, with plenty of detailing to suit our 1920's house, while still possessing the clean, modern lines my husband loves. We bought two bookcases to match, and have been stunned at the quality (I have a ridiculous amount of very heavy books, and the shelves aren't warping at all). The Hemnes living room line is new this year, and much high quality than anything else at Ikea. Other than that, I recommend Costco. If you can find a large Costco with lots of furniture, you will have several high-quality choices. Here is a link that might be useful: Hemnes Televisions Stand

Watch for sales and price match!!! I bought all my interior door handles in oil rubbed bronze at Rona. They were around $30 regular on a 2 day sale for $11.99. I bought 12 or 13 sets. I haven't seen them for that price since but have seen them for $12.99. My front door/lock set I spent more on because it's all about curb appeal. It was the Weiser Ashfield set. I think it was around $219 plus tax. I purchased my Weiser Keyless entry for my mudroom (in from the garage) on sale for around $60. For the same door and my back garage door, I found handles on clearance at Rona. $24.99 with 20% off. In total I probably spent about $400. It also all depends on the style you want. Obviously nicer or more intricate styles are going to be more expensive as well as colour. Good ole chrome or brushed nickel is always cheaper than oil rubbed bronze, black etc. In the end, I only ever looked at Home Depot, Lowes, Home Hardware and Rona (yes I'm from Canada too!) They are all pretty much the same price everywhere.