worthy: We're just like you. Glad to know we're not the only ones. Chibimimi: (1) Our main objective is a larger kitchen. (2) We don't entertain a lot, although we hope to more after the remodel. Part of why we want a bigger kitchen is that when we do entertain, the women tend to congregate in the kitchen and we want space there for them to sit and chat and prepare more food than we ever need :). BTW, we never entertain "formally", hence the desire for a larger kitchen that will double as congregating space. Also, one of us (you guess) really wants more cabinetry, a peninsula, an island, and a large pantry in the kitchen, and the current space is neither large enough for all that nor easily re-configurable (due to fixed windows and a doorway to the den that can't be easily moved). (3) One of us (guess again - same answer) wants more and larger dining furniture than could ever fit in the present dining room space, hence the desire to use the larger LR space as a dining room. (4) Opening up the kitchen to the den could conceivably be done, but we really want to isolate the kitchen from, rather than integrate it with, the den. We know more open spaces seem to be the thing these days, but we want to isolate kitchen noises from the den, where folks gather to watch TV (usually ball games) and we don't want all the competing sounds of talk, laughter, and the TV. (5) We've had just a few twelve-person dinners over the years, and then we borrowed large tables with fold-down legs, placed them in the empty LR, and used a various mixture of chairs - far from ideal and a PITA to borrow, haul, set up and break down, and haul again. That's one reason we're considering converting the LR to a DR with a full ensemble of DR furniture. Basically, once a larger kitchen was a done deal, our choice was to eliminate either a DR or LR, and we decided (jointly, this time) we would use a formal DR - even if rarely - more than a formal LR. Thanks for both your answers!

My goodness, you guys are fast tonight! I was moseying through the Kitchens forum, stopped by here on my way to bed, and there are already three of my friends online and commenting! ML, I swear I did not lift a finger. I just pointed and Belinda did everything. The most I did was empty some drawers, then she carried the boxes. Belinda needs to earn spending money (she is on disability) and she does everything I can't do or don't get around to doing. Black for the desk would be perfect. I was trying to lighten the area, so did not think of it. The keyboard that will be next to it is black, though. So are the trombone cases, the music stand, and so on. We will have to see how it looks once the room is done. The fake red mahogany may look okay. The room faces east. The honeycomb shades are fairly new - we installed them the day his dad went blind about 3.5 years ago. DH may let me do a valance and side curtains, though. I can only imagine the fun I would have in a fabric store - I am a color and texture lover. Maybe I should look into hanging the 7.5' square rug on the one empty wall behind the loveseat? That would muffle a lot. The rug is in the basement, rolled up after being professionally cleaned. DH is weird about practicing. Lately he has been practicing in the hallway outside of the bedrooms, pointing his horn into the tiled bath. He seems to like that sharp sound. I will have to ask him tomorrow. He went to bed an hour ago, after struggling for hours to figure out a stock distribution issue with my sister's taxes. Her taxes usually take about 10 minutes to do, but not this year! I cannot take credit for the maple, it came with the house. I can only take credit for not trimming it back, or shearing off the bottom so that it looks like an umbrella, like some folks here do. I did choose the door to match it, though! For artwork, there is an interesting photo montage of parts of a trombone, all different angles and perspectives. DH also has a framed poster from the Montreaux Jazz Festival, from the year he played there. I have a picture of him with a mop of hair from his college days, playing. A friend gifted him recently of a sculpture of a figure playing keyboards. I do have a couple of those down lights that you place above artwork that I can use to illuminate something in the bookcase, I like that idea. We have an old broken trombone or two in the basement. Maybe I could look for more musical items in thrift stores and make a sculpture to hang on his wall. The horns live in their cases. I have offered to make shelves for them and DH has declined. Hi Marti, yes that is a barrister bookcase. I got it from Craigslist several years ago and had planned to use it for a display case - even purchased several T3 fluorescent fixtures to put inside some of the sections. It ended up just holding books because we ran out of space. Today we discussed what we are going to do with it, and DH wants to keep it in the foyer. I had planned to put my art deco buffet in the foyer, but the bookcase will fit better. The little curio cabinet next to it holds a few of my precious items. It is supposed to sit a bit down the main hall, where it intersects with the hall to the kitchen and family room, but when Dad was alive we needed it out of the way for the wheelchair and ambulance crews (who else decorates around what the ambulance crews might need!). Now, I leave it in the foyer because I do not want it near where Casey has his pee pads. I don't want it to become a target for him! Since he is on prednisone, he sometimes needs to "go" with little notice. Once the brain tumor or liver cancer take him, it will move back to it's proper place. The hall tree is heavy wrought iron and quite handy, so I may keep it there, too. I just envisioned the foyer looking a bit nicer, with a table and flowers and a picture or mirror on the wall! A tall bookcase (with my McCoy pottery inside) and a coat rack? What do you think? Hi Chris, I did ask the heart doc about the far infrared sauna, and he said it was okay. I got it up to about 120 degrees last night and it was just heaven. I felt well-baked. Know anyone driving through the Detroit area? I have two more shelves in the garage I cannot use. They are 30" wide, 91" tall and 10.5" deep. I do like the color of the bookshelves. They look nicer now than at the lawyer's office. That makes me think that maybe the shelves need touching up. I am not sure yet, since I am not picking them up to look at, since I still have a weight restriction. The shelves are solid pine planks. Jim wants me to look into replacing the metal shelf bracket tracks. They are silver colored and stand out. He wants me to look into getting them in antique brass. My feeling on this is that most of them will be hidden by books, and can't I just paint the visible ones? DH and I are having discussions on what material to use to top the three chests below the middle bookshelves. I want to get this nice granite tile with bullnose edging. He wants to spend less money! The link below shows the product I want to use. I would like the color Giallo Almafi. Here is a link that might be useful: Granite Solutions

thanks, MamaG! I love the rug, too. At first we thought it was a blue-green, then it looked green. Now it is green with a touch of blue in it. I think I forgot to answer somebody's question about the lawyer's bookshelves earlier. There were actually seven bookshelves in the lot. Two were 30" wide by 8 ft high. I sold those. We used all five of the 36" by 8 ft ones. I am somewhat amazed at how well built and how good looking the project turned out. That is all Jim. I am awfully proud of having the idea, though. I find myself constantly thinking about how this old piece of furniture or that old thing could be turned into something new. How I wish I could make them myself! (My hands and elbows and wrists and shoulders won't let me do the work.) And how I wish I could do something this creative for a living!

In our primary home, a traditional center hall colonial, we have two living areas, one on either side of the house. The kitchen is very large but not open to either living area. The TV is in one room, which my husband uses and where we can watch movies or games with family and friends. It's also got french doors which can be closed to muffle the sound. The other living area doubles as my office and a living area where we can entertain without the distraction of TV. It works great for just the two of us or when we have guests. In our vacation home we also have two living areas. The kitchen, dining area, and living area are all open, with the media room separate, also able to be closed off with french doors. I personally would rather have the open area without a TV since this house is used mostly in the summer and is more oriented to human interaction rather than passive TV watching. Of course unless the Mets are playing.