Since none of the pros have piped up with their precise secret formulas, here's how I'd swag it: -Bathroom is about 16' x 10', so order 160 square feet of the floor tile. Yeah, the tile goes a little further than 16' in the toilet room, but I didn't subtract the shower or tub footprint, so those offset it, plus eat up the off cuts. -Shower walls: looks like you've got 2 that are about 5x8 and 2 that are ~2x8 (assume 8 foot ceilings), so that's 112 square feet for them. Not subtracting the area for the accent strip will cover off-cuts. -Shower floor and ceiling: Two ~5x5 spaces, so you need 50 square feet. The square is cut off on the door side, reducing the need, but keep it in to cover off-cuts. -Accent strip: 16" wide x 14 feet of wall length = 19 feet. I'd round up on this. -Deco tiles: You've got 1 every 5.5", over 14 feet, which is 30 tiles. Get a couple extra in case you break one. And on everything, round up the nearest box size.

I'm back. Melissa, I hadn't considered soapstone. Is it soft and would it be prone to chipping? Does it need to be sealed? If the answers are no, I'd certainly like to check it out. Oruboris, I googled that pattern and it is lovely. Like cubmaster mentioned, my tile store sells by the box so it might get pricey for this room. But in the not too distant future I hope to retile a very large sunroom and it would be awesome in there. I'm saving the pattern for sure. Diagonal is classic and in the running but cubmaster's idea of brick or running bond sounds interesting. How about any of these options... The tiles I like come in 20 and 13 inch squares and 20x13, 10x13, and 12x18 rectangles. I love the larger format tiles but is the room too small for 20 inch tile? On the short side it would be only 2.5 tiles wide. What do you think of a brick/running bond pattern with the rectangles? Would the 20x13 or 12x18 work or are they too large? I'd run them parallel to the short side. Opinions welcomed. Thanks, Alida

I say get what you want and what is important to you or you will regret it. Our OTR microwave was placed low and is fine for me now, but we are remodeling now and I am a bit worried that "proper" placement will be too high for me as well as I am also 5'2. But we don't have a choice...I have a galley kitchen with not much counter space so OTR is the only option that makes sense. Even with our low microwave, there was room for a stockpot on the front burners. We live in an average tract house neighborhood and don't cook or entertain a lot, so getting high-end appliances did not make sense for us. I have had a GE Profile electric stove and OTR MW for 14 years without a single repair needed, so we went with GE Profile again...I also liked the looks more than other brands. Cabinets and counters were more important to me than appliances (my analysis paralysis was counters!). If you really have your heart set on GE Cafe or Bertazzoni, etc. then go for it! Otherwise you will look at your plain jane stove every day and wish you had gotten the model you really wanted. BTW--I bought my stove, MW and DW (Bosch) from Number1Direct.com and saved about $1,000....they carry the high-end brands as well. Everything arrived on time and was well-packed and crated.

I took two more tests. They were the idiot proof kind that say PREGNANT or NOT PREGNANT and I most certainly am with child. Daddy is really excited. I didn't want to tell the girls but he spilled the beans to them and half of the town we live in. He ran up to his part time night job and told all the fella's there as well as all the neighbors, all of his family and I'm sure he was strutting around like a rooster at his day job this morning. We went out to eat with the girls to celebrate at a resteraunt we frequent....he was telling all the staff. HAHAHA. The girls kept announcing it to complete strangers as they left the resteraunt. I wanted to crawl under the table and die everytime. The girls are so excited so now I am MORE paranoid. J made me get of the computer last night. I was ordered to stop looking stuff up. Thanks for all the congrats!!! We are all very excited. Thoughts and prayers for a smooth pregnancy would be greatly appreciated! P.S. My boobs are killing me...hahahahahaha