From a homeowner perspective: We have lived in 2 Cedar houses from the same builder. One we built, and upgraded the cedar. The second house we were the second owners. The cedar was not upgraded, and had knots and splits, and holes where the knots had been. You could read the words on the underneath wrap. We had also kept up with maintenance & staining the first house. We had to replace the cedar on the second house. The houses were built about a year apart - same environment. My recommendation is to look closely at a sampling of the boards -- more than 1 -- and compare the grades before you make a decision. Learn about how the boards are graded and the acceptable splits, knots, etc.

Thanks so much NoSoccermom -- your interest in my project is soooo helpful. By chance, just today, my neighbor stopped by who is an engineer (the worst) but worked as a professional painter and general contractor as he worked his way thru college. I've been dying to call him about all my projects but today worked out perfectly. He's finishing his basement and asked my ideas about that and I had a chance to walk him thru the almost finished Dining Room (he was impressed) and then we talked about the crazy Living Room with paneling/shake/beams/etc. He loved all your ideas about keeping the shake. He offered to help me remove the paneling and fix the walls OR apply NEW drywall if that is what I want. Cleverly ... he mentioned ... if you really want to accent the shake like it was "intentional" minimize or remove the other materials. Lastly .... he advised on my ceiling which he's done before. After a lengthy discussion ... I have to basically stipple these tiles (brush-fill all the holes and groves) then roll with a nappy roller. I can do that. I can recruit my Hubby to help. In return, I've offered to help finish his basement when it comes to painting as I meet his level of excellence. LOL. I'm in good shape for now. I'll post pictures of the entire room before / during / and after. Also, I feel obliged to send you flowers or something in appreciation because you've really changed and IMPROVED what I was going to do. Thanks soooo much. And thanks to GW Home Decorators. You folks rock! :)

a) Absolutely have him move them! Or can he order the slightly smaller ones that you would like? (I understand, whenever I see shutters improperly sized (aka, almost everywhere) it makes me cringe). If it bugs you it will probably always bug you so might as well have it fixed! Make sure he caulks the holes made in the siding so you don't have any weaknesses. b) It depends...does he willingly do the dishes??? :) c) No no! Push to the end!!! (we drooped at the end of our kitchen and we still dont' have baseboards :) Bonus) Absolutely paint paint! I'm a vote for deep red or really deep purple (we have it and I LOVE it, even DH loves it :) and it looks really beautiful with greys...you could tie it in with lavender colored flowers maybe... I LOVE how your house is turning out, I was a little skeptical of removing the shakes but it really is looking fabulous! Your house looks like the exact style and size of mine, do you mind my asking how much your siding quote was? I am in Illinois so it would probably be different anyway but I was just curious :) From house just a thought :)

silverraven, I'm up way to late, having just gotten the latest cabinet installed in preparation for the arrival of a marble counter tomorrow. Face frames aren't on yet. I'm also becoming a little crazy -- we're having a graduation party here in 4 weeks and I'm doing a big push to get as much done in the kitchen as possible. Anyway, a few more thoughts, based on my experiences -- maybe a professional cabinetmaker would disagree. John is right about the lumber, of course. Sometimes lumber places will surface the rough wood for you, for a fee. (It sounds like you don't have your own jointer and planer.) The problem with that is the wood can warp after you bring it home if the temperature and/or humidity differs from the warehouse. A little bit of warp is OK to work with for face frames, because they're securely attached to the carcasses, but not for doors and drawers. Ideally you acclimate the wood to your environment for a couple of weeks, then surface it. By then it's less likely to warp. ALthough I have to say, my boss often doesn't do this, and it works out OK. I haven't figured out the total quantity of solid wood I'll need, but so far, for face frames and doors for a 12 foot run of base cabinets, and two 30-inch wide "to-the-counter" uppers, I've only paid about $150 for 5/4 soft maple. (Maybe a little more, I forget the exact amount.) Lastly, my cabinetmaker friend told me he usually allows about $1000 for hardware alone! That was a shock to me. The hinges alone are $15 each!