Jillalameda, gosh, what a wonderful compliment. Thank you! I do love it...making all the choices was agonizing and you just never know how it will all look until it's completed and it's too late to change anything. I do have a window seat planned in the dressing area, so I DON'T ever have to leave it! I just had an antique chaise recovered to put there temporarily, and someone wanted to see a pic, so I will get one posted soon. Gbsim, here is a different pic of the sanijet. I LOVE IT! There are a couple more on the website...didn't know if you wanted a different shot than what is posted, if so, let me know, but I think it is pretty well covered there. Also, I just wrote about Kolbe on the windows forum so if you go there and search for my name, you'll see my comments about them. I'd never heard much about them until I chose them; they are beautiful and seem to be good quality. Flyleft, I can't remember where I saw the trim tile...I went to every tile store between Seattle and Portland, I swear. Them my local tile store ordered it for me. I have been trying to get a good close up of it for you, but can't seem to capture the best subtleties of it. I'm going to try again and will post when I do. Oh, and the door design isn't a film, it's actually the glass in the door. I don't know if I squealed, but I sure felt like it when it was installed. It is gorgeous in person.

I read someplace about how items purchased and installed by your builder will be covered by their warranty and items you purchase and have them install may not be. I think the example I read was about plumbing. If a faucet you bought and they install leaks and ruins your hardwood, they might not have to fix the mess. However, if their faucet leaks and ruins your hardwood, they would be responsible for fixing/replacing the faucet and your floors. I'm sure someone else around here is way more knowledgeable about this than I am, but I did worry about buying big ticket items on my own. Of course, I did end up buying my farmhouse sink and a few faucets online- I saved a couple hundred dollars that way. Even my builder was impressed with the price I got on a moen faucet on amazon. It definitely wasn't worth it to buy all te plumbing fixtures though. Yes, it might have cost a bit more per item, but at least the builder can deal with all the issues if something needs another drain or connector or if something is broken. Same with light fixtures- we bought a few important ones but left the rest to the lighting store. Not worth the time and effort to save a few bucks. One more thing- appliances. I told the builder I was shopping online and thought we might just want a 7k credit. When he sent us a price list for the appliances we selected, the prices were so close to what I could find online that it wasn't worth the effort. I kind of wonder if we got better pricing because I was shopping online and they knew we expected better prices? Maybe? I guess it depends on the relationship you have with your builder. I have many old posts about my annoyance with tile selections. I wish we could have just bought our own and hired our own people to install it, but that's not the type of custom build we're doing. I sucked it up, picked cheap but live able stuff, and we plan to replace it all in a couple years.

This is where I am at, DH seeÂs us remodeling kitchen in three or more years and I see us remodeling our kitchen in the next year or earlier. So, Right now I am more in the process of elimination as far as cabinet brands go. Many earlier brands have been eliminated due to size issues as in I want and need deeper and taller wall cabinets and prefer little to no fillers. Also, cost has been a big factor. I have a basic idea of layout but need help in changing the nook area and windows. Some appliances will be reused but we will replace refrigerator with the kichenaid 42" built-in French door paneled and replace the microwave with the adventium. I have the countertop narrowed down to three or four and know exactly what I want for the backsplash, still unsure of wall splash behind stove though. The kitchen sink has been narrowed down to two choices and cab hardware to three. I know what I want for lighting but havenÂt found exactly the right one, I will know it when I see it. Still tossing around the idea of wood range hood verses stainless. The doors of my dreams are simple $$$applied moulding but with most likely end up with nice raised panel for style of home. Husband thinks I spend way too much time thinking of and planning for the kitchen.

Very hard to pick just one favorite feature! If I have to pick just one working feature, it would be the lowered work space on the end of our island. It is exactly the right height for me for prepping, baking, etc. and it is also a great height for many of our kids. I'm five feet tall, and it is so nice to have a work space that works for me! The layout works well, too, as my dh chooses a different part of the island, so if both of us are in the kitchen, we are not bumping into each other. The end of the island that is lowered is across from the sink and dishwasher, and I love having drawers in that section for all the dishes-even my three year old can empty most of the dishwasher, and no one is hauling chairs into the kitchen to get or put away dishes. The big windows are probably my other favorite-adding big windows makes that whole end of the house so much brighter and enjoyable to be in. Having big windows rated higher than most everything when coming up with a layout for our new kitchen.