I have a kitchen's worth of Ikea Lidingo patiently waiting to be assembled and I'm (hopefully) going for an old world look. At first I was going to paint the doors a cream color and then glaze them, but the prep work was enormous. On a whim, I took a door and painted a light line of Minwax Polyshades (a one step stain and polyurethane finish) around the moldings using an artists brush. It doesn't look half-bad against the white door, and so far the Minwax accents appear pretty durable - I can't scrape or scrub anything off, but of course this is not a true test of kitchen durability. I guess time will tell (I'm a short-cut kinda gal...) Other things that I'm attempting for the "look": - several glass doors - lotsa crown molding (painted w/ BM simply white & glazed w/ the Minwax) - building a plaster-look range hood out of drywall. - adding corbels - adding furniture feet - modifing a cabinet frame to have a plate rack on the bottom and a shelf for display on top. Ikea does have a plate rack cab but it's a double rack and doesn't work for me. I'm just going to cut a bunch of wood dowelling to fit the cab. Wish me luck :) Dawn

Greenhaven, I think it depends on how you grow up. My dad was a jack of all trades because his dad was that way. Well long story short I was a big tomboy and tagged along with many of my dad's jobs (metal fabrication, machine fixing, electrical, plumbing, small building jobs like decks and garages. Also at home I was the one that helped him bleed the breaks on his old 1952 1 ton box truck. I also helped him rotate the tires, change fluids and general maintenance. I was also in awe when he had to get out his engine lift (doesn't every one have one?) to put a new engine in his old truck. DH is also very handy because he grew up on a small farm and learned woodworking from his grandpa. I even felt competent enough the other day to fix my leaky S trap all by myself. I fixed up the front porch on our old house (have to sand again and paint since winter came early last fall. :( It will be pretty when I finish, and I can transplant my little seedlings outside. I agree with everyone else though that learning to be handy seems to be a lost art, and I told DH we will have to teach little DD everything we know. It won't be hard though since he loves to help with everything. I am looking forward to your second thread and hope it goes as well as the first one.

kathy_ny, I ordered my fridge without seeing it in the store and I'm not sorry. I really like it. Don't have any space issues cause it's just DH and me here. I like not having stuff disappear into the deep recesses but with a family of 4 or 5, I can see where space might be a little tight cause, naturally, there is less room than a full-depth. aunttomichael, now I know what to say in case anyone ever walks into my kitchen and points out the thin countertop. I'll just say, "Well, it doesn't weigh down the small space." I like that!!! It sounds real good, kinda makes sense too. claybabe, mindimoo (mindi, I just saw your marble and cabinets - they are to die for!!!!), olchik and Caroline - I so appreciate your comments. Caroline, one of the things I loved about this house when I first saw it was that every window has a nice view. Unfortunately, all last summer during work on the kitchen, landscaping was shamefully neglected - I am in a small town in Oklahoma where the clay soil is THE WORST.

On January 2nd, I demolished (really did! Loved that hammer! And had a great time after an argument with my 22-yr old son! A gal has to find some stress-relief, right?!) all the cabinets and soffits, re-mudded the walls and ceiling (after installing some pieces of sheetrock where the soffits used to be) removed the old vinyl flooring and old glue, and now I am starring at blank walls for another few days. In my spare time (3-6 am, hey! I am a 58yr old woman who can't sleep!), I designed on paper my ultimate kitchen (of course on a small budget!) I found an incredible cabinet maker who is charging me about $4500 for great cherry cabinets with soft close doors and drawers (no extra cost), glass or wood doors (my choice), full extension drawers, all drawers in base cabinets as I asked. Total of 26 cabinets including 2 giant floor-to-ceiling special designed/built large pantries, crown molding and all my little special requirements (oh the price also includes install of cabinets and granite). See his website: http://www.gwkitchen.com/index11.html. The granite I chose for my 2 long (39 sq/ft) countertops is "absolute black" 3CM granite for $1400 (you can check out their granites on same website). I just cannot be happier! No fancy name brand but great quality just the same. Scrimp: DIY design and planning instead of hiring a kitchen designer or contractor. Using a handyman to help me install backsplash and flooring I have a white 2-yr old french door fridge so I am going to buy the brushed stainless steel soft metal (http://cgi.ebay.com/Update-Appliances-to-Brushed-Stainless-Steel-softmetal_W0QQitemZ250103259621QQihZ015QQcategoryZ46124QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem) to refinish it in SS until I can afford to buy a new one! Not buying top of the line appliances. I am sticking with GE Profile for everything. I have American Home Shield and through their purchasing dept, I get extremely great savings on all american appliances. What an incredible saving there too! I chose double ovens with double self-clean and double convection, top of the line dishwasher, great microwave and best looking 36" glass cooktop (black & SS) that has a bridge and several other cool things. I chose granite tiles instead of 2CM granite sheets for backsplash ($400 including install). I am leaving my concrete floor as is until I can figure out what I want to do. Most likely go to Ged's carpet & tiles outlet or other builders' outlets and choose some really nice tiles at half (or more) the price of major stores. I will then purchase the tiles, get my handyman to help me install them (cheaper if I help) and that will be that. Splurge: - Used electrician to wire for recessed lighting, wiring and tying together over-cabinet, under-cabinet and inside-cabinet lighting to ONE switch - dimmable. Also to move the wiring of some appliances to new locations and switching hard-wire to receptacle for new microwave and disposal. And a load of other little things. Total $745. - Used plumber to work on plumbing lines for new sink, moving the fridge water line to new area and wiring for deck-mount pot filler. $400. Buying 1HP Insinkerator Excel disposal instead of smaller (even though I don't one that powerful) because of their jam-sensor circuit & low low noise. Could not afford all SS appliances so mixed and matched with black and SS. Both will look great with black granite. And nowadays, everything gets mixed and looks great. And most importantly? Researching and shopping on the internet with companies who offer free shipping and tax and reading every single blog on this website and getting incredible ideas from you guys to make my kitchen even better and elegant. Should be done within 2 weeks and will try to post before and after pictures.