Hi Treva, I just saw your posting...and I have some tall yellow cannas (I think they are Richard Wallace) with orange splashes that I can send you for postage. I have a few red cannas, too. Your home looked so cozy; I'm so sorry to see it hit by Katrina...we got some of Katrina too, but only fallen trees and damage roof. Our trees fell away from the house but we have friends who lost their homes due to trees falling onto their homes. You are right, the Lord gives and takes away but bless the name of the Lord. Betsy

This is a duplicate of what I just posted on the older thread. Thought I'd better catch up and let the newer folks know a bit about me. Married, all kids are too, and altogether there are 7 grandkids. We have no allergies but a few dislikes or aversions: DH loathes olives, the fruit. I dont like florals very much and definitely dont heavily many scented things. Like handmade or homemade just about anything. I dont lean towards things Victorian or very ornate Love metal, wood, stone, ceramic, organic looking things Neither one of us is fond of the blood-sausage-type things. We both like nuts, chocolate (mines dark, his is lighter but he is changing), spices, sweet and savory things. I love lemon, We eat at home often, I love to set a pretty table, linen napkins everyday We divide our time between NYC and a small town in CT. We are moving in the fall to and down-sizing in NY. CT: The country home is eclectic leans towards the whimsical or lyrical, my color palette is basically established by all the things that I own. You can check it out on picturetrail.com under bubbeskitchen. It is the Sherman House album. NY is contemporary and traditional. We are changing our color palette when we move from the neutrals with dusty peach to spicy colors: saffron, ginger, paprika. My new kitchen is right out in the open; the counters are slate, the cabinets and appliances are wood-grain and the sink and stove are stainless. So I guess my new digs will be more contemporary to modern and streamline if I can do it. Here is a link: http://cielocondos.com/home12.html My kitchen layout is like the dining room picture link on the bottom of the "great spaces" page. I kind of have a free-wheeling thing going on and an opportunity to try new stuff. I do intend to reduce visible clutter by containerizing a lot. Thats what comes to mind right now. Hope that it helps. Bubbe

Well, I meant the specific cabinet maker's standard cabinets I was looking at...not in general. I was pricing at their site, and they were transparent about everything else. but they just gave "3 drawer cabinet" no info on drawer size. I went to another site and saw the same thing (which started my journey to here lol). They just need to be upfront and clear about everything. I do not mind paying more for something I want or a better quality. On the other hand, if I was looking just to cheaply do something, I wouldn't worry about the size of drawers or whether it was mdf or not-it would just be about the bottom line only. The people who wouldn't mind paying more are the ones they really need to target. Since the price can vary so much, from a few thousand to tens of thousands, I would assume shoppers would like to have a better estimate-not just "anywhere from 2k to 200k depending on what you want and room size"... I want an estimate within hundreds or 1k at most. I don't look at expensive sports cars, because I know I cannot afford them. I will look at different models in my price range. Then if I see something that is just what I want, I will sacrifice to get it, even if it's a little more than I originally wanted to pay. If money was not an obstacle, or I had to have one at whatever cost (even if I needed to get a loan), then I just stroll into any dealer's business. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that they will get more business if they are transparent with it all. Give all dimensions, price, and materials in a clear, user-friendly website for their basic lines. Get shoppers to see that they can afford it and get what they want. Then be available to talk with them when they're ready to finalize things. Then the salesmen can point out any problems and offer solutions. They could also use this opportunity to then point out how little extra it would be upgrade this or that. I do about 90% of my shopping or preliminary price-checking online. They're loosing business by not bringing in customers thru their website....in my opinion anyway...

I have a sofa that is all down and an absolute cloud for cuddling into. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, sort of Alice-in-Wonderlandish with mixed up fabrics and trims, but an all-time favorite of ours. It's made by Zimmerman. I'm wondering if the Domain sofas were, too. So that manufacturer may be something to look out for, if the CL one doesn't pan out. I don't see mine on the site (it's five years old now), but here are some ideas. Here is a link that might be useful: Some of the pieces