Thanks everyone for the compliments and good wishes! We can't believe how well it turned out either. We agonized a lot over which seating to order. Even though we played around with layouts on paper, I was worried that the theater seating group would be too big but I really wanted 3 seats there. The room feels much more spacious with the new seating then with the old couch - I think that's partly its a visual illusion because this one looks less bulky and partly the Space is less deep than on the old couch with its bulky cushions. mtnfever, the Couch Color pageant definitely helped us get clarity on the right color. For those who missed it, I highly recommend the approach of making large samples of a color to consider instead of trying to imagine with a tiny sample chip. I'll link the thread below for those who didn't see it. We knew we wanted to get rid of the hearth when we bought the house decades ago, but it took a long time to get around to it. On the other hand, I don't think we would have made as good decisions if we had replaced it back then. Bcafe, in the stores, they use the Stressless name and logo more than the Ekornes one so it would be easy to think that the company wasn't around. They still have the Ekornes non-reclining couches and chairs too. The website is www.ekornes.com/us. Enduring - yes it wasn't in scale and was way too dark. Even more, I hated it because it was fake stone. It always looked really fake to me though I've had others who were sure it was real stone. Gooster, yes all the front speakers are behind speaker cloth sections in the cabinets. The center is between the two drawers of the credenza; left and right on pull out shelves in the far left and right cabinets. The subwoofer is the black box on the floor and the rear speakers are white and mounted near the ceiling - you can see one in the first picture. Yes, we moved the fireplace to the right - doing so was only slightly more work than tearing out the hearth and installing a new one where the old one was. The hearth was fake stone on a metal mesh backing over a wood frame so that was much easier to remove than it looks like it would be. There wasn't a solid brick or stone chimney - just a flue pipe to remove and this is on an inside wall - the works were all in the empty space between the faux stone and an interior wall - so there was no external chimney to move to match except a little box on the roof. This is a one story which also makes moving things easier - the main work of moving it was patching the old hole in the roof and making a new one for the new flue to go through. We had moved it too far to be able to slant the flue to reach the old hole. When our GC took out the old hearth, there were some surprises. A joist had been cut for the old flue to go through the ceiling and it hadn't been sistered or anything - just two joist ends hanging in space in the ceiling. Our GC repaired that. There were electrical outlets on the bottom of the hearth and there were wire junctions just hanging in space inaccessible under the heart where the wiring was connected to wires from the wall. The fireplace was apparently a very early addition to the house poorly done. The TV is 65" - the size was chosen to be big enough that text viewed from the couch when using the screen for the media computer would be about equivalent to looking at text on a desktop computer screen. Also it works nicely for viewing while cooking and yet isn't overwhelming from the couch. The gap could accommodate a 73" screen, but I prefer having a little space around the screen. CEFreeman, the knobs took a lot of thought and work. He has made things like bowls and salt shakers before but never has made things that need to match as a large set. I came up with an initial design for the profile after seeing something similar in a magazine and then he made some initial variations so we could perfect the diameter, height and shape details. Then he made about twice as many as we would need since these are done freehand and the wood also varies. I sorted them into matched pairs and we used the best matches on the pairs of doors where the knobs are right next to each other in the wide cabinet and the credenza. We also put matched pairs on the left and right opening tall cabinets in case they are ever in a room where they are right next to each other. He also repairs furniture and is the only reason we still can use the rather fragile dining table chairs we have. But he does full time day care for our youngest grandchild so I only get so much project time from him. Bellsmom!! Yikes - so that's why we had to replace the hearth - to keep trolls from hiding there. I love your concept - so did my husband. (The eyes were elevations I made of our plans for the wall. When I asked about vertical blinds on the Home Decorating forum, there were a lot of people who were anti-vertical, but for the windows and style of this house, I think they are the best solution. Part of some peoples objections were based on cheap industrial metal verticals. These ones have fabric laminated to plastic for the vanes so they are quieter. We popped for the backstaker option so when partially open the stacked vanes are at the edge of the windows. We also like that the blinds can be tilted to block sun when needed while still letting us see the yard and monitor grandchildren on the patio. Marti8a, we chose to keep the same wood for the cabinets as in the kitchen - natural cherry - because we already have several woods in the area - maple floor, oak breakfast table and counter stools and some dark unidentified wood for some of the original built-ins and breakfast room doors. To differentiate them from the kitchen cabinets (because I didn't want the family room to look like the kitchen had extended into it), so we chose a different door style - a more sophisticated mitered corner raised panel instead of shaker, but still with simple lines and furniture style knobs instead of big kitchen ones. Here is a link that might be useful: Couch Color thread

I don't think your kitchen is too busy---yet. But, it has a lot of elements that can take it that way if you aren't careful. The beadboard is a big part of that. It's an appropriate choice, but yes, I do think all of your examples are too fussy with the brackets and the beadboard. It takes away from the beadboard and the beadboard takes away from the brackets. I think that brackets or beadboard could work. Just not both. Doing floating shelves between the cabinets is very easy. Much easier than doing actual floating shelves! You can mock it up with cardboard boxes to get a feel for it. Basically, you are creating a large U framework out of 2x4's and facing it with plywood, mitered at the edges, or just filled with filler and painted if you want to paint them. The back, open U portion slips over a 2x2 cleat attached to the wall and screws to attach it to the shelf where you can't see it. Then you screw in from the sides of the cabinets into the 2x4 framing at the sides. A bit of caulking and touch up paint and you have a simple "floating" shelf between the two cabinets.

Sunny, I understand what you mean about making the kitchen feel more custom with tile and new counters but those can be really personal choices and a buyer might appreciate an allowance instead. From the pictures I actually don't mind the countertops, it's the kitchen light that looks much more dated to me. I would consider replacing the big rectangular light with some recessed lights if possible. The lighting change would be less of a DIY friendly project than the countertops so a buyer might appreciate the lighting update more. The oak cabinets, although in great condition, actually look dated to me, but I think you need the wood color to warm up the space with all the tile-maybe just some different cabinet knobs/pulls? The house is very clean and uncluttered but in some areas looks a little bare. Maybe add some more artwork on the walls in the eat in area in the kitchen. The artwork above the sofa might look better if there were two or three pictures instead of the one to help balance the length of the sofa in the space. Rugs would be nice to break up and warm up all the expansive tile and ground the furniture so it doesn't look like it's sort of floating, it will also help define room spaces. Something simple like a solid warm nuetral color with just some texture would be nice-more like a natural Rattan, not like a plush or shag. I would place them under the piano, kitchen table area, sofa/coffee table area. In the Master bedroom I would love to see more art on the walls as well. The art over the bed seems too large and unbalanced with the curve of the headboard- you could try two smaller same size pictures placed on either side of the middle hump in the headboard. Maybe take the bed off the risers and get rid of one of the night stands and lamps, since they don't look like they match-could just be the picture. If the nightstands do match then I would get matching lamps. You might consider changing out the cafe curtain in the kitchen table area to a solid instead of a print. Fresh flowers for an open house or showing in almost any room can be nice. The septic tank-We almost didn't buy our house because it has a septic tank (on the listing they had marked city sewage) however, with a pump and inspection paid for by the seller, we were able to find out the construction and condition of it, and we felt better about it.

"Again -- I am CLEARLY no expert and have no idea what I'm doing." In your posts above you keep saying you plead ignorance, you didn't know, etc. But it's been, what, 3 years? Each of the items you said you didn't know about can be googled. For example, the range vs. cooktop/wall ovens has been discussed a ton on the Kitchens and Appliances Forums. Windows - there's a forum on the Gardenweb just about windows, and there are windows contractors on there who are very generous with their advice. You could peruse the threads there and get educated. Then you could say to the remodeling company, e.g., "I want double-pane casements, wood-clad, by Marvin", or whatever. The question about shelves and dishes - how can the designer know what dishes you have and how many? Couldn't you look at your dishes currently and see what depth of shelves you need and how many shelves? Appliances - I've done several remodels and picked out my own appliances, and gave the KD the model numbers and specs. But I was willing to do th research. It sounds odd that after 3 years you continue to say you're ignorant. There are remodelers and designers who will do "turnkey" type jobs. They will do everything soup to nuts and you only have to give basic preferences on colors you like. It sounds like that would be a relief for you. But those are the kinds that cost $100k+. If you are not in that category, you need to make an effort to research and educate yourself so that you can be decisive and then KDs will give you their attention.