Earlier in this thread Richardol mentions the Orchids anonymous meetings, when and where are these meetings to be held again? And will there be a plant exchange or sale table? I had an interesting conversation with Harry at Andys Orchids recently pertaining to my growing obsession with orchids and he contends that the diagnosis of addiction is alive and well in the orchid world, and I will say that I am in agreement and heavily afflicted. He then proceeded to sell me several plants that I desperately needed. Not because I have a problem with orchids or anything though. I can stop whenever I want to. Really. Very early in my addiction I read the book Orchid Fever (Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy: by Eric Hansen). There is a great passage in this book in which a grower at an orchid show tells the author that the craziness he is seeing is not at all uncommon and goes on to note that the dog show people have little on the orchid people with respect to eccentricities. It is much funnier in print than it looks here, especially if you have seen "Best in Show" or hang out with orchid persons. I believe this addiction to be very sneaky and very contagious as well. Mine too started innocently enough with the acquisition of 2 blooming Phals sharing a single pot that I purchased for my wife a few years back. If only we had known or they had come with some kind of warning. I should add that I am much more impaired than my wife is with the "Orchid problem". Our collection has grown at a rather alarming rate, driven by my interest in these fascinating plants and ready access to the Internet. Mostly I purchase plants that strike my fancy and that I optimistically believe I can meet the culture needs of though several of the web vendors frequently mentioned in the forums here. Because I have all my plants delivered to my office my staff sees all of the deliveries and I have noticed that they have gone from bemused acknowledgement of my "problem" to a keen interest in orchid husbandry. To brighten my office I try to bring a few spiking plants in to enjoy as we toil. I have a Bcl that has 8 fat buds ready to pop that is getting daily visits to its little nook by everyone to check on its progress. Recently I have overheard conversations speculating on the color and form of the flower to be produced by a recently added Paph topped with a bloated purple-black bud that was ever so slowly unfolding. As a consequence of this obvious change in attitudes I fear that I am spreading this disease to those around me, sort of like a Typhoid Richard, only with orchids. Most concerning is the recent order that was opened soon after arrival by someone other than me while I was occupied elsewhere. The reason given was "so the little plants could get some air". Right. In truth I suspect that more than just myself eagerly anticipate the arrival of a new plant order. Every one here exposed to me and the orchids are now showing early signs of infection with this alarming and completely enjoyable affliction. I hereby propose a behavioral theory to legitimize the orchid addiction and romantic relationships metaphor proposed earlier in this thread. Obtaining new plants, maintaining established ones and raising plants from seedlings are all activities that I contend activate pathways in our brains that are involved in the feelings we experience in romantic relationships. The excitement and anticipation brought on by a flush of new growth or a flowering spike is not at all unlike the feelings associated with those experienced by some in a new relationship. The promise of what may come is what helps to nourish optimism and joy along the way. Success at meeting cultural requirements, having your plants thrive and flower all perpetuate the process of obsession by stimulating reward pathways in our orchid addled brains. At the same time having a plant sulk or be in a state of decline arouses feelings of loss and grief, perhaps even guilt very much like feelings that may be encountered in a struggling relationship, though I cannot say I have been jealous or angry or betrayed at the thought that my plants might be seeing other pollinators I do know of others that were at least irked by the outcome produced by this particular indiscretion. One unanswered part of this theory is; can one rid ones self of a partner by over watering as readily as one can a cherished orchid? The treatment I have chosen for my addiction is to save for a green house, find a way to manage my humidity in the winter in Wisconsin, visit the websites of Olympic Orchids, AndyÂs, OHG, EooM, Cal-Orchids, NWO and others frequently to check for new plants in need of a loving home or specials too good to pass up. When was that meeting again?

As requested earlier from Davidro who wanted to understand traffic flow, below is a whole house "sketch" which shows our first floor layout (upstairs is only a loft) and second diagram is where I'm at with regard to kitchen design after input from you guys and after Ikea consultant/designer who was at my home today gave as far as cabinets fitting. Also, from the earlier discussion, I had some confusion about whether I could relocate the washer/dryer to the hall. The contractor who visited today didn't have any problems with the relocation. It helps a lot that our foundation is "pier and beam". Moving plumbing around is a whole lot easier. New location of washer/dryer may be a bit claustrophobic in the hall way outside the bathroom but I only do laundry a couple times a week for short spurts. I'm in the kitchen a whole lot longer and since the relocation of washer/dryer is the only thing keeping me from having the kitchen layout I REALLY wanted from the beginning (barring the fact the pantry has gotten quite a bit smaller), I am a happy camper. I'm going to lie low a while and get our bathroom done and maybe a roof before I come back with any updates on the kitchen. And for anyone who is in doubt, the Ikea prices for all cabinets is half of what price was quoted for Innermost cabinets by Home Depot. And the Ikea quote includes several of the appliances though I'm not sure yet if that is how I will really go. But cabinets -yes - their prices are too good to pass up. The money we save can go for the bathroom we're getting that has a curbless shower, and several other expensive details which Ikea can't help us out on. I'll still be listening but hopefully everyone can see the aisles around the island are considerably wider (maybe even too wide with my feet problems). If I need more pantry space, I'm fairly sure that several of the drawers in the main part of the kitchen will not all be used so I can use them for pantry space spill over if there is any. THANKS AGAIN (though I will definitely be back - still need to pick out countertop/backsplash/flooring/hoodOverCooktop and make decisions about appliances..) And since I haven't marked it well, let me explain that there are upper cabinets on either side of the cooktop and also to the left of the fridge. No uppercabinets on the sides of the "cleanup sink" with the large 6 foot wide window. Think I may wait until kitchen is done and probably install some open floating shelves on either side of cleanup sink - more for esthetics than function but I think I can wait until the last minute for that. (Maybe even some art work...)

Wow, it is good to know that lots of people would have 60k for their kitchen renos these days. And they say we are heading towards a recession. Since I spend about 50k, I guess I would be below the average group according to Sophie's estimation. Of course one need to consider the size of the kitchen. I think 60k would be for a larger kitchen. My kitchen is considered medium size. I live in Canada so I don't know what the average money spend on kitchen is. Well like I've mentioned before, this is my first kitchen reno and I learned a lot from it. I had never thought to look below the cabinets at the showroom. Unfortunately at the showroom, they did not have the models of the kitchen I chose. They had other styles but it never occur to me to look below the cabinets. Of course they don't have on display the type of breakfast island I have chosen. That definitely wasn't an option. According to the "pros" here, I guess I am a picky customer. Now that I've learned from my mistakes, I would definitely advised my friends about them. I have a few of them, waiting for my reno to be done and see whether they will do it too. I do appreciate all you taking the time to comment and share your opinions. Hopefully, when people read these posts, they will be more aware of the "issues" when they tackle their future renovations.

Allison, just saw your thread as I haven't been here in a while but I think if you're four years out, wait until your about one year out as you said. Lot of talk here about "forever houses" and how most really aren't because life circumstances change, same is true here. Mrs. ARG and I have GC'ed three houses over 40 years and those worked out but we bought two other lots with the intention of building but for a variety of reaons, sold them. But that doesn't mean you can't be getting ready and learning about residential design, especially the intangible aspects of it. Here's a link on some good books to read https://www.houzz.com/discussions/3281434/book-suggestions Probably "Patterens of Home" is one of the better ones. And a thread on what makes for good house design https://www.houzz.com/discussions/3285825/what-makes-a-house-have-good-design As far as the arguement of "floorplan or no floor plan for the architect", every architect is different of course, but when that happens to me, it doesn't limit me as I'm looking at a floor plan more in DIAGRAMMITIC terms as oppposed to actual physical terms and asking question like "What do you like about this?". And then once I learn that, ask "Have you thought about this.....?" as I begin to freehand ideas. But if you have a plan, don't get too "stuck" on it and be open to other ideas. I've had clients that have said "But we've spent MONTHS on this", like the task is akin to washing a car with the more time spent on it, the better the result. Design doesn't work that way. As an example, here's an example of a client working diligently on a design(s) and what we (and I say "we" because it's always a participatory process) came up with. Client plans: And what we came up with: But of course, Mark and Jen (the owners) were great listeners and for this to work that's what you and your aerospace engineer husband needs to be. FWIW, here's his thread: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5401415/stuck-with-floor-plan But the best of luck in your build. Exciting times ahead!!