Hi Everyone, I have an old, little house built in 1948. The floor in part of the house is a red oak with a dark grain. I would like to redo my kitchen (currently hideous tile on top of vinyl) and living room (carpet on top of concrete slab) with something that's a reasonable match. Because you see into all three rooms at once, similar flooring will create more "flow." I'd also considered a Karndean vinyl for the kitchen which matched pretty well but after reading about PVC and carcinogens, decided to pass. Any ideas on the *best* match for an old red oak? I'd been looking at some Bruce but can't really tell from the sample how close it might be when it's in there en masse. Any help is appreciated. If a photo would help, I can post one. Thanks!

To mry193--YW, mry. Go ahead, take the plunge! Easy for me to commit you to all this agony, eh? :-) It is hard,sometimes, but it's fun, too, and so gratifying when you get something right. But that's the thing, as in cooking or buying a blouse we think is going to be absolutely perfect with "those" slacks...no matter how much practice we have, we all make mistakes now and then. We get "it" home and it doesn't look right, even if we have years of practice and have successfully executed color schemes before. So I say, don't be intimidated, jump in and when you mess things up, you can do what I still have to do often enough (even after thirty years, two apartments, one rental, five owned homes and probably, counting renos, a couple dozen color schemes): repaint or change the shower curtain. :-D What are you picturing in your mind's eye? What kind of colors do you see in your dream scheme? To hoosiergirl: Ditto your agent; you built a beautiful home, and I love the way you put everything together. [For skeet, if you see this and look at hoosier's pics, the very first photo I saw had a good example of the visual linking. Look at the way the finish on the door on the left side relates well to the floor color on the right, even though the wall colors are different and there's a different (carpet? rug?) color between the door and the other room's floor. So, even though the two areas are different, they're tied together with the same undertones and similar finishes.] To hoosier, again--That's a lovely kitchen, and you seem to have done a much better job than I have in using what look to be almost the exact same colors/tones (as nearly as I can tell from pics) in our kitchens. Aghhhh! Help me, hoosier! LOL I agree with you. We built this house not quite four years ago. The hardest part was picking the paint. I'm happy with a lot of the house, but so far I've repainted the kitchen twice, and as I noted above, I'm having to do it again. I hope I get it "right" this time! I was happy to see your cabinet color used with black appliances. That's what I have, except for the cooktop and fan (SS). I am struggling to get some cheer/energy in this room. The main difference is that I have the wooden cabinets on the perimeter of the room and the (soft) white cabinetry on the island. Do you have decent natural light in that kitchen? Mine's okay until about 2 p.m., then it gets dreary. There's a LOT of wood in here, with the cabs, the plank floors (a little darker than your tile, but the same reddish undertone), and a farmhouse table. There's a lot of warm painted furniture (chairs, pie keep, a linen chest), but it's still a heavy room. The walls were originally some kind of off-white (maybe...BM Ballet?). I thought it would be nice, because of all the (Early American) colors in the furniture, but, no. I think the white had too grey a base. Then I hand-mixed a soft green that looks close to the same hue as yours, except a bit lighter. I thought I liked it, but it became draggy as the weather got greyer. I also used matte, and maybe that was a problem. So...now I'm going to try a warm white (something like BM Navajo or Calming Cream) in *eggshell* on the walls) and a lighter, warm gold (like Marblehead Gold or Dorset Gold) on all the doors and trim. Like your house, there's a lot of trim/millwork. The palette on this floor mostly comes off of BM Philadelphia Cream/Guilford Green/Palladian Blue/Goldfinch. That's a beautiful fan hood, btw. Maybe warmer metal finishes would help around my kitchen. Anyway, nicely done!

Hi Sally, as the manufacturer of EPIC Plus we wanted to share a bit more information on the product. We’re incredibly proud of our EPIC Plus line and have analyzed its performance through and through. We understand your concerns regarding the reviews are working with each of these customers individually to determine the cause of the issues. Their installations do not represent the experience of the vast majority of consumers who have purchased EPIC and EPIC Plus flooring. We’ve sold thousands of square feet with amazing outcomes. The EPIC Plus Collection features a different core than our other engineered hardwoods. This core, called Stabilitek, is the latest technology from the Shaw Hardwood Innovation Lab. We went to construction sites, engaged builders, consulted climate specialists and hired the leading wood and concrete specialists as part of our efforts to create EPIC Plus. Like any hardwood, you’ll need proper installation to ensure the product’s success for many years to come. We recommend you work with hardwood flooring specialists who will see to it your floors are acclimated properly and installed at the recommended humidity levels. We offer several styles within the EPIC Plus Collection featuring three species: Hickory, Maple and Oak. We would be happy to answer any additional questions you may have about EPIC Plus or Coretec (as it is part of the Shaw family). Hope this information was helpful to you.

Hi AJCN! Mismatched handles can be annoying, but it's honestly not something that can be planned for - manufacturers do regularly update handles in new product lines, though they're usually similar in style to older handles. Unfortunately the new handle KitchenAid chose a few years ago is a big departure from their old Architect II handles. They actually still offer 1 dishwasher model with the old handle purely for replacement purposes, but this option doesn't exist in their other appliance lines. As far as options go, we usually recommend the KitchenAid icemaker over others because it comes with an outstanding warranty (3 years limited parts/labor, when most are usually 1 year, or 2 at best). Icemakers are notoriously finicky, so I'd still recommend the KA model here for that feature. As far as your listed options go: 1. The new KA handles are not made to retrofit on the older product, so I don't think this would be an option for you unless you're willing to have a 3rd party make it work. Even so, I'd recommend against it since this could mess up the integrity of your unit. The "solo" handles that KA currently offers for sale are actually meant for current panel ready models. 2. This would likely be the most cost effective solution, since KA has basically set in to this handle and I'd expect it to stick around another 2-3 years at absolute minimum (I believe the old handle lasted 10+ years, so KA isn't necessarily quick to change). 3. KitchenAid does have a panel ready option for their icemakers, and you would probably save more on the front side, but you'd make up and probably exceed that cost having the panel and hardware ordered. I can't speak to how closely it would match, but keep in mind that these panel sizes aren't always universal. So when it comes time to replace the appliance, this may need mods or a whole new panel to fit the new appliance. I also know older KA panel ready icemaker models weren't fully integrated, meaning they'd stick out a bit from a standard cabinet depth, so you'll definitely want to check this will work as intended dimension-wise before pulling the trigger on it. 4. There are options available that will have a more neutral handle like the Whirlpool wdccruise linked - that unit is actually very similar to the KitchenAid (Whirlpool owns KA), and I think the ice style is the same. The only thing you'd lose here or with other options is that 3 year warranty, and depending on brand, you may be looking at a different style of ice. I hope that helps!