One old house I wired in the 1970's was built about 1900. Built long before electrical power was in that area. It had a minimal electrical system installed about 1935. The walls were plaster over wood lath, the scratch coat was reinforced with horse hair. The baseboards were 8" high. When built, a 3/4" thick board was nailed on the wall studs along the floor line, the plaster applied using the board as a thickness guide at the bottom and then a 3/4" thick baseboard applied. Mounting electrical wall boxes in old plaster and lath is best not attempted at all if it can be avoided. So the receptacle boxes were installed in the baseboard. That meant cutting and installing in 1 1/2" of wood. Not easy at all. But it was the best method for that particular house.

An 18x20 is 40 yds. Most carpets come 12' widths. The best route for this would be to order a 12x36, cut in half, seam the 2 together side by side and trim the additional 4' off one side. This will bump you up to 48 yds. A $50 yd carpet is considered high end, carpet only. ((Here in Texas, my high end carpets sell for $40-$50 yd, carpet only)) So, if we're still budgeting with that number, you're up to $2400. You're also looking at 76 linear feet (LF for short) of binding which can add up really fast...lets say they charge $10 lf. (Which is high but not knowing your location..who knows what they charge) This would put you at $3160 plus tax. --I understand why it's so high, due to the size of the rug. If you wanted to get around not having to bind the carpet and save a little money.. Shaw carpets have a patented soft backing. This backing will not scratch your wood floor. If you pick a product that has a high pile height, like a frieze (shag), you don't have to bind the product. The pile will lay over the edge and you'll never know it wasn't bound. Carpets with this soft backing are cross threaded, the yarns will not pull out. A vacuum will not cause the yarns to pull loose. As far as carpet tape...any sticky tape will work. Duct tape...masking tape. Anything 2" or wider.

Post with the corrected island . Use a correct 1/4 inch scale and draw it on there in red. "Squared off" can mean a lot of different sizes

Oooooh, I like that!! We had window benches in our last home and that was a favorite spot for the kids. This one won't have the lovely window light, but I could see it being a good use of space! The only tricky thing is that I had tentatively planned to put 2 barn doors here... my thinking is if the room happens to be a little messy or we need quiet from the rest of the house we could close it off. (Please ignore the mess that is there at the moment!!) But if we did the built in, obviously we couldn't do barn doors. That might be fine though. I really like that bench you posted! But how would we recess the shelves? I guess you just build out and it creates the recess? I need to show my husband that picture. Do you think there's enough room for it? The wall that you see there to the right of the opening is 42" from the back wall to where the trim begins. And the length of the wall is 76". A chaise was one of my choices... this one that I like is out of stock, and I'm debating how useful it would be for more than one person. Whereas the built-in you showed could easily fit both my younger. Thanks so much for your ideas!! Do you think there's space for the built in nook idea? I really love that!