Hi igloo, As a woman who started out not knowing pliers from a wrench, and has since done almost everything in our whole-house remodel, I'll give you my perspective. I think I remember you saying in the past that you're a small person? Even if not, these tools are made for men. They're heavy -- I've given myself wrist/thumb problems from using my drill a lot because of the torque when it stops. So check out any hand held tools for a while to make sure they're very manageable for you. Next, it doesn't seem to me that you need a table saw. That opens a whole can of worms: tools like TSs, jointers, planers, etc, need a very good dust collection system, and that gets complicated and controversial. It's the fine dust, the dust you can't even see, that is harmful to your lungs. You don't actually have to worry as much about the typical sawdust you generate, the stuff you're very aware of, because you kick it out of your lungs when you breathe. The fine stuff lodges in them. Given that, if you start wanting to build cabinets and/or furniture, you will need a TS, and I definitely recommend buying a cabinet saw (as opposed to a contractor's saw) that costs at least $2300 or so. The Sawstop is a very good saw, from what I've read. But you're paying $1000 extra for the stop feature. Losing fingers happens often enough to seasoned woodworkers, but danger from kickback is a lot more common, and it can't stop that. For $1K less you can get others of a similar quality (I have and like the Powermatic 2000.) The cheaper ones (contractor's saws) are inaccurate in any number of ways for cabinetmaking. I bought an $88 wet saw from HD a few years ago. I installed tile on three smallish rooms and it worked like a charm. Much better to buy than rent 'cuz they're not expensive, and you can take your time with them. I'm impressed by what I've seen of Festools, but I've worked with their vacuum and a Fein Turbo III vacuum, and I prefer the latter. (I encouraged my boss to buy the Festool vac and now I wish I hadn't, it's unwieldy.) The Fein, a little more expensive, with a HEPA filter, moves around easily and is less clunky. And its suction (see stats on website) is at least as good as on the Festool. You'd have to check out whether its hose will hook up to Festool tools. If you're doing only trim work, you don't need to worry about most of these things. I'd start with just the tools that are needed. If you find you need more, you can buy as you go. Buying tools never stops. Even tho I've got an 8" jointer, cabinet saw, etc, in my basement, that work very well for my household needs (building cabinets) they look like toys compared to the ones my boss uses. So spend your money selectively and try to resist buying all kinds of things you won't use much! Sombreuil said a very true thing: Great work can be done with a limited number and quality of tools, but it takes longer and requires more experience. Don't expect things like miter saws to work right out-of-the-box. They need to be tweaked and tuned. And for a beginner this will be even more potentially frustrating, but it is a wonderful way to learn. I'm far from a pro but I've found out that it takes a lot of skill to do good work! Crown moldings are among the most frustrating things I've ever done, because no angle in your house is 90 degrees. Best of luck and I hope you enjoy the work!

quoted from New Yankee worksop site whre they built and painted kitchen cabinets Question: The kitchen series couldnt have come at a better time. Were just finishing our kitchen and were able to encorporate many of your ideas in our kitchen. We were especially torn on using two different finishes. Our island will now be maple with a glaze and dark hi lites and the remainder of the kitchen will be painted. We couldnt be more excited as we are drawing to completion on the build phase. I was however disappoited that the final episode did not reaveal the type of paint used as we intend to paint the bulk of the cabinets. I am concerned that painted cabinets will have issues over the long haul and want to use the right product. I know that the tapes when purchased include some details that arent on the program. Is this the case with the kirchen episode? Warmest Regards Ron and Mary Walters Fort Lauderdale Florida -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: We used an alkyd based product by Ben Moore called Dulamel semi gloss enamel. We primed the raw wood, sprayed on two coats and brushed on a final coat. It seems to be wearing very well. Good luck with yours.

Our house is vacant right now. We are having painters paint all the walls and trim with spray which is a common practice. I haven't asked painter yet (waiting for a return call) but I'm not sure I want a painter without experience painting cabs to do it. I've tried calling cabinet makers and refacers to ask but they aren't helpful...probably because it's like saying "hey, instead of hiring you to build me cabs, will you tell me who else I can hire to just paint the ones I have?"

I'm not sure which one allowed you to select and compare colors. However, this is absolutely the very best one: http://www.easyrgb.com/new/en/similar/ I know how they measure color and it's a quality process. EasyRGB has an older site to, easyrgb.com, it does the same things just with a different user interface. The new site was designed to be easier to use and it is, IMO. DO NOT use encycolorpedia. There isn't a single pixel of info on that site that anyone should be using - for anything EVER! colorcharts.org is indeed gone. I know the creators of colorcharts.org and the virtual paint program CBN, color by numbers, software. By providing colorcharts for free, they assumed people would then by the CBN program. And that didn't happen. People just used colorcharts without buying so they took it down. Even if you buy the CBN program, you don't get access to the colorcharts data base. Which is unfortunate because they too offered quality data. I do recommend the Paint Pro app. Again, I know where their data came from and I know it's good. The paint manufacturer apps have a single, specific purpose. They are not color tools in any way shape or form. Their function is marketing and intended to get you into a store where they can sell you something. I believe every single one has a "helpful map" within the app so you can find the nearest store. Handy, right? ;) One reason (there are several) why they are not color tools, is because some of them - not necessarily all of them - use the same sRGB values from their websites for their app swatches. sRGB is a very small color space and accommodates digital, online color reproduction. It is not applicable to our analog, in real life world. In other words, sRGB value is perfect for making color swatches for apps and websites, but that's all it's good for. So even if the paint manufacturer apps offered a function to compare colors to other brands, you have to ask what was the app comparing? sRGB values? Which would be totally useless. I was in the SW store the other day and a mom and her daughter were sitting at the design table with an iPad and a tablet of paper. They had listed all the paint colors they were considering and were looking up the RGB values for each one the SW website. They were convinced that by looking at the RGB values for each paint color, they would be able to determine "undertones" for the colors. As most of you already know, I think the whole "undertones" thing is ridiculous. Undertones are totally subjective and not a measurable color attribute. There are only three key color attributes, hue, value, and chroma. Those women had been sitting at that table for over an hour writing down RGB values and chasing down imaginary undertones - a sad waste of time. I did mention to them that there was a better way to go about it and why. But when people believe something about color, it's hard to change their minds. You can have all the science, facts and data the universe has to offer and it won't help. Which is why people still go to the encycolorpedia website to look at crap color information written in color space values they don't understand how to read. Which is why people still believe they can look at digital color swatches online and see true, analog color characteristics. Which is why people keep believing undertones are a real thing and not purely subjective. i.e. remember #thedress from a few weeks back. All I can do is keep preaching the facts. Some people listen. Some people don't. {shrug}