Jeanne-I really enjoyed the party, the month of May just flew by. I will definitely remember this for the rest of my life, my great grand kids will hear this story I'm sure. Promise-Happy Birthday if I forget closer to the actual date. Our group is much richer for you having joined the group. So many winners in this swap month, congratulations to all. And Annie you made it all possible, thank you again. I have the month of June so will work on it tomorrow and post it when I get home from work. Shirley

Stupid question here - is there a real app? I seem to get the same result regardless of whether I click open with app or open with browser. Never been prompted to download an app.

Thanks for checking in on our progress, patty_cakes! Unfortunately, with all of the rain we've received over the past month or so, progress came to a standstill and we are still waiting for our foundation to be poured! Construction crews all over this area are so far behind on jobs, and I'm trying to have patience. At least we presently have a house in which to live. I know that there are many who work construction here who depend on having those regular paychecks and when they stop rolling in, they really suffer. My heart goes out to them, and I'm trying to keep this all in perspective! As it now stands, our projected completion date is mid-October at the earliest. We have made all of our selections for the house, and I think I've got photos of most everything we've selected here in my "idea book." (Can you view it?) My vision was to keep things as classic and timeless as possible. We've chosen hardwood flooring throughout, with the exception of the bathrooms and the laundry which will be tiled. My kitchen will have white cabinets (with a couple of lighted Flemish-glass fronted cabinets to display my blue and white Cornishware), black granite countertops, and a glossy white subway tile backsplash. We've added crown molding throughout the house. Will have a stacked-stone fireplace in the living room (which is open to the kitchen - a concept that will be quite different than we are used to!). The bathrooms will be simply styled with white subway tile in the showers, white integrated counters/sinks, and we'll have brushed nickel hardware throughout the house. The walls will be painted a very neutral off-white -- certainly different from the Crayola box that our current house used to be! I'm yearning for simple, classic, clean. And new. Never, EVER thought I'd be saying that, but well ... here I am. :-) We'll be buying new furniture once we're in. I'm leaning towards a sectional in the main living space, and we'll need new bedroom furniture for the master and the upstairs bedroom. The little "game room" upstairs will be a space for TV watching and reading, and I'd like to furnish it sparsely but comfortably. I plan to use my paintings as pops of color, and it will be fun to figure out where to hang things once we move. I'll have to sell a few pieces, but I think I can use most of my favorites. We have already committed to plantation shutters in all of the rooms requiring window coverings, and I'm really happy with that decision. I've loved that look for ages, and am also just tired of dealing with curtains. Right now it still feels a little like a dream that's a long way off ... But I know we'll get there eventually!

My island is 9' long, curved on the seating side, and 6' deep at its longest (yes I reach a bit to clean the 2" that are farthest from me). Some thoughts from my experience: i just never ever ever would put the sink in my island. Rinsing and loading dishes is he least glamorous job in the kitchen and I prefer to do it looking out the window, pretending I am elsewhere and surveying my garden. Plus all of the dishes on the island, where 5 people are presumably eating. This would make me miserable. My island has 4 seats. With my family of 6 never has every seat been taken at the same time. The island is for coffee and laptop, chatting with the cook, light meals like breakfast or lunch or "leftover night" taken in small groups. My table is a lot closer than yours, though, so it allows many seating options for these meals. Real meals are consumed at the real table most nights. My point is: do you need 5 seats? I thought I did too but I'm glad I didn't bother. 9 is a lot of island but it still allows for easy circulation -12 seems a bit much but idk if I can pretend I would notice 18" on either side. I would be more worried about it looking silly For all that island, there doesn't seem to be much space to the left of the sink im not going to dig in to the specifics of your space but if it were me I would try to orient the kitchen to the right, keeping the sink by the window and making the island shorter. I would also consider if there is a way to fit a table in the kitchen, eliminating the need for so much island finally, while your current set-up seems kooky, I can say that 15 years cooking in a kitchen with an island stove, when set up properly it is great, so don't necessarily let your experience with the current kitchen sour you on the idea if it is in the mix