> We would love a tub that allowed us to face the same direction as well as each other, but in terms of freestanding tubs, that just doesn't really seem to be an option. Now this is more like it: It's freestanding (though I don't care for this particular surround) and the backrest is what I find the ideal shape for two people side by side, with good back and shoulder support for both. Most tubs with this shape are like 5 feet wide which is not what I want; this one is just wide enough for two. The taper at the other end helps preserve water without getting too crowded, but is still wide and sloped enough to lean against when you want to face opposite directions. Still, it's the side by side configuration I like best. Two-person tubs where you face each other look great in pictures and in the showroom. Then you use one in real life only to find you have to SCREAM AT EACH OTHER to be heard over the roar of the jets. Although air jets may be a bit quieter than the water jets I've used. I could do without the huge ledge at the end of this tub though - what's that all about? I too can't find a tub that gets everything right.

Thanks for all the color suggestions.. I was finally able to go downstairs during the day (plaster walls are drying so NOONE is working down there today.. kind of nice actually) I think we are gong to go with BM Stone Hearth (thanks Sueb20) and for the bathroom I am going to go with BM tranquility (an affinity color). Its amazing how much color changes at different times of day. I am looking forward to showing you pictures when it is at least painted :) Thanks again for all your help!!

A Charles H. Ullery paper presents a thorough assessment of water hardness classifications for the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. The ASAE Standard S-339 is: soft: 0-3.5 grains per gallon (gpg), moderate: 3.5-7.0 gpg, hard: 7.0-10.5 gpg, and very hard: over 10.5 gpg With your water @ 17gpg it is REALLY hard and that's without knowing the iron and manganese content. That means that most solutions to your water heating problem are doomed to shorter service and more frequent maintenance from the start and that is EXACTLY what you are complaining about with a softener... except a softener requires you to walk by and look at it once a week. You can opt for the storage tank and that will give you hot water and false security because all your plumbing, every appliance, and fixture will be seeing ludicrously hard water and that will cost you $$$ and usually at the most inopportune time. Like the old FRAM commercials said... you can pay me now or you can pay me later. ROs don't have to mounted under the sink. They can be installed in a basement or through the wall behind the kitchen sink. "... and that's one more thing to forget to do each week" Well, think of it as taking vitals... we can have a water doctor write the order for you. Without knowing the details of your water usage I can say that a correctly sized industry standard softener could be had for between $500 and $1000 online plus the cost of local install and at a higher price locally installed. "I understand softeners definitely have benefits and are very popular here on this forum. There seem to be more posts on that than anything else" As the cost of appliances and fixtures go up people seem more interested in getting the longest and most trouble free service life from those purchases. Few of us have more money than we know what to do with so we look for the best bang for the buck we can get. With respect, a correctly sized and set up softener with a modestly priced stand alone water heater is the most cost effective, simplest, and easiest to live with solution you can get. Let us know what you decide.

I love threads about KA mixers--still love my KAs after all these years. Yours looks great in your gorgeous kitchen! I had an almond KA Classic for about 25 years--it stood up to many batches of pizza dough, stiff cooky doughs, and homemade cakes. It is now loved in my DD's kitchen, and I have a red Artisan. Red wasn't my first choice--I wanted buttercup or green apple for my new kitchen, but five years ago I found the Artisan on Craigslist for $100, a deal too good to pass up. The seller said she had used it in her home cake decorating business, but it looked unused--not a bit of gunk under the metal band, which I removed to do a thorough cleaning before I used it the first time. The finish was super shiny--it really looked brand new. Two of the attachments were missing, so I spent another $25.00 for them. The Artisan has been used the same as my former lower watt KA, for pizza and bread dough, lots of pfeffernusse cooky dough, and cake batter. I just follow the mfr's instructions to use it on low setting for stiffer doughs. I've decided the color looks good in my kitchen--the universe chose well for me, too. ;)