We built our home ten years ago. We have been visiting San Miguel de Allende in Mexico every year for about 20 years. When it came time to finish off our interior details we went to a local shop in SMdA named Counter Cultures. We purchased a big and deep two-well copper sink for the kitchen (heavy and unsealed), a small copper sink for the powder room, a ceramic-coated cast iron bar sink, a stove backsplash of hand cast bronze tiles and some other copper and bronze stuff. After ten years, everything has held up well and the kitchen sink is still getting comments, many of which are envy laden (Yup - I love it!). It turns out Counter Cultures is actually a branch of a place by the same name in southern California. We saved so much money by buying in SMdA, it more than paid for our annual ten-day vacation back in 2008!

O. M. G. I just went to the rev-a-shelf website. Now I know it is true that this whole business is peopled with completely obsessive folks; it is dawning on me very slowly how utterly outclassed I am. As an inveterate mess-retainer, married to a hopeless slob, I really didn't know how much effort was devoted to de-stuffage-ing. Zelmar, when I first read about your compost setup I couldn't picture it and really was unclear of its utility. I just might become a convert. Someone, plllog perhaps, noted wanting a lid for their compost. It may depend on local conditions, but I've found that lids on compost are more trouble than they're worth. You'll be dumping the goods before it starts to smell and the lid just interferes with acquisition as well as de-acquisition, plus it gets dirty and needs cleaning (before such time as it just breaks of course). I had a beautiful ceramic vase-shaped compost bucket with an iris painted on it by an artist in Monmouth, ME -- it kept breaking and I even bought a new one. But I've given up on that; compost bins need bonking on the compost walls. Now I use a square 2-quart food service plastic bucket; perfect size, shape, etc. I've never mounted it on a door but I bet it could be gerry-rigged as zelmar has above. But again, I don't even see the need of a top. Just install a wire cage for the bucket so it will lift out and be done with it. Even if there are dogs or skunks around, a kid-latch on the cabinet door should help.

You have all provided great information for to me consider. I've moved from absolutely wanting a claw foot tub to not wanting one! However, I still want a tub. I'm remembering that in a previous house I had a soaker-tub with a 12" tile surround that I could sit on and swing into the tub. And I was in my 30s but we also installed grab bars and it worked for me. I'm now looking at soaker-tub options. One is only 19" to step over (my current tub is a 24" step over). Might work. * I should have mentioned before that we're also installing a 42" x 42" shower with seat. The tub is just to satisfy my "I wanna be a tub woman" longing. auntthelma: "if I'm not a tub person, why would I invest in a nice tub?' lindsey: "Buy for the life you have, not the one you wish you had." In thinking about it ... I believe that if a person wants to paint, they should paint. If they want to travel, they should pack up and go. If I don't install the tub I'll wonder, what if ..." Too damn old to let opportunity pass by. All of your posts have been thoughtful and helpful and funny! Thank you all and keep um coming. I'll keep you posted on progress ...

How about grease on the ceiling? In the first image below from Victory's website, the size of the single device is smaller than the plume size at the ceiling. Even though the slots can pull from across the ceiling, impinging plume effluent will deposit moisture and grease. In the second image, the larger area and lower height will be more effective, but a more conventional hood will be better for the same area, else commercial kitchens would use a different design. Also, note that the higher the aperture, the more the plume can be deviated by relatively mild drafts, and the greater the plume disruption due to people moving about. Obviously, the trades among affordability, performance, and aesthetics are up to the home owner, and to each his own. As one who weights performance within the limitations of the architecture most highly, my choice would be different.