Be aware that Crypton fabrics have an impermeable coating on the back that can make it difficult for the cushion to "breathe." Sitting on a Crypton cushion can feel different from sitting on standard foam cushions. You sink down slowly and then the cushions "firm up." Although most homeowners do not have a problem getting used to this, some people do find it uncomfortable. Many people do not like the typical feel of the standard microfiber suedes and velvets, but there are other variations with other textures if you look around. In addition there are microdenier fabrics. These have fibers that are even smaller than the microfiber fabrics. They share the same durability and easy cleanability of the microfibers but have completely different textures, including the feel of a brushed cotton. An example of Microdeniers that feel like brushed cottons would be the Geo and Echo fabrics made by Dorel. They are also considerably less expensive than Crypton or Sunbrella fabrics.

RE: Samsung Top-Loading Washer. The tub does rotate to fill the machine, but the water sprays around the edges, not toward the middle. I watched the entire cycle by shining a flashlight through the glass top. Water sprayed around the edges until the predestined amount was achieved. The pair of sweat pants in the middle floated, but never - throughout the entirety of the cycle - did the leg EVER submerge in the water. The gentle side-to-side swishing did, however, manage someway or another to tangle the sleeves and legs that WERE submerged to the point that it knotted them and threw the load off-balance. I’ve been doing laundry for quite a few decades now. My parents purchased a washer/dryer when i was about 4 years old and those appliances managed to wash clothes that looked and smelled clean and better yet - they did it for close to 40 years. I learned to do laundry with those appliances. My mother taught me how to place items in the machine to make sure the load was balanced and then choose the appropriate water level, temperature, and wash cycle. We didn’t struggle with unbalanced loads or tangled clothing. You set the machine, started the cycle, and walked away. When you came back, the load was done and ready for the dryer. I find it insulting that the companies engineering products now assume that I’m too freaking stupid to make my own decisions about the appropriate settings for something as simple as washing a load of laundry. I’m not so stupid as to stick my arm into a moving spin cycle and I actually parented my children to the point they knew that I would not allow them to climb into the appliances and/or drink bleach or eat detergent pods (so no need to lock the freaking lid of the washing machine). I managed to raise my children without child-proofing my house and treating cleaning products like we were housing plutonium. I taught them how to do age-appropriate chores and safely use household appliances. Fast-forward to now … Instead of cultivating an educated, self-reliant, intelligent society, we’re engineering with an attempt to make everything idiot-proof, consequently producing generations of idiots that can’t make reasonable decisions about their everyday existence. Good grief. And quite frankly I’m sick to death of hearing how environmentally friendly a company is that produces and “energy efficient” appliance that will need to be replaced every 8 years or so - the technology has existed since my childhood to produce a product that will last 20+ years. How environmentally sound is it to save a few gallons of water, yet send THREE machines to the landfill during the same time-frame that we used to send only ONE worn-out machine?!?! There is a serious disconnect with common sense going on here - I’m sick of things engineered for the lazy and the stupid. That washing machine sitting in my laundry room has delivered to me a resounding message from Samsung - and the message is … “We think you’re a blithering idiot who’s too stupid to operate a washing machine, so we’re taking the ability to make ANY decisions away from you.” We have computers in kindergarten classrooms, but society thinks adults are too stupid to learn to use a washing machine …

Oh no, marcolo, what did I say?! Whatever, I'm sure it wasn't intended as a swipe and I do apologize, any and everyone!... the "group think" I was referring to was part of this sentence: "What I was referring to was the KD-group think that insisted I had to have a box around the fridge and I had to have a conference about it and insist and put my foot down and say no and then worry about it for months and months: 'what do I know that the KD doesn't know'? Did I make a mistake being so insistent....' That sort of misery. " I was referring to how unpleasant things felt for me regarding this stupid little potential wall next to the refrigerator. It was something I had to fight hard for, not having. My KD (no one on here) ... actually, I should say the person who sold me the cabinets as she had almost zero planning input - but she is a designer and I valued her design sense (in the absence of any formal training here). Anyway, this person told me, in a completely shocked voice "Oh there is no way I would ever build a kitchen without a box for the refrigerator. It just doesn't look good". I hadn't really even realized she'd included it in the plan; I hadn't in what I'd asked for. But this was during a meeting with her boss where we were trying to save some money (!) and it came to light that this massive hunk of wood was planned. Her point was also that it was required additionally for structural reasons. But her boss, a (former, I should think) carpenter, waived this away and said structurally it wasn't necessary as there were two walls. It was evidently a very expensive part of the bill as the piece of wood is large, requiring stitching together and much finishing. But that left me wondering what she knows that I don't know. Thus I came here with this question, wondering why I was so crass as to imagine such an installation different from the requirement of the "KD-group". Obviously, many many haven't boxed. Moreover many who do, do so wisely and serenely (as David and others point out). My swipe was at the way I was made to feel it was utterly unthinkable to do what I wanted to do, when in fact many have and do and there is good reason to; as it turned out my kitchen was just one such one. But I couldn't see that confronted with an angry person insisting I was doing the completely wrong thing way back when! This thread was really instructive for me first of all seeing so many boxed-in fridges that looked terrific, so many that not only looked terrific but necessary, and many more that really didn't need it; as well as articulating some of the reasons, in both directions, people have for going one way or another, reasons quite apart from design considerations. It's my impression that this is one decision that is squarely and flatly in the middle ground where reasonable minds can completely disagree, or also that reasonably different kitchens converge to the same solution and conversely, similar kitchens reasonably conclude with a different solution. The 'group think' I was objecting to was that evidently somewhere in KD-world is the rule that One Shalt Not Box. It flustered me! Apologies for: (1) the persnickety, overly-long explanation and (2) any residual unintentional insult I may have implied. Marcolo - thanks for noticing about the grain. That's something that was a new 'articulation' for me. That is, I've always loved the grain of wood I saw that some doors had more than others (I also love that clear open aspect that sometimes comes that it may have been Buehl? forget who - who pointed me to a great explanation of in another thread about how this arises when you sever certain plants cells at an angle). When we got a sample of the door my husband pointed out that it had a seam down the middle disrupting the wood grain. This was evidently required with "solid wood", a high-end upgrade. But this observation let to realizing that veneer might actually be preferable from some perspectives, like this one. He wanted an uninterrupted stretch of wood grain (I agreed) so these doors are all veneered. I really love it. And I would never have noticed or realized quite why some doors look better than others. If you want to see the wood grain and it's not too expensive (it was cheaper for us actually), I highly recommend this option. For some reason I haev associated 'veneer' with 'less-good', but I think I've been all wrong. It's quite a nifty technique. Silly prejudice again; not sure where it all comes from! Anna, you're cute. A bunch of people have asked about the Rainforest Green slab. I have noticed it's hard to get a good picture of the - I think it's sandstone and not marble? Not sure... whatever it is, it's shiny and moves and varies tremendously; hard conditions for a good picture. Oee of these years I'll get a good series of pictures. In the meantime if you're thinking of using it, you might want to know I think it can be difficult for the fabricator to work with. I think it's quite popular and therefore often thought not to be so difficult. But I think there's more to it. I'll gather my thoughts on it some more at another time. If someone's in a hurry, let me know. Thx!

I love making soil. I love it even more when someone else is doing most of the work for me. I'm itching to start some spring planting in my tiny garden, but it's technically still a bit early (our last frost date is supposed to be around the 18th or so, but these days who even knows) and I'm impatiently waiting for the contractors to show up and replace my rotted fence before I can do any planting in the back half where the pile of rock mulch over weed cloth used to be. The fence would have rotted anyway, but the bottom of it was completely eaten away where the rock mulch was piled against it. I have already put down a tiny new tree (Amelanchier x "Autumn Brilliance") which arrived bare root and needed to go in the ground ASAP, but it's not next to the fence, so it should be fine as long as the fence guys don't step on the 18 inch high forked stick which, seen with my eye of faith, is already a handsome small patio tree. The tree went in the spot where the old, scrawny, unhealthy cherry plum used to be, where I have been piling vermicompost and leaves ever since last summer. I didn't amend the planting hole at all - just dug and filled in. Enough leaf mold and vermicompost just fell into the hole to make me feel fine about the start my new tree's roots are getting. Anyway, the "someone else" who is working for me outside is a healthy passel of earthworms, which I can see out there every time I pull back last autumn's leaf mulch, which I diligently collected from the sidewalk in front of my row house and brought out back. Even if I can't set to work yet, I like knowing that they're hard at it. I've seen some of my red wigglers who rode out from my indoor worm bin, and at least three separate species of native earthworms: slow gray short guys, some really huge red nightcrawler types, and a longer, thinner, super-active wiggly worm that's new to me. I've also scattered out some seeds and grains for the sparrows and squirrels, inspired by some videos of composting chickens I've watched on Youtube: so there's been lots of pecking and scratching and digging going on in the layer of leaves, which is both fun to watch and will serve to further shred down the leaves for incorporation in the soil. When I do get to the planting along the back fence, I'll try to remember to post a soil pic as a "before and after" to the one at the start of this topic.