I went to a place today called "The Great Indoors" They were closing the store (just like every other store in that poor strip mall today) I hit the jackpot! I bought 21 knobs that were priced $6.79 a piece and I got them 90% off at only .67 a piece and 6 handles that were priced $12.45 a piece for only $1.25 each. Total for the entire kitchen cost me under $25! Should have cost over $200!

cmarlin - if we keep them, I'll clean them, but no paint, I think they look pretty rich and even though old, I actually like them. I think I'll probably put in something like Silestone in a mocha color and it would look great. What will determine whether we keep them is if I can find a good match that will appropriately fit. kelpermaid, I think they painted in the house recently, though I'm not sure - going to try and find out. I know they've lived there for 6 years, so if they are the only people who smoked there in the last 25 years since it was built, at least 19yrs of it had no smokers - but not sure how bad the last 6 years have been. creekside - now you've TOTALLY confused me! In some cases, homes need to dry to the interior. Kilz will prevent that. So will some other products. A spot of Kilz here and there won't hurt anything. Rolling it on all the interior walls may promote mold growth. So, if you are going to use Kilz after cleaning with TSP or something like it, you can't paint everything?? I'm sure I'm not understanding something here - I'll try to read the info on the link you sent - maybe call the co. next week. Carol_from_NY -thanks, I think my cleaning list is growing by leaps and bounds. The way I'm going, I may have to put my mother on the top of the car and tell her to hold on to the luggage rack for the trip up I'm going to have so many supplies to take! Thanks for mentioning the steamer, I have one and wouldn't have remember to think about taking it. I've never heard about putting gum in for smells, that's a new one. I'll try ANYTHING to get the house to normal. Thanks for all you suggested. Well, at this time we are in limbo. Inspections turned up a few problems, two problems that could be major, one that definitely is and has to do with a foundation failure. I am trying to get the owners to agree to fix what's on the repair list I sent them - which isn't everything that needs to be repaired, I took on the cheaper and more easily aspects of it. Will know more next week whether the deal goes through or falls apart. Wish me luck!! Thanks again to all - everyone has been extremely helpful, and it's all appreciated! Oh, one more thing - my Mom was there during the inspection and told me they had a machine running to take the stink out and she thought it smelled better in there - was probably an ozone machine. My nose will decide (if we close on it, that is) THANKS!!!!

I agonized over the trash location as well. I've always had freestanding trashcans sitting somewhere - usually in the way - on the floor of my kitchen and have always hated them. I've never been able to find one that I liked or that matched my kitchen, so I've always just had to settle for whatever I could find. I can't stand to have my trash can in the pantry - it just seems incongruous to have my trash in there with my food. I don't like the idea of having it under the sink because I don't like having two functions in the same place. Why agonize? I loathed the idea of having to open the trash with my potentially dirty hands and those free standing cans always had a hands free option. Enter the GW Kitchen forum where I learned about the foot pedal for trash cabinets and the whole thing was decided. I absolutely LOVE having my trash hidden in a cabinet. No one has to move out of the way in order for someone else to access it. Yes, guests have to be told where it is -- but how is that different than anyone else's kitchen? In any kitchen that doesn't have a freestanding trash cans out in the open, aren't guests always having to ask? I never know if it's under the sink or in the pantry or in the adjoining utility room, etc. To review: I love my pull out trash because it's: -- Hidden -- Accessible -- Hands free -- In a convenient and acceptable (to me) location

I had an allowance for knobs/pulls from my kitchen designer. Spent well over that with RH knobs and pulls, but worth it imo. However, his installer was more than happy to install the hardware I purchased exactly where I wanted. When some knobs/pulls went missing from the job site, or damaged pieces were discovered, he happily came back another time to finish putting in the remaining hardware. (and RH was extremely good about taking back returns of damaged and/or overpurchased hardware. Lucky for me there is a store nearby!) I'm sure if my GC's guys put in my hardware they would have found a way to screw that up! (hate my GC...)