Thanks for the information. I checked yesterday after work and actually found that only two fleas are alive now - I think one went down, unless I was just having a hard time seeing. I also noticed that they seem like they're "shivering" while crawling around. I'm wondering if this is the slow effects of the DE on their body. In any case, it seems like in a controlled environment it may take 5-7 days for the DE to actually kill off the fleas. I'm wondering how effective sprinkling the DE around my yard has really been for that matter. I have doubts in my application of it - I can see how it would work well for covering small cracks and putting at baseboards, but not for a broad application such as in a yard. What about mixing the DE into the existing soil though? Or would that disperse the particles too much for them to even be effective?

Revere Pewter was recommended to me, too, and while it's a nice color, it's too dark for my space. However, it did lead me to finding light pewter, gray mist, soft chamois, white down, sail cloth, winter orchard, olympic mountains and alaskan skies (all chips which are currently lined up on my wall...). These range from grayish to taupe or off-white, but they all seem to coordinate well with gray. Winter orchard is probably the coolest and grayist of that list. Oh, and light pewter is nice, too. What colors have you already tried and rejected? Do you have any pictures?

So I decided to give away the tomatoe plants I was going to grow in containers to our grandparents. My husband talked me into it since I just started my nursing program on Monday, & of course he's right, it would be hard for me to manage everyone in our garden. So as of now, I have 5 tomatoe plants in the ground. We have a new house and the new thing around here is "no backyard". Our backyard is TINY!! There all doing great so far, we amended the holes with master nursery bumper crop (should have done the whole area as a whole, but will do it next year), I put in 3 celebrity, 1 Brandywine & a better boy. We added tomatoe tone around the tomato plants 4-6 inches around the stem & topped it with earthworm castings & straw bought from tractor supply (10.99 a compressed bale) and left about a 1 inch of empty around the stem. As for my strawberry plant and basil and cilantro which are in containers, I just threw on some earthworm casting and topped with straw. The banana pepper is in a whisky barrel container and I threw 8 stakes in of Jobes organic vegetable slow release fertilizer in the soil (what packaging said). So as for the tomatoe tone - it says add more in 14 days after the first fertilization. What do you guys recommend? We planted the plants on March 28, added the fertilizer and earthworm castings April 1. Should I get any other kind of fertilizer for my tomatoe plants or is the tomatoe tone good enough to last me all season (remember they are all in the ground). What about my strawberry or herbs? Should i just forsure leave them alone or just keep adding worm castings once a month? I think I'm leaving the fish emulsion alone, too confusing for me, unless someone advises me to use some on my plants - do give details lol

Hi everyone! Thank you SO MUCH for all of the feedback - beyond helpful and appreciated. So, looking back at the photos, the color/character that comes through on the photographs aren't quite true to the real deal. While the cabinets aren't the typical honey oak, they aren't the walnut with character like the photos look to show. Either way, I'm definitely hearing that many of you think I should not paint them - well noted! We're not quite sold on painting them and have been nervous to do so - we've heard oak doesn't paint well etc. With that said, I think I could have been more thorough in my original post in what I think the kitchen is lacking - which is contrast. While the pics don't show it the best, the flooring is the exact same color as the cabinets - and the countertop and backsplash don't add any contrast. I'm liking the idea of changing the countertops and backsplash (put in by previous owner which I've wanted to change anyways) and putting in runners! Brilliant! As for the island - it is really too small and we would like to have island seating for entertaining etc. - people tend to just stand around the kitchen when we have friends or family over and it would just make it more inviting to have island seating. My thought is to have a custom island made - and paint it cream for a contrast. I then plan on adding a cozy little area in front of the fireplace with a few chairs and eating in the dining room instead of the kitchen - old school style! I like the idea of a hood over the stove - how much does this usually run... ballpark? I also like the idea of white trim - is painting trim a bad idea - would you suggest just replacing it altogether?