Good morning! Yesiree, I'm meeting the gang for lunch today - wish you could all be there! A bit of excitement here yesterday: Lightening struck my neighbor's house and he came running over to ask if he could use the phone - he saw smoke coming from the basement. I called 911 and they called all the stations (we have 3 in town) - thankfully no fire. Just damage. The kids got a kick of having the whole fire department in their front yard, and thankfully it was not a true emergency. They did spend the rest of the afternoon chasing after the same sorts of calls, though, as the weather was wicked here :) My lawn has never looked so good in July. Ivy is growing leaps and bounds, and her big brother looks happy, too! Kenzie's a model in training, I see - Sarah went through the posing phase, too. We'd take one picture for mommy (au natural) and one with your best pose. The dueling bathroom models - much like dueling banjos, I guess? I love the idea of a quiet place to wind down the evening, Denise. And Liz, I'm glad you took the extra step to remove the popcorn - you could've gotten tired and left it :) I can't wait to see what tile you chose. I'm always dreaming of remodeling my bath, but I think I'll wait as long as I can since it's our only one (we have a powder, but that's not the same....). Ei, loved your fish story! Your new koi are cute, can't wait to hear their names :) Kathy, next year I'll add tithonia to the list. I'm really kicking myself for not growing the amaranth! I wanted it so bad and then ran out of spring. Yes, walating must be done several times....funny, now Sarah says, "while I was walating...." but I don't think she's always looking at flowers. I need to get moving - I've got lots to do before I embark on my lunchtime journey. Have a great day..... Saucy

Hmmm...I have an idea. Never tried before, so please do a sample board. Disclaimer, may fail, too. Ok.... So, since whitewashed knotty pine has a tendency to come out pink, maybe using the opposite of the color wheel to counteract the pink would help. Adding the opposite color into the 1st coat of wash, then a 2nd thicker coat of white wash on top. I use this opposite color application a lot in watercolors to tone colors in my paintings which is similar process in whitewashing. Please note again, it is a concept. Please do a sample board 1st. My process before doing walls for clients.. I get 2-3 sample boards to experiment with to test the products & application before going into doing a whole wall. I highly suggest practicing on samples until application works. Then test it on actual wall, let it all dry. see it in daylight & night lights. Once it passes all the tests to client's liking, then go for it full force in confidence. It's a lot of extra steps & precautions, however a lot less unforseen problems later. Hope that helps. Whatever ends up working, would appreciate seeing. Please post after photos. Good luck!

'Contractor #1 with no load calc bid 70K furnace (that's the existing size and it warms up the place too fast and produces uneven results), 3 ton AC. #2, also no calc, 70K furnace and 4 ton AC. #3 did a load calc and came up with 45K furnace and 2 ton AC and highlighted some duct modifications he wanted to do.' Elmer.....those quotes are a 'complete' ripoff!!!!!! I've read numerous articles over the years that HVAC companies on average 'double' the HAVC seer to cover their A&$#^#%#%*. Annette....I would recommend hiring an independent professional to run log calculations on your house. It shouldn't cost much and could save thousands. Have you thought about geothermal? No....I'm not in that business.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm still a bit stumped on the lounge seating area. The space is approximately 12' x 12'. There are two bedroom doors (see top of image) that can't be blocked. There are three things we would like to do in this area: 1 / look out at the lake 2/ look at the fire / wood stove 3/ watch TV I would prefer not too much furniture so it's quick and easy to clean. Dining chairs could be moved over on the rare occasion we have extra guests. The wood stove needs something under it - black metal or tile and has to be away from the walls. The wood stove doesn't have to be in the corner but should be in that area because of the pipe going out the roof. A pot for a bin with some wood would be helpful. The big front windows go down fairly low so if there is a sofa there it will block the window a bit. We could change the window height. The TV could go above the bookcase on the wall. The bookcase doesn't need to be that big. We could also have a summer arrangement (focused on the lake and TV) and a winter arrangement focused on the wood stove. Thoughts?