For me growing/nurturing things is something I cannot *not* do and is something that's been part of my life from an early age. I think there's a bit of a challenge for me to help things survive and flourish despite the odds. Every day during growing season it's a thrill to see how everything is progressing. When I had houseplants I propagated them constantly, bought half-dead plants at yard sales to 'rescue' them, planted seeds, etc. so had to give them away constantly. Just couldn't help myself! ;-D Usually had about 50-60 houseplants, all healthy and beautiful. Only have one now that should be thrown out as it's a liability when we travel but I can't bring myself to do it. Actually take the thing with us in the RV when we travel in Canada. When we go to the US I leave it with a wick/double pot in the bathtub that has a window nearby. How crazy is that? I try to restrain myself in the outdoor garden by not buying too many plants and seldom any that are outside the zone. I hate seeing plants die altho that doesn't extend to weeds! They get recycled in the compost. Our birds seem to be fairly well behaved altho the chipmunks have eaten every sunflower seed/sprout that the birds and I have planted this year and the baby marmots have been nibbling on the hens & chickens. Not sure what I'll do but I'm not happy with them. An outdoor cat would take care of it but I'm not doing that again. So there's another challenge!

diab123, We went through a very similar decision - we had (and loved) Miele MasterChef Speed Oven, Miele Microwave and Warming Oven. We remodeled and tore out the ancient in-island Chambers electric oven so we needed a 2nd oven (to our beloved speed oven.) We had a hard time justifying the retail price of the Miele over the Electrolux as the Elux is so well liked on GW. And, the MasterChef is even more $ than the Chef model (as you know). However, the dealer (whom we like) had a floor model 30" Chef that we got for an extremely good deal so Miele was the way we went - made it easy. To your questions: Europa and Classic is simply a difference in the handles MasterChef does get you rotisserie MasterChef also gets you Auto Roast which many here like. I believe I read somewhere that the 30" Elux is a little larger than the 30" Mieles All that being said, my DW LOVES the Miele Chef oven: 1) Everything she has made in it has come out wonderfully (I can attest) 2) It (of course) has the wonderful fingerprint resistant stainless which I think is a Miele exclusive and DW LOVES this feature. 3) It matches our other Miele appliances (although not a big deal - now that we have it - it is pretty cool). 4) We did not like (at all) the look of the Elux Wave Touch with the curved handle - this did not seem to bring the "high scale" look we were trying to achieve in our remodel. And, the Miele handles are straight - which means the oven would look different in that manner as well. So, we were limited to the Elux Icon Professional (with a straight handle) at around $2,700. We purchased our (floor model) Miele Chef for less than that so it became a "no brainer" for us. 5) When it is cooking away at 400 degrees it is very quiet and the cabinet sides are not warm at all - the front is also not very warm - can easily touch - it is a high quality unit. DW figured out a little trick since we have the MasterChef speed oven - if DW is uncertain what baking mode to use in the chef oven (this is our first convection oven) she goes to the MasterChef menu on the speed oven and figures it out and then uses that mode in the Chef oven - kinda cool. In our remodel the new oven has been placed on the opposite side of the kitchen from the other Miele appliances so we could have (more easily) lived with another brand oven. However, we are just as happy with the new Miele oven as we are with the Speed Oven. Best of luck - I really think the ELux Icon Professional would be a fantastic oven too - another issue - we could not find an Icon Professional in the entire Denver Metro area that we could even go to look at (I think for the $1,000 difference most people go with the standard ELux oven). Best of luck!

I grew up in Ann Arbor and believe I even know the house you're looking at! That looks like it's right next to the high school? If all is solid with the structure, I would not hesitate to make an offer on it. It's a wonderful area; if you have kids, do check into the schools in Saline to make sure they're what you want, and spend some time in the house during rush hours / school hours to gauge the traffic noise on Saline-A2 Road, to make sure it's not too much from the bedrooms etc. The great thing about no updates is that you don't have to undo bad work from the 70's, while retaining as much of the original structure as you like. The bad thing is that it's expensive to bring systems up to code. We just bought an old house in Maine and are spending quite a bit replacing the old knob&tube wiring (c. $12k) and ancient original boiler (c. $15k). But if you factor this into your offer, you will be good to go and have plenty of time to schedule the work before snow flies this fall. I grew up in a 1960's ranch but have lived in older houses my entire adult life: absolutely no comparison. As brickeyee says, we're sitting pretty while the cheaper materials on the newer homes are failing at a rapid rate. The best thing about old houses? Anything that can break can be repaired. This is not the case with McMansions and their scary vinyl windows, plastic doors, plastic trim, cheap drywall, hideous siding and manufactured flooring.

I've had my Kohler Clairette for at least 10 years (kept it when I renovated my kitchen because I liked it so well) and I've never had a problem with functionality or finish. The spray stays on until I switch it to stream (and vice versa) with a little toggle button. It would bug me to have to hold a button to keep the spray on, or if it reset when I turn off the water. I don't have a problem with it not going back in place. However, if you pull down the sprayer/head and just leave it, it will dangle; it doesn't retract on its own. But the magnet is strong enough to hold it in place once the head is back near the starting point. (My BF leaves it dangling sometimes just to annoy me.) <<(after I wrote that I realized that sounds kinda dirty, but I'm talking about the faucet!) FWIW I got mine from Kohler. I've read that the big box stores might sell the same brands but lesser quality - not sure how that works but just saying. ETA: do you have a Pirch, Kohlers showroom, or similar store near you that has faucets hooked up to water sources? That might help make a decision. My mom bought a Grohe years ago that she replaced after just a couple months because the sprayer didn't stay on without holding the button. Had she been able to test it she would have known and never purchased it. It was a $500+ faucet that the store wouldn't let her return.