Yes, flooring is what I do for a living. The 'linoleum metal edge' manufacturers went out of business many years ago. NY Metal mouldings was one of the leading distributors. Randall Manufacturing out of Newark NJ bought up most of the left over stock and I think some of the manufacturing capabilities, but I am not entirely sure that the later is true. However, I am very surprised that the product has disappeared altogether and left vinyl and linoleum end users without suitable edge products to use, other than those ugly applied-after binder bar things. I bet 1/8" metal moldings are available in Europe. The ceramic edge profiles I am talking about are not made of ceramic materials at all, but are 'large' versions of what we had commonly available in aluminum, steel and brass for linoleum and vinyl to finish door and stairnose edges. The reason I suggest them is that you could adapt these extrusions for use in a stepdown, such as you have. You would have to look at what's available and then design the product into your project. It can be as simple as cutting something off the profile to make it work...inseting the profile in your substrate...applying the profile to the 'riser' portion of your stepdown and building up that surface so the vinyl would meet almost flush to the metal. This can take some hard thinking, but it is not impossible to do. Since almost everything else being manufactured today seems to come from China, why do we not see suitable metal edge profiles coming from there? I don't attend the Surfaces flooring convention, so I don't know what is being offered as manufactured looking for distribution...there must be some somewhere. All I know is that I have not come across any suppliers recently and the only stuff I do see is my own personal stash for my special flooring needs. I heard rumours that there is a marketing place in San Francisco (or somewhere in California) called 'linoleumtown'...or something like that. It is a group of stores selling linoleum and other sheet and vinyl products and I bet there'd be a good chance of finding something there. Good luck.

New fridge came. Much drama getting water connected. Got to actually practice a lot of Spanish, though, which is cool. The previous fridge didn't have a working ice maker, and LOTS of plumbing work had been done in the house during this time. I knew better but didn't insist on flushing the line before connecting. Once the water wouldn't flow, I eventually convinced installer to flush first the line from the wall and then the length of tubing. By then it was too late! Fridge was stopped up internally. Installer was flummoxed. I cranked up the PSI from the well and kept washing the filter. Third wash worked. Kicking butt and taking names! The previous fridge had leaked for a year. Only a small ridge of Pergo was damaged at all. You have to get down on the floor to notice it n I didn't bother to clean it up after the first month, either. Whatever the original owners first installed is, sadly, long gone. New fridge is SO much easier to see things in. I hope we will have addressed most of my husband's habit of opening two gallons of milk at the same time and shoving food in the back and abandoning it. I can put four gallons on the door--key for me. (Used to be zero.) Even with that, I can fit almost all of the door stuff in the rest of the door containers. This is a bad time of the week to show how much it holds because I've cooked all the produce--and we have eaten down the fridge a lot. Still, I can stack the Rubbermaid Premeir 9 cup containers 2 deep on the edges--also important. Without a custom depth future fridge cabinet, I would hate this fridge. It is a MONSTER. But because I can do custom depth, I love it. No other place for cleaning supplies. Open.... Drama!

@Katie F, Take the carpet out and check what's underneath. If this is a job you don't want to tackle right now, you can look at ripping out the carpet, sanding the balusters to expose the original grain, and stain it a light colour. You can take wood from Lowes or Target or Home Depot, and have it cut to the tread size, create an L-shaped (inverted floating shelf) to cover the tread and nosing of the staircase, the riser can be a wallpaper or plain paint (perhaps a sage green)? This is an ad hoc, makeshift makeover, and you're going to need a real remodel job soon to make it look like a home and not a DIY paradise! Edit: Use thin wood, perhaps a quarter of an inch, if you raise the tread by too much, there's a major tripping risk.

Get an off white garage door that looks similar to the siding. Garage doors shouldn’t be a focal point. I like your not-too-stark-white choice! I’m in total agreement with every “wait for the landscaping” comment. An “almost done” house looks awful because it resembles a box on dirt. Your landscaping plan will make this look great. This is similar to people who are midway into a kitchen remodel and start freaking out about something small because it’s not done. Your problem is just physically bigger, but it’s the same. Start reading what my friends and I call “Garden Porn”. It all the gardening catalogues that start coming around now! Get an appointment with a landscaping designer also. That will help you “see” the finished product. Keep us posted.