I am trying to find lighting that is in a family. I need two flush or semi mounts and a chandelier over a 68 inch rectangular table. I love the Sea Gull 6614504-782 Belton four light fixture, but would it go over a table? It is under kitchen island lighting. I would like the rest of the ceiling lights to go with the seeded glass. Any ideas?

I'm answering this post because I, myself, am the type of person to shut down if things are just too overwhelming for me and my daughter is, too. I've never been in your friend's situation, fortunately, but I can totally see myself in that predicament if I had enough financial and medical stress. When my daughter was a little girl and her room was very messy I marked out a section of her room about a yard square and asked her to clean that section of her room only and I'd be back in 15 minutes. Of course this was at a time in her life when she knew how and where to put her things away. I'd come back, mark out another yard square section for her. In between she could take short breaks and when it was time to go back to work I'd ask if she needed or wanted any help and I'd check to see if there was any help I thought she needed. Fast forward a decade and I had a major health scare and a member of the family had a serious injury that took vast quantities of my time and effort for a few years. When that was over and I had time to do more than get everybody where they needed to be, do laundry and fix dinner, well by that time my house was a mess, my garden needed an overhaul and I was overwhelmed. I had the time but I was so, I don't know, depressed, I guess, tired and discouraged that I couldn't seem to dig myself out of the hole. I remembered what worked with my daughter and I tried that on myself. Every day I had a small area I had to declutter. My rule for myself was that I had to earn something meaningful for me - a snack, read a chapter of a book, phone call to a friend - by cleaning up that area. My other rule was that I could NOT mess up that spot any more, just that one spot, not that day or any other subsequent day. At first that's all I did, is follow the bare minimum of my rule. But seeing the progress is a great incentive. Once 1/3 of the room is clean or 1/3 the filing cabinet drawer is shredded then it feels great to keep going. Then my next reward was that once the room was clean and decluttered then I earned the right to put something pretty there in that room - a vase of flowers or a pretty new picture frame, something small. Another thing I did was to force myself to get out and walk every day. Outdoor exercise is great for depression and great for people who feel out of control. I think the same as jellytoast. I think feeling "normal" would help her a lot right now, but maybe I am projecting my own wishes onto her. For an organized person coming up with a master plan for her apartment may sound like a great idea. For a drowning person it sounds like trying to teach her to swim. It's needed, but maybe too much right now. I do understand sort of what you're up against with the fact that she goes shopping and brings home more stuff and that is what makes the situation so difficult. I agree with others she needs counseling. If she's not going to go to counseling then maybe you can ask her what kind of rewards she can substitute for shopping. I think if she were my friend I'd be tempted to tell her that if she decluttered those small sections every day and kept them clean then on the weekend she and I would do something she enjoyed. And I'd try to come over one day a week if I could and spend some time helping her with an area that's hard, either emotionally or physically. Now that my kids have both grown up and left home I'm constantly running into decisions that I don't want to make about what to keep or throw out, or something that needs to go that's too heavy for me to lift, etc. Fortunately my husband is a big help. Thank goodness my health problems were finally properly diagnosed and treated, so I feel like a brand new person. I get more done now in one day than I did in a month before. But now I know how someone can be so tired and discouraged that just getting dressed seems like a lot of effort. I hope I never get to that place again. I'm so sorry your friend is having the difficulties she's having. You sound like a wonderful friend and she's lucky to have you. Good luck whatever you and she decide.

we've just had a screen porch built with azek tongue and groove, and a deck above it with azek decking. i do not love the azek tongue and groove. its shifts and sounds like squeaking plastic if you walk on it barefoot. (shoes masks the sound, but this is really semi-indoor living space, so bare feet are the usual way we're walking on it.) in the past we had a fir tongue and groove screen porch ( a previous house) that was painted with porch paint and held up very well. i'm sorry we didnt go with fir again but we were going to be all modern and get with the azek program etc. i'm sorry i didnt walk on one barefoot before we went this route. i can't comment on pine. the azek decking is good, if thats a choice for you rather than tongue and groove, do that. one last thing about azek, water beads up on it and takes longer to dry. we bought a long handled large squeegie for the top deck because we tend to get really heavy dew overnight near the ocean. azek tongue and groove... no spaces between planks azek decking...spaced planks over sleepers and a rubber membrane.

Mama goose and HU-187528210, you’ve given me a lot to think about! Mama goose, I really love the flow you created. That little window is actually overlapping the edge of the counter by several inches, making relocating the fridge or having a full-sized pantry there impossible (without filling in the window) But the range there might work perfectly. Thank you for that suggestion. HU-187528210, I think what throws me off about the designer’s suggestion is the potential lack of storage in my working zone. I hate that I currently travel from my zone by the range, around the corner of the existing island, to the sink, dw, or to dinnerware. And when someone else is in the kitchen they’re almost always near the fridge, which is smack dab in my route. So it was a ‘must’ to have a sink closer. But in the version facing the existing range, a sink in the island takes up quite a lot of counter space and storage below. I thought we were unable to put a cooktop in front of a window, so I’ll have to revisit that option. And I do love the two side-by-side islands. I’d have to consider the traffic flow into the pantry. At the moment it’s just me and my husband contending for traffic routes, but as the kids grow I know they’ll be running in and out often, likely straight to the fridge and/or pantry. So I want them to be able to make that trip without too much interruption.