Hi Penny, OK... right off the bat I *HAVE* to ask; Is your bank providing you with an experience financial loan officer (not a loan salesman... but a financial planner & analyst that can weigh out your numbers & options and show you what they mean?) These questions are EXACTLY what a good planner knows how to sort out for their clients. If not... I have to ask... WHY are you GOING to that bank? (.... and then coming to ask us 'out in space' for analytical advice without the internal specifics? GRANTED; I am appreciative of your respect for me... but I'm still blind to most of your details, and you've not engaged me to your fiduciary responsibility... that is something you deserve!) Your 1st question is on market timing... whether the market for locking is more likely to reward you if you are patient, punish you, or be neutral. I certainly have my own market opinions, but I can't suggest what's best for you without knowing more of your financial situation (not just your loan rates & balances) as your total picture would tell me your stability, your security, and your income strengths. Your 2nd question relates to how much interest (points) makes sense to prepay in order to secure a permanent longterm lower cost of interest. The answer to that depends on what your alternative returns are in the accounts that you would be starving to withdraw those points from... as well as whether you have sufficient safety reserves to even consider such a strategy. TRULY... there is no question that a drop in your mortgage interest rate ought to be beneficial... but do you know what your blended household costs/rate of consumer credit and insurance coverages are? Do you know what kind of cash burden any consumer account amortizations may be creating? You could be overpaying on other consumer interest accounts, and may have too little of deductibles on certain insrance policies (potentially from a perceived lack of cash reserves... reserves you may be raiding to consider paying those "points.") You see... its not a "one thought" analysis... and if you are only talking to mortgage salespeople at the bank (regardless how truly friendly & well-meaning they may be,) you are as likely to "get it dialed in just right" as a random walker is going to make it from NY to LA. I'd suggest taking the time to find a worthy advisor you can trust. (HINT: that means my opinion is you are likely to be rewarded for doing so more than any potential punishment from rate market fluctiations.) Luck, Dave Donhoff Leverage Planner

My island is also 7.5 feet long, and I have 3 8-inch wide pendants. Your post got me curious, so I went to measure their placement. Mine two outside ones are about 12 inches from the edge of the counter and 30 inches from the center pendant, and it looks fine. I might have chosen to have them around 15 inches in and 27 inches from the center, but I wasn't here when they started that job. If you're worried about them being too close together having them 18 inches in from the edge, know that it's OK to have them 3 to 6 inches farther out. Hope this helps.

There is a 9" overhang on that side. We have a veneer panel for the entire overhang side. There are no plans that I'm aware of for drywall. Our previous cabs were 3" deeper than the new ones, so the wall fills in the hole in the floor tiles and gives us a whole extra cabinet due to pipes being brought down into the basement. Our granite slab is definitely large enough and it doesn't affect anything that we can see. The small l-shaped kitchen and island sit in a fairly large room. All the passageways to other rooms have the same width. I have an extra 4' x 8' piece of veneer panel that can be cut to cover both ends fully. But I thought something chunky would be good. I have frame and panel very plain shaker doors. I could order door end panels in this size. I could even bring a woodworker in here to bling up the whole thing with moldings and trim. DH wanted everything super-plain. This 'feature' is my chance to get something nicer. What would look the best? Budget isn't a problem.

I love the pattern you've chosen. The white does look a bit creamy, but being outside, most white becomes off white (or off white/pewter) eventually, even with regular cleaning so they might work. It's hard to tell with the photos if it will blend or not. I like the idea of a white coping, simply because it will frame your design better and better delineate the edge of the area. If the slightly creamy white blends, I'd go for it. If it looks "dirty" compared to your white/pewter you may be best going with more white/pewter for coping.