Acountryfarm--I love the pictures I saw on another thread of your beadboard. I absolutely LOVE your chair rail--it is exactly what our old house needs--not the super-skinny, rounded kind they have at Lowe's. Did you ever find out what the name of it is? We don't have a lot of choices in lumberyards here in Albany, NY--we have Curtis Lumber and Stock Building Supplies...I can't even think of any others off the top of my head. Lowe's had a decent selection of neat historic chair rails--but I couldn't figure out how to make them work with the beadboard. How did you just "set" it on top of the beadboard? I guess I'm confused (I've never done this before, so I'm having a hard time envisioning it.) Did the top of the beadboard have to be EXACTLY flat that way? Or did the chair rail overlap a little? I guess that's where I don't get it--many have said you have to router out the chair rail if you don't pick the ubiquitous "wainscoting cap" (that I'm trying to avoid). Thanks for your help!! Sarah

Here is my list - - Additional blocking in the framing stage to accomodate grab bars, towel bars etc. Additional blocking being the slidebar of the shower also makes it sturdier to use as a grab bar. - Kerdi board for waterproofing - Heated wires throughout the floor including the shower area - Tall niches with shelves sized to fit the costco sized bottles - Tile that is not too slippery for the floor. Also used epoxy grout to make future maintenance easier. - frameless shower doors - we did pay a couple hundred dollars extra for the really clear glass - U-groove frameless - One of the bathrooms is curbless to accomodate access issues. Has nice looking grab bars and a folding teak shower seat that is ADA rated to 400lbs. - LED cans (california code) - Elongated Toto skirted toilets with sanigloss to make the cleaning easier - the special lutron switches where the fans stay on an extra 20 mins to clear all the steam. we used them with panasonic fans which are much much quieter than what we had in the past - wall mounted heated towel rods - hooks instead of towel bars.. I just preferred the more streamlined look of hooks - plug outlets inside the vanity to charge things. - wheeled laundry basket with divers to sort laundry has a niche to be tucked in. - separate toilet stall with a door. We did not do comfort height as we are not overly tall people. Elongated toto toilets with an integrated skirt to make cleaning easier and a GFCI outlet to plug in a washlet. - paper towel holder from Moen that doubles as a grab bar in the ADA bathroom. - accomodated for daylight (skylight or a window) in both the bathrooms to help people to wake up in the morning.. I love the daylight. - radio for listening in the morning. We are big public radio fans - wall mounted lighted makeup mirror - mirror defogger to prevent the mirror from getting steamed up.. - vac pan at the floor level that connects to our central vac system to make daily cleanups a breeze. I am picky about hair on the floor - solid core doors to prevent bathroom noises from being heard outside. I often have to get ready before dawn and the shower noise wakes DH up. - recirculating pump for our tankless to avoid warm water delays. Ours is integrated into the tankless. - Hansgrohe ibox to get the thermostatic control to preset the preferred temprature - Ebbe integrated drain that has a hidden hair snare. - Handheld shower with a longer hose to make it easier to clean the walls. - rain shower on a longer arm so that you can stand away from the wall.

I bought a Whitehaus fireclay sink from Bluebath.com (an ebay storefront, if you search Whitehaus on ebay you'll find it). It is 35" wide outside dimensions with an 8" bowl (I have the garburetor on this side) and a 24" bowl. I paid under $600 for it. I love it, but must say I have had it installed less than a week. Well after I bought it I read of some instances (one or two) on GW of people who had problems with cracking in Whitehaus sinks, perhaps due to thermal shock. I haven't experienced that, and I have an insta-hot on this sink which pours near boiling water on to it. Let's hope I never do. Prior to buying the sink, I had read a lot of rave reviews here for it. Blue Bath was fast and courteous and (at the time I ordered at least, last summer) had a 100% feedback rating on ebay. I can fit my largest pans fully in the large bowl, and with my gooseneck faucet, I can put my kitchen trash bin in upright to rinse it out. Fabulous. Also, in the past few days I have not been precious with using it, and notice no dings or scratches (so far). Also, FWIW, I went with fireclay not just for its looks but in part b/c my friends in New Orleans who had fireclay sinks in their homes there had their fireclay sinks survive Katrina even when the rest of their kitchens/homes had to be gutted.

Is it best to buy a sink that is a standard set size such as the Dickenson or Whitehaus rather than say a Rohl that has a +- factor if I am not having custom cabinets made? I don't think this matters for an apron/exposed farm sink, since you will need to have the sink fitted and scribed into the top base front by your carpenter/GC, no matter which brand the cabinets are. If you're doing an undermount, I imagine it would probably be best to get one that's more regular, like a Kohler or Whitehaus, so that the edges are more or less even all the way 'round. (But I'm no expert!)