This was such a funny 'happening' with Jazz. When I was reading about the Raven on the Mantel, I knew exactly which one you meant..because I really liked that one and remember when you got it. I was also wondering how in the world did he do that and like Luvs said..w/o disturbing anything else up there. You almost need those surveillance cameras to keep an eye on him...or at least a 'motion detector' ! I've actually seen video on YouTube where people use the hidden cameras to see what their pets do when they're gone..lots of funny stuff that goes on - Can you imagine Jazz ?? jane

MiaOKC - thanks for the tip. I will call tomorrow and check it out LazyGardens - likewise thanks for the lead, I will check it out too. Im so excited...hopefully they'll pan out. Gregmills - I'm in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area and I guess it IS a matter of geography because Ive run up against brick walls trying to get it. Down here everyone is going with the pre-stained or engineered floors, based on what the sales people/contractors tell me. It may be due to humidity concerns. I'm not worried though. As I mentioned in my original post, my house is from the 1940s. The original part sits on joists, a master bedroom addition from the 80s sits on concrete slab. Both have the hardwood and the floors are in awesome shape, no warping of any kind. I'm confident, with a properly installed subfloor, mine will be fine too. Ive tried to make sure my addition did not look like one so I desperately wanted to keep the floors consistent. . Thank you all for the leads. If anyone reading has more suggestions, I'll take 'em.

I am in the last phases of a remodel and am having trouble finding flooring that coordinates w/Silestone Giallo Quarry. It is a quartz product with browns, creams, gold and specks of black, but has a "greenwash" to it. If you put it up to certain colors it screams either green or brown. I have light ginger maple cabinets and the wall is currently a light yellow (Kelly-Moore Front), which I am considering changing. I don't know if I can afford real tile flooring (and it may be too ate to squeeze it in the schedule) and since I have real hardwood in my older home, I don't want to try to "match it" in the kitchen. I'd love to see how others handled this countertop in their kitchen with their paint and flooring choices. Thanks in advance!!

Ok, now that I have better dimensional info (location and size of posts and beams), here are two variations on the G shape kitchen. Also, I plan on just centering the windows as seen from inside the kitchen. Option A1 is a more detailed and better dimension-ed version of A above: Option A2 is a variation. Basically, I move the fridge down to the other side of the post (but in a way that requires a bunch of explanation): Advantages of A2 - +the work triangle is now within guidelines. Its close but just slightly large with version A1. +I get a really nice large 4+ft pantry + if I ever really wanted to, I could more easily add a freezer column on the other side of that post (just lose some pantry). disadvantages - lose some counter and drawer space in that part of the kitchen (traded for more pantry space) explanation - the fridge is still essentially recessed in version A2. The reason is that I learned that some timber frame owners space out the lower and/or upper cabs out from the wall the width of the post, so they don't have to build the cabs around the post, and can still order standard cabs. The way I have it drawn, the lower cabs are spaced out from the actual wall 6 inches, and the counter is now 31" deep on that wall (standard the rest of the kitchen). The uppers are on the actual wall, so you will still see the post between the uppers and lowers, and the counter is cut around that post in the corner. I could also space out the uppers, or order deeper uppers (trying to keep the cost in check however). I'd really like to move that post by the fridge about 1.5 feet down and put the fridge where the post is now, but I'm not sure that's possible or reasonable. A1 or A2?