I'm just finishing a project where I acted as my own GC. Here are some things you might be missing: 1. Cost of the shower faucets (this can really add up - especially if you want a design where you are using an in-wall diverter to switch between the shower heads and handheld). 2. You mention $350 materials cost - is that for the sink faucets? If so, that might not be enough for 2 8" spread faucets. 3. New base/door/window trim. My house was built within a year of yours and my trim DEFINITELY needed replacing or at least some serious TLC. 4. How about the plumber & electrician - is this included? It sounds like there could be significant plumbing changes. Also, with my project, the plumbing vents ran up the wall we were removing so they had to be re-routed to another wall and up through the roof. This was not known until the demo started. 5. What about all your lighting fixtures? 6. You mention twin doors to the closet - do you need to purchase new doors? My house was luckily built with solid wood doors - nowdays solid doors aren't cheap. Make sure they will use materials that are at least as high quality as what is in the rest of your house. When I built an addition a few years ago - they wanted to put in cheapie hollow core doors - that just didn't fly. This estimate seems way too low, especially since you are moving walls. I would get the bid itemized with exact allowances for fixtures and exactly what is included and not included. For example, my contractor discovered my floor had a big lump in it when he took out the carpet - he's an awesome guy and didn't charge me to fix it but it was a ton of work - I wouldn't count on your contractor being generous when things like this come up. Good Luck.

Caryscott, thanks for the info on Canac! Wow, I'm so relieved I didn't actually go ahead with this line - wouldn't have even gotten the one-year warranty on them! LOL! Just to add my two cents to this thread, I ended up getting Kraftmaid cabinets (from an independent dealer, who's given me terrific pricing and service). I considered Ikea, but I'm not really into the "Italian" kitchen look, I needed design help, and I don't think I would have been able to get the size customizations I needed for my tiny galley kitchen. (One side of my kitchen has 19" reduced depth base cabinets.) I had actually wanted frameless in order to maximize usable space, but couldn't find a frameless line with a finish I liked. I finally went with Kraftmaid even though it was framed because their Ginger Glaze finish was the one that attracted me over and over again when I went to look at cabinets. (I was much more inflexible about certain details like finish color than I ever dreamed I'd be - learned a lot about myself in this renovation!) Anyway, I'm happy with the quality of the Kraftmaid cabinets. I got to inspect them in quite a lot of detail due to the problems and duration of my kitchen renovation, so I have some idea what the quality difference might be between them and a high end cabinet line. But for the money I paid, I think they're quite good. I'm sure - I *know* - Ikea would have been much less money, but it wouldn't have done what I needed it to. For those for whom it works - that's fantastic. I have a friend at work who did his ultra-modern kitchen using Ikea boxes and custom doors. It looks gorgeous. There's no single right answer for everyone. :-) Oh, and I love Target too! Got my bamboo silverware organizer there - they were the only place that had one that would fit my very shallow depth drawers, it was *beautifully* constructed (better than the expensive ones I saw), and it was cheap. Can't ask for more!

I just realized that my post didn't get posted yesterday so I will try again! As I said I am right there with you! I have 12 x 12 covered deck that isn't quite finished yet but I did find an armoire for $35 at the local fleamarket that I painted last year and put up against the house on the deck for storage. I also have a kitdchen island cart painted out there. Dh just got an air compressor so I've bought a paint gun and plan to use a better quality paint on both of them. Just off the deck steps there is a huge patio that we poured last fall for a hot tub. The contractor decided to use up the concrete and it ended up being alot bigger and that put enough room for the hot tub on the other side of the door into the garage. So... I painted an old set of outdoor furniture and put it on there but it just isn't enough and I had gotten the air mattress idea from here and planned to build a daybed like I've seen on HGTV. My dh is not well so it wasn't looking good about getting it done. But he would love a place to pile up out there. After this post, I went to a local antique/thrift store and found a full size iron bed that will be perfect once I either paint it or use a marine grade wax on it. I can't wait to see it in action. The only problem is a cover for the air mattress that will look like it belongs out there. I will try to post some pics over the weekend. I plan to borrow my mom's truck tomorrow and pick up the bed. You encourage me! Alicia

I read all of the reviews for these Deerfield cabinets sold by Kitchen Resource Direct before I bought and all were positive, but now I question who wrote those reviews. I took a leap of faith and purchased these for my kitchen remodel based on these reviews, but probably would have gotten the same or better quality from Ikea or a big box store. Although these could be somewhat modified which is why I chose them, the quality is far from good. All of the cabinets came with slight damage to the outside boxes and quality was lacking; cabinet doors did not close fully, one of the cabinet backs was deeper than the specs causing the skin to bow as it was applied to the back of the cabinet, the drawer boxes were rough and did not appear sanded in many places with chunks missing from the wood, the crown molding was made 1/16" off and the pieces could not be put together around the corners, causing me to have to buy new crown molding from a box store to install instead, one of the drawers came without any soft close hinges installed, which is to be a standard, and any additional shipment of items will cost you big time. Also, when they were delivered, the driver refused to unload the cabinets from the truck, which was supposed to be part of the shipping guarantee, and made my contractor and his team unload his truck, which they did as a favor to me. That was completely embarrassing. The only good thing I can add is these were delivered quickly but that probably is why the quality is lacking. I chose this instead of a higher quality custom cabinet from a reputable online cabinet maker because it was faster and i didnt want to assemble the cabinets, but I should have stuck with my gut and chose quality over cost and time. I cant even say I got a bargain for these cabinets as I easily spent over $15K on these cabinets and think any stock cabinet would have been just as good. Such a shame as the reviews were all positive, and I have never written a review in my life, but felt compelled for this reason to put a review out there that spoke to the real quality.