What a gorgeous home! And I LOVE the fabric. If the chairs are good quality and comfortable, I'd definitely do it. Twelve yds is probably not enough for four chairs, but people has posted examples here of mixing fabrics on chairs, and it can look great. For example, use the japan-inspired fabric on the backs of chair, and use another fabric for heavy-use cushions and inside back. Once you add a coffee table and rug, I think the scale will look more reasonable. Re: bar for six, you could roughly double the depth of the bar and add a seat at either end. Of course, that would involve some cost, but not much if choose e.g. wood as the top piece. Depending on how much room you need to walk behind the bar, you might even be able to do something larger, with a curve to it.

What a great kitchen! The main piece of advice I would offer is this: get rid of excess plastic containers. I had zillions of rubbermaid containers that didn't nest at all. I thought I needed every shape and size out there, so I bought far more than I could ever use. After we renovated our kitchen, I gave myself one drawer for plastic stuff. That's it. Now, it's a big drawer, but I have a family of nine people, so we still need quite a bit. First, I tossed or gave away that which would not nest. I standardized on 8" squares that fit into one another. I bought 6 of these and I've never needed more. All the lids are the same size. I have deep rectangular rubbermaid containers for holding flour and sugar in my baking cabinet. I have round containers for lunch boxes: my husband takes leftovers for lunch every day and reheats them in these lightweight containers that are as sturdy as regular rubbermaid. In this drawer I also store two rubbermaid butter dishes, three nesting funnels, 2 two-quart plastic pitchers, 2 small mixing bowls and 2 large mixing bowls, plus about 12 measuing cups from 4-cup to 1/4-cup in size. The key for my kitchen is that any plastic container we have is in this drawer. So I've gone from cupboards and drawers of plastic containers and measuring supplies to one single drawer. I will add that I have a plastic pasta scoop and larger colander that I store under the prep sink. I never save even the nicest of plastic containers that food might come in. If we ever need more, I can use a storage container from another part of the house, wash it out, then put it back when I'm done (like when I need to bring 60 cupcakes to school). I've also done the same sort of thing for lunch boxe supplies and ingredients. I have a baking center, which is to the right of the oven. My baking center is really just an upper cabinet with wire storage things inside that make it easy to cram a lot of stuff in a 30" wide cabinet. I do store extra baking mixes and flour/sugar in my lazy susan cabinet. I don't have a pantry. All of our health food is in another cabinet, near the blender where we make our protein shakes. I bought white plastic wirer coated shelves at the container store to stack dishes and baking goods in those cupboards. And also these tall, narrow two shelf units that fit under my sinks which sit next to the plumbing. They aren't really deep but just hold the basics in view (stuff tends to migrate to the back of the sink cabinet). I also got rid of excess pots and pans. I figured that if my pots and pans couldn't fit into one base cabinet, that I would have a hard time keeping tabs on those as well. My baking pans and cutting boards store vertically in a cabinet designed to hold tall thin items. You have so much wonderful space. If you can be judicious with how you plan your storage, you will find that you can even keep major seasonal items in your pantries as well, or gift wrap, etc. In fact, it looks like you could even put a desk in one of your pantries. Lucky you!

I found some really great "calligraphy" pens at Michaels. I can't remember the name or brand, but they have a pen tip at either end...for a smaller and larger calligraphy look. You have to practice some to learn how to hold the pen but I really love the look much much better than my plain hand-writing (which I HATE when I journal). They provide a more personal touch (look) to the page then printing calligraphy style on the computer (which is also a nice idea). Like Jill, I usually like to matt what I journal, depending on the page. If your cousin just graduated from Med school, could you somehow incorporate something from her "soon to be profession"? Perhaps you could make (scrape) a nice looking professional business card with her name, the date she graduated, her title etc.? I'm not too up on graduating med students so maybe she has to complete her residency, but maybe you could include smaller photos of where she will work or complete her residency on the page (in the background or superimpose photos of her on top of these smaller ones)? For something a bit more comical, maybe you could get a photo(s) of her with friends or family "using" her medical tools from her black bag with a humorous title page or a funny lyric or poem? I love to matt a lot of my photos and I also love to try (try being the key operative word here)and make up poems or rhyme when I journal. I think you could have a lot of fun and still have some very elegant and "fun" pages. Good luck! Send us a link for your completed pages so we can save the ideas...I'll need one in about 14-16 years!

It's not bad! Paint the red out and look at unfinished furniture stores for a banquette. But first go ask the kitchen forum. They will take care of you. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitchbath