I live in central NY, they say its zone 5, but its really 4. I have a glass 8 by 12 foot gh. I don't use it in the winter as it is free standing and would cost too much to heat. I do use it to grow up my seedlings. I put them in around April 8th, and have to heat it at night for about 2 weeks, until it warms up enough. I then put those plants outside, and put my orchids in it. When I heat it those first few weeks in April, I go through a 20 lb. propane tank every 3 days or so. After that, it mostly stays just on the pilot light and that seems to be enough for another few days. At that point, I turn it off during the day. I also have two, 50 gal. water barrels for solar heat and another couple of 30 gal. containers. It has a cement paver floor that helps hold some heat. My goal is to move it and attach it to the house. Then I would just get a 100 gal. propane tank for heat and keep my orchids in it all the time. I would have to raise it up 3 feet to match a door to the house, so I would gain even more room. Sterling

For 7 years now we have had this set up. All our copper skillets/saute pans hang on the Lee Valley Rack on the wall along with our utensils. My oldest son and his wife are professional chefs and I worked in one of their restaurants as the dishwasher for 5 years. After that experience when I re-did my kitchen I wanted everything at hand. I love it ! Wouldn't change a thing and the 1500 cfm hood insures that we don't have "stuff" all over the pots or the open shelves. Also everything gets used all the time as we cook a lot. another pic and you can see part of the open shelves that are to the right and over the sink area. All our daily used serving dishes and glasses and plates are on these shelves. They get wiped down to get clean the dust about 2x a year. That is all they need. in this pic you can see the open sliders down at the bottom that hold more pots and the iron skillets and lids. better view and shows the cab at bottom right with the rest of the pots . All in all everything can be reached with no steps or one step. Extremely efficient and as I said has worked great for 7 years. Hope this helps. We do have a LONG haired cat that weighs 20#...still not a problem. c this shot of the open shelves was early on in remodel ..has changed as far as content but otherwise the same.

lazygardens, I dunno. I did go up in the attic for the very first time since buying this house, and I remembered to wear old clothes, brought a drop-light with a 50' cord, and a flashlight in case I dropped the drop-light. I didn't think to bring the camera. Poop. I just can't tell if the porch/breakfast room was added on. I don't know how a roof peak generally looks as it comes into one the oposite direction. There were some jagged boards... seems if the peak was original they'd not have had a problem with trimming it - but if it was an add-on maybe they felt cramped and skipped trimming? Still, dunno. Will take pictures. Link to my album is above, it shows front of house from two angles. As for ceiling lights or not, I just don't know. ALL of the downstair ceilings are covered with 12" squares of lightly-textured white stuff that tongue-and-grooves together. Hate to monkey with it as it's in good shape. Hey! When I was in the attic I did find out one thing, all of my ceilings are beadboard under the white squares! ha! Who knew? I wish some of that showed! Hmmmm, that'd be great in the kitchen, give it a real warm feel. I wonder though if it'd let dust filter down? Gag. Back to the lighting, hostaguy, is the lightbox sort of an endtable? Surely it's not a center hung fixture? Maybe I'm picturing something way too large? I've been looking at a LOT of light fixtures in the past few days - and I keep being drawn to the Mission and Arts & Crafts styles. I don't see why I can't make something wonderful, perhaps a silhouette cut of copper, mica underneath? Maybe a spray of pine cones? I am still strongly thinking of a colonnade with lighting built-in across the top to throw a glow across the ceilings of both rooms. Sigh, so many ideas and life so short. GH-

This is the La-Z-Boy "Van Buren" recliner we're getting for the TV room. I believe it also comes with curvy legs. DH insists his chair be leather, but I can pick the color. This is the La-Z-Boy "Pinnacle" loveseat. I plan to get it in a fabric. Both sides recline. There is a lumbar support that moves with you as you recline. It's also a "wall-hugger." And this is the matching La-Z-Boy "Pinnacle" recliner that I will get in the same fabric as the loveseat. It will be mine. The single recliner comes as a wall-hugger, or a glider/recliner, or a swivel recliner. I still have to pick the fabrics. That's the hard part! The Pinnacle line also has a sofa, but there's not room for on in my small TV room. We're opting for maximum comfort in this room. There will also be an older rocker/glider with gliding ottoman that Harry and I share.