If it says grafted im pretty sure its grafted. I emailed some of his customer and this is one of them Hello, no bother. It is a tree, came aout a 1/2 pencil thick,8" tall with a small graft on top. I was initially dissapointed but the thing took off (under grow lights in N.Y)I also have a bush type from Logees that is super small when you get it, but is healthy and grows before your eyes.toreiteraite, I am in NYC and may not be the best to ask abot this.... Al

We bought our Bluestar RNB less than a year ago and have had it installed since Feb'12. Ours is the 36" with 4 burners and griddle. So far, my experience has been mostly positive. To address some of the issues you've mentioned: I have never seemed to need more than 1 simmer burner at a time, so that has never been an issue. Aside from major holiday cooking, I seem to use that burner most often (almost daily) for cooking rice and reheating... Love being able to walk away and not worry about things boiling over or burning. I suppose number of simmer burners will come down to cooking style and preferences. I LOVE the ease of clean-up with my Bluestar! The cast iron is a cinch to clean... a little scrub while still slightly warm and it's done. Often, I will let a few days pass before cleaning and I suppose part of the reason i can do that is because, even when dirty, it doesn't look that bad! Clean-up was a huge factor for me. My last oven had black porcelain top and I was NEVER able to keep it clean or smudge-free, especially with as much heavy use as I put my ranges thru. I also love the size of the oven AND the full extension rack. It has made baking, basting, roasting, etc so much more efficient! Now, to address the oven heat issue... I, too, did a lot of research prior to buying our Bluestar. I believe the door locking problems due to high heat has been resolved. We have not had this problem and I use our oven several times each week, some weeks being daily. That said, the door does get pretty hot during use. While the oven door handle always stays completely cool, the oven door, oven window, and oftentimes, the knobs and front portion of the range (in front of the burners, where you stand right up against) do get pretty hot. It's never hot to the point of burning where it would be dangerous to touch, but it definitely is uncomfortable and even I avoid touching or leaning against it during those times. It appears door insulation is pretty much nil. I would like to point out, however, that I do have 2 small children (20mos and 3yo) who are often in the vicinity when I'm cooking. They know they are not supposed to come near the range while I am cooking and definitely not to touch the oven door when it is on. On plenty of occasions, their curiosity would cause them to wander close and touch it, despite our warnings. Never once have they screamed or gotten hurt. Usually, they touch it, draw their hands back and walk away. I am not in any way trying to defend Bluestar's heat issues, nor am I suggesting you let your kids touch things that are potentially hazardous, just telling it like it is in our experience. Does the heat bother me? Yes, sometimes it really does and makes me wish BS would address this issue and fix it for residential use. If I could get the same exact range/oven without the heat problems, would I? Without hesitation. Does it make me regret my decision? Not yet! Lastly, I do appreciate that the Bluestar has no bells & whistles. Little to no electronic means less break-down in my book at least. I've met 2 people who have Wolf ranges and both have had problems with the electric portions of their units, requiring lengthy service calls and repair/replacement. Though, since time keeping is important to me, I have had to put a clock in my kitchen when I used to rely on the digital ones on the range. Also, no electronics mean no built-in timers, which hasn't been a problem b/c I have one within reach. Also, despite having a manual oven control knob, the temperature settings have been pretty accurate, confirmed by my oven thermometer. One final comment about my Bluestar experience... I've been waiting for years to cook with a wok and now that I have the range (and, more importantly, the vent hood), it has been a dream! I absolutely appreciate being able to remove the grate and just fit my wok into the bowl-like space above the burner. The quality of certain dishes have definitely improved just due to the availability of high heat alone. For someone who loves cooking and experimenting, this has added to the fun in my new kitchen. Hope this helps!

This is my first post on the Decorating forum -- usually I hang out in Kitchens and Appliances. I just painted most of our small living room -- it will be 12'5" x 14'2"/14'10" after we move a wall. We need a small sofa to fit the scale of the room. Most of the sofas I've found either are 7' wide or loveseats, but the space calls for something in between. I did a websearch and found "Simplicity Sofas" which makes an "apartment sofa" that's 76" wide, looks very nice in the picture, is American made, and fits our budget. I can't find any reviews of the company and am reluctant to order a sofa sight unseen. Has anyone ordered from them? They seem shallower front to back than most sofas; are they comfortable? Or does anyone have any other recommendations for a 6' sofa in the $1,000 price range?

Hi - we bought a Bertazonni 30 inch range when we re-did our kitchen earlier this year - installed it in May - and I love it. I'm not a baker, so I can't speak to that, but I cook ALL the time, and it's behaved like a dream. I'm in my early 60s, so I've owned/used many different ranges in my lifetime, and I would say without hesitation that I would buy this very model again. (I believe it's their least expensive 30 inch.) I'm roasting a large pork shoulder as I type this. I, too, read lots of negative reviews before purchasing this range, and was halfway expecting to get to know a service repair person well, but we've had not a single issue after constant use these past 6.5 months. Best of luck with your decision, if I'm not already too late.