I have had luck with the Krylon paint, I used it on some PVC pipe that was used with a water feature, the pipe was black and stuck out like a sore thumb, so I painted the end of it green to match the bushes it was poking through, did it at least 4 years ago and it still looks good. I also used it to repaint some older, not so nice looking plastic tables. they look good still too.

hi OB2B, so nice to meet you today? did you enjoy the tour? I had a chance to see a few of the houses this afternoon. It was a great day. steph2000, thanks so much! i think you are right re: the semi-flush. right now I am going to take a breather until the hood is ready. I pushed really hard to get this done for the tour today -- there were so many people here this week. will be nice to take a little break. deedles, I purchased the wolf 20" riser with shelf for behind the range. it isn't up yet. the guys were having trouble sliding the range out. the riser has to attach to the back of the range (i would have assumed it could just attach to the wall) and so the range has to slide out. The marble countertops are very tight to the range with really no gap at all so it was difficult for them and they were rushing so much to get so many things done that I suggested we address it later when they can slow down a little (I was a little afraid of them damaging the doors on my range ... they were pullling on them trying to slide it out and that was definitely not okay with me!).

Stair risers that take a beating are usually above short treads. A 10" tread with a 3/4" nosing shouldn't be a problem for children's shoes. If you have young children, you should definitely add a carpet runner to the stairs for noise as well as safety. Adding a veneer would be a big mistake IMO. The difficulty is the joint at the stringer if one side is open ... but you haven't shown us the stair design so we don't know if that is even an issue. Designing by pieces without looking at the whole always produces disappointing results. This is the result of both you and the builder thinking about general features instead of the details. The most important issue here is the nature of the stringers and that has not been addressed either by the contract or by this discussion. A well designed stair with painted risers, etc, should cost far more than a builder designed all-oak stair. (No offense to builders intended) This problem should be thought of as an opportunity to get a better stairway at no additional expense. Here is a stair with oak treads and a mahogany handrail with painted risers, balustrades and stringers. The cost was probably over $50,000 but no one added it up. I'm not suggesting this stair for your house but to show you that there is no reason to think of an all-oak stair as an "upgrade" to one with painted trim.

Disclaimer: I do not like recessed lights. So disregard my comments if you really want pot lights. What I would probably do is: (1) put a bright, dramatic chandy over your piano; it is the star of a room, so accunate that (accent light), (2) put 2 reading lamps at the ends of your couch (task lights), (3) put torchiere type lights near the corners of the room, not well lit by the other lighting (ambient light). Chandy ideas: This floor lamp has a 150 watt equivalent LED bulb that really lights up the room with pleasant, indirect light.