Thanks Fairyprincess We live in Canada, on Vancouver Island, the most moderate climate in the country,, its called the west coast, or as many will joke--the "wet coast"--lol Solar is not really in my budget, nor very practiscibale in this climate "too much cloud and too much rain." And as I have an acre of forest and rhodos, some Douglas Firs as high as 120 feet, not too much sun. but beautiful nonetheless. A paridise in the summer heat. but solar, no, not likely. Cant bring myself to cut down those majestic giants. no way Unlike some people I burn firewood, cause its renewable, and a natural thing to do. fires in nature have been in exestince for eons. I`m really hoping that puting the grates in the floor will greatly improve the heat rising to our living room, and make the rec room not so stiffling!! Should tell you , that even though it is more expensive, we do burn bio=fuel. about a $1.12 per litre. its a 20/80mix Well, there is no easy solution to this, just have to think it out some more, not in a hurry, (this old boiler has served us well for many years) its forty years old.

Thanks amysrq and ellabee (Ella is my 7-year-old's name) for your advice. Countertops for the island are my biggest concern at the moment, since the island will also contain the sink and dishwasher, it will require plumbing, and I am trying to schedule all of the different jobs and keep things moving! The backsplash will likely be fairly simple with some subways, so I feel like I can postpone that for a little while. We have so many projects going on with the house and would like to have enough "finished" to move in the spring, so the sooner we can get this done, the better. And honestly, I have been thinking about all of this for so long that it is a relief to just make some decisions, just to be able to move forward! Resale is not too big of an issue, as our house is pretty "niche" to begin with. It is an old (ca. 1843) mansion with lots and lots of character (stained glass, elaborately carved wood, murals on some of the ceilings). The kitchen will be nice, but definitely not the main reason someone would be attracted to the house. Anyway, we are renovating it top to bottom, and as much time and money as it is going to take, you will have to drag my cold, dead body from it to get me to move again! Soapstone seems to fit the era, but i am worried about softness. I would probably be ok if I can find one of the varieties known to be a little harder. I love my Corian in our previous (well, actually current, as we have yet to sell it) kitchen, but I am looking at a darker color (soapstone-like), which I am afraid will not be good at all for showing scratches on a primary work space. Granite and quartz are out. Too hard and modern looking for my tastes and the feel of the house. I also really dislike cold countertops. Decisions, decisions... Thanks for your ideas!

Please help me to understand what I'm seeing from your pictures. The cabinets on the left side and left part of the top leg of the U are under a "beam" or soffit? And the ones on the right are not directly under the soffit? If that's the case, the better look would be to create a soffit over the cabinets on the top leg of the U. Using crown can work great in some kitchens to unify and accessorize cabinets, but in your case, it will only serve to accent the disharmony between the two sides. In Karen_lynne's space, only the single beam had to be cut around, but doing the same in your kitchen, with no crown on the left wall due to the beam will not look cohesive. It will look choppy. If the cabinets to the left are actually open at the top where you'll be able to use crown, then cutting it around the one beam won't be as much of an issue.

Crepuscule is a rose that thrives in daylong full sun and would benefit from heat. I don't think Reve d'Or is quite so picky. If only one spot has those characteristics, give it to Crepuscule. It will not please you in a semi-shaded position. After all, you originally de-selected Reve d'Or, so you could pass that one along to a gardening friend if you don't really want it. Rosefolly