Hey gemini16 (DH and I are both Gemini's--talk about trying to get decisions made in our household!!! LOL). We installed 24" wide vanities in our two upstairs bathrooms; hall bath and MB, because that was the only size that worked (small bathrooms). We barely eked out the minimum clearances for toilet, tub, vanity.... No real regrets on vanity size. Wish the bathrooms themselves were more spacious (MB could use a few more inches between the toilet and tub), but we worked with what we had, and made the proverbial "lemonade" IMO. :-) We don't leave stuff out on the counters, except for a soap dish--plenty enough space for that. Because we have shallow sinks, there are often water droplets/splashes onto the counters to be wiped up after face, and sometimes hand washing, but we'd have that no matter what the vanity/sinktop dimensions. We really maximized storage by choosing the vanity configuration that we did. Our vanities (the two 24" wide vanities, plus the 31.5" version in our downstairs guest bathroom) were built by a local cabinet maker, and modeled after the Sonia Europa vanity (ours are 36" tall with the sinktop, rather than the 31" tall original, which allowed us to customize the drawer and open space heights). Ours are on legs, and that does contribute to a less "crowded" look (Just an FYI; don't forget you will have to kneel down to wipe underneath the vanity--tough to get under there with a sponge mop because of the tight space in a small bathroom). We can store a lot in the vanities, as well as in the recessed Robern medicine cabinets we installed. We put a 3.5" (4"?) deep medicine cabinet in the hall bathroom, and a 6" deep model in the MB. We don't need to keep stuff out because we have plenty of storage at hand. If you click through my bathroom album on PB, you will find "after" pics of all three bathrooms, showing the vanities, etc. Here is a link that might be useful: cat_mom's PB Bathroom Album

lodalady (and others who are considering wood floors), While our house is being built, we are living with engineered Brazilian cherry. It is not to my taste, but beside that, this floor must be installed right on the slab because it is hard as a rock and hard on my legs when I stand on it for any length of time. I don't know the finish because we're just renting this townhouse, but it scratches VERY easily it seems to me because we have tried to be very careful--pads on all the furniture legs, lifting chairs instead of pushing them, etc. And we have ugly white scratches on the floor. I wanted solid wood in our house, and after almost a year trying to find prefinished I liked (and could afford) I decided to look into site-finished. I got an installer recommendation from a carpenter friend of ours and he bought our character-grade white oak and installed it in our house. We are finishing with Waterlox (first coat on now) and it is GORGEOUS. If it scratches, we will be able to patch it up with more finish. You can't do that with prefinished. And the upshot is--it was CHEAPER than prefinished. I have told several people, look into site-finished. It's more beautiful, you have a great choice of finishes, stains, etc. I am thrilled with it. I can't remember how much it was exactly, but no more than $7/foot (installed) and probably less. (I would put up a picture but the floor is now totally covered because the painters are doing the second coat this week). - Magpie

Not only am I keeping my compactor, I added a 2nd one in my walk in pantry for recyclables. I love having a compactor in the kitchen. We inherited ours with this house and i was prepared to yank it but immediately loved it. It doesn't stink, and we typically only have one bag of trash a week. And I especially love the one for recycling. Before the compactor I had cans and boxes in an ever-growing pile as trash day approached, and now it is all contained and out of site. Love that! If I could only have one compactor I'd skip the trash one and do the recycling one. Anita

Hello ishop19, We've successfully installed the Van Gogh line in many homes, and have never come across the point of the "texture" looking like smudges. I do see what you're referring to in your photos, and I'd have to say that it must part of the top layers' added "texture." It's definitely not a mallet mark. Mallet marks do make distinct marks, (and not generally needed for LVT installation, we time the adhesive to optimal tack, and use weighted rollers) but can easily be removed from vinyl. I would agree with picking up one box, and staggering the seams in an area of your home, just to lay it out a bit ( so you can see how the light hits the flooring on a larger scale). If you still see the "smudges" that you're referring to, and wiping it down with windex doesn't remove them, than I'd say that it's, without a doubt, part of the graining texture pattern. Remember, you did bring home a floor sample, so who knows what those planks have been through. Karndean makes some really beautiful products, and I'm sure that if this particular color will "drive you nuts," you'll be able to find a nice alternative. Good Luck The Flooring Blog