Thanks for the kind words, Jan. The web master wasn't happy with me for directing people to my blog because it was interpreted as a form of advertising. I can see his point. Interestingly, my blog reports indicate that people are somehow getting to my site from the junk forum. Deb

May_flowers, I understand that not everyone lives in a home that you can make drastic changes to. I am one of them! My comment (and I think californiagirl's comment) was referring to showcase kitchens where the budget is more than ample to address issues like windows. It wasn't intended as a judgement of people who are dealing with midsize/midprice kitchens in the real world. We all have to make trade-offs that fit our needs and budgets. I am just sharing my strong personal bias towards facilitating light flow. I've had to make tough choices to make that a priority in my tiny kitchen. I will not have ample storage space in my new kitchen, because I'm forgoing upper cabinets, for example. We're a family of four and I cook big scratch meals every night as well as regular cooking of breakfasts and lunches so we *do* have storage needs. Some of my canned goods will probably end up in a crate on my balcony! But I care more about the light/space - it's a trade-off that works for me and I understand that it would not work for many. If I had to look at a neighbour's wall in order to get natural light into my kitchen, I probably would stick curtains over the window and be OK with that. But I understand that others have different priorities. Part of it is that I live in the PNW where light can be scarce at certain times of the year. I know that some of you live in climate where there's tonnes of sunlight year round. Perhaps a windowless room feels different in that situation?

I am having a bench made with furry Himalayan sheep hide and the hide was first delivered to my house, so I could get it to the furniture maker. I laid one of the hides on the floor to see what my small dog would do and she immediately went and rolled on it ... I think she is going to like the bench!

Why do I feel like I should be able to find a dinosaur something in that mural? When I was a kid, my mother covered an oddly placed door in our game room with a British phone booth mural. I guess these days a Tardis would be the "in" thing.