My opinion is you will need to evaluate the entire mower. --------------------------------------------------------- Examine the handlebars to see if they are starting to sag - the center pivot area is usually a weak area. Look over the control cables to see if they are in good condition and operate smoothly. Check the rear wheels to see if they are starting to spread apart. Look over the deck for signs of rust. Most of the current engines will need carburetor work or new fuel lines after 10 years of service. Cooling fins will need to be cleaned. Usually the basic engine will last many more years. Front wheel drive has failed. Is this simply a stripped wheel or is the gear box bad? --------------------------------------------------------- After evaluating, consider the cost of all repairs. Are you capable of performing the repairs, or does the mower need to go to a shop. I use the 50% rule. If the repair cost exceeds $100.00 to repair a $200.00 mower, it is probably time to buy another mower. ========================================================= Concerning a new mower: The Troybilt name was purchased about 10 - 12 years ago by MTD. MTD supplied a lot of department store mowers. The lawnboys are generally a higher quality mower. From the website, I liked the aluminum deck models the best. Front wheel drive mowers do not have the strong traction of rear wheel drive models. All the engine brands have been ok. The Briggs "ready start" is much easier to start than the regular briggs with the primer. The Honda starts easyily. The Tecumseh brand is no longer in business - no one is sure if another company will resume production or support spare parts. The aftermarket guys will maintain the most common part - like air filters.

I love top-down bottom-up roman shades that I just got for my bedroom and master bath. I just moved to a condo complex with neighboring buildings so privacy is important especially in bedroom. But natural light is too. The TDBU option gives you best of both worlds. I keep TD until dressed in morning and sometimes even put the TD at night so I wake up to some daylight. However, its not a budget option! At least the hunter douglas ones that I got. Most of the shades mount on the "ceiling" of the window opening, so there is usually a little more mounting opportunity than the side jambs. The specs of each shade will give you the exact clearance you need. Graywings' picture of the outside mount is very helpful. It also reminds me that it measuring to the nth degree on an outside mount is not so critical as an inside mount. You have more fudge factor on height and on width which is important in DIY mode. Outside mount profile may be more of a concern based on the view in the particular room. Looking head on at the window won't matter much. At my last place I had wood blinds outside mounted and you entered the room from the side of that window. I wasn't crazy about the profile gap, but I didn't stress over it. I'll see if I can find a picture. [update: Actually on further reflection, what bothered me was the gap created from the curtain rod and drapes that had to extend past the blinds valance. but only an issue from the side view. something to think about.] Here I reluctantly spent the big bucks for the TDBU Roman Shades for Hunter Douglas for the bedroom/bath, but I have other rooms and will probably buy online for those, so I am interested in what responses you get on that part. This post was edited by wendyb on Fri, Jan 3, 14 at 12:30

I like Holligator's plan...I really like corner pantries (I put one in our kitchen as well!). But, I would definitely move the ovens to the other side. To me, the west side seems crowded. It does make an excellent work area, but a little close--especially if you have someone cleaning up while you're prepping/cooking. If the ovens are moved then the cooktop could move south a foot or two to add some workspace/distance b/w the sink/DW and cooktop. The refrigerator side will still have plenty of landing space. I would still put a prep sink in the island, though, to increase the functional work area to include working on both sides of the island if needed or even on the refrigerator/oven side. One advantage of the island remaining is that it will help direct traffic away from the cooking side. W/the corner pantry & no island, people would probably cut diagonally across the kitchen and possibly infringe on the cooking zone--which could be a safety issue (in addition to an annoyance!). The combination of the end of peninsula opening and island will direct traffic to the east side of the kitchen b/w the DR and Breakfast area. I really like the shape of that peninsula!

My wife normally does most of the cooking for our family but has friends who also enjoy cooking and will help out when over, so up to 3 people working in the kitchen at a time. Breakfast and lunch will likely be at island (we figured we could seat up to four there (three at outside edge and one just around the corner across from the entry to the pantry) dinner will be at the dining table which is just out of shot in the drawing but part of an open concept layout. In terms of types of cooking... a bit of everything really, stirfries, braises, roasts. She only bakes occasionally but has been known to make macarons, meringues, and other types of treats for teachers gifts/ parties, etc. (hence the preference for electric oven). We would go with a dual fuel range but that isn't a possibility with the BlueStar. We usually don't entertain large groups probably up to 12 at a time. We have a desk drawn in but during our site visit today we realized it's sort of puny and the kids will likely prefer to pull up to the island for homework rather than staring at the wall so we thought we would turn that area into a concealed storage for phone, mail, stationery, etc. In terms of the refrigeration, we figured a 36" fridge and 30" freezer would be adequate based on what we are currently using.... although feedback is helpful here as kids are still small. We do have a secondary fridge & deep freeze currently which could reside in the garage but we've also considered ditching those for a secondary fridge in the pantry just to keep the groceries central to the kitchen. My wife is the only coffee drinker in the house and we currently have a very compact Nespresso machine which serves the purpose, I don't think we need a dedicated breakfast bar/ coffee bar area. In terms of the range hood, there is a second floor but we've allocated space for the ventilation to pass through (behind a closet) to the roof with hopes of mounting the fan remotely to reduce noise. Thank you for the thorough questions!