Hi Aliris, Had my 36" Bertazzoni since December, 2010 and love it. Now to put this in perspective I had an 80's era Thermador cooktop with 2 working burners....so you can probably understand my enjoyment of Berta. Your questions answered in order: 1. No need to have the oven door open to light it - at least not in my experience. I have had only a couple of times when I thought it was lit for preheating and it turned out it wasn't. But it's got an electronic ignition and you hear it click and then light. Because of my lack of experience with gas cooking maybe this is unusual, but it functions just fine. 2. It sometimes takes a little longer than other times to get the burners lit, but this is not a complaint of mine at all. In my research before I purchased this brand of oven, these ignition devices were considered to be more reliable than others and less likely to cause repair. 3. The back venting gets hot....sometimes very hot. I don't think it gets so hot as to create a fire hazard, though. If this is a significant concern, I'd ask an appliance store this question. But in my amateur opinion this shouldn't be a problem. 4. As a gas chef novice I can attest to the fact that the Berta is very easy to use. I wouldn't hesitate to suggest that guests have a go at it on their own without instruction. Honestly I think that sometimes the things you read on GW are written by folks who are very biased about the equipment they researched and ultimately purchased that they pick other choices apart unnecessarily. Operationally the Berta is a piece of cake. 5. Reliability? Our appliance store salesman strongly suggested that Berta was the way to go. I was vacillating between it and another frequently mentioned GW choice and he urged me to go Italian. Plus it's so darned sexy!! He indicated that this was an appliance that they could stand behind - and that meant a lot. Hope this helps - good luck with your decision!

I paint furniture for a living and, I. Love. Chalk Paint. I do use other things though, but when given the choice, I will choose Annie Sloan Chalk Paint any day of the week. I can get 5 medium size pieces or three large (dresser size) pieces out of one can. With the light colors I need two coats, some darker I can use just one, or if I am going very distressed, I use one. I have used both water base poly as a finish and also wax, depending what the use will be. Poly does tend to turn lighter yellowish color on lighter colors. Wax feels better it is smooth and yummy feeling. I have 4 not-very-delicate boys in my house and it has held up fine. I made some homemade chalk paint for the first time yesterday using calcium carbonate powder. I didn't hate it, but it is not the same. I hope it is not against the rules, but, I have a blog that shows my furniture and almost all of it is done with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I think it's worth every penny. Here is a link that might be useful: The Shabbiest Chick

Found pics of the mediums I was referring to as well, these are mixed directly into the paint. I like the liquitex brand, but Golden is also quite good as well. Retarder I use This is what Ghostlyvision was referring to....I've never used it though Irredescent tinting medium: Iridescent Tinting Medium — Producing a range of iridescent or metallic colors when mixed with acrylics, this medium viscosity medium allows the artist to control iridescent intensity. It is opaque when wet, transparent to translucent when dry, and will not oxidize.

I have that four seasons "Winter" print matted and framed, Boop. I love it and have it hanging on my kitchen mantle every December! Living here in New Mexico, which is an artist's mecca, it's very easy fall into collecting art. We have many, many large framed photos here in our home and at our clinic from wildlife photographer, Phil Sonier. We love his work! I also have 3 by a favorite NM pastel artist. We have a large oil over our living room fireplace by NM artist, Michael McCullough, and another of his pieces in our clinic. We've also bought his paintings to give as gifts a few times. But the rest have been purchased at gallery openings and shows, just whenever I happen to fall crazy in love with a particular piece . . . which is too often!