I have been very busy and not checking in to this forum. Thanks to all for the comments. The contractor installed the Duravit Vero sink/counter and the FOGO vanity, and I am not happy. Having been very busy with my day job, I was not able to watch closely how thoroughly they installed the blocking between the studs, and came home one day and the wall was closed (tiled) in. So I had no choice but to trust the contractor and wait till he installed the Duravit. Now the vanity seems to be hung solidly, but the countertop/sink (one piece ceramic, which wieghs about 80 lbs) is about 1/8th inch away from the wall at the top, but touches the wall at the bottom of the skirt (5 inch high skirt) I can move the sink up and down that 1/8 inch. When I open the vanity drawer, the top of the drawer bumps against the bottm of the countertop skirt. The contractor says when we put things in the drawer, it will weigh down and this won't happen. I knew at the time this was bull, but was so dumbfounded at his attitude, I was not sure how to respond. I suspect that he is affraid to tighten the two lag bolts the extra 1/8 inch for one reason or another. On possible reason is that he is affraid to crack the ceramic. Another is that (I am just guessing at this) he mounted the bolts too deep into the wall, so that there is not enough of the bolt left to turn (?Guessing) Does anyone have any ideas on (a) what went wrong inside the wall, and (2) how to handle this contractor, who is very moody (some days very accomodating and other times, very stubborn). Note: the instructions call for mounting this entire ceramic one-piece sink/contertop (41 inches wide x 19 inches deep x 5 inches high) with two lag bolts (about 1/2 in) through the back of the ceramic skirt into the wood framing. So I imagine the ceramic is strong enough to handle it.

mls99, I think you'll find in the US it means a beautiful, custom, Smallbone-type "scullery" period (or period-inspired) kitchen, the kind that one would likely only find in the most lavishly "done up" high-end homes and London flats! That said, a look at B&Q online these days (I snooped around just for fun) suggests that the American-type fitted kitchen now dominates in Britain too so perhaps as houses are being redone over the years the kitchens are more functional. I remember when we left we actually had a wonderful Hotpoint fridge/freezer of a size and shape that would actually suit in my small home here - it was smaller than the average AMerican sarcophogus but well designed and held loads. I loved that the bottom freezer was nearly the size of the fridge and fitted with several internal drawers (great for organizigin! That said, although it was a single unit it looked like a pair of stacked separates as was still often found in homes. Interestingly, from my reading it seems like "high end" London is now going for the minimalist look again - in fact I remember reading in the Guradian Gaurdian Guardian (sorry, British in-joke) a while back that somebody took a GORGEOUS traditional intact Pimlico 4 story house and spent a FORTUNE gutting it, and replacing all the early 19th century charm (including the fireplaces, moldings, floors - everything) with Scandinavian modern/urban loft style. Personally I consider that sacrilege, but I guess times change..... It's not QUITE as bad as the millionnaire who had a period house in Bath and somehow got planning permission to gut it and replace the glorious Regency with Andy Warhol modern.....

Sams club. I bought their bags of Grouper fillets, got 2 of the bags. I like to have them for a quick meal. The fillets are perfect size for a grilled grouper sandwich. Bought their bag of Angus hamburger patties, I like them too for quickey meals. We needed the Omega-3-6-9 tablets so I got 2 bottles of them. Milk...a bag of 3 different kinds of dried cherries. I can not eat oatmeal (naked) so I add a few dried cherries and it makes the oatmeal go down better...:o)) Oh and light bulbs. Deb

We just had our cabinets installed and had the carpenter install some aftermarket parts- Rev a shelf cutlery insert, and rev a shelf peg board, and William Sonoma knife block. The carpenter secured them to the drawers (and I believe cut back the depth on the rev a shelf items to make them fit). Overall- the fit is great (the rev a shelf items are designed to be cut back so they'll fit well). We're only just moving back into the kitchen now- so we've barely used them, but we really like them so far. The cutlery insert in particular is much better than what we had previously (way bigger and doesn't slide around). The peg board seems like it will work really well for dishes/bowls. The knife block we think we'll really like (but haven't actually moved the knives yet- we're still trying to sort out a child lock that will fit the drawer style). We may have to get some of the brass clips (we still have spice drawers and a utensil drawer that need dividing).