Lisa; It's interesting how differently people have interpreted your original note. Our GC, in an almost-avuncular tone, took me aside early in the planning stages to "caution" me about the cost of the crown moulding (let alone other trims / casings) we'd selected for our project. (one eight foot piece of crown alone was $1000 [because the wall is curved, so it had to be made out of flex and, as it's a "custom" profile (one my husband and I designed ourselves) the flex company (in CA) had to make a new mold for it]) Because I already had a good feel for the sort of person our GC is and I was in the situation (not reading about it, I mean) I understood he was trying to help me not have a heart attack when I got the bill. (The crown [material, not labor] alone, not inc. base, not inc. casing., not inc. trim, was >$15K. Gulp, but I love it!!!) When I read your post(s), I automatically heard my GC's kind, caretaking tone from your plumber's point person. There's my bias. So when I read the rest of your note, I was left thinking "isn't that nice that they wanted to make sure you understood what you were getting into?" I think v. often so many of us bite off more than we can chew, simply because costs have a way of spiraling .... (ours did) Plus, most of us aren't serial remodelers (or flippers), meaning we aren't always aware of the (mounting) costs of fixtures plus labor. There are some incredibly cher fixtures out there which are crap -- they have The Name (whatever the name du jour is), but they haven't the good innards. Please make sure before you spend any money on your beautiful reno that your house has good (plumbing, electrical, mechanical, etc.) "innards." What a waste to put in a beautiful faucet only to have problems with the pipes in the walls or from the street! I also want to say I believe I read edlakin's initial post in a completely different way from you: I thought s/he was just trying to help get to a potential root of the issue. It might not be your root at all! I know that I am a little embarrassed about how much we are spending on our nearly-whole house reno. It's gauche in our society to talk about money, plus the truth is, within myself I feel horrible guilt about why I have been so lucky when so many others the world 'round have not. I think about the flooding in Bangladesh and all those displaced people and it makes me wonder "why me? why them?" I think you'll understand, Lisa, because you wrote that you "don't need to remodel" -- if I read into your comment(s) correctly, you know it's a real luxury to get to change something which already works for something which will give you pleasure. And I love it. Our kitchen is not yet done but even still, walking in and seeing my dreamy countertops just makes me happy. So for me, to have that feeling, was worth $X. I believe I am generously charitable with my money, my time and my positive thoughts, but it is still something about which I think. That's me. I'm pretty sure that's from where edlakin was coming -- not trying to attack or pigeonhole you. I also don't think his/her "blaming you" comment was directed at you .... So the way I understood your plumber's comments were merely to give you a head's up, not to sway you toward or away from what you want. I think you're on a great path: getting bids for all your Dream Objects (from your fixtures to your countertops). After you have those bids, only you and your partner can determine if it's feasible or if something needs to be trimmed. I wouldn't start altering fixture / countertop choices yet: I'd wait until I had all bids in hand. You might not need to change a single thing! As you and louisianapurchase (of whom I am quite fond!) have been chatting, costs for the same item / labor 'round the continent can and do vary widely. I'm in Colorado and for what you're planning on doing I think you'd be lucky to get that all done for $200K. My fingers are crossed your KD is right, though, and that it comes in closer to her figure. I confess, sometimes I am really envious of the prices people here have quoted for various objects (cabinetry, for one) in other parts of N. America. But I don't live there. I live here, so I have to pay "here's" prices. I am v. excited about your upcoming reno -- it is going to be lovely. Congratulations!

See the third picture down with the blue polka dotted nautical themed chairs? Someone must have used a jigsaw (and a Dremel?) to make the fancy pieces that go into the backs of the chairs. My question is how do you think those backs are probably attached? Now, see the 9th picture down? The one outside with the blue tablecloth and the pink chair nearest to us. Is there a name for that style of chair? Is there a name for the style of chair in picture #2? I see those in CL all the time. I usually don't like them but I love what they did with them in that pic. I detest chairs with arms on them at the dining table. They're so awkward to try to scoot in and out, and I feel imprisoned in them when scooted in. Maybe that goes way back to being trapped in a high chair as a baby. Am I the only one who feels that way? Scoobyruby, I just remembered something else. When I worked at Boeing we had to wear a badge. The rule was it had to be at chest height. I've always been pretty stacked and I got SO tired of men saying "hi" to my boobs when we passed in the hallway at work. My badge being there gave them an excuse. So I started wearing my badge attached to the bottom of my shirt instead. It actually did cut down on the rude boob staring from the guys. So one day one of those "hall monitor" types of women looks at my badge and says, "You're supposed to wear that at chest height." I (in my mid 50s at that point, and she was too) replied, "I am! They didn't specify with or without a bra." She went into gales of laughter and that and it diffused the situation. Okay, one more. There was this one guy named Howard who would *always* say HI to your boobs when you passed him in the hallway. He was just awful and all us gals hated it. One of my friends was a really fun and funny gal. One morning Howard said HI to her boobs and she smiled and dipped her head down toward her boobs and raised her hand to boob height to wave at him and replied, HI! He blushed crimson at being caught and he NEVER did it to her again. But he kept right on doing it to the rest of us. We actually all should have done it to him. I wonder if we'd have cured him? Anyway, if you hang a picture of a woman in your house, I think she should deffinitely be ugly -- make you look good! :o)

I would leave them ivory as well, or at least I wouldn't paint them a matching blue. I think you would lose the integrity of the back of the chairs by trying to match them, especially with the tufting of the blue chairs. I would want to show off the design of the back of the chairs and not downplay it as if it isn't important. That's what gives them their uniqueness against the other chairs. And yes, you can use them together, the shape and size is very similar.

I love the idea of the table and benches behind the couch, Rawket girl. Off in search! I don't want to turn the sectional because there is a nice fireplace wall on the open side that I want to be able to face, and this area is part of a big "L" shape area that goes on behind the long couch now, and I don't really want to look at that really long L" wall with the fireplace behind me. We would have whatever shelving or cabinetry that we put in the niche custom made. It is just under 30" deep so I think we can find some kind of mini-fridge to put in there. The lights are installed to give a soft light in the back of the room and bounce off the white ceilings. Without going into a lot of detail, the lighting has been installed for function rather than looks, and when we have the lighting turned up to what works best for him, it is uncomfortable for visitors, so we have all kinds of lighting that we can set for different needs.