Ah - a subject near and dear to my heart. I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you one thing not to do... Our house is rough-sawn cedar and the previous owners/builders decided that a clear wood finish would preserve the beauty of the cedar in perpetuity rather than staining it or letting it weather naturally gray. The problem is that you cannot apply this finish over itself. The manufacturer (Flood) recommends completely stripping the old finish before re-applying. Yeah right. So - whatever you decide to use - make sure that it can be re-applied over itself. Stains with some pigment in them tend to have better UV protection than the clear coats and last longer - paint will last the longest.

The first picture is the room before I did anything. It's hard to tell by the picture, but the walls had multi color thin stripes. The second picture is the work in progress. The firring strips and chair-rail have been removed, the walls are textured but not painted yet, the fireplace wall has been primed but not textured yet, and the ugly mirror over the fireplace has been removed. Nothing has been done to the door trim yet. You can see the peeling paper on the beams. Whatever is peeling will be removed and sanded before priming. The first color, vanilla tan, is what the walls will be painted. The second color, canyon clay, is what the wall over the fireplace will be painted. The trim will be white, and the ceiling will be similar to what it is now, ceiling white, unless someone suggests something better. I'm horrible at choosing the right colors!

Too Many Hallways! Do you plan to use the secondary BR on the first floor as a study/office? Is that why you have a tub in the bathroom on this floor? (Quite a hike.) If this is the family powder room, sink and toilet will do. Where will your children play or have friends visit? I'd skip the formal DR and enlarge the "Breakfast Room" -- which is the "All Meals Room" in my house. You are right that this open plan does not need *both*, but I'd prefer an enlarged family eating space. One you subtract the 'walk through' space from it, the LR is very small. Back Hall is too much 'hall' and too little "Family Entrance" and "Laundry". Where's the laundry/slop tub? (My house rules permit no dog that will not fit into this tub.) Where's the laundry chute? No door to the back/side yard here? Don't waste outside walls on closets. Do put windows in at least two walls of every room that can have them. Yes to larger bathroom on second floor. Does one house need three tubs? SMALL, strung-out Kitchen; might be enough upper cabinets IF there were a pantry. (I'd rather have the cabinets.) Wasted space between end of kitchen and front BR. Rotate the MBR 90 degrees. Put closet(s) between it and bathroom. MBR to Closet to Bathroom in one rectangle.

I was happy with the end result of the Barker cabinets. I thought they looked good and the finish seems to be very good--no damage in the year or so we had them. I actually saw them again when we visited (sold the house to a friend) and they still looked new at the two year mark. We had one place where edge banding, trim and cabinet met and the colors were not quite right. My GC made it work with some extra cover panel or something. The drawers opened and closed beautifully. My GC grumbled a bit about the door sizing and it being difficult to adjust them perfectly, but again he made it work. (He was a carpenter before he became a GC and made my bathroom vanities for me, but wouldn't do a full kitchen because of arthritis). The countertop is honed marble. I wanted a light color and Dh and I both really liked the looks of marble. I tried to find a more sensible substitute but we were never really happy with any of the other options and everything else was actually more expensive than Carrara marble--which was dirt cheap for us, almost as cheap as IKEA butcher block. We decided that we would be okay with scratches and etches. (Also Carrara can be rehoned in place, which reassured us that if we needed to make it look new for resale purposes we could) I loved that sink. It's the kohler stages 45. I wanted a second sink, mostly for the rest of the family to wash hands and get water to drink, but could not fit one in. The stages with two faucets filled that need nicely and functioned beautifully for food prep, etc. I think for induction you want a dedicated circuit and 40 amps? The appliance forum here would have the answer or someone else may chime in. I just know that out of all the great things in my kitchen, my induction range is the one I miss the most. And yes cast iron works. Anything that a magnet sticks to will generally work with induction. edited to add:. Thanks for your kind words. My kitchen was awesome due to the generous and knowlegdgable people here.