Hi, everybody! Just a reminder to everyone (including me) that, if you haven't sent out a box to Carly for August, you're running out of time! Anyone who has to drop out of the robin should let us know (not just fade away), and remember that we all agreed that, if you had to drop out at any time, you would still make sure to send to anyone who had already sent to you. As of right now, we've had one official drop-out (December), and one administrative drop-out (no one'e received or heard anything from May, so I've decided they've dropped). I'm still waiting to hear from some who have seemed to disappear if they are still in the robin. Come on, everybody--let's make sure Carly has as a good a month as we'd all like to have when it's our turn! As for me...yeah, I don't have a public trade list, for various reasons. Remember that everyone sent in a questionnaire with wants, likes, family info, etc.--I think I've sent copies of the answers out to everyone, at least for the months through September. As for me, I like dwarf versions of plants, anything that sounds rodent-y (mouse-ear coreopsis, for example--for my all-rodent theme memorial garden and resting place), and I'd like to start a white garden. I don't get a lot of sun in my backyard and I have no green thumb for starting plants from seeds or cuttings (or time, especially during the spring semester when seeds need to be started). I'm in zone 5 and no greenhouse, so I'm dealing with all the extremes of Illinois weather. Oh, and I never met a bulb I didn't like. Luckily, September is prime bulb season! :) I also like anything craft-y (Hobby Lobby is my second home). In fact, I start teaching my first stained-glass class in a couple of weeks. My other great love (besides DH, of course), is my 10 rodents (so I love anything mouse or rodent-themed). I have rodents instead of human children. :) I'll be quite happy with whatever is sent...I just like to get mail and open boxes, regardless of what's in them!

Hi Catkin.......Yes some one has suggested that too and I am thinking of painting . The kitchen and house is only 7 yrs. old in May so don't think the light fixtures are that dated and I like them. They were some expensive brand I got at Southern Lights & Fan in Hattiesburg. They go with my wood bar stools well and the chairs in the breakfast room nicely. I know lanterns are big right now but I will wait till they are older, ha! Knobs were the last thing we did and our builder said most people just went with knobs nowadays (we are in Mississippi so that may explain it, ha!) I would love to do better pulls and knobs one day but my husband was laid off from an extremely profitable position on Wednesday last week so don't see that happening right at the moment. We are in survival mode right now. Paint and change of bamboo blinds and drapes are kinda the only things I can do at the moment for change but wish me luck!! Thank you for the suggestions & sweet compliments on my home. I will tuck your thoughts in my memory. :) Bonnie

"I'm a sucker for those wide brim straw hats with a lavender/floral ribbon." Somehow I'm not surprised. :D I think I just need to get over the kitchen being in the family room. It's the whole point of this addition--being able to put the kitchen in a CASUAL area (instead of overlooking my living and dining rooms as it does now) where it can just BE without messing up the "good" parts of the house. I think we do want something that goes with the bones of the house, so maybe wood. The image I posted above is what the house originally had, so obviously I'm not going to go that far! (But seriously, I'd consider it if anyone made those lipped plywood cabs these days...). I've seen some painted fifties cabinets that were pretty great. but I think we're going to do wood. I'm thinking a natural or mildly stained slab, cherry or walnut maybe. Sort of modern, maybe mid-century modernish but not quite. More mid-century mild? We're too sloppy to pull off a totally sleek modern kitchen. We've always had stainless steel counters and that would probably be weird behind the sofa so I don't know--maybe we need a "curb" on the back side of the peninsula so it doesn't matter. In this house I have learned that tile isn't that bad a surface (although this tile is ugly) and I don't even mind the cast iron sink (I used to break coffee carafes too often). Of course all of the tile I like is sort of feminine. So yes, we're clueless. The kitchen table is a '60s surfboard shape in orangey pecan with these chairs (the handmade needlepoint has been rehomed and they've been recovered and can be again): The other furniture (that we currently have) that will probably go in there is a stereo console that serves as a TV stand. The spouse could fight that but the spouse would lose--it's hard to find a record player in a drawer! It is nicer in person--has spectacular walnut veneers on the sides and top. We'll have to get a new couch and I plan to get my papasan chair out of the attic (ssshhh don't tell!). Also maybe a 4' wide hutch of the 1960s French provencal orange maple variety. So, while I am totally off topic here on Rosie's small cozy kitchen, I am putting enough junk in this room to turn it into a small cozy kitchen! aHA! So, medium wood tone cabinets tucked into a gloomy windowless corner of a great room. (There will be skylights if I can't somehow get clerestory windows in there.) We may do an exposed beam type of ceiling but I'm guessing we won't have enough light to wood panel it. Yeah that's right. I want wood paneling and I'm not ashamed to admit it! If we do go with a taller ceiling then we can have taller windows and maybe a little more light feeling back in the hole. Appliances, well, I am cheap so I'll be reusing my black dishwasher, but I am ready to retire my black fridge which wasn't supposed to survive the last remodel. I don't really care much what it is; it just has to go and it has to fit. We may end up with a builtin--it's just too soon to say since I don't have my kitchen walls nailed down yet. All I know is that it's goin' in the hole! I have no style.

Ah..(sorry I'm too talkative..)..check your local Craigslist maybe too? People get rid of stuff..and sometimes of new stuff as well-when remodeling for example. The prices are generally pretty good, so you never know. Tons of fridges on our Craigslist..true, I never payed attention to their finish that much.. I know though we bought a new bisque fridge, a smaller one, and pretty modest, for my MIL rental. My DH bought it-have no idea where. Can ask him. But it doesn't look impressive or charming like your stove. It's very basic. Well the whole kitchen is super basic. It's a tiny one bedroom. The location is great though, very central, walking distance to everything, nice parks around-so 1600 per month lol. And you have to do the laundry in the laundromat.