Hi Beth, I'm up the coast by LAX. My biggest problem year-round is mildew and I've been culling, er, 'losing through attrition' the ones that are the worst. Rust is annoying because it defoliates, but mildew, in my experience anyway, eventually kills roses. I fear many of yours will have a problem with it so I'd start thinking what to do about it now. Speaking for myself, side from the environmental concerns I have finally admitted that I am not disciplined enough to spray. Now I've gotten into OGRs, fwiw. Of the ones you have... Disneyland - bullet proof, great little rose Gemini - pretty blooms which make me keep it (for now) but really struggles with mildew Olympiad - very disease resistant in the ground, HOWEVER, others didn't like being in a pot where they struggled and died from mildew. Love - had it a long time ago, may mildew Voodoo - loved it a lot, twice. If you're jonesing for orange, you might try Perfect Moment, mildews a bit but doesn't mind too much. Marmalade Skies is not as dark as Voodoo and a flori, but 'bout bullet proof. I think there are some other new oranges. I'd sure ask here so you won't be disappointed if you want orange or lavender colors. Henry Fonda - not on your list, but the most glorious *non-fading* bright yellow with frilly petals, the DH's favorite. Traviata - mine is the little engine that can. Some folks don't care for it because it doesn't smell, but I like the blooms and admire greatly it's complete resistance to mildew & rust. It did get defoliated by anthracnose a couple of months ago but you wouldn't know it today. Very upright. Lastly, you need to look up Grandmother's Hat (hybrid perpetual, Jeri's favorite, divine smell) and Golden Celebration (yellow Austin, also great smell) using the search engine here and on the Antique forum. You absolutely can't do wrong with either, I think you'll love the pics but will swoon over the fragrances.

I think I prefer option 1, but where are the coat hooks going? On the empty wall between? If you aren't completely on top of things, either way you run the risk of that side of the room being messy (or maybe that's just my family). I think option 1 contains the shoes, boots, coats, dirt to one side and the paperwork or other things you plan on storing in the hutch to the other side. You are also able to utilize more of the storage space w/ option 1, rather than 2. Those corners get tricky. I believe GWer Marin has a great corner cabinet in her mudroom. With both options, I like that you have your desk away from that side of the room. I love my open, adjustable storage cubbies, but they are a visual disaster at most times (now included). It's with much trepidation that I'm posting these pictures because our mudroom is always a mess. And I hate to admit it, but it's usually much worse than this because most of my kids are currently at school (along w/ their backpacks, coats, hats, boots, snowpants, etc). We put in a deeper bench w/ hooks along the back so you can use it to sit on and use it for storage above and below. I have totes to store off season shoes and things in the back below the bench. Great for storage, plus it keeps the space where the kids can lose things smaller. I did get a bev. fridge in the space, but I've moved it around several times and still don't like where I have it. It will probably move out to the garage in the spring. Your room is looking great. You will love having that space.

You can see though, where there is going to be two distinct outcomes when it comes to the seams. If you want the grain running all in one direction over the entire kitchen, it should be possible to get an "invisible" seam--or realistically an unobtrusive seam. If you want the grain to run parallel to the length of the cabinets, there is going to be some sort of "mitered" appearance or chevron appearance to the grain at a corner no matter how carefully it's done. If you like all one direction, or a combo of lengthwise and cross grain slabs, fine. If you like parallel grains and don't mind the intersecting miter or chevron, fine. The problem group of consumer is going to be the one who wants both parallel grain, and an unnoticeable seam. And there will be people who expect both.

A single slab of something with that much linear pattern will be a crazy quilt of non matching seams in any but the tiniest of kitchens. Most kitchens require a 2 slab purchase, and use 1 1/2 of them. A stone with a challenging pattern match will use most of 2-3 bookmatched slabs to get those seams looking just right. Sometimes the leftovers are enough to use in small spots like a hall vanity. It depends on how the cut needs to happen. Only 1 slab is going to be suspect to have poor seaming until proven otherwise.