Hey Amberley, Scrappy, & Bmorepanic (& anyone else in this MD/VA/DC)...we have around 30" here in Western Howard County. Drifts are quite a bit higher...the one we measured was 36" high! My DH just started slowly snow blowing our driveway. We have a fairly long drive, so it's going to take awhile...he figures it will take him at least 2 days to do it all! Our dogs refuse to budge from the porch...we have to push them off to "do their duty" on the snow rather than the porch! My DD tried throwing Ruby (the female) into one of the drifts...but she stayed on top and daintily walked down & off the drift! Heavy snow! But, we have a fire going and I just made hot chocolate for the kids (they just came in from playing out there-13 & 15 years old and still playing in the snow, I love it!), so we're doing great! I also made a big pot of chili for tomorrow and now I'm making pineapple casserole (me) + Roman Holiday (DH & kids) for tonight's dinner! Amberley, it sounds like you're making good progress b/w the demoing and the snow shoveling!

I went with IKEA cabs in my kitchen and love the quality and value. I have an old house with leaning walls and uneven floor and found that I could not hang the wall cabs myself--even with a carpenter friend helping the 2nd time round. So I hired a contractor for that part (shared all the IKEA literature and directions, they even had a free DVD about installation) and got a very professional install. The adjustable legs for the base are very useful. You can assemble a cab in 30 minutes to an hour. The regular boxes are very quick, the corner cab and pantry took longer. By the end, my 13 year old assembled the over the fridge cab all by himself! Just get make sure when you attach the back panel that you square up the corners with a corner square tool--that allows the wall cabs to hang side-by-side nicely. I had the cabs all ready, and the contractor hung the rails, attached hinges, squared the doors and attached the trim. They also cut and attached the wood countertop and replaced my window. It was worth the extra $2000. So the cabs ($2500) PLUS installation was $4500, the price of other cabs alone. You do need a contractor who is open to installing European style cabinets. They will question the rail system and want to screw through the backs to hold the cabinets to the wall. I found it useful to share that IKEA has engineered the heck out of this attachment system, and that my 25-year warranty might be voided if the cabs were installed differently. Depending where you live, you might be able to find an IKEA certified installer who would do your install very quickly, since they understand the system. Hopefully the installer could also do your fancy trim-outs which would look grat with the Lindigo style. Also, if you are near an IKEA, consider having the store deliver your order. The delivery for my cabinets would have only $250, and I live 320 miles away! Wish I would have done that. They deliver right into your house, or garage--wherever you need the flat packs located. Here is a link that might be useful: My IKEA kitchen remodel blog

Thanks! It was the first post to come up in my search on the Kitchens forum. Turns out is was Reno Fan's kitchen, yellow cabinets and a blue island! Necia

UPDATE: Thanks to you guys here (and mostly thanks to Joseph Corlett's link regarding Silestone slab sizes), they agreed to do away with one of the seams. They kept insisting that they would not do a stretch of stone more than 110", and when I insisted that my color of Silestone comes in jumbo slabs of 128", they "did some research" and conceded that I was correct, and there is no need for two seams in my 150" stretch of counter. I'm updating here for anyone who may have the same questions and issues that I did. I spent countless hours researching and digging and arguing, so hopefully I can save someone else the hassle. You can check the Silestone website for the slab sizes in your color. There is no need for a seam to "prevent cracks"; Silestone is (allegedly) 4x bendier than granite, and if you wanted to put the whole damn slab down you could. Keep in mind though - if your Silestone DOES crack or chip at some point (and it will...it's notorious for chipping despite the durability claims) - you're on the hook for it. Their "warranty" does not cover cracks or chips. Hundreds of consumers have told their stories about bumping a water glass against the edge and it chips, with no damage to the glass, and Cosentino denies the claims, citing abuse of the counter or something. Same with random cracks, etc. Just be aware - these are issues that you will have to call Joseph Corlett to come fix, out of your own pocket. I love the look of mine so I'm willing to deal with those issues, but buyer beware.