I'm all about quirky, but there's a fine line between quirky and crazy cat lady. You want it to look cheerful but still dignified. "More color and pattern" does not equal quirky. It equals Sanford & Son if you're not careful. I have a craptastic 50s bathroom that we're redoing on the cheap and I like a playful aesthetic too (think Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic" in bathroom form), but I'm being cautious about ensuring some of the basic finishes (flooring, wall tile, vanity) match and are neutral in shape and color. I can go nuts with wallpaper (GREAT idea), paint, grout, artwork and linens...but the floor and any other tile in the room are gonna be a "basic bitch" so we can sell the place someday. I'm trying to get a sense of what you're working with, here. Just so it's clear: you're doing a white barn door, a plain white vinyl pop-in shower/tub, vinyl marble-esque ("mar-belle" as my mother calls it) tile (square or rectangle? what size?), and drywall on the walls? No wall tile, etc. What kind/size/color style vanity do you have and are you also putting in lighting or other fixtures? If you have a barn door and are innately gravitating to cows and buffalo check wallpaper (which you appear to be doing), you're a Joanna Gaines Farmhouse Person whether you like it or not. Embrace it, it still works and the look is everywhere and therefore affordable. Black and white is an excellent idea. Do whitewashed barnwood (removeable) wallpaper to match your barn door. Add a pop of Russian Red or teal paint and you're good to go. I think the barn door is gonna define the space more than anything, and the whole Mexican/Talavera tile thing is just gonna look bizarre (...and I love talavera...).

Oh no, no OTR microwave! Unless your kitchen is too small for a separate spot for it, OTR microwaves are very impractical. The venting is poor, they are set up too high, and their use interferes with anyone using the range. Regarding the 8 foot ceilings, you have 96". The vent hood height from the top of the cooktop to the bottom of the hood is specified in the installation instructions from the manufacturer. Let's say that it's 30". So adding the 30" space to the 36" counter top height, you have 66". If the hood is 18" that comes to 84" and you then have 12" left between the top of the hood and the ceiling. That's not enough for a storage cabinet but definitely enough for some sort of decorative top treatment. If the manufacturer specifies more or less than 30" then your space above the hood will increase or decrease. But you need to plan for that as you select your vent hood.

Regarding Turface fines, do I understand correctly that they would be helpful for in-ground trees in flat or otherwise insufficiently drained areas? I do have some trees like that and would love to put the Turface fines to good use. It depends on what the soil is like and whether or not they are used in a raised bed. If you have an area with heavy clay and you incorporate them into the soil, they might actually increase the amount of water that collects in the soil surrounding your plants' roots. This is known as the "bathtub effect". Amending a garden where the soil is clay just causes the garden area to hold more water unless the garden is on a slope or there are tiles or a ditch to direct water away from the area. THEN, it can be very helpful. Whenever there is an area where percolation of water through the soil is slow, amending it in the hope of creating more air space results in an additional measure of water filling the newly created pores until the water naturally percolates through the soil. In the case where they are used in a raised bed (RB), water will move horizontally away from the RB across the top of the clay soil, where it will evaporate much faster than water below the surface of soils not exposed to air movement. When water evaporates from the surface of the surrounding soil, it 'pulls' additional water from RBs via capillary action. That's why clay soils below RBs should not be amended with organic material or sand as it creates thew bathtub effect and holds more water in the amended areas unless there is a plan in place to direct subsurface water away from the area. I couldn’t seem to locate uncomposted pine or fir bark fines ........ Will exceeding 3/8” on the bark fines be a big problem for the gritty mix? April through Memorial Day is the easiest time of year to find good bark products for making media. I suggest that you should until you find the right ingredients to make either the 5:1:1 mix or the gritty mix; this, because if you 'try to make something work', there is a good chance you'll end up unimpressed and give up. If you get it right the first time, it will be a game changer. Too, once you find a supplier, keep looking for other suppliers. I've found I can always find it somewhere near me, but operations go out of business or might decide to stop carrying a product some of us find very useful. What I'm saying is, it's better to have more than one basket to put your eggs in. I'm on my last bag of fir bark screened 1/8-1/4, so I'll be needing to screen bark again come next spring. Also, do you prefer/recommend gypsum or Foliage Pro 9-3-6 more for trees in pots? Your fertilizer will dictate what liming agent is appropriate. I always lime the 5:1:1 mix with dolomitic (garden lime) to bring the pH up to a more acceptable level. If I'm using the gritty mix + Foliage-Pro 9-3-6, there is no need to use a liming agent. If I'm using the gritty mix and a fertilizer without calcium or magnesium, I'll use gypsum (CaSO4) as a calcium source and Epsom salts (MgSO4) as a source of magnesium as neither compound has an appreciable effect on pH. Note: I haven't had to supplement Ca/Mg for a long time - since I started using Foliage-Pro 9-3-6. If someone asked me what hort product I would consider to be the most indispensable, it would be the FP 9-3-6. Al

Spanish, the legs had me wondering about the quality but it's hard to tell. They are asking $800 or best offer for the pair. I would pay $600 for the pair if a good resalable (just in case) brand. I do like wingback a lot but think if I only have the one room to lounge and watch TV, maybe I should think more cool but also practical. Nicole, I love that fabric above! It's pricey but I could spring for a side chair seat. Unfortunately the upholsterer I used for years has long retired, most around here charge double what he did. That man did amazing work as well. Not to say full upholstery is totally out but I would need the deal of the century on a high quality chair or chairs. To all, thank you for allowing me to spring board off you!!! Edited: See this wall color? Not the rest but just that color. That is “one” of the main tones I want in a rug. I do not like rugs with borders much unless it’s tone on tone. We will not be buying the rug now but I’m lining things up in my head as I will most likely be doing a full gut and have a thousand other decisions to make. I would like this rug to be able to handle an eclectic contemporary take. But, where is it? I have four 12 X 12 stick paint samples coming but for some reason didn't save all the colors. I like this but lighter, want very light walls.