I'm not skilled in any of it. Dad can do it all. He definitely won't be taping or doing dry wall. He hates it. Nephew is a painter - I can help with that - if needed. I'd love to take more time and put more money away, but...we've been through some serious stress already. I'd hate to air my dirty laundry, but here it is in a nutshell. Back in March we started the loan application. We are both teachers for almost 30+ years combined - secure jobs. As our broker says "squeaky clean credit, you can't get much better than that". Bank was in no hurry to loan money. Were approved in June with plans to sign the next week, so we took our own money to get the project rolling. Workers dug out kitchen, mudroom and porch area. We're living in dirt!!! Mind you, it's summer, we aren't working, and so on... State comes into bank and says stop all lending just as our loan is being finalized. We're living off of our savings which has been reduced substantially. On to the next bank. They want 10 comps instead of 3. Again, in no hurry. Now it's been 7 months since we applied to the first bank and we are getting much less than we asked for. Good bye granite, goodbye windows, etc. However, the teachers have learned their lesson. I may just do builder grade to be safe, and then let dad do the upgrades where we decide.(he'll be living with us). It keeps him busy too. Anyway, reality has set in, and all of the wonderful selections I've made have been tough to let go of. I'm holding strong on the hide-a-hose though. My builder knows how bad I wanted it and says I'm getting it no matter what. Our builder is so understanding, and he needs the work just as much as we do. So, he suggested my dad do the trim work, painting, etc. We'll see what happens. There's always the lottery, right?

That's what I would think - and it is what we have. Our cabinets are completely flat on the bottom. The lights are mounted on the underside of the cabinet and a strip of wood is attached to the front edge of the bottom of the cabinet box to hide the light. This creates the effect of having a recessed bottom on the cabinet. In fact, many people seems to have cabinets with recessed bottoms and still use a strip to give full coverage to taller lights. My only advice is be careful how tall your lights are as the "strip" will need to be sized accordingly. In our case, the strip needs to be almost 2"s.

Plywood is only an "upgrade" in a some consumer's minds. Plywood comes in many many grades, while "furniture board" (NOT partical board or MDF as I often see it referred to) is manufactured to much more consistent specs and a higher density than plywood and is more dimensionally stable and when melamine coated, easier to clean. Overall, furntiture board performs better, and is less costly, and is more "green". Thicker sides are better sides. Sides and backs are structural. There isn't a single unimportant part when it comes to framed abinets. Yes, the face frame is the most important part, but couple a strong 3/4" solid wood face frame with poor quality thin plywood sides and you still have a poorer quality cabinet. But, even poorer quality cabinets are very well constructed compared to poor quality site built cabinets of the past. Even builder's grade cabinets meet KCMA standards and will support heavy granite countertops. KCMA standards are minimum standards though, and there are plenty of manufacturer's that surpass those. Thicker IS better, but even thin is stable when properly attached to a wall. For the most part, the biggest difference in cabinet construction isn't really structural. Kitchen cabinets from many lines will be structurally sound for many years. THe biggest difference is the quality of wood used for the doors (and face frames), and how that wood is finished. That is usually what separates the builder's grade cabinets from the mid to high range ones. Better quality wood finished to a higher standard will always be more costly. Better quality cabinets will have better hardware and better more easily cleaned interiors. Melamine is preferred as the finish surface of the interior for that reason.

Hi meerkat47, This post is over a year old but just thought that it'd be helpful to confirm that you are correct. To read a shade's dimensions, it is: Top Diameter x Bottom Diameter x Overall Height. If you have any lamp shade needs, Valentine Shade based in Los Angeles, CA makes custom shades for light fixtures: chandeliers, pendants, table lamps and floor lamps and other type of light fixtures. Just send over a sketch or CAD shop drawings of the shades that you'd like to be made along with your preferred fabric material to sales@valentineshade.com and they'll price it out for you. We hope this information will help you make a more informed decision on your home needs. Very Best, Tai Truong Elements of Design 3400 Medford Street Los Angeles, CA 90063 tai@lusivedecor.com www.elementsofdesign.com