Oops, I think I offended some people, i.e., GC's. Sorry, that wasn't my intent. I sometimes don't use the correct words when I'm trying to express myself. What I mean to say is those folks who have to hire a stranger to deal with the whole process. I've read horror stories on this forum from people whose GC was incompetent, lazy, and just didn't care. I know not all are like that and the bad ones are in the minority. deanie1, I'm with your DH on not letting them think I'm desperate. The fact is, my cash money spends anywhere and I'll be darn if I hand it to someone who is not reliable. We are fortunate that we have not had to hurry to get our house finished. Obviously, it's taken us 4 years now!! We've been able to take our time and hire the right people to do certain jobs. From the very first person I hired, the gentleman who cleared and filled our lot. He didn't srvice residential, but took pity on me and accepted our job. We were so impressed by his professionalism and work ethic. We went out to check on the work and could not believe our eyes when we saw how much time he had taken to ensure the dirt that was added, was level and where it needed to be, not just thrown about and every bit of debri from the tree clearing was removed I'm so glad he was so dependable and that's the foot we started on in building process. I told my husband a that time, this experience reassured me that there are talented and professional people out there to do the work, it's just a matter of finding them. Up to now we've been blessed with great subs. The gentleman who did our framing was phenominal and we've called him back to put the siding up. I suppose I posted this message to let people out there who are taking "garbage" from these contrators, that you should stand up to them when they try to jerk you around. Don't accept excuses or poor customer service. Customer service to me is at least 50% of the job if not more? Again, I apologize if I offended anyone, but if you're doing your job, you shouldn't take offense. You good GC's out there need to be offended by others in your field who are making you look bad by the example they set.

nwdrip- Thanks for chiming in! I am thankful for any advice and I appreciate you commenting on my thread. I think painting the back of the cabs dark brown would be really cool with some colorful dishes. Suero- I never would have picked a rug like that, but you are right, it works. My only thing is that I am, in general, trying to avoid red. I had red accents all over my last apartment, and I want to go for a different feel. However, I get to see what a teal looks like, and how patterns interact with my curtains, so thank you!!! I have continued to look at other rugs. Hubby has been almost no help. He is very picky on what he wants, but he won't help me look. I have browsed through approximately 4000 rugs by now, and every suggestion I have had, he has shot down. :( Here are some of my favorites right now. Please tell me what you guys think: A B C D E F G Hubby wants a border around the edge, doesn't want flowers, only wants a hint of color, doesn't want stripes, doesn't want beige. Please note that most of *my* faves at least have one of those things. This one that I posted earlier appears to still be hubby's favorite: But he's not sold on it.

I might look for a lamp that could move forward on the chest enough (without danger of toppling off) that the shade just hides that thermostat. Place it just a couple inches to the right of where it is now, or move the whole chest to the right a bit. It won't affect the functionality, esp if you use an LED bulb = no heat. Then look for a large piece of art, or a couple of stacked pieces to fill in over the right side of the chest, as shown above. Another idea is a gallery wall incorporating the thermostat: I would trade you those beautiful folded blankets for the star wars lego decor my grandson has decorated my house with! eta: I was just looking at it again and think Cyn's idea to switch the cabinets would work. You could then place the floor lamp in front of the thermostat and just ignore it.

It's certainly something you can start to do on your own, with the help of the Kitchen forum -- many of us here have done that. But to do that, you need to read through the link I posted before, https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5500754/new-to-kitchens-read-me-first#23482868 to understand how it's done here in the forum. It's also worthwhile reading through the archives to see how others have done it. Then, once you've done that, post pictures with more detailed measurements. Let us know how many people live in the house, how many use (or will use, if you have small children) the kitchen, what sort of cooking you do (do you just reheat takeout or love to bake or cook three meals from scratch every day), what are your sort of storage needs, what have you found difficult/awkward since you started using the kitchen last summer, etc. Also, what do you envision for the breakfast room space? How do you use your dining room? Do you like the dining room and living room set-ups as they are currently in your house, and do they work with your needs? Do you need a mudroom? Would it be better to turn the breakfast room into a mudroom area, keeping the wall that separates the space from the kitchen, and perhaps instead remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room? But whatever you, do NOT buy appliances next week, or you will have to plan around the appliances, rather than your needs. And do NOT skimp on the planning phase. Consider the time it takes as a great investment in a great kitchen that works for you and looks beautiful.