Has anyone tried wattle fencing? Works great for raised beds. That's what I did with these two. Instead of filling the whole thing with dirt I did the whole lasagna deal. Working like a charm. Mine are 1.5 feet high but you can go as high as you can find sturdy uprights for. All you need is bendable branches for the weaving, sturdy "sticks" for the uprights and compostable material for the middle. They look rustic and work beautifully AND I don't have to get rid of my brush from the winter.

Hi babs711-I have a honed marble counter, you probably don't want to get me started ranting on the marble etching topic, LOL. Honing itself is similar to etching, but honed marble still etches-over and over-and using the word "blend" is a tiny bit misleading because all the etches still show. But yes, compared to if the counters were polished, then the etches show less with honed. :) And you raise a really good point about the streaking problems of shiny granite. I guess I was thinking of a regular quartz product as more shine/less maintenance (compared to some other less shiny options mentioned in this thread) but perhaps I am misinformed about that? To anyone else reading: I did not understand that honed products (leathered granite or honed caesarstone etc) are more prone to absorb oils/stains than a polished surface. I thought, "Bullet proof granite/quartz! And not shiny? Perfect for us!" Not so simple. Sealer applied to protect honed counters from oil spots still etch from acidic materials. (This is what has happened to us with our antiqued black granite.) It feels like a no-win situation to me: you can choose what bothers you least: oil spots/fingerprints and stains, or glass rings/etching, or streaks on a polished surface. Those looking into honed granite could check out photos of etching in this thread (I posted my whole countertop drama here as well, in case it helps anyone in the planning stages): Here is a link that might be useful: 1.5 years later my honed black pearl stained

Let me doublecheck my numbers but it's not fully double the costs. Also I'm looking to get as much online to save on price. I'm just trying to understand what's reasonable. Because 40K is not going to get my bathrooms done unless I pay for it all myself, which I can't right now. Plus I do think 40K is high. I'm trying to get down to 25K so that my husband will agree to this project so I can get the bathrooms done. I'm looking for help on approaches, websites, information to be able to hit the target. One bathroom is very small - about 50 sq feet. The other is larger; around 80 sq feet. But the main things changing are: cabinets, countertops, sinks, tile and fixtures. The small bath is getting a pony wall. We are keeping the tub in the larger bath and adding frames to the existing mirrors. We have decided to do some demo ourselves. I can't go too low end because that will affect resale down the road. I have to stay mid range as much as possible. I appreciate everyone's input. We've always done our own remodeling work in the past so why I have to truly understand these costs. Is my target unreasonable? Do I have to give up this project and put the funds I have towards a master redo down the road?

you will want drawers, if you are doing a like-for- like replacement . Layout and so forth always needs critical evaluation...but from your statement, perhaps you do not feel the layout needs adjusting. Still.....it should be part of your evaluation, at least. So, considering I would want drawer base cabinets, and they do not come particularly cheap....you must lay out a budget. You can keep the cabinet style, and finish along basic lines to help....... various counter materials offer price variability. Your floor looks good...and what about your appliances? For example: to left of dishwasher could be two stacks of drawers and a rollout pantry cab. But do you want to upgrade your dishwasher to standard 24 inch? So you have to look at what functions and upgrades are needed.. It is nice to think of just replacing.....but if you overlook IMPROVING , you will regret it.