HELLOOOOOOOOOO! I've been missing in action and I'm really sorry about it. I've been busy, busy, but now can communicate with everyone while I am on the road cause I'm going to invested in a Blackberry. Right now I have a loaner for a couple of weeks to see how I like it. It is an older model, and does not take pictures but I love the idea that I can access the internet while not at home. I've been working both my jobs, went to Greenbay/Wrightown, Wisconsin to pick up Shelby and Deanna's two Boston Terriers on the 24th of July. I can't say I enjoyed getting out of the Ohare airport and going through the Port of Milwaukee was no picnic either. Oh lord, I could have never done it without the GPS a friend let me borrow. So, while Shelby and DeAnna are celebrating the 7th year that Shelby is in remission on the beaches of Antigua. I get the pleasure of watching the two little devils. I love them, but garden dogs they are NOT. The weather has been great and we've been able to shut off the central air and enjoy opening the windows. But, the little devils whine, cry, bark, and run from window to window and I can hear them even when I'm way out back. Needless to say this drives me nuts, and don't get me started with how bad they terrorize my cats. Will I be glad to take them back? OH LORD YES! The idea of skipping August sounds good to me. This will give me time to get caught up on more boxes. Speaking of boxes Alana and Sassy what kind of fragrance DO YOU NOT LIKE. I only have one of the Pillow talk and would hate to send something you guys didn't want or use. Kat, Welcome, and glad to hear you are doing well with your shoulder surgery. I would love to see pics of your Great Danes, they are wonderful dogs! Vic, I wish I could help you out with a cat, but........I'm sorry,as much as love ya. Would I drive cross country to bring you on? NO,NO,NO! You say Why? (see above for my trip through Chicago and Milwaukee. Crazy drivers, the speed limit says 65 and these people are going 90. Trust me, if you don't keep up with the flow they will run you over. I just about had a semi up my you know what. I believe I used several new cuss words. Tracy did I see you say you blew up Alana's garden. Now what could Alana possibly do to have you do that? Or should I ask? Sassy, I tell you what, I will trade you Kensie for two little angels for a week. HeLLO to everyone else. I miss you all! This is my only day off and I am leaving for Chicago Friday then Shelby will drive from the airport to his house. I will be coming back on the 9th. Work three days then I'll be off except for doing my part time job a few hours each day for a week. I need some coffee!! LIFE IS GOOD, Annie

Thank you again -- have been sharing these responses with DH who is just tickled to hear them. He is mighty tired at this point but all of your praise has energized him to start thinking about that island . . . Answers to questions Kaismom -- you're correct -- when we moved in to the house the lowers were too shallow to house contemporary appliances so we had a carpenter pull them out but we didn't rebuild them in any fundamental way. Inside they were just big empty cubes. Now we have pullouts and more useable storage in less space. Theresse, we totally dismantled the cabinets. We built the two class cupboards from scratch using old wood, and we reused the old leaded glass doors. You can see in the before photos that in the original uppers the cames did not align with the shelves. Just one of those little things that always bothered me. We fixed that! We used doors from above the old cooktop to make the new lower cabinet on the far left-- these had to be taken apart and resized. The sink wall, not visible in this photo, is new build using old wood. For example, DH made a panel for the integrated dishwasher using a center panel (cut to size and framed) from an old door we bought at salvage. The doors under the sink are original but had to be made smaller to fit under the apron sink. So, most of the time even what we repurposed had to be remade to fit the layout and the appliances. Only two of the cabinets on the other side of the room were left as-is, just refinished. We also took out an old doorway (door was long gone) and built an eyebrow arch that matches the contour of the arches in other rooms. We added crown molding and floor molding out of old gumwood as well. We kept the Lightolier tracks but replaced the old cans with new MR16 fixtures. We kept the built-in refrigerator (we put this in about 15 years ago, building an enclosure) but gave it new steel panels. We kept the pot rack! We kept some of the original hardware (latches and hinges) but added new pulls. Thanks again for all the comments! They are helping us gear up for the final spurt!

Hello again! I finally bought counter stools-The Turner from C&B. Carters5, the windows are Windsor Pinnacle glad. We are happy with them so far, but both my son and DH have allergies so we rearely open them. leela4, the shelves are from Elmwood;I've linked the website below. They are very, very rustic. I was worried how they were going to look, I didn't expect them to be so beat up with splinters, holes etc. But once they were up, they looked great. We wanted to create the illusion that they were 'floated'. We used L brakcets, cutting out the drywall and screwing them straight into the studs. We then mud over them and painted. Here is a link that might be useful: Elmwood

@modern_mom35 Yes, this thread is 8 years old, but I found it searching for Torquay and dark cabinets, as that is what I plan to put in my kitchen. (I don't like painted wood and while white cabinets are lovely, my kids don't mix well with white!) I am also drawn to blue in a backsplash but am somewhat hampered by the '90s off white (slightly warm) 12"x12" tile that is in my kitchen as it is most of my first floor and out-of-budget to replace it. I was thrown into the remodel due to a burst pipe, with a large section of my kitchen already demo'd due to having to fix the pipe, so I don't want to take months to decide or wait to find the "perfect" deal or for backordered items. At the same time, I don't want to hate it when it's done. I am loving your toaster pullout and trying to see exactly what you did with the microwave. I'm wishing I had an exposed end to do shelves (saw it in another kitchen and loved the look) but the kitchen is built into an L with walls cutting it off, so nothing open ended for me. I don't have the budget to gut everything but I do mostly like my layout. I was thinking my kitchen might be too dark with a backsplash like that, but yours shows it might work, although you have windows spread throughout and mine only has windows in the breakfast nook, and I'd punch another window in the wall, but it's the north side that just shows my neighbors house far too close, not really a view I want, even with more light. I think installing proper lighting will really help, as it almost has none since we took out the old large soffit fluorescent main light due to having to move the large built-in due to water damage (which I hated anyway). Trying to figure out the layout before we start punching holes in the ceiling! Thanks for the links of what you purchased. The online photos make the backsplash look much lighter than your kitchen photos which is good to keep in mind when I'm looking online. I am curious if 8 years later there is anything you would change? This was truly a stunning remodel.