Ack! dlm, I forgot to post back. First, my gray is a Dove Gray (light). In darker areas it's a mid-level, maybe a battleship gray? Charlie's soap powder form, diluted in water, scrubbed, let it sit, scrubbed again, wiped. Probably got it up to 60%. Then I did a different section with diluted Charlie's soap and Oxyclean scrubbed in on top of that. Let sit maybe 20 min, scrubbed, 'rinsed'. Much better. Not 100% like the light Dove gray at outer perimeters of floor, but easily 80 to 85%. Close enough you have to really be staring at it to see the difference. (Can't get a pic to show it well, shadows from vanity are throwing off grout.) So I'll clean it good that way & immediately seal, and I'll be happy. :) If you want to check it out, I don't know how close this is to you, but if I'm downtown & need some CS I get it Be By Baby (Wrigleyville area). Easy metered parking on side street (I always find a spot - a miracle!). Or you can go to CS website, maybe there's a dealer near you. (Not me, it's either downtown or mail.) I also get through Amazon. Free super saver shipping + $11.50 or so is a good price. (Think it's about $14 at Be By Baby). I wasn't impressed with their bottled spot treatment. For the price I just put a scoop (abt 1TB) of powder in a spray bottle, make my own, works just as well.

You guys are All AWESOME!! I am gonna make that list tonight. (dh has been bugging me to make a list) I stepped up the door painting today. I was able to work on 3 doors today. I was doing like 1 door at a time and there is a lot of waiting time between steps so it was taking forever. Doing 3 today I feel good about it! Sarschlos .. I'm using water based primer Kilz latex 123. I've already re hung several of the doors already and so far so good. Those doors were left out and about after they were painted for a good week before I put them back up there. I might be biting off more than I can chew. I *want* to paint the living room and entry but not sure I can get to it. If I can get some extra money .. then maybe I can hire someone to come in and do the painting of those rooms. I'm wierd.. I like to prep my own walls and paint so it will be the way I like it (roll eyes) I have a very good handyman I use though and he does drywall work to perfection. He is $20 an hour - which isn't bad at all. But with Christmas coming up .. any extra money needs to go for presents and stuff, so that is why I was just going to paint myself. See .. it's a circular argument LOL Okay.. well I will make a daily list for the cabinets and make it so that IF the cabinets are done then I can start on the living room laxsupermom: I know what you mean about indecisiveness. It can make you crazy. I can't decide what to do about a common wall between my living room and entry. I've been thinking about it for about a year LOL. good luck on choosing your countertops

Newcastle--Yes, I pay the GC's overhead on everything, including cabs. I'm not sure he'll go for me getting my own. Despite tough economic times and a great first few meetings with him this year, he seems to be getting p!ssy about me sourcing my own materials. Why should I pay all the markup when I'm doing all the work to research and find the materials and can order them cheaper than he can get them? Because then he isn't making his $ and won't do my job. I'm not in a great position to be my own GC at this point with the baby, preschooler, busy DH, no experience, etc. Thanks for more info about your guy. Pug--I still think the right gray would look very chic with your cabs. Let us know what you find!

We bought a very small but tall vanity with a bowl on top in our very small bathroom. It has drawers and it is AMAZING how much stuff we can fit. There are 3 drawers. The top one is mine for brushes, combs, hair stuff. The middle one is my partner's and he has a ton of stuff in there, including his shaving stuff. The third one is deeper and I have my blow dryer, curling irons, curlers, etc in it. And, the bottom isn't a drawer but a tall enough cabinet to hold TP, extra soaps, feminine stuff, cleaning supplies, etc. It's up off the floor with metal legs, to help protect against water. It also makes it look a tad more clean and open. I've become a huge believer in vanities with drawers as a result. We bought ours through Home Decorating catalog, if anyone is interested. Just a thought.