I got the last 4 cushions in this pttern t my local Target, cn't find them online, but they are 2010 pttern so I'm going to cll and see if they're getting more in stock (nd maybe give me sle price on them). I think I'll just get 2 more (or settee cushion if they're getting one in nd it's less $$ and fits) and give up on recovering cushions. Yes, it would be less $$ if I used the $2/yd fabric and the cushions I already hve, but it's easier to just spend another $20 and get 2 more cushions since I usually go to GW near that Target once a week nyway. It kind of blends in with the house color, doesn't "pop" but fter a month of looking for cushions/fabric I'm tired, $60 to do 4 chairs and 1 settee (I think I'm going to put the other settee I got guilted into buying bck on CL) isn't that bad. I'd spend more than that on the outdoor foam to make cushions, never mind S/H nd fbric (even at $2/yd!). I've been seeing you join in lots of threads, Becky - just couldn't stay awy huh ;-)? After you get some sleep and get some things done, come bck tonight nd tell us how some of your projects re going OK? (Sigh, now the i is working, but a is sticky - and I don't feel like going bck and inserting them so forgive my old handmedown laptop).

I posted on your other thread as well. My pool is 44 feet long by 12.5 feet wide. While I'd love to have a few feet more, I swim well over a mile without getting frustrated about the length. I'd say that 50 feet would be better, but 45 would be okay too. As for the width, you need at least 6 feet per person if you have more than one swimmer doing laps at a time. As for depth, I did 3.5 feet to 5.5 feet and that works fine for me, but you might prefer to keep it at a 4 feet minimum for the reason you state (esp. if you do flip turns). Speaking of flip turns, I think that they are an issue when deciding ideal your minimum length for lap swimming - if you do flip turns and push off hard, you project yourself further and would need a longer pool. I'm a tap and turn kind of gal who never quite got the art of the flip turn down. When I push off, I project maybe 3-5 feet, so I can happily swim mile or two without feeling constrained in a 45 foot pool. If a flip turn projected me 1/3 of the length of the pool before beginning my stroke, I'd probably feel differently about it.

Thank you very much for thinking of us and posting pictures of your mom's beautiful dining room, mojomom. I certainly hope that the choices we make for our home will age as gracefully as your mom's. : ) Thanks for the pictures mdln. Those are very nice. Awww, no worries sheesh. This technological stuff is so hard to keep up with, isn't it. Our video screen for watching movies is hooked up to a speaker cabinet from 1978 (the record player is even still in it) because neither dh nor I are up to figuring out the new sound systems right now, LOL. We'll leave out the electric fireplace, jlc712. In fact, we've had an about face with the whole project...Now why I didn't do this earlier, I don't know. I drew everything out on graph paper (always better than doing math in your head-oy!), and with the other furniture in the dining room, I was stunned (smacking forehead, here) that there really is only room for an 8' table. Ummmm...we're outgrowing our 8' table already, and 1/2 of our kids are under 10. That lead to a whole house evaluation, and a complete rearrangement of furniture and room functions. As a result, we flip-flopped our living room and dining room today. (Fortunately, the kitchen is smack dab in the middle of the house with the other rooms on either side of it.) The living room (I mean...new dining room) is 15.5' x 25'. It can handle a dining room table, a big dining room table. Like 16' long big. And that's with putting a closet at one end of the room (so all these closet ideas? They won't be wasted!) For DH, this means doing the longer, more extensive project of supporting the ceiling with beams rather than a closet, but it will make for a wide open and airy living room(yay, I love airy!), and a long dining room with plenty of room for a larger table. Phew. Since we often have large groups of people over, this should work very well for us. We were even able to work it so that we got more couch and chair seating in the 14'7" x 17' room than we could logistically work in the 15.5' x 25' room. It all seems good. It is so true that it pays to live in a house for awhile to see how the space functions before making major changes. Thank you one and all for helping us think this project through. You have been incredibly kind and helpful and I love the creative insights and ideas that you brought forth.

We ended up going with 10' ceilings because we live in the DC area, and we don't have weather like the deep south where a super high ceiling would be necessary to let heat escape and to allow a good breeze to come through. We plan on using our porch in the cooler months as well as the warmer ones, and during those months we probably wouldn't appreciate an 11' ceiling. If we went up too high, the infrared heaters wouldn't be as effective. 10' seemed like a happy medium, especially since we only have 9' ceilings inside the house -- we'll see how it turns out!