The discussion reminds me again how personal these choices are. I remember a wonderful phrase from a book (by Booth Tarkington, I think) which went something like this: a mild unpleasantness for one young man may seem the sheer brink of hell to another. That's applicable here as you can see from the posts above. For some of us, a self-cleaning oven is on the list of stove "must-haves." A stove won't even be considered without it. For others, like me, it was on my list of "wanna-haves" rather than "must-haves." (IOW, I miss having a self-cleaning oven but think I can live without it). Others, such as Nunya, are completely indifferent to self-cleaning; seemingly, he wouldn't use it if he had it. I say all of this because opinions here at GW can sometimes sound like dogma -- because I think X, you should, too, and your contrary thoughts are mere subjective preferences. It has to be said that subjective preferences are important. They are none-the-less valuable for being subjective. Your own preference absolutely must be part of the process of choosing a stove. Just because I find manual oven cleaning is "not too bad" does not mean you should find it that way, too. So, hopefully, the range of opinions is taken as helping you sort out our preferences rather than as telling you what to so. There is only way to get better informed than this exchange of opinions and that is by actually cleaning an oven in a stove you are considering. But, even if you live someplace where dealer showrooms have operating stoves you can test out, do you think they'll be demonstrating that aspect anytime soon? ;>) When I bought my NXR, I really had no idea how easy or how onerous "myself-cleaning" would be. That's one of the reasons I bought it from Costco. If "myself-cleaning" turned out to a royal PITA, I could simply return the stove for a full refund and get the self-cleaning induction range that I otherwise would have purchased. So, when you go shopping, it may be helpful to be up-front with the vendors about your uncertainty on this issue and to have a back-up candidate.

I'm a woman but not a "talker." I have had experience with the kind of "talker" you are describing, one whose sole conversation turns on herself--bragging and criticizing. If I wanted to keep the friendship, especially if it were a sibling, I'd tell her the truth, gently but firmly. Next time she brags turn it into a pointed piece of gentle sarcasm: "Oh Susie as you've told me over and over you are indeed so wonderful and everything about your family is so perfect! How did you get such a perfect life! I really envy you! Can you please tell me your secret?" You can do this with a gentle but firm voice and not get her angry but merely stop her in her tracks. Do it each and every time she brags and she will soon be quite self-aware of it. For criticism I'd also say something pointed to show you are not going to play along. "Susie I want peace and joy in my life and criticism pulls others down. I'm sorry but I really don't want to hear or participate in criticism of X's life: I am not comfortable with this conversation. Can we talk about something positive instead?" Again, be consistent--do this every time she begins to criticize. Believe me she'll get the point soon. However, be prepared for her to stop calling you as you are no longer willing to be patsy to her self-absorption. That's her call. Have you tried something like this?

Here is the Ravenswood installed. You can see more on our Instagram account. It sometimes pull pink and sometimes gray, but it's a nice saturation. Not too light, not too dark. I don't love the bevel and how wide/long they are, but they are very wonderful overall. We have lots of green trees around the house to counteract the pink in the floors, so they look pretty natural in our house. The one downside of the Ravenswood is that is does seem to change color a lot based on natural and artificial lighting, so I would suggest getting some long planks of it before you buy.

Lighting always changes the way things look. All in all, I love my Sweet Talker floor. I have had it for about 2 years. It looks the same as the day it was installed. Hides dirt, easy to clean, and always gets compliments. There is definitely color variation. so if you want a mire uniform look, choose something else. It’s a big investment, so make sure you look at the sample in your own home under many lighting conditions. Good luck!