[Ikeafreak]

Whew! This day has been mind numbing and exhausting. Thankfully the electrician ispatient.

I decided on the tall, thin iron oxide finish sconce to coordinate with the mantel and I went with the brushed nickel monorail light to match my cabinet hardware and appliances. Sadly, that version only comes with blue or white glass, so I'm stuck with white. But I think it will be a good thing since theamber swirly sconces willremain the star of the kitchen.

I was able to order all the lightingfrom the same website. As I wasgetting ready to check out, I decided togoogle some couponsites to see if there was a code to use. I never thought I'd find one for a lighting store, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to look. I ended up finding a $50 off code!!Icing on the cake!

I can't thank you all enough for your help. I swearI started to smell my brain burning.

[DesignDiva]

Yay! I'm glad you got those decisions made. I'm sure it will be beautiful! And saving $50 isn't too shabby either!

[Gina_W]

Heather I love that dining room table. I didn't know that IKEA had a table that would seat 8 or more. I need to redo the dining area and was looking for a modern table like that. When searching online I noticed that as soon as you put the word "modern" on it - the price quadruples, LOL!

I'll be going to IKEA tonight or tomorrow to pick up some cab stuff, I'll be sure to look for that table.

[Ikeafreak]

Gina,

It's the Bjursta table and it was $349. Such a deal, considering it seats 10! It's sturdy and well-made. I did a lot of looking and it was far and away the best deal I found.

[Ikeafreak]

Here's the latest progress on the house...

The windows and one door are in and the siding is moving right along.



Here are the three kitchen windows. You can see the progress the electrician has made. The blue circles in between the windows will be where my cool swirly amber sconces will go.



And here's a side view. I'm still not sure how I feel about the tall casement windows looking so different from the other windows, but my husband assures me that I'm anal and the only one who'd notice. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually.The big door-like hole is where a window will go, butthat's how thecontractor is accessing the top floor. Very nice of him to do that instead of traipsing through our bedroom.

[Brodysmom]

This looks fabulous, I can't wait to see it finished. I love the e-bay 4 panel painting (okay, I'm too lazy to go back and get the real word!).

[DesignDiva]

Looks great! I'm sure the windows will be fine, although they are different they are different ENOUGH to look right. You won't have shutters on them, either, right?

[Ikeafreak]

Nope, no shutters on the casements, but there will be black shutters on all the other windows.

I still can't believe how fast this part is going. I always heard thatthe structure goes up lightning fast,thenthe inside finishing work slows to a crawl. It's been completely opposite for us.

[ourmoneypit]

FWIW, I don't think the windows are a problem...they seem to just 'fit' in terms of look.

I'm looking forward to following the kitchen install...must be neat to be starting with a 'blank slate' in terms of space.

Also, going back to what someone said about the plasma being that high up: we have a 50" DLP and it is vertically set about centred on eye heigh when sitting down. I sat down and tried to imagine it higher up: it means tilting your head back to view, something I wouldn't be comfortable doing. I do have some neck problems though, and maybe that's a factor.

Martine

[Ikeafreak]

Martine,

Thanks for the advice on the plasma. This will be our first flat panel/extra large tvof any kind and I'm definitely a newbie purchaser. My husband asked some people from his work (he works at a TV station) and they suggested a tilt mount for the very reason you describe.

My neighbor just had a whole home theater system installed by a specialty store and I was amazed at how low the plasma was mounted, only to find out that that is the proper viewing height and angle. (It looks low enoughfor my 7 year oldto rip it off the wall without having to use a step stool!)

Heather