Thanks for your posts. While you were posting I was looking into cork flooring. I currently have tile and while I like the look, it is hard on my feet after a few hours. Lavastone will probably be out of reach. The cabinets are already spendy and I will probably have to settle for something less expensive on the countertops. Cork flooring worries me in a humid environment. We have no heat, no AC, just fans and tradewinds. It's certainly not as humid as the east coast and the south. I read that it naturally repels insects. And oh, it sounds so comfy on my feet. There is another product which is a combination of cork and recycled rubber. I also liked the Marmoleum with its great array of colors. The salt spray (we're about a quarter mile from the ocean) shouldn't be a problem if you wipe the cabinets down now and then. It's the same with our painted garage door, a spray now and then to keep debris off keeps it looking good. Inside the house, the upkeep will be even less. I'm leaning towards darker lower cabinets (either chocolate, graphite gray or iridescent blue, and lighter uppers I like sea glass or or biscuit. I saw a kitchen with the iridescent blue and loved it....but will I in a few years? I have an actual paint chip brochure and the colors on the website are a little off on my computer. Seaglass is the palest aqua...really just like seaglass. You can also order any Viking appliance in any of the colors. The only appliance I need to buy is a range hood so I might go with Viking. Still struggling with countertops. Kind of like a solid white or stainless.

In general the bulb will develop a root system sufficient to keep it standing upright. Now, that being said, many of us can't give that amount of space to certain hippeastrum flowers that require large pots and lots of sun for optimization or in the case of newly purchased bulbs, establish roots quickly enough to support the flower stalks. As an example, Aphrodite is a monster size plant with dinner plate size flowers - an amazing flower. I would think that this would be a favorite of florists. However, I need to grow it in 5 gallon pots outside in full sun to see it in all its beauty (the diameter and height of the stalk is as amazing as the flower and It would be difficult for me to get the same results if I grew it inside. It would seem this was solved recently by the developers of Amadeus, which has huge flowers on a smaller plant with much shorter stalks - one of my newer favorites :) So that being said, an established plant in the proper sized pot with an optimized root system, should not fall over. If it is falling over, we either need to find the reason why, or if we know it is because we don't have enough room or sunlight to optimize the bulb, then we find the next best thing, which is the vase in the case of Popmama. - Jody

There are obvious changes we would have made with respect to the actual building of the house, if we could go back in time. With all the trouble we had with the first builder, I think if we had a bit more patience, we should have gone with a larger design/build firm that could provide a better architect with more complete plans. We really got lucky with our selection of interior designer, because she pulled us out of the fire and suggested our finishing builder, both who ultimately saved the house and prevented us from being financially ruined. Specific to the functionality of the house, we haven't found anything that's glaringly annoying. We still have to get the banquette designed and installed, but the kitchen island seating if serving wonderfully as our daily eating table. While many modern designs are eschewing a formal dining room, we've found use for it many times for both eating and gaming, so it's not wasted space. I was a bit nervous about the open plan of the two story greatroom, and how the sound would carry through the house. While it's true that sound does make it upstairs, the solid doors on the bedrooms can block it all. Peppa pig in the great room surround sound barely is only a whisper in the master bedroom door at the top of the stair landing. The kitchen island partially blocks the kitchen triangle between the stove and fridge, but I like having a broad surface to stage all the ingredients that's reachable from all three stations. It's a perfect location for staging, prepping, and plating meals, with the pantry close by at the base of the island. While the wrap around porch does lessen the light in the kitchen and first floor rooms, I love having an outdoor space to walk around on and listen to the rain from. We're surrounded by woods on a peninsula of a private lake so every side of the house has a peaceful view that would be criminal to only observe from behind a window. The greatroom, with the wall of windows and lack of porch, is flooded with natural light that feeds into the rotunda, the most inner and darkest room of the house. We're still getting used to the Control4 lighting system, which is both a convenience and a hindrance. In the more complex room, like the greatroom and kitchen, it's great being able to hit one button and have the perfect lighting scene. In hallways, it still takes some thinking as to which button I want to hit to light certain pathways. We have complex spaces so it's nice to light the lower and upper rotunda with the chandelier with one button, but turning off individual elements takes some more thought. Geothermal is working splendidly with comfortable, even heating/cooling throughout the house. I will be looking to install a smarter thermostat. We had a Nest in the old house, and I miss the connectivity and automatic setback/activity monitoring. Hopefully we'll find a way to tie the thermostat into the Control4 so we can use the motion detection from the security as an activity monitor. The hot water loop is currently programmed to always run, so even in the bathroom farthest from the water heater it's only three seconds until you have hot water. As a consequence, it seems like the electric hot water heater is almost always running, but it's a hybrid unit that also takes heat from the ambient air, so I'm not sure if it's functioning as intended. I still have yet to analyze cost difference between wasting water purging cold water in the pipes against more frequent heating maintenance of the hot water in the circuit. We had to have a warranty repair on the Miele dishwasher as the pump stopped functioning, and we're calling out a repair on the Electrolux dryer since it has developed a squeaking and loud rattle but all other appliances have been fantastic. We'll probably want to replace the range hood with something custom that provides a larger catchment area since we can still smoke out the kitchen, even with 1200 cfm. The MUA is functioning, but with very smoky foods, we're finding that we still need to crack open a window to keep the air clean. There's still a ton to do, as we just signed the selling papers on the old house and finally got rid of the Pod. We still have to install a tub and some tile in the master bathroom, finish the first floor powder room, get some new furniture, and work on the extensive landscaping, but we have time.

I'd go with smaller pattern everywhere including ceiling, the beam painted in the color of my wallpaper's background. Here, too many..planes? Go bold or go home. By going home, I mean here just using same paint(or different paints that will look like same paint) everywhere. (Sun wouldn't bother me as I'm an early riser anyway. Or my DS is, for example. If we had a house with such a room he'd ask for it:) But yes, I believe it'd be too much for many, in terms of morning light. I wonder what one can use as treatment there. I can see something done to these windows only as a necessity. I'm not sure one can open these. Otherwise i'd say shutters..if making sense for exterior..)