It's possible that it's a disease, but I'd look to over-watering as the prime suspect, especially if you've never noticed any significant wilting between waterings. The soil likes to be damp - not wet. Ideal is about as damp as a wrung-out sponge, so make sure the soil is getting fairly dry deep in the pot before you water. Use a wood skewer or a dowel rod, stuck deep in the pot, as your 'tell'. If it comes out obviously moist/cool/dark with moisture, withhold water until the soil is nearly dry, then, water so at least 10-20% of the total volume of water applied exits the drain hole. If you cannot presently water as described without the soil remaining wet so long it causes root problems, you might wish to ask about some tips that will help you water correctly. I would snip the offending leaves off close to the stem & destroy them, just in case there is a disease issue. Al

I would go with a classic white subway tile. It will never go out of style and always look classy. As for the cabinets, although I do like white kitchens I'm starting to see lots of beautiful kitchens with medium stain cabinets like yours. Have you seen the kitchen by Minnesota designer Todd Hansen in the Jan/Feb 210 Better Homes and Gardens magazine "Kitchen and Bath Ideas"? It is my current dream kitchen. It has white/cream cabinets for uppers and a light/medium wood (similar to your oak) on the bottoms. A few ideas: 1.) leave the bottom cabinets as is but paint the upper cabinets a white/cream color 2.) don't paint any cabinets but put a few glass panel/glass doors on your uppers. Either solution will solve the problem that you don't like all the graining on the oak cabinets. Most people in your kitchen looking at the cabinets are going to notice the uppers more than the lower cabinets. If you change out the uppers you will create the look you want. No matter what, I agree with the other posters that you should wait and see how you feel when your island is painted and your new counters are installed. Be sure to show us the pictures. It is going to look great. You have a very nice space to work with.

Thanks so much everyone! I'm reading this instead of doing my statistics midterm...so maybe that's a thanks? Instead of a thanks! Ha ha! Anyway, this year's budget is about $2k which could stretch to cover new stairs or new railings but wouldn't extend to porching out the roofline unless I learn some carpentry skills really quick. I completely 100% agree that adding a porch over the front door would be amazing. I live in a rainy climate and it is so much more welcoming that way. I totally dream of a front porch so maybe I should look into making it happen. circuspeanut and GreenDesigns, thanks so much for your photoshops. I do love the longer hat! I think I may have made a mistake by making it so high contrast ... maybe a darker beige would be better than charcoal. I have an idea involving doing the porch and the hat in one color on vinyl shake, and leaving the bottom and the side the beige. Let me think on it...but don't let me photoshop it tonight! My midterm is due at midnight. Although I like colored trim, there is no way I would paint cheap vinyl trim, thereby removing its only bonus (low maintenance) but maybe I can go shopping and see if there are multi-colored trims available? I kind of like the look of a white trim with just a little black square around it. Very tailored. I'm mixed on the barn boards. I like the look of them online but am unsure if they fit with the decided charmlessness of my builder-grade beige vinyl -- I love them on houses with shakes! Replacing and reframing the front door is probably out of the budget. Unless I could get one the same width but with skinny sidelights on either side... Ok - what if the darker brown parts were coordinating vinyl shakes? Man I wish my roof were more peaked. This post was edited by robotropolis on Sat, Mar 9, 13 at 21:51

Welcome to the kitchen forum! About posting pictures -- have you seen the instructions in the "ReadMe" thread (link below)? The key is to understand that there is no photo hosting capability on this site; you can't "attach" photos the way you could in an email. You need a website like photobucket (or, my favorite, Google's picasa) where you can upload and store your photos. Then you can add in links to them in the messages you post here. About your countertop question: how much light is there in the kitchen? Are there multiple windows? If not, I'd be careful about going really dark with the counters... but that is a personal preference. It's not as if there are rules about how to make these choices. If only there were -- then it wouldn't be so hard to decide! Are you sticking with laminate for the counters, or considering other materials? Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me for GardenWeb kitchen forum