I think I wrote in an earlier post to you that you need to be careful about the costs of additions -- they are expensive! That was about the construction cost, not the architect's fee. I cannot say how much it should or might be but I can say that we paid $5,000 for just a structural engineer's work and towards the upper end of the range you set out for the architect -- for a 2-story addition. I'm sure there is more than one way to accomplish all of this but here's one way. First, you shop around for an architect, the same way you would for anybody else: interview, check references, look at portfolios. While I personally would not recommend design/build firms you do want to make sure that the architect you hire really has a firm grasp on construction costs. You seek to have something that could be called "phase I" drawings or "conceptual drawings" or something similar to that. These are just the ideas -- more than one but probably less than four -- and that costs you maybe 1-3 thousand. (I'm sure that if my range is wrong someone will correct me.) Once you have that, then you can obtain an estimate on the cost of construction. This is just an estimate, it's not based on what actual ppliances, flooring, etc. you will have. It is not a firm bid. Nobody is promising that this estimate is accurate. This is where things can also go very wrong. The estimate may be way lower than the actual costs will be. This is where you have to throw away your desire to hear Low Numbers and Demand that your architect give you the really bad news. If you read mightyanvil's comments it appears that he is suggesting that you have a GC involved during this whole process whose job it is to keep an eye on the costs on a consulting basis. (I think this is the idea of hiring an expert on costs to be involved which costs you more up front but keeps you out of trouble later. I have no experience with this.) If your architect doesn't know enough about construction costs he or she will be useless to you at this critical stage because this is where you decide whether you want to plunge in and hire the architect to enter the really expensive part and you need to know what the construction costs are going to be before you make this investment. Now, perhaps your addition isn't at all complicated and you just need drawings, not really anything that's the least bit of design work...I have no experience here either but perhaps someone else can advise you.

No, but I'd like to see it. I've been reading a lot about Peter Rabbit lately, and keep finding out interesting facts about Beatrix Potter. Is it out on DVD yet? I am working on a small area of my kitchen garden to be a place for my youngest nieces and nephews to play in the garden. I love a theme (probably helps me to stay focused) so I'm calling it my Peter Rabbit potager. I'm trying to include vegetables, fruits, herbs etc. from the book...along with some fun items like the watering can and a little scarecrow. Also want to have some little hopscotch stones and paint numbers and items from the book on them. I'm not very artistic, but my mom has offered to help :) If you get a chance, you might want to take a look at the magazine, when you do get to town...or maybe see some of it on the Internet? I used to love the old Victoria magazine, but didn't think much of the new one...until recently. Lately, it reminds me a lot more of the original. I remember one of the older issues had an entire recipe section on types of honey...different flavors, fruits, herbs, etc. I wish I'd kept that one!

We've had this discussion before and, while I can't recall what my previous position on the issue is, today I'm with Beagles and mtnrdredux.:) I like to read actual books and I also like the idea of books as decor. I once arranged a set of bookshelves with the books by color and height. Very pretty although not very efficient when searching for a book, so that idea got scrapped. I have bought books because I liked their appearance, e.g., a book on bridge with a brown velvet-like cover; a miniature book (in English if read from left to right and in French if read from right to left) about a mischevous cat (un chat mechant); a book on antique Japanese prints the pages of which, when the book is opened, unfold in accordian fashion, etc. I haven't done it often, but why not place a book with a beautiful cover or illustrations on a stand or easel, so that it can be enjoyed as if it were a piece of art? I have one probably published in the early 1900s about a pet dog with photos of the time in it, and I had it on a small stand with one wonderful photo of the dog and the girl who owned it showing. Most of those books were very inexpensive, costing $10 at the most, with most under $5; some are valuable (e.g., some of Teriade's Verve art and literature series). In all cases, I chose them because I liked what they looked like though. Since I can't get onto that web site, I don't know what the Danish books look like. However, I can't imagine spending anything approaching that amount on random books, particularly when common sense says that 7 random books might not even fill a bag on a book sale's $2/bag day.

In the past, I was a real magazine junkie. But over the past few years, I have really cut back. My daughter enjoys National Geographic so we still get that one and my son asked for Nat Geo Kids so we will subscribe to that one as well. I just got a really smashing great offer for Smithsonian and so will probably subscribe to it as well. Used to subscribe to Cottage Living but stopped when I realized that every "cottage" re-do was done by an architect and his artist wife, a lawyer and his antiques dealer wife, a doctor and his interior decorator wife and that the "cottages" were usually about 3000 to 5000 square feet in size. Not my idea of a "cottage". The magazine went under. I was not surprised. Although I will say that my most favorite part of that magazine was the back page where a reader sent in a photo of his or her home and an architect/designer did a lovely sketch of the home "cottage-d up". Wish I could get his name and send him a picture of my house. I love Bookmarks and must resubscribe but then I stop and look at the lists of titles I have written down from each issue of Bookmarks. I will never get through all of my TBR lists... let alone read magazines as well! How do you all find the time?! A note on the fundraising sales. My sister bought a mag from my daughter during a fundraising drive. The magazine title was switched on her from a travel magazine to a fishing magazine with no prior warning. And because she bought it through a clearing house, she had no recourse. The travel mag went under and the clearing house substituted something of similar value without consulting her. PAM