DD, I got the twigs with the lights at a store called Kirkland's Home. It's a chain. I saw them "on sale" when I was in the store and was told they were the last ones, had no box and I could have them for 19.99. So I said I wanted them. When they rang them up, the bill was for over $40, as there were two in the display. I could really use another one, but not at that price! I got them for New Year's decorations, but like them so much that I've left them up. I was in the store again last week, and guess what? I saw another one on display. Hmmmmm. These are real twigs and they are very, very, very fragile. Indoor use only and they can't be moved or rearranged easily, as I am afraid I'll snap one. A couple of years ago I bought some indoor/outdoor ones they were on a wire wrapped with brown tape, They could be bent and arranged easily. They had lights at the tip of each branch. I stuck them in pots outside, in with other bush-like plants and they blended well. HOWEVER, they were LEDs. My husband hated the lights, as he believed the white lights to be too severe, so out they came. They were by Phillips. As I said, I didn't have a box with these, so don't know the manufacture. The next time I'm in the store I'll check to see if they still the "the last one" and will probably get it, as I think the arrangement is too sparse. Hope this helps.

Hi, hobokenkitchen Guidelines are just guidelines, and my husband and I never have felt crowded with the aisle and dimensions that we have in our kitchen -- true we each have a body mass index under 25! But things feel efficient in there: we can easily turn from one line of counters or from the range to the island without taking more than a couple of steps, and the 24" square island utility sink is easily accessible from both sides of the narrow island, from the prep counter against the windows and from the range on the interior wall. The refrigerator/freezer doors are not 36" wide, either, so it doesn't swing too much into the space, and even when the dishwasher door is fully open (on the window side, to the left of the island utility sink) it is possible to sidle around it. I think my only concern having lived with this arrangement for over a year is: it will be interesting to see how well the cork floor holds up over the years, because we really do cover the same territory on that floor over and over. So far no sign of extra wear. But I have extra cork tiles saved! Good luck to you, and thanks to CoCo for supplying those links. lynn

"But if all you ever want to listen to is the SM is perfect, mom and kids are terrible, thats your perogatve." I don't think that is the attitude here at all. I DO think, though, that there are more "wacky" BMs in the lives of posters on this board than not. It seems a great deal of us are NOT dealing with rational, emotionally healthy BMs, but instead are dealing with moms that have abandoned their children, that are drug addicts, alcoholics, or have other mental issues. I KNOW that there are plenty of SFs where both parents (mom and dad) are rational, "normal" people and work together for the good of their children, in spite of being divorced. They marry other good people and life is generally fine. The step-parents in THOSE situations are generally not the step-parents that are going to be posting here. Most of us posting here are doing so because we have valid, legitimate concerns and issues---and like it or not, KKNY, a lot of those issues DO stem from the behaviors of BMs. It just makes me sad that stepmoms (and some stepdads) come here to get advice and are hounded by people that really cannot relate to the situation on ANY level.

I don't think this registers with many of the regulars on this forum, who seem to believe that every online plan is evil and should be ripped to shreds, while any plan from a "person of design talent" borders on complete perfection. Neither is completely true. I've seen plans from architects that definitely are awful. There is a "top" architect in my neck of the woods who's name seems to be on at least 1/2 the new projects in town, yet I wouldn't give you two cents for any of his plans because they are more odes to his ego than they are collaborations between himself and his clients. However, I know the OP and Doug probably spent a lot of time hashing out what would work best for her and her family and that any compromises made, were discussed and decided on mutually. All houses have compromises. As for your comment about online plans, yes many are awful and too many use lipstick on a pig to try to get around the fact that they're just poor design. However take a look at some of the plans by The Bungalow Company or Allison Ramsey. The difference is the plans aren't bloated with excesses of gables or huge roofs. It just seems like such tradeoffs/compromises are only acceptable on this forum if made by an architect. Tradeoffs are fine if the person realizes they are tradeoffs and not just them trying to fit their lives to a house that won't work for them. The other problem is those who come to the forum with no design experience, but they learned how to use Sketchup or another CAD program and they think that automatically turns them into a design professional.