I'm a happy Speed Queen owner. I'd strongly disagree with the CR low rating if I was a member. I'm not and I won't be, given the way they rate washers. Apparently, CR doesn't place much or ANY(?) weight on cycle length or rinse performance. Speed Queen conventional top loaders rock these areas. They talk about good expected reliability for washers that have one-year warranties and say nothing about SQ 3-year "bumper to bumper" warranty, 5-year motor and 10-year transmission warranties. If the manufacturers really thought their washers would have low failure rates, they'd offer longer warranties as a "free" (to the manufacturer) way to lure customers. The CR wash performance is tilted toward deeply soiled or stained clothes. Fine, but that's about 1% of my laundry and I pre-treat stains for excellent results anyway. CR claims the SQ lacks certain features compared to other models. Big deal. I value the simplicity of electro-mechanical timers and manual (side-flow) bleach dispensers. They just work. There are no expensive computer boards to fail. No Automatic Temperature Control means I get 127-degree hot water wash (measured) from my 130-degree adjusted gas water heater. If I wanted to adjust my water heater thermostat, I could get a hotter wash instantly. My bright whites are excellent at the current temperature, given the proper measure of good detergent. It doesn't "boil" the clothes, but I get excellent wash performance and the dryer gets the clothes hotter anyway if I was worried about nasties that need heat to kill (I'm not.) My HOT cycle is about 20-25 minutes, start to finish. I can do four loads in the time it takes some of the High Efficiency machines to heat its water to the 130-degree range for a single load. My hot water enters at 127-degrees and the wash finishes at 125-degrees. The thermal mass of about 15 gallons of water easily exceeds the mass of clothes and tub, so I don't lose much heat over the course of an 8-12 minute hot wash cycle. CR cares nothing about spin drain vs. neutral drain. SQ is one of the few (only?) manufacturers starting the spin while the tub is full of water and allowing it to drain as the spin picks up speed. It leaves the clothes better spread out on the tub for the spray rinse or 300G final spin. Most TL washers stop, drain, then spin leaving the clothes bunched up in the bottom part of the tub. SQ washers aren't for everyone. They're not for technology geeks. They're old school, but I'm among the group of consumers that appreciate excellent results from basic, well executed design.

Jpmom, you home is gorgeous already! The 12" crown will look perfect with the already tall baseboards. Then add all the other woodwork in, the fireplace mantle, wainscoting, and pillars in the dining room. So pretty! My first reaction was to continue the white painted woodwork. It seems naturally connected to that bar wall from the the LR and DR with the baseboards and wainscoting. Oh and I also love that transom window above the other doorway too! My other thought was that I know from experience how the backsplash tile can completely change colors due to the lighting and what is directly next to it. I would want the two areas in the kitchen with the backsplash to look related. It may look completely different with one being next a window with white cabs and dark counters verses the other being in low natural light with black cabs and white Quartz. I'd definitely wait to decide on what to do with the bar area until the rest of the kitchen is painted white as Romy suggested. I do think it might look great either way, but I'm just one who needs to see it in real life before committing. I am sure either way it is gonna be stunning! ETA.... Could you possibly find a remnant of the Volga blue to fit the bar top if you went with white cabs on the bar? Or possibly just cut the granite and add a dark walnut type wood butcherblock section that reads dark above the wine fridge? Think romy's dark wood top next to the granite? Just a thought....:-)

All perimeter cabinets are simply white. My island will be stained oak. With the black top. However there will be an island table that is attached next to it that will have the white quartzite. I have pieces saved at the stone yard that are what I used in the kitchen so do not want to deviate. I originally wanted soapstone but not to be found here in my price range and when I found the quartzite, I could see my kitchen needed to be light countertops but I wanted the bulletproofness of the granite. Plus they didn't have enough quartzite for the whole kitchen. So I have a mix. Its all good. I would post photos but the computer isn't cooperating. Can you use the island top you are replacing for the wet bar? Or are you repurposing it elsewhere?

All of the major components are sound as far as I know. The house was renovated in 2003 by the previous owner, who brought all of the electrical up to speed, modern plumbing, etc. HVAC is in pretty good shape. We had a roofer out last fall to make some repairs to the gutters and he confirmed that the roof looks good with the exception of a few small things (a couple of loose shingles, flashing, etc.), which he will be coming back to fix. Foundation is fine as far as we know. There were definitely some areas where they cheaped out, though, and those are the areas we need to address now (exterior maintenance, chimneys, porch, upstairs baths). The chimneys are something of an ongoing maintenance concern from my perspective. The central chimney, which is a double stack (one used for the oil furnace venting, one for a non-functional fireplace), is in poor shape - the stack in the basement needs to be repaired and repointed (which will be part of this overall project). The one we are considering removing seems to be intact, but we can't see the entire stack so we don't really know. There are parts of the stack visible in the attic, and they look like they may be in need of repointing as well. Since we have no intention of ever using this chimney, we'd rather remove it (if structurally possible) and eliminate any future repair and maintenance costs.