This argument comes up too often, and it's silly that people (on both sides of the argument) get their noses out of joint. Here's an analogy: I make wedding cakes -- not many, just a few every year. I make incredible, custom-designed cakes. I use only my own unique recipes (and if you'd tasted the last cake I made -- Key Lime with raspberry filling and lime cream cheese frosting ... or the chocolate truffle cake with salted caramel filling that I'm developing for my own daughter's wedding, you'd understand), and people often come back for seconds or thirds. I deliver, set up, serve, package the bride's top layer for the freezer, and clean. My cakes are always a big topic of conversation at the reception, and former brides often tell me that years later their friends still remember their cakes. Every single time I do a cake, a few people quietly ask me for my card, saying they or a friend absolutely must come talk to me about a cake for a future wedding. HOWEVER, when people see my prices (all that quality and service doesn't come cheaply), about half of them suddenly decide that Harris Teeter's sheet cakes are pretty good after all, or doughnuts stacked up like they do on Pinterest is witty and different. Am I insulted? Nope. Everyone doesn't value the same things. Houses are the same. Not everyone has the same expectations, not everyone cares at the same level, and not everyone has the same resources. Thus, different choices. In my own life, here's what I know to be true: When my grandparents married back in the 1930s, my grandmother (a teacher and business owner, not connected to design in any way) spent two years drawing a sketch ... they built it, raised their family in it, my mother raised her family in it, and now my brother's raising his family in it. It's a GREAT house -- a mixture of farmhouse and bungalow. The public rooms are oriented to take in the best light (through very classic windows). The closets and pantry are all pushed to the interior of the house, and the house has wonderful flow. My very forward-thinking grandmother planned ahead for a living room extension (she couldn't afford to build it as big as she wanted), and she planned for extra bedrooms and a second bathroom to be added to the back. Over the years, it's had three kitchen remodels and a couple new roofs. The back porch was taken in to become a laundry room, and two new porches have been added to opposite sides of the house. Could it have been designed better? Maybe, but it's evolved over the years and has served our family well. On the other hand, my aunt was an architect. She and my uncle bought a simple ranch house -- I didn't think much of it. She really had "an eye" that other people don't. She opened up the family room and the living room into one area, and she added a master bedroom /bath towards the front of the house. It now looks NOTHING like that little ranch in which they started. It's now something of an eclectic contemporary, and I love it. It flows so well and is unique -- completely different from anything else I've ever seen. She cut "windows" between some rooms to let light flow through. She added a super cute flagstone patio out back. But does it function any better than the house my grandmother designed? No. And a final thought: Not everyone approaches this task with the same level of ability. Clearly trained architects have ability, or they wouldn't have made it through school. But among the rest of us, some have a better sense of space, etc. than others. The important thing is to be honest with yourself about your own abilities.

Prettybutton, that is exactly what I was able to do. The bench I ordered was not carried by Crate. But I have such a good salesman there he knows the folks at Lee, called them and ordered the bench for me (and said he could order anything from them as they are a major vendor) and gave me the sale price on it and also on the customizations I wanted -- castors and nailhead trim. Those weren't on the bench originally so first step was to see if they were possible and then to order them up. At one point I wanted to change the leg style and he called about that as well (I couldn't). It's a pleasure. Obviously, special orders aren't going to be returnable but I know the Lee quality and it's a copy of a bench that's 6 times as expensive. I used the extra fabric he ordered for me when I bought my sofa. I could have gone with one of their leathers (also 25% off) or another fabric. Last year at this time I took advantage of the same sale (mid Sept-mid Oct) to order a sofa and chair. If I need upholstered things I spend time figuring out what I need and wait for this so I can get the customizing at 25% off. I have access to the wholesale market as well and have gone through the showrooms. To order a sofa from one of the Brand names would have doubled the cost and I honestly couldn't see double the quality. Custom is also available here and, of course, if you're going with that from a high end upholsterer it's a whole different game. But again, I just cannot see spending thousands on upholstered furniture which basically depreciates to the Craigslist level the day it's delivered. But that's me and others may not agree. Don't know if every Crate store or salesperson can offers this level of knowledge or service but it's worth a visit if that's possible.

I've done it all. Installing the fireplace, facing it, and building my own mantle. Keep in mind that a fireplace is an investment and adds value to the home. I kept this in mind when I was deciding on materials. I used something know as thin brick. It's real brick but only a half-inch thick! Cost about $80.00 for seven square feet. But well worth the price. For the mantle I was a little particular. I did my homework and saw the high $$$ of my style and preference. So I bought a ten foot by four inch by twelve inch piece of white pine wood from North Carolina. I live in Jersey and this dimension of wood is hard to find around here where everything is a homedepot or a lowes. But the wood wasn't completely dried either. Not a problem, cause I like a real wood and warp like appearance. A friend did the carpentry and staining. I couldn't be happier. My point was don't settle for veneer or tile if it's not going to pay you dividens! Good luck.

The Gryphon Zephyr is brand new on the market, so you may not find anyone who owns it yet. It came out RIGHT AFTER I bought the Gryphon Omni II. I like the Omni, but if the Zephyr had been out I might have gotten it instead. Only drawback to the Omni II so far is that it's VERY loud. I thought the Tarus was loud too, but the Omni is definitely louder. Hopefully the Zephyr is a bit quieter. Take a look at the 2 companies websites to get a better grasp of who makes which saw and to compare stats. Try to find a stained glass place that has the ones you're interested and see if you can try before you buy. http://www.gryphoncorp.com/products.html http://www.geminisaw.com/