Spider mites ... the scourge of indoor gardeners. I've tried a number of different remedies from houseplant insecticides, which can sometimes be harsh, to horticultural oils, to simply hand-washing each leaf. If you have a small plant, rinsing the plant off regularly with water or hand-washing each leaf with slightly soapy water or a 50% rubbing alcohol-water mixture seems to be fairly effective. I'm sure others will offer advice.

First, congrats on building your new house! Very exciting. My MW drawer isn't in our island so no picture, but in addition to the electrical question I'm wondering: It looks in your picture like the island counter has an overhang of several inches on all 4 sides (can't tell for sure) and a corbel in the center of each side. Where were you planning on placing the MW? Under the corbel? That seems awfully low. Or were you thinking of having 2 corbels on either side of the MW space? That would make sense to me so it could be higher, but you wouldn't want much overhang above it. So my preference would be sink side, centered between 2 corbels, with only a standard counter overhang. For an under-counter MW, I really like having a drawer, so you can place and retrieve items from above. (That's personal preference though.) natevalsmom - beautiful kitchen! Love your colors, lights, valances, and especially that island counter.

Of the two choices, I prefer the lighter one. The oatmeal reads grey undertone to me, which I don't like as well with the Shaker Beige or the gold tones in the decorative pillow you have shown. Also, I think the oatmeal may be more limiting down the line if you decide to do different bedding.

Thank you everyone and yes, I am grinning from ear-to-ear. Even though I did one new kitchen and two baths, somehow this does it for me in a way they never did. My 14-year-old DS who helped us pick it up and load it, got it right away. This set has HISTORY. It will definitely be an heirloom set. Sad part was that it belonged to a woman with early onset Alzeheimers and her daughter who is only 24 and doesn't have room for it, sold it. Wanted to get rid of it quick and because I had been looking at antique stores I recognized right away this was a find. I even offered her extra to hold it for me, but she declined as it was taking space in her dad's house where she was to move back (mom and dad divorced). Lucky, my DH also knew it was a find after seeing the stuff in the antique stores and was able to take off work and treak up 70 mins. to check it out. So, last night I said a prayer for the previous owner and her daughter. As for the chair, I will look into having it professionally restored. Until then, it's on the side and we won't use it. The only reason I was debating refinishing it, is because I do want to reupholster/recover the chairs. I much prefer to keep the finish as is as we have kids and so I know anything I get will develop it's own patina. However, I've made a note of all the products johnmari and jejvtr have suggested and will work on that after the holidays. I want to take my time and not do anything rushed. In the meantime, I'll just polish it woth the Guardman. jejvtr, yes I would like the detailed instructions. There is a small gouge on the table (maybe 1/20" deep)--would probably need to be filled, but I'm OK leaving it, it shows it's an antique as my DS said. One more item is the leaves are all darker because they were stored away which I understand is common. One also looks to have some water damage to it--though I don't even have room to extend to it's full length so not too concerned. I was wondering if I were to put the leaves in the sun, would they lighten (like reverse of cherry)? I am also in need of advice on how to do the chairs. Is this a DIY job or should I also have it done professionally? The chairs don't have too much padding in the seats. Is it possible to make them thicker or would that interfere with the backs? I like all the ideals for the sideboard. I'm wondering if a nice large antique china tureen wouldn't look good there in the center since it curves out slightly. Still not sure about what to put on the wall, but I am going to take my time and let the room evolve piece by piece now that the bones are there--perhaps look for some more vintage items--like old botanical prints? Most pressing will be the floor rug since my flooring is new and don't want the chairs to scratch. I was thinking of some type of Oriental rug similar to the rug posted by jejvtr--though will see what the Ethan Allan designer comes up with. I do want to pull in some color here in there--bronze and accents of burgundy. I haven't told her about the dining set yet, but she did tell me most likely she would not be able to get me my wood items by Christmas, though I could get the sofa/chairs/drapes so hopefully she'll still help me out. With all the money I've saved here, I feel like I can splurge on the drapes as I like the ones I saw in the Ethan Allan store better than JCP. The drapes will match the living room and what she suggested is to do silk roman shades (3 in the bay window, 3 for 8' wide window in living room). Then tall silk panels 96" long) hung on rods to either side that would "kiss the floor". We were thinking of doing the roman shades in a solid and the panels in a stripe. If I were to go custom, the panels could be hung with rosettes; but due to budgetary reasons, other option she recommended was a reverse pinch pleat which I could buy in stock. She recommending doing a long rod across the width of the window, but I'm leaning towards two narrow rods to frame the windows since the panels will be decorative. Or is that look too "trendy"? I did like the rosettes, though, will see what she quotes me; but seems excessive to do custom just to hang with rosettes.