Above please find a photograph of a lesson well learned. We spent the better part of last Saturday on our hands and knees measuring out exactly how much space we have in our kitchen for all of the stuff we've already bought, but have yet to receive. The answer? Just barely enough. So it's a good thing that we measured when we did, before we got ourselves in real trouble. The lesson we have learned here is that even the best laid plans can go slightly awry. We discovered that we actually had 10 (crucial!) inches less in reality than we did according to our blueprints. God forbid anything just be straightforward, right? So here we have Josh, carefully measuring out what is going to become our kitchen island (more accurately, a peninsula as it is attached at one wall.) We moved those planks of wood around all over the place, testing out how a couch might look in the living room area, or what shape dining room table we might need. I seem to remember an article in Domino from way back when advising people to do similar things (with paper cut outs, I think) but God forbid I pay attention. My advice to you all..... never feel stupid about doing things like this. Draw on the subfloor. Make imaginary furniture out of extra wood that's just laying around. Do whatever you have to do to really visualize your space. It will save you much hearthache (and money!) in the long run.