<p>I was given a beautiful cherry hutch from a near relative who was downsizing. Although it looks a little stodgy, it comes in two pieces and I intend to remove the upper portion and just use as a buffet when the near relative (over 85) no longer is here to know what I did. She would never understand why I didn’t like the upper portion - so why hurt her feelings. I can be slightly out of style - it doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Comfort height toilets are wonderful! My family is tall, so we really appreciate our new comfort height toilets. They are also low flow, saving on our water bill. We also chose quite a few other things that are Universal Design, lever door handles, wide shower entrances, seat in master shower with handheld shower, as well as a single floor in all the living areas. With three octagenarians in the family, accessability was a consideration. </p>
<p>As for lighting, my husband used to work for a lighting supply house and is really into lighting. We chose mostly Quoizel Lighting and are very happy with the quality. I was amazed at how crappy the lighting was that we replaced. I asked my contractor to be careful when taking them out so that I could donate them to Habitat for Humanity and several pieces broke whil being removed. We also replaced the mirrors and I was surprised to learn that Habitat for Humanity wouldn’t take them. But they did take the toilets, vanities, sinks and lighting.</p>
<p>I have my grandmother’s dining room furniture, a mahagony veneer drop leaf table with matching fragile looking chairs and a solid mahagony corner china cabinet that’s almost eight feet tall. We use the dining room once a year (Christmas).
My next house will not have a formal dining room so there will be no place for this furniture. I guess I’ll offer it to cousins/neices and hope someone else has a place for it. It’s hard to know what to do when you have family pieces that you hate to part with but really have no use for them.</p>
<p>For our new house, we did choose levers for all the doors, all living areas on one level, a walk-in shower with a seat, one step up from the sidewalk to porch, taller toilets and taller bathroom vanity and bathroom kitchen faucets/fixtures with separate hot/cold handles that are easier to use than the one handle operated kind.</p>
<p>My whole dining room is stodgy. I’ve had the same set for 25 years. Queen Ann dark oak table and chairs. Two part hutch. Even a formal swag on the window. I hate it but don’t want to do anything about it right now. Next place, I will. Not sure what I’ll do when we sell though…I wish I could borrow some stuff from Crate and Barrel (we tend to attract young couples due to our good school system and I know they would hate the current look). How tastes change over the years…</p>
<p>Bound glass----These are fixtures that are made up of pieces of beveled(or not)clear or peach colored glass—soldered together kind of like a tiffany style. They are a nightmare to clean–every finger print and dust ball finds them—and most are polished brass (a dated finish in lighting).</p>
<p>I have my grandmothers dinning room furniture, a Duncan Phyfe mahogany table and china cupboard and regency buffet. While traditional I did want to update. The rectangular double pedestal table did not fit my dining room so I had a round table top cut and just had one pedestal attached. The buffet is substantial and has a serpentine front and looks pretty cool. I use the china closet for display in my living room (not dishes) I lined the back with red and white toile and put three of those little stick up lights under each shelf for lighting and it looks good. I think sometimes, unless, your taste are very modern you can jazz things up a little, and use them in completely different ways and continue to enjoy your “heirlooms”.</p>
<p>SRW - that sounds so cool.</p>
<p>I love making changes, but keeping original furniture. I know my hutch - without the top - will make a really elegant buffet. In the meantime, feelings are more important than style to me.</p>
<p>I have my great grandmother’s dining room table and chairs. The chairs keep falling apart on us. They’ve had too many boys sitting in them! The table is huge, much wider than normal and has gigantic claw feet on platforms. I wish our dining room were a little wider though. The width is incovenient - you can’t find table clothes for it, though sheets and bedspreads work fine.</p>
<p>Wow Mathmom–you stole my table. Mine also was my paternal great-grandparents’. I don’t have claw feet, but it’s <em>very</em> wide, plus has the china cupboard, and buffet. After moving it 7 times, my mom took ahold of her big opportunity and “gave” the set to me the week after I married. H#1 complained constantly we had buy a house with a separate room for it. (he was right)</p>
<p>I don’t really like the style all that much–I’m more into older, antique oak furniture. But…I’m a genealogy addict and I have soooo many pictures and movies of my great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. all gathered round this table celebrating birthdays and holidays. I just can’t ditch it.</p>
<p>Yeah! Oldest S has a serious girlfriend. I’m sensing possiblities in a few years…</p>
<p>Going back a bit to when I was at work
</p>
<p>Yes, you can. We found some nice ones at the hardware store but they didn’t fit the holes in our drawers. Then, the next week at Target, there are the same brushed nickel pulls in the right measurement. I think they were about $3 or $4 each. [Liberty</a> Fusilli Pull/6 Pull Value Pack - Satin Nickel ( 3" center to center ) : Target](<a href=“http://www.target.com/Liberty-Fusilli-Pull-Value-Pack/dp/B002IAYATC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&qid=1271901118&frombrowse=0&fromGsearch=true&node=1038576|1287991011&keywords=drawer%20pulls&searchSize=30&id=Liberty%20Fusilli%20Pull%20Value%20Pack&searchBinNameList=purchasing_channel%2Csubjectbin%2Ctarget_com_age%2Ctarget_com_gender-bin%2Ctarget_com_character-bin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchRank=target104545&sr=1-4&searchPage=3]Liberty”>http://www.target.com/Liberty-Fusilli-Pull-Value-Pack/dp/B002IAYATC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&qid=1271901118&frombrowse=0&fromGsearch=true&node=1038576|1287991011&keywords=drawer%20pulls&searchSize=30&id=Liberty%20Fusilli%20Pull%20Value%20Pack&searchBinNameList=purchasing_channel%2Csubjectbin%2Ctarget_com_age%2Ctarget_com_gender-bin%2Ctarget_com_character-bin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchRank=target104545&sr=1-4&searchPage=3)</p>
<p>So, evidently they are available online for even less. Matching cabinet door knobs came in a 12 pack. Nobody is going to go into raptures about them, but they look nice, fit my hands, fit the holes in the drawers, and after 5 years still look great. Oh, and the swervy look matches our new door handles.</p>
<p>I think that if there is room, keeping the family dining table is so worthwhile. For most people that is one room that can be out of style because it’s so ceremonial… Your grandma’s table! Besides, everything will come around again in styles and some future grand-daughter will be happy to have it.</p>
<p>I am decorator challenged, and my H is worse. If it were up to him, we’d have perhaps a calendar on the wall, and all walls would be white. Anything still serviceable is not worth replacing…</p>
<p>I believe I have convinced him, though, that the lighting over our dining room and breakfast room tables need replacing. So, I need suggestions. Bearing in mind that this will probably be the last time I get to replace them, give me some ideas of a timeless light fixture.</p>
<p>My dining room has old (as opposed to “antique”) furniture. I have a split pedestal heavy wood table - lots of leaves, and badly marred surface. Gets a lot of strange looks from people, but I love it. Looks great with a tablecloth, and fits lots of people. But I usually leave it uncovered, because when not hosting people, it is a utility surface. I have a tiger oak side board that had belonged to my grandmother. In one corner is an old desk, in another corner is my music cabinet. Right now I have a shiny brass candelabra type chandelier. Suggestions???</p>
<p>My breakfast area is open to the large kitchen and huge vaulted-ceiling family room. My decor is early Salvation Army / late K-Mart. Joking … mostly. But again, a real mishmash of things. White kitchen, oak floors. White countertop of whatever material was in in 1997. (I actually like my countertop a lot, but I know it would be a negative if we were to sell, as it isn’t stone.) Table is oak and white. Right now I have the old bevelled glass chandelier someone criticized earlier. House was built in 97 and everything is original. Suggestions???</p>
<p>It is absolutely unusual that I am able to convince my H to update anything, so that fact that he has agreed to replace the lights is a major step, but I have to act quickly before he changes his mind.</p>
<p>Binx - you MUST act quickly or H will change his mind. Go to <a href=“http://www.lightinguniverse.com%5B/url%5D”>www.lightinguniverse.com</a> and look for ideas. At least you can rule out what type of lighting your H is not willing to live with.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. I looked through it briefly - don’t dare show it to H. He’ll point out the shiny gold brass fixtures they offer as proof that ours is fine. </p>
<p>However, I did get him to say that he would like the bulbs covered, so that he can replace them with energy efficient ones, without me complaining about how they look. That narrows the field somewhat.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link! We are looking to replace the builders fixture over our kitchen table.</p>
<p>@kajon - wow, what a great website, added it to my favorites. I have few vices - not a clothes horse, a shoe maven, I don’t get my nails done and I color my hair at home. Not into fancy jewelry. I don’t “drink” or do drugs. I spend $ on my son, my AG dolls and my house. How pitiful am I??? 
My husband is a lucky man . . .</p>
<p>@binx - hurry, hurry before he changes his mind! Good luck.</p>
<p>I gave up looking at the lighting site on p. 13, having found only one lamp I cared for in the least - $550. I really think pendant lamps are ugly or incredibly impractical, as in how on earth would one dust that thing, how often would one have to dust it, etc. I too have a shiny brass candelabra type chandelier in the dining room, into which I’ve put the curly fluorescent bulbs. Not ideal, I know, but lots of light now!</p>
<p>In the kitchen I installed a fixture for fluorescent tubes that fits flush against the ceiling with white molding at the edges. You can buy full spectrum bulbs that look warm enough and put out plenty of light. I’m really happy with this thing, particularly since I am now going to change the first bulb after about 10 years of constant use.</p>
<p>Sorry, I’m not much help ;)</p>
<p>I’ve talked my H into visiting a lighting store today. We were ready to leave when S1 called, so he is talking to him now. Fortunately the weather is too bad for him to do anything outside. He’s been gone (Germany) for 2 weeks, and only home last night, so there is plenty outside that needs to be done.</p>
<p>We won’t buy anything today - but H did look at the linked site a bit, and decided it was too hard to judge anything based upon photos. Hence the planned trip.</p>
<p>My biggest concern is my/our taste. We just aren’t good with what’s in. I would show my H something on the site, and his reaction tended to be “I don’t understand that.” (Anything with extra metal for decoration, for example.) The way I can usually convince my H to change something is to point out that if we ever needed to sell, what we have would be a stumbling block to potential buyers. So I’m looking for something that is pretty universally appealing - or at least not a blatant negative.</p>
<p>binx - trips to lighting stores can be dangerous to your budget 
Our cheapo dining room fixture was recently replaced by a beutiful Tiella track light. It cost us more than we wanted to spend, but it brightens up the room and looks gorgeous! Kind of like this:</p>
<p>[Tiella</a> rail application example](<a href=“http://www.tiella.com/appwindow.asp?aid=25&img=25&apptype=R&systype=RA]Tiella”>http://www.tiella.com/appwindow.asp?aid=25&img=25&apptype=R&systype=RA)</p>
<p>(DH jokes that I’m crazy about light fixtures and dishes)</p>
<p>When we built our house in 2000, I must have been crazy to install so many recessed lights. I have seen one or two recessed light to hanging light converters and was not impressed by them. Does anyone know if, with the help of an electrician, I can switch to a hanging pendant ? (where it looks like the hanging light was the plan all along)</p>
<p>Love the Tiella rails…</p>