Joni's condo kitchen remodel: Act 1, Scene 2

Hi, this is Patti posting. I'm helping my friend Joni with her condo kitchen project.

A little update: We are focusing in on a lighting solution — a track in the middle of the ceiling where there is now a single fixture. The track will allow Joni to direct the various bulbs where she needs them to prevent shadows.

We have narrowed it down to three choices, which you can see at the right:

1) The top photo shows a bronze-look track with four bulbs and an old-world look. It's smaller than the bendable tracks below, about 4 feet long, but it has a certain charm. It's only $67.

2) The second photo shows a 12-foot-long bendable track in off-white. This would fade into the off-white ceiling and not be so noticeable, though it would still provide light to shadowy corners. It's $99.

3) The third photo down shows the same bendable track in a more-modern stainless look. Joni has a stainless sink and faucet, so this would not be out of place. It's $129.

The main idea is to give Joni the comfortable coffee house look she's after. See Joni's kitchen here, pre-remodel. You can see the look Joni is working toward in the dining room (notice the old-world-style plaster) and in the hallway.

Plus, we've also spoken with a paint expert who feels the look we are after on the cabinets is actually light stain over dark stain with a little natural grain showing through. We still need help learning about stain. More on that later.

And, we signed up for a tile laying class at Home Depot for an hour this weekend to see if we'll feel comfortable laying the tile ourselves. Hey, we're nurses, we should be able to do anything, right?

In the meantime, we need to install the light first to see how it affects the overall feeling of the room. And we need your help deciding on the light. In the bottom photo, you can see me at Home Depot, a little perplexed at the options.