yes. Hydroton is an inert growing medium, it's a brand of fired clay pellets. It works a lot like using fine pebbles but the clay retains some moisture. Works similar to perlite but the particles are larger. Roger is planted in hydroton too. If you do a google search for hydroculture you'll get all sorts of info. I was reading a GW thread about Hoyas where people were having success growing their plants this way. I am a serial over-waterer. There. I said it :) Since transferring my houseplants to hydroculture, I've had no problems with drowning plants. You keep the level of water just below the roots (plant in clear plastic containers so you can see what's going on) and fertilize with diluted nutrients every other week or so depending. Follow the link below for indepth reading, photos, etc. So far, Roger's little friends seem happy. The leaves have plumped up a bit & the level of the water is still just below the cutting but I have a feeling I can raise the level without adverse affect. I'll probably do this today & continue to take a photo daily. I grow my new banana plant this way. It's a small plant that is quite happy with this set up. Nothing complicated as you can see, a clear qt sized chinese food container with holes cut into the bottom with my handy-dandy dremel tool. After a week of just water, I had to take it out of the qt container & put it in the primary container while I source out a large enough crock to put him in. The roots were growing out of the holes =) Here is a link that might be useful: basics of hydroculture

jejvtr, tell your friend that house is just adorable!!!! we have a 1926 house (plainer but similar). our kitchen remains separate from the dining room (no door, but a doorway separates them). i understand where she is coming from. some things that i can add (having redone our old kitchen) are: 1) that by living there only part time, she seems in a good position to do this kitchen in slow fashion which is best for a lower budget and an older kitchen (our DIY budget was around 10K. and our kitchen is actually larger than hers--includes the old porch they had). if possible, can she put a temp kitchen in place in the dining room, remove old grandma hutch to storage, and rip out the present kitchen to the studs? then she will know very quickly whether it's best to remove or keep walls, etc. that pocket wall could hide a beam or something, who knows. 2) i have learned that walls that seem illogical in 1920's houses have their own logic that is not visible at first (must remove plaster). Even though we wanted to change them at first, after looking inside, we have often chosen to leave things right where they are and NOT for historical reasons! ;-) 3) if she opens the room to other spaces, she loses her wall cabinet space, so i understand that. 4) at least she still has a radiator, our kitchen rad was removed by the POs and replaced with.....no heater at all. good luck, it is challenging. kren

Holly Kay - Very interesting idea. It would work even better if I carried the theme around the room under the picture rail. Maybe one day when I'm more ambitious. Annie - DH kept thinking sheers, too. Were you thinking natural/ivory/cream/trim color? All goes gray at night, so I'd have to make them really, really full to keep the color after dark, which is now 5:00 PM - half of life. Were you thinking apron length? NCS - We don't actually have to make room in the bay for a table, or furniture or a radiator, so I'm not restricted to flat treatment, and I think I'd rather have something fuller in the area because it's one of the few spaces in the house that's just open space and does not have to be dedicated to seating or storing. Rather, it can't be dedicated to another purpose, because it's a passage.

" ... that is a great point regarding the trim. As of now, the door will either have no trim or very minimal, so I'm hoping it won't matter." Even if it doesn't matter function-wise, IMO it looks better to have at least some filler between a cabinet and the wall, especially if the doors are full-overlay. My thoughts on a wide drawer stack next to the range ... the things I want most right next to the range are the things I want to grab quickly while cooking ... whisks, can openers, pot holders, splatter screens, etc. I don't mind my pots and pans being located a bit farther from the range (but I still want them close by) as I am not likely to need to grab an extra pot quickly while standing at the range cooking, but I might need to grab a spatula or a whisk quickly. I think it's a matter of personal preference, though, as to what you want nearby while cooking, but something to think about. I also like to have my plastic wraps, tin foil, etc. located in the prep area where I'll be using them. Regarding the two dishwashers on either side of the sink ... I have a dishwasher that has a handle that protrudes. I despise standing in front of it to do anything, and luckily I don't have to because I have plenty of prep space to the other side. While I like the look of your single dishwasher arrangement, I would want the kitchen that worked best for me, and if that involved two dishwashers, I would work around that requirement