OK - I confess. I'm a reverse snob. If everyone else has it - I don't want it. If they have bigger and better - I want smaller and - unusual.

We're in the midst of kitchen remodeling. The builders assumed I wanted the counter top du jour - i.e. granite (though concrete is moving up fast on its flank). No-o-o - it was a toss-up between ancient formica-type and old-hat (though expensive) Corian. Corian won - because we don't have extensive counter tops in our new place.

It was assumed that we wanted the kitchen floor du jour - hardwood. No-o-o-o - the linoleum that was there was fairly new & attractive. God forbid we should get ceramic tile - which isn't trendy right now - fortunately - because it gets really nasty (particularly in bathrooms where we do have it). Oh well. Can't get everything right.

Bathrooms. Well - we couldn't really make the bathrooms larger but we did remodel them a bit - and in the course of picking out fixtures, etc. - got a pretty good idea of the bathroom du jour. First of all - they're HUGE - and have you seen the new basins that look like bowls sitting on the counter top? (I have to admit that they look pretty snazzy - and eminently chipable - but hey - it's only money).

Then there's the new Kohler tub that actually is designed to overflow. The water flows over the edge into a sort of - well - OK - no other word for it - a gutter. It recirculates and creates the relaxing sound of.... a fountain. Just think - the water you've soaped yourself up in recirculates endlessly - a sort of murky gray fountain. Lovely.


Get a grip, people - what's a bathroom for? We're talking about a CRAPPER for crying out loud.