I have reread and thought about your letter. a) I am determined to defer to you unconditionally with respect to the design of the interior of the house. b) Here are my preliminary thoughts: i) I agree that loose shelves supported by isolated brackets are not satisfactory. ii) Built-in book shelves permamently alter - compromise - the inner space of the house. I am as yet insufficiently familiar with that space to trust my judgment. iii) My preference is for shelves adjustably mounted on tracks inside a cabinet, like the five large bookcases Mr.Jackson built for me in Damascus. iv) At this juncture, however, I would select a bookcase of carefully calculated smaller dimensins, to be free-standing, which micht be lightly tethered to the wall (or if in front of a barn door, to the ceiling) which could be moved to, and which would fit various wall spaces in the house. v) If I remember correctly, such bookcases can be assembled from inexpensive parts sold by Home Depot. Alternatively one might ask Tim to build one or two prototypes to assess their functional value and esthetic effect. c) I am determined to defer to you unconditionally with respect to the design of the interior of the house. d) I have reviewed and measured for the design of the kitchen. i) Proceeding counter clockwise: assuming the 30" wide stove is centered under the electric outlet, there is on the west wall to the right of the stove, 36" for counter, base cabinet and wall cabinet; and to the left of the stove 30" to the north wall, where a counter and a base cabinet could be installed, but only a foreshortened wall cabinet because of the ceiling's slope to only 85 inches. ii) From east to west on the north wall, there is space for 24" of base cabinet, presumably a corner cabinet with one 30 inch and one 24 inch limb. Next, westward, the 24 inch dishwasher, covered by countertop, then the 36" sink base cabinet centered in from of the central window of the north wall. To its left an additional 24" of counter with base cabinet. In the northwest corner, the counters end 50 inches from the wall to make space for the refrigerator positioned at a 45 degree angle. iii) On the west wall, extending from the refrigerator to the south wall, there is space for 96 inches of counter and base cabinet, as well as 24 inches of wall cabinet extending fromthe window to the south west corner of the kitchen. iv) On the north wall, there is 59 3/4 inches from the west wall to the door, for counter, base cabinet and wall cabinet. To the east of the door, there is space for five feet of rack from which pots and pans might be suspended. e) I would consider dispensing with "base cabinets all together and having Tim build a counter with removable open shelves underneath, where small utensils might be stored in dedicated bins. These shelves might or might not be concealed by curtains. When the shelves were removed, the counter would serve as a table where family members could take their meals gazing at the house next door, the scrub oak heath, and the ocean at the distant horizon, all the while turning their backs on the other members of the family; or in a more gregarious style,one might have a movable accessory table (e.g. 3'x6') at counter height positioned as the limb of a "T" to the main counter, suitable for Auseinandersetzungen. f) My thinking is tentative and experimental, and should be dismissed as such. g) I am determined to defer to you unconditionally with respect to the design of the interior of the house.