Good luck, Julie. I do the vast majority of my own yard and garden work, but when I need some extra muscle power and a big truck, I hire garden maintenance crews to help with the hard stuff. Ive found help through my neighbors recommendations, and a couple of times I responded to those guys who leave flyers in my driveway. Many of the yard maintenance crews you see around town have the necessary equipment, truck, and ability to do what you need done. I have used them to remove and haul away large bushes and small trees, build raised beds, bring in and add truckloads of good top soil, compost or mulch to new planting areas, dig and install irrigation lines and French drains, lay sod, dig large planting holes, install edging, etc. I have had only positive experiences with these small work crews, all of whom spoke Spanish or Vietnamese as their native language. The crews that did work for me always had at least one person (usually the owner) who spoke English well enough for good communication. Most of these "gardeners" in my town say they are licensed contractors, but I have not verified that; nor have a verified whether they are bonded or carry the proper insurance for their workers. Its a risk one sometimes takes in order to get things done soon and not break the bank. I have always received a written bid before the work started. These are basic lists of tasks and services with a price total. Payment is due upon completion of the work or at the end of each day, depending on the size of the project. If you are asking the owner to spend money (haul in soil, sod, etc.), that needs to be paid to them each day. Some of these guys have an account with the local landscape supply yard, but they cant float much credit there. BTW, it never occurred to me to buy these workers lunch. I dont think thats the norm here (San Ramon), but these are regular maintenance crews and not the day laborers described by Karen and Michelle. The workers here usually arrive at the job with a large cooler of ice, beverages and food in the back of their truck.

There is definitely such a person as an independent kitchen designer. People's experiences with them have been mixed -- the best ones are great and worth the money. I hired one and the experience was only OK. I would say (and I work in a creative field) the BEST way to go into a process like this is to do your own research, develop your own tastes, your own opinions and have some kinds of design landmarks for yourself. It's OK to be stuck! It's OK to change your mind, even radically, as a designer presents options you never considered! It's not OK to go in and say "Gee, I don't know, there are so many choices. What do you think we should do?" The downside is that hiring an independent kitchen designer and going through that process usually takes awhile -- weeks or months and several drafts. And it is expensive, usually thousands of dollars -- but always ASK the designer how they work, how they are paid, how much, at what stage you get buildable plans. Quick ways to find a good designer in your area (independent or otherwise): Follow the breadcrumbs. You know how much you're spending on your kitchen. Go to the good appliance, cabinet, paint, hardware etc. stores in your budget in your area (you're probably checking them out anyway). Ask for their recommendations. I have found referrals to excellent people this way -- and they're happy to recommend their valued customers in the trade, knowing a good recommendation makes 2 happy customers. Day to day though, this forum is a great resource! Almost instant feedback, free, taken as a whole, encyclopedic in its knowledge. And nice too. Good luck!

I agree with GardenGal48 Good, experienced designers and landscape architects, can address the entire property. There are fees for renderings and usually additional fees for changes. Understand it takes time and money, to put project designs together. These designers are professionals. I personally do our design work in both plan view and 3D. I have to consider all the grade changes on challenging properties to drive the design. Because I'm the contractor and I work in the field, I know what to expect. I'm not a landscape architect or a true designer, but I've been around the block a few times. Landscapers I work with, will tweek a plan a bit and decide the best plants on the property. Sometimes hardscaping is changed a bit. Renderings are conceptual. I've done a few where my clients approve the design, and leave as is. Certain aspects of a project must be done in a particular order so you don't paint yourself into a corner, so to speak, or make it difficult for one of the contractors doing their portion of the work. This really comes from experience. Once you have a design decided upon, you can put it out to bid, as GardenGal said. Sometimes the designers work for a landscape firm, and can perform everything in house. Or, they can recommend a good contractor to execute the project.

@rnmomof2, yes Airbnb and similar. The houses around me are super nice - ones on the bay across the street are selling for 2-10M+ and most of the houses around me, not directly on the water, have been sold between 700k and 1m+ but the one I bought was outdated and is on a smaller lot but the area is only getting more exclusive as old houses are bought and improved and flipped. There are not that many rentals but the ones around are all fixed up for rent. It's in southeast Florida less than 3/4 of a mile from the beach, you can walk. I am hoping the 70k will modernize it? The Airbnb rates are like 275-900 a night depending on season and House size, I am sure mine would skew more towards the lower end but it needs to look somewhat nice. I think more if I install a pool later @verbo. I am not a flipper. I am a landlord - I bought and fixed up dilapidated properties in the low income area (but just to get up to code - no thought into design or anything) and then rented them for several years. I 1031'd some of them and wanted to try my hand at Airbnb to see how it goes - I never had to decorate or design before - but I am not flipping it I am just going to rent it Airbnb or if that doesn't work a regular rental if I need. I paid slightly under market (or so the appraisers so tell me) bc of it mostly being a cash deal and some other reasons. I don't think the house will lose value based on the area and supply and demand of beach area property so I figured worst case I just park my money there till I do a new 1031 if I want to go back towards low income rentals