Oakley: no Cottage interiors out here that I've ever seen. You will, however, see everything from Rustic, Country, Traditional, Arts & Crafts, Contemporary, Modern and the many variatios of stucco and adobe homes. They all usually contain many Southwestern elements, from our colors to the art and accent pieces, though. A very good friend of mine has a drop-dead gorgeous, custom Arts & Crafts style home that she's decorated with a blend of (very good, antique) Japanese, A&C and SW pieces and they all work together beautifully. Bronwynsmom: Thank you! As for that SW decorating fad that most of us out here absolutely hated, you've described it perfectly, "the phony pink-and-teal, Kokopelli themed, allegedly southwestern schlock motif-heavy fad" . And I would add to that howling coyotes and saguaro cacti (which are not even found in New Mexico and always irritate us to see on supposed NM things -LOL). We still occasionally see evidence of them, but mainly in the cheap tourist shops. Your truth-be-told about owning one of the old, beautiful Georgian Colonial, Greek and classic revival style homes in your area of the country made me smile. My DD's dream is to move to Virginia and live in a home just like that. They are gorgeous but I like and appreciate your practical take on them . . . and will definitely pass it along to DD. Lynn

I made the move from a Traditional house in Virginia to a more relaxed style in Florida. So, now I thought I would redo everything I had in Virginia, we sold a lot of the furniture and now I have just the few pieces I need to accomplish a more relaxed style. The trade off? The stuff I kept needs refinishing or repurposing or getting something similar but smaller or larger. It will take me a while to reuse my things. If I had it to do over, I would have taken nothing with me, that way I could furnish the downsized house with what really fits here. Harder to take things with you and repurpose than it is to measure and fit what actually goes into the newer home.

Thank you for all of your advice. I talked to my husband and we are going to look into having the hardwood extended through out the house. There is a small toilet closet off the remodeled kitchen, but we will just leave the old tile alone in that room (obviously it has a door because it is a toilet room). That way that room does not have to be part of the renovation. The contractor told me that I did not have to pick the backsplash until after the cabinets and countertop are in; we will have a better idea of all the tones for the paint and backsplash and don't have to worry about a clashing floor tile. I had wanted tile for the spills, and the combination of wanting the right look and being concerned about how the tiles would affect my bad feet (and the fact that it seems like tile patterns become dated much more quickly than wood floors) all seemed to push me to hardwood. I don't want this blue on the walls but I do think that countertop, floors and cabinets work on this kitchen: [houzz=https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-traditional-kitchen-dc-metro-phvw-vp~87227] I thought this backsplash really complemented the blue pearl: [houzz=https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-webster-traditional-kitchen-new-york-phvw-vp~2370442] I think this may be too modern, but if the marble is not the right thing after it is installed this frosted icicle tile also linked stunning with the countertop sample: https://www.msistone.com/glass-tiles-8mm/frosted-icicle-glass-subway-tile-3x9/

I'm trying to build my soil and I have read stories where even the hardest clay changes simply with top dressing every year. It takes much longer this way (years), but the stories have been convincing. I'm leaving the autumn leaves in my garden and I take bags of leaves from my lawn and keep them rather than giving to the county. I try to shred the leaves but we find the process messy and unpleasant (loud shredder) but I usually get a bag or two done which worth about 5 bags unshredded. I use the shredded leaves as a bottom layer of mulch for my vegetable garden and any leftovers for my ornamental garden. The whole leaves are used for the ornamental gardens and back "wild" garden. On top of the leaves, I put shredded hard wood mulch for the ornamental garden and natural bark mulch for the vegetable garden. I use much less than if I only used mulch as I have the (completely free) layer of leaves underneath. My vegetable garden gets turned a bit every year as I plant new, so I have seen the best change in my soil as the broken down mulch from the previous year is incorporated into the top few inches as I break up the soil and create a smooth planting base in the Spring. I'm starting to compost again and hope to have my own compost to use as another layer. My county doesn't do this, but others nearby will deliver for free to residents truck loads of compost (I'm so jealous). You might want to look into your local services to see if they either deliver or allow pickup of mulch or compost for residents. I'm really excited for you and your project! I think you will have an amazing woodland garden!