I'd also agree that the house colors are not bold, and you could pretty much use whatever plant combinations and colors you prefer. Given your inland LA location and the fact that you get very hot in summer, are always on the dry side, and also get strong Santa Ana winds, I would suggest that any plants your select ought to be chosen with all that in mind, and resist the worst that your location dishes out. Also, it is extremely easy to get plants that will bloom nearly all year long in this environment, and selecting plants that have intense colors to hold up to that bright LA sun is not hard to do either. The blues of the Agave americana can easily be supplemented by other blue foliaged tough plants such as the Blue Hesper Palm/Brahea armata, or Brahea 'Clara'. The Bismarck Palm, Bismarckia nobilis in its blue/silver form could also look stunning. Other Agaves such as A. parryi would also love these conditions. If the deep red flowers appeal to you, something like the Coral Tree, Erythrina x bidwillii, which is actually more of a large shrub, and can bloom nearly 10 months of the year in southern California is going to give more impact colorwise than any rose. A deep purple-red foliage plant that would also love your heat, but is deciduous in winter, might include the Purple Smoke Bush, Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'. Other shrubs such as Lantana, Tecomaria capensis in its various color forms, Tecoma x smithii, Tecoma stans can all give months of solid color under heat, drought and wind, in shades from yellows, golds, peach, orange, pink, rose, red tones. I'd suggest staying away from things such as the bananas and the Phormiums, because both can look wind and heat stressed under dry windy inland locations, and in fact, Phormiums need some protection from hot sun to avoid bleaching and burnt foliage. Ensete ventricosum 'Maurellii' the Red Abyssinian Banana in Kim's photo will also look windwhipped in inland southern California unless grown in a very wind protected location. A visit to the Los Angeles Arboretum or the Huntington Botanic Garden could give you lots more ideas of great plants for your location. I love the look of your Brazilian Silk Floss Tree in the front, and you could also play off the fall flowers of this tree with more hot pink/fuchsia flowers from things like Calandrinia spectabilis or Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' or Callistemon 'Mauve Mist'. Calliandra californica or C. tweedii, could also be quite floriferous, drought tolerant hot sun plants in your setting.

I have a pretty canvas chair that has a few water spots on it and I would like to try to paint it. What kind of paint would I use and how would I apply it? (brush or spray) The chair is a modern full indoor livingroom piece. Any help,links, product ideas would really help! Tonya

I have a large antique milk can that was all crummy and rusted when I got it. I called several body shops nearby, one guy wanted over $200 to sandblast it. (No thanks.) Shop #2 is owned by an older guy, not a fancy shop, he said 'oh, yeah, I've done that for my wife before, bring it in I'll do it for $10' So I did, and it was shiny as a brand new nickel when I got it back. I spray painted with Rustoleum (used their primer first), it's been kept indoors, that was 10 years ago and it still looks fresh and new. No chips, no flakes, no rust. Would suggest calling all the local auto body shops you can, because prices will vary greatly ;)

The sofa I bought is this one from Ethan Allen. The upholstery is called “stone” but when I picked it out it read more “camel” to me (up close the pattern is a very small herringbone with tan and really light gray threads— from a distance I guess that looks like stone). I know I probably should’ve gone with something “slimmer” like a midcentury modern sofa, but I will (sadly) be spending a lot of time on this sofa so I want it to be comfortable. I’m guessing I should find thin legged tables to offset the heaviness of the sofa. It’s 78 inches wide so it’s not huge or extremely deep.