@rosiew ... "Yard has very strong opinions toward "well ordered" landscapes. Remember this is your property to do with as you like." Ah, Rosie ... where to begin ...? I don't know what makes you think we are in disagreement about a person's right to control their destiny, but "do with it as you like" is the bottom line for me, too. Thinking that I think otherwise means you've misunderstood something (or maybe many things!) I've said. There are many times that people wish to do things that are not in their own best interest. If I advise against such things it does not mean they can't call the shots and have what they want. Maybe you could tone down your opposition just a bit ...? Where you disagree, instead of mischaracterizing me, the most productive opposition you could offer would be to submit your intellectual arguments and make your points. Then we could make progress. I don't know how you define order, but to me, order is a key component of design. The recent photos submitted by neutralground, though they're not what I think of as the pinnacle of great landscaping, neither are they bad or without order. There is a distinct theme, edge, background, foreground, flow, color organization and quite a bit of repetition. @ neutralground ... notice that in the photos you've submitted, there are not shrubs and perennials growing up below other trees. The perennials and smaller shrubs are placed in front of trees and large shrubs. The smaller plants get their share of light and the scene doesn't become "muddy" by them growing indistinguishably up into the taller plant material (like a "natural" area). Compare this to the bed space that you are offering. It's going to be difficult to create a similar scene with trees and shrubs all in the same narrow bed. (Look around your neighborhood. Plants have a way of becoming much larger than people think they will!) If you keep the tree foliage limbed up so that the lower plants can get light and have space to make their display, that's one possibility. Another is to place trees on the outside of the fence and give the other plants a little separation from them that way. But trees, large shrubs, small shrubs and perennials all in that same narrow strip -- without limbing up the trees somewhat to create separation with the shorter plant material, well, it's going to get messy. Keep in mind that some of the lower material, unless very shade tolerant, may suffer and show it. I don't think the fence is something you are trying to completely obscure. So be careful of cramming so much into the scene that it happens. You might consider "blocking out" plant silhouettes along the fence just to discover (and share) exactly what you do wish to be obscured by foliage. It might help define your direction for yourself.

Jenfee, we have a similar yard set up (well, we did. A tornado took out a lot of our trees :) - as you have but our front yard is larger... We have a front yard vegetable garden. It is set up to look similar to a community garden in organized, raised beds and containers. It was unique to the neighborhood but now many of my friends here are doing something similar because of shady backyard situations. The other half of our front yard will be more ornamental. For shrubs I am planting blueberries, figs, pineapple guavas. Vines will be bean poles, then there will be tomatoes both vining and bush. For smaller plants and borders there will be thyme, little greek basils, peanuts, mixed with things like nasturtiums, johnny jump ups, calendula and other edible flowers. This area is contained in raised beds with "urbanite" (because I have it) broken concrete stacked to look like stone in curved beds. I just threw in lagsana stuff behind those in a winter and then planted my winter sown stuff in there in spring. Have to start again since trees squashed it all, but it did look pretty darned good! Here is a link that might be useful: edible front yard landscapes

Hey, what is wrong with a Cheetos bag, especially from the perspective of a high schooler? LOL I think I would move the bed unit to the wall that the door is on. That way when you look into the room it isn't the first thing that you see, so that it overwhelms the space. Also, I think the wall it is on currently could be put to better use. Be sure you mount some kind of shelf up on the wall by the bed, so that he can put an alarm clock up there. You will want to mount a swing-arm lamp up on the wall so that he can read in bed and not have to get down to turn off lights. Have a comforter, not a bedspread, for ease of making the bed. This bedding from Penney's might be perfect: stan comforter I would get a drafting table or something along those lines, and put that in the corner where the windows all meet. That will give him great light for working on schoolwork and puzzles. Then the two seating pieces can be down that wall and into the opposite corner a bit near the closet door. Maybe a inexpensive small plastic or RTA table between the two seating pieces. I would do the orange as a stripe that runs around the room, as wide and at the same level as the space between the bottom of the bunk and the back support brace on the bed unit (about desk height. That should put it just above about 30 inches at the bottom, so just above chair rail height. Behind the desk in that area, instead of just an orange stripe, make it orange-painted corkboard or bulletin boards so that he has a place to hang stuff related to school and other reminders, a calendar, etc. I would look for other ways to bring in the orange, like painting the fam blades, a couple of throw pillows in a wild print that includes the blues and oranges, orange frames on artwork or photos. You could also consider adding orange stitching lines to your denim walls, done every so many inches to mimic the stitching on denim jeans. Oh, and I don't think a 14x14 room is small at all. Our younger son had a similar unit in his room when younger, and that space was 10.5x11 with 8 ft. ceilings. Didn't overwhelm that room at all. More room than two people have in the typical college dorm room, too. Looks like you have had fun and done a great job on the walls!

Every time I've moved into a new house, I've had to watch my pennies, so I am assuming that you need to work with what you have as much as possible. I can definitely see the red siding. I love red houses. I think shutters would also help the look. Maybe in yellow or green? I know they are not "accurate" but it would break up the expanses and give it a little flair I think. You can also buy window inserts that give the windows the look of window panes. The white or cream trim you're thinking of would be nice. Can you have the trim around the windows enlarged when they side it? Also, in your inspiration photo, the corners of the house have the white trim boards going down vertically in the corners, and I think that would add a little something. It's the right side of the house that is really out of balance to me. Maybe you could have a different style siding on that side going up about 3/4 of the way to break that expanse up. Or use the different style above the 3/4 mark......just something to break the big blankness on that side. I can also see some big fan-shaped trellises on that side painted in your trim color. Tall as possible, and then some vines or roses growing up on them. How about some big Annabelle Hydrangeas below to fill in the landscape on that side? Then you could do a large country garden on the left side in a big swooping shape, not lined up in a straight line, maybe even coming out as far as those trees and incorporating them in the big garden. You could mulch with the red or medium tan color to make it a big feature and get some curved lines going. I've used exterior stains to change the color of bricks and it works. I used several colors to get the variations from brick to brick and it was not a hard project. Maybe some darker colors, or maybe yellows and golds and light browns? That window above the door does say 70s, but I think if you put a lace curtain in the window and go big and fabulous on the gardens, it won't take the focus and will look ok. Good luck. I think you can get the look you're going for without breaking the bank.