When we had to move to Atlanta for Dh to go to school he drove the huge moving truck with my car towed behind. He loaded the cat, german shephard and our goldfish. He got about 2miles down the road when he decided to return home. He handed me the cat, in her carrier, and told me there was no way she was going with him. He stopped to potty the dog, and himself, and get gas/food. The goldfish did not survive the Tehachapi mountains in so cal and is buried somewhere in the Mojavi desert. I flew with my 4mo baby in her carseat and the cat in carrier under seat. That was horrible because I had a carryon, baby in carseat and cat in carrier. I had to walk 20' at a time in the terminal carrying the bag and baby while shuffling the cat carrier on the floor. People just sat and watched me, no one offered to even open a door for me. It was a nightmare. Upon returning to CA 2.5yrs later my dh again drove the huge truck with our dog but this time he towed his truck on the flatbed. I drove my car with my cat in carrier and my 2.5yr old in carseat. We got her some fries and she kept poking them into the cat carrier because she thought the cat would eat them. We stopped in Shamrock Texas for the night and managed to sneak the pets in the motel with us. We got separated somewhere in Barstow and it was late and foggy when we got to Fresno. I decided to stop at a motel because it was something like 2am. Dh continued to our home in No Cal. He can drive and drive. I would not recommend doing a cross country trip in two days with three kids but I managed with a 2.5 and a cat just fine. But I think you could have a good time with your kids as long as they had activities and breaks. A stop at a fastfood with a play area is always good. They can play while you order the food. Also, with the older kids you can pick landmarks for them to keep track of where you are on the trip. On one of our trips to Utah my 11yr old dd was really getting on my nerves so I had her count the various flowers we passed. That kept her occupied for many miles. When my dd was 15mo we drove from Atlanta to Florida. She decided that was the time to be potty trained. We tried to put a diaper on her for in the carseat and she would not have it. At one point she started saying "poo poo" but the next rest stop was about 25miles. She held it to our amazement. But it did make things stressful for a bit. Any trip can be fun but always plan for disaster.

Throughout the years as we have worked on the house, we have been very cautious and done everything possible to do sensitive renovations that fit the period of the house. I too hate to see lovely old houses where people have butchered them. In fact, last night as I was once again watching "Flip or Flop" on HGTV I thought to myself how sad that they are coming in and just rearing down all of those great lathe and plaster walls. We have three kids, and our "illegal" bedroom worked as a bedroom for one of them for ten years. We just stuck a wardrobe in one corner, so we know all about using a space that isn't technically a bedroom as a bedroom. Now it makes a great office, something else that I would think might be desirable to a lot of people. We know for certain that in our neighborhood a master bath would be a huge selling point. In fact, about five years ago, a Realtor told us that this is the only thing our house is lacking. I am starting to think that there is just not enough space in the existing footprint to justify doing this. We know that many people do want move-in ready which would make doing this a selling point. However, amazingly enough, in our highly desirable neighborhood many people do buy these expensive houses and then come in and make extensive renovations like additions. We always ask ourselves where in the world do they get the money to make a purchase that expensive and then immediately also sink a ton of money in the house. Thanks for all of the help.

I don't know about black bamboo or the two species you named, but if the neighbor's golden bamboo is any indication, fabric weed barrier will do nothing. Bamboo barriers are thick, so I'm hoping that is the plastic you mention to contain it, or it will likely be poking through your planter and possibly destabilizing it. What material is it going to be? Five feet may be deep enough to make the fabric's containment abilities irrelevant. If it does escape, just be prepared to dig with a very sturdy shovel (preferably with a warranty in case it breaks). I'm not going to tell you not to plant bamboo, I'm just going to give you recommendations to help you contain yours better than my neighbor did their running bamboo. In terms of keeping it alive, I generally consider potted plants to need hardiness at least one, preferably two, zones colder than your nominal zone to have a good chance of survival through most winters. Unless the raised bed will be very large, it will also lack the insulation that in-ground plants receive. Semiarundinaria fastuosa 'Viridis' is hardy to zone 6b, so Philadelphia being 7b might be okay for that, if that's accurate for where you are in Philly, but Phyllostachys viridis lists as zone 7 some places (I saw a mix of sources saying 6 and 7), so I'd want more like zone 8 conditions for peace of mind in a raised bed unless that bed was going to receive insulation in winters or you typically get 5' of snow to provide said insulation. Phyllostachys nigra (black bamboo) appears also to be zone 7, so again I'd have concerns about it making it through colder winters. Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Spectabilis' is hardy to zone 5, so I would be relatively comfortable with its survivability in a zone 7b raised bed.

Have you considered putting the table against the window the long way (see sketch in blue). There would be 40" of walk space if the hearth is 18" into the room. An indoor/outdoor is a great option that will anchor the table, add color as well as be the base for the room. I would also install either a long rod with stationary window panels on either side or short rods on either side of the window. The short rods would also have stationary panels. This will visually complete the windows. I would put an accent chair in the corner on the fireplace wall by the entry with an art piece above. A built-in bookshelf cabinet could be installed to the right of the firelace. Add a focal piece above the fireplace and you're all set!