Thanks very much for all your replies! The mint 'bush' was huge, so I can see it taking over a garden. Looks like this poor garden has been neglected for years and things just got out of control. I'll plant the mint in a pot as suggested, find a shady corner for the lily of the valley plants and skip the goldenrod and sweetpea. Thanks again... I may be posting more pictures in the future because I can't tell a plant from a weed :) Kristine

First is Jewelweed. Really good for butterflys and hummers. Also great to spread on your skin if you get poison ivy. Always try on your skin before using to see if you have a problem with the gel. Second is a type of dock. Use a long knife and cut the roots way underground. If the root turns yellow it is similar to the burdock that you can purchase in many grocery stores. 3 I am not certain but appears similar to Virginia Bluebells. However you have a much worse problem at the base of the picture, vinca. Vinca will take over everything including climbing trees and will with time be the only plant there. We have it across the street and other than providing cover for a few creatures there is no use for it. 4-5 Your plant may be lesser celadine because you mention flowers. Rather than getting rid of the things you have pictured most would be trying to divide to have more to plant.

Its a pretty house but I think you're going to find it a bit "tight". The previous poster's comments about the garage not being deep enough or wide enough for two full-size cars is spot on. With three kids under six, you probably drive an SUV -- or at least something big enough to fit 3 child car seats into! Go out and measure your cars (length and width). Then consider that you need a couple of feet (at least) on each side and a couple of feet between the two cars when they are parked in the garage to get doors open. You also need a couple of feet (at least) at the front to manuver around the car and at least 6 inches of clearance at the back to close the garage doors. And those are minimums. If you're lugging an infant and all his/her stuff while shepherding the other two little ones and getting them buckled into seat belts, you're going to want more than the minimum clearance. Most people "solve" their tight garage issues by loading and unloading passengers out in the drive way so that only the driver has to squeeze into/out of the car while it is in the garage. With three small children, you are NOT going to want to do that. And, if you plan on storing the kids' bicycles, a lawn mower, and/or any garden or yard tools in the garage, that 2 ft deep "storage" bumpout is totally inadequate. I also don't like the 6ft wide utility room that also must serve as the family's entrance area from the garage. With 3 small kids, I would bet you do several loads of laundry every single day. You need space to sort dirty laundry and to fold clean laundry that is NOT in a high traffic area. You NEED a separate laundry room even if it is very tiny. And, having a "mud room" area with cubbies to collect coats/hats/books/etc would make your life so much easier. If you read this forum very long, you'll find that most posters absolutely love their mudrooms and cubbies. Additionally, the master closets each appear to be barely 6 ft wide and yet are drawn showing hanging shelves along both sides. Once you have clothing hanging on both sides, the remaining aisle way is going to be barely 2 ft wide. A walk-in closet with hanging rods on both sides needs to be at least 7 ft wide. The lack of a pantry may not bother you as you will have a fairly decent amount of kitchen cabinet space. But, where do you plan to store brooms, mops, and the vacuum cleaner? I also don't see any provision for the HVAC unit or hot water heaters. Since there are no stairs going down to a basement, will these be in the attic? I strongly recommend against putting your hot water heater in the attic. Those things do have a tendency to burst when they get old. And besides, getting a new water heater into the attic when you need to replace it is a real chore!!! If you're planning to use tankless water heaters, that won't be a problem. Otherwise the water heater is going to take up part of your utility room. You said you've been settled on this house plan for a several months so I rather doubt you want to start over fresh looking for something else. But I think you can modify the plan without significantly altering the overall floor plan or the elevation to solve most of issues above. I hope the Gardner people won't mind but I've taken the liberty of using my paint program to sketch out some possible revisions. The red lines indicate where the exterior walls have been pulled out. You'll note the right hand wall is pulled out by about 2 or 3 feet and the front of the garage is pulled forward by a few feet. The two bedrooms are about the same size they started out as. This gives you room for a separate laundry room - albeit a very tiny one so I'd recommend that you to look into getting a stackable washer and dryer - and a shallow broom closet. I also think this gives you room for mud-room cubbies in your back entrance hall. And, it would solve the tight garage issue. To gain useable storage space in the garage, the storage bumpout portion of the garage is pulled foward an additional foot or so. If the bumpout is 3 or 4 feet deep, it will be much more useful than if it is only 2 ft deep. Finally, to increase the master closet sizes, I pulled the masterbath and the room labeled bedroom/study forward by about a foot. (Whatever amount is necessary to make the closets a full 7 ft wide.) You'll need to move the bathtub down a little bit to make room for the closet but the bathroom will be a little bit larger overall. Again, the bedroom is kept the same size as it was initially. Sorry but I couldn't figure out a good place to add in a pantry without totally revising your plan. Maybe someone else on this forum can come up with an idea.

I can't believe I've not seen you. You must be on one of the upper decks and I'm stuck down here in the engine room, but, we are definately in the SAME boat. I had to re-make my drawer boxes to get full extension glides. My kitchen is also the one I grew up in, home built early 70's, and re-done once late 80's. Bought the house several years ago, and been DIY remodel ever since trying to get moved in. Makes one wonder if the walls were ever plumb and floors were ever level? (or if houses actually settle THAT much) LOL. Seems the deeper you dig, the more problems you find. Yours is looking good though! Great additions/modifications. Keep up the good work!