We have seen these recessed-entryway houses quite often on here lately, and many people are prone to planting in the entry way, which tends to close it off. It looks like you have only planned brick in there, which should give a better impression. From the fact that you've put beds up against the house it looks like you're set on ignoring the advice you've received so far anyway :-) from Catkim above. I tend to agree that foundation planting is far too often confused with landscaping, and landscaping far too often limited to foundation planting. And speaking for myself, I pretty much die of boredom once the plan goes that route. You've put the palms in the right place, now keep working out there! Some houses on some lots really need foundation planting, but others, like yours, offer scope for something much more original and attractive. KarinL

If I can also offer some input.... AMSCO is a very good brand that offers multiple series of vinyl and composite windows. American Window Company has been offering ASMCO (along with many other popular brands) for nearly 18 years. We are very experienced with vinyl windows and can say that the products stack up very well with nearly any other vinyl brand out there. Vista series is a nail-on only window and is budget friendly, typically used by builders that are not looking to add much in architectural details. Studio series is a step up and compares very well to Milgard Styleline, JELD-WEN Builders, Simonton DayliteMax and many others. Artisan series offers more architectural appeal with it's fitted sash fixed panel, SDL Grid option and beveled details. Renaissance series is probably the most energy efficient frame you will find. It even outperforms wood. It has similar architectural details as traditional wood products. AMSCO partners with dealers that are experts who are capable of doing on-site service, of needed. This is in lieu of having a service tech and, in my opinion, allows for the best customer experience when service is needed. Customers can rely on their already familiar contacts to address service issues promptly. As far as quality, performance and reliability, it often comes down to how the windows are ordered. Specifications like spacer type, LowE type, glass thickness, lock type, etc are all chosen at the time of ordering and all affect price. In fact, AMSCO is one of the very few that can offer dual pane windows that rival triple pane performance U-Values with their Coz-E Vantage glass packages that can achieve numbers as low as 0.26 I hope this helps, Danny

I didn't read all the responses - but, I have/had the same problem w/my windows and doors. The builder showed me houses that he built w/the larger trim and said it was standard - I didn't need it added to the specs. Yet, when the windows/siding went in I have this little skinny trim - that too me looks unfinished/cheap. I could add shutters but that would not solve the problem w/the side of the house windows unless I put shutters on them too, which too me would be too much bric-brack. I think if you get wider trim work it will look very nice - but, you will have some size issues. It won't look right where you have th stone (yep, I have the stone issue too - but, luckily the stone guy self trimmed those couple windows. Then your upper windows you can't have the larger trim creep into your upper section of trim either. Why not just try it on your lower windows and see if that makes enough difference to make you happy. I too relied on my builder for his expersise - LOL I have learn't never to do that again.

I agree so much with that First low ball offer, in our case, came from a lady from China. She was planning to move here. She was in China, and her realtor was looking at properies on her behalf. She wanted to buy sight unseen and with cash. We counter offered..very politely:) Then she flew from China to look at the house, and couple others. She loved it; was very interested; but she had all sorts of cultural considerations about the specific location..and all kinds of expectations, not very realistic as she didn't know the market. She also felt her offer being cash, should be considered very favorable, even if low(no it wasn't 80K under asking..was much better than that yet still) then her realtor took her to tour other communities..they called again, and asked our realtor"whether we're more reasonable". because she saw other properties in her price range, and understood she won't see better community than ours. or else she'll need to wait for spring/other house coming on sale within our community, that she'll have less doubts about how it's oriented etc, and pay much more, cash or not well we weren't "more reasonable" lol. I kinda felt we're being reasonable enough, and if she's not sure, for whatever reasons, it will make for a sale that'd have more chances to drive me crazy.. so we waited for another offer-the buyers lived here, knew the market, thought a lot about our house specifically, were sure enough they love it. So we worked out all the details with them to mutual satisfaction, and it was a very easy sail of a sale.