Hi cxjr Those are such interesting plants you have there! The brom-in-a-coconut might be the start of a cool new fad. A bunch of them grouped together would look great on the deck of a pool where you could view them from down in the water. I wish I could see more of the bouganvillea where the aralias have left it stranded. Would it break the trunk of you stood it up and staked it to something sturdy? I love the gnarly bare trunk and it seems like growing a bouganvillea "tree" might enable you to keep it and emphasize its structure. I recently pruned an old, twisted giant purple that looked like it would soon engulf a little church. I ended up with several large trunks that needed to be propped with 2x4s to stand upright, and I think once it gets its strength to hold itself in that position and I can remove the supports, it will create a place we can walk under, with the blooming branches arching above. I saw a bouganvillea grown as a tree in Boca Grande 20 years ago and have wanted to try it myself. I hope you'll keep us posted as to what you do, and let us see your progress on the one you are bonsai-ing. Oh, one more thing . . . . I suspect your cute little plumeria cutting will soon outgrow its space. I am amazed at how fast they grow and how big they can get. What color is yours? Thanks for all the great pictures . . . and keep up the good work. Susie

I have had the same thing happen with two Hoyas. Both my Hoya archboldiana and obscura did almost nothing and were not what I would describe as healthy plants. I ended up cutting the top from the small plants and rooting them. So far so good as both plants are growing well now and the archboldiana has produced and retained it's first set of leaves since i got it last spring. If at first you don't succeed try try again LOL. Mike

There are five plans posted so I'll just go in order No.1 - that's your current plan No.2 - would work - the only thing I would change is the range and sink. I would switch them so that the DW is located close to or at the end of the counter run, then the sink and then the range closer to, but not in, the corner. As far as having a pantry in the dining room, there are all sorts of ways to design it so that it looks like it belongs. The middle part can be a buffet with glass in the upper cabinets and a marble or wood counter. Go and look at actual DR buffet/hutches to get some design ideas. If your worried about the table being off-center wrt the window would it help to put the pantry/hutch against the stairway wall? I think it might be about a foot shorter but it might also feel like it's more in the kitchen. Your island could go a little longer toward the fridge. It looks like you drew 5' clearance but if fridge is french doors you could go down to 48" or 42" clearance. And depending on the size you need/want for your family room you could take your island closer that way as well. But that is your personal choice and depends on your priorities in spacing. No.3 - with the peninsula it just feels like things are getting a little closed off especially when you want to have a more open feeling. Not really enamoured with the feeling that it gives. No.4 - in a minute. No.5 - I do like this one, however my concern is your aisle clearance. Your island is only 2' wide giving you, as you have drawn it, only 36" aisles but counter overhangs are anywhere from 1" and up. So with this in mind, when you have two counters facing one another you are going to lose at least 2' giving you aisles of only 34" and with 5 people in there that could get really tight. I also see a real pinch-point between the lower-left corner of the island and the wall where the fridge is coupled with the door for the stairs in that space as well. Now back to NO. 4 I would pick the peninsula in this reiteration because it is roomier. So depending on budget, as you have drawn your plans I would pick either No.2 or No.4. Now there are layout gurus here who can probably come up with other suggestions as well.

celticmoon, thanks for your thoughts. I could still move the sink, which I am not opposed to doing if it serves a function (extra counter space is a good function). There are 42" there now; do you think more will be useful? I was not thinking of getting a pot filler, but if that sink is further away, I might want to have one there. Aesthetically, I can live with having the sink not centered under the windows, though I know some don't like it (or worse). The windows have been ordered and framed and the outlet for the range was placed yesterday. I forget whether we decided range placement or windows first -- I knew I wanted lots of windows, but may also have been about opening the oven into open space. I could move it inches to the left, but not much. I see what you mean, looking at the layout, the island prep space doesn't seem so convenient to the range, though it has seemed to be whenever I have walked through it, so I have not thought of the space between sink and range as main prep. What about moving the island a little closer to the fridge (drawn at 46" from the fridge door) and/or moving the prep sink to the right? That would cut my landing space and the width of my drawer bank there, so I'll have to look at what I'm storing there to see if some of it can go elsewhere. The windows will arrive either this Friday or next and once they are in place the final measurements will be taken for the counters. We will approve the drawings before proceeding, and the cab guy will waive additional fees for revisions pre-production. I will put those out here when we get them.