That's the beauty of the daffodils: their tips peeking out remind us of the show to come after the long winter. And don't worry -- they know what to do!

My light set-up is similar to those that others here have described except my shelves are white plastic. I have two shop lights hanging above each shelf, and each fixture holds 2 fluorescent bulbs. They are on chains with hooks so we can raise them and lower them as needed. This is important because plants growing too far from the lights stretch and get leggy. Leggy plants are weaker and harder to harden off to outdoor conditions than shorter, stockier plants. We put hooks in the ceiling above the uppermost shelf so we could hang two fixtures above the top shelf and raise seedlings there too. My shelves easily hold three flats per shelf but with creative placement and squeezing flats in tightly, I can get 4 flats per shelf for a total of 20 flats of seedlings on the shelves at one time. It is really easy to over-think this and to spend way too much money on some fancy and expensive lights that you don't need. That just isn't necessary. Simple shop lights with the cheapest bulbs you can buy have worked just as well for me as more expensive bulbs designed specifically for growing plants indoors under lights. I used those more expensive Grow Lights on one shelf one year and its plants didn't grow as well as the ones growing under cheaper shop light bulbs. All my light fixtures are plugged into power strips so they are easy to turn on and off. You can use a timer to turn them on and off if your schedule is erratic. I used to start seedlings in standard black flats, but several years ago I switched over to aluminum roasting pans....like turkey pans or lasagna pans. Since they are shiny metal, they reflect more light and heat onto the plants. I buy them in packages of anywhere from 12 to 20 at Sam's or CostCo. There really isn't a right or wrong way to set up your seed-starting shelf as long as you have it in an area that doesn't freeze, that has good air flow and that is easily accessible so you can pop in and check on the plants and pop back out again. You just have to figure out what works for you in whatever space you have available. If you have indoor dogs or cats who might enjoy sleeping on your seedlings, eating them, tearing them to shreds, etc., keep that in mind when you chose a place to put your shelf. My cats are totally banned from the room with the light shelf because they like to eat plants, but our large dogs (a Rottweiler mix and a Lab mix) sleep in the room with the light shelf and have for several years and they don't bother the plants at all. Be careful when putting it in a garage. Even if you think there are not any mice in your garage, you might find out you have them the hard way....when you walk into the garage one day and discover your plants have been used as Mice Chow. This is a fairly common issue for folks who start plants in a garage or some other sort of out-of-the-way area where humans spend little time in general. Starting seeds indoors is so very simple despite the fact that we humans sometimes over-think things and make it harder (and fancier and pricier) than it has to be. Just keep it simple and I think you'll be delighted with your set-up and your home-grown seedlings. Dawn

Before you get topsoil, please call some landscapers in to evaluate the overall drainage profile of your lot. The proper tool to clean up your mess is a tractor with a box blade on the back. The landscaper can do this job in a morning and be gone so it takes no time at all. If you try to do it yourself, it can be done but you'll get plenty of exercise. Let the landscaper decide if you need more soil or if you have too much and need to haul some away. He'll handle it either way. When the landscaper leaves the soil will be ready for whatever you decide to do. You'll have to put down sod or seed if you want the uniform look of grass. Otherwise you'll get a mix of plants growing that other people might call weeds. If you mow the plants every week it will look green but maybe it won't be a candidate for House Beautiful.

If you can move the swamp cooler and radiator to the short wall, you could put the fridge on the range wall, with or without windows on each side of the hood. The longer rad under the pass-through could be re-used. The counter could be open below, with cabinets above. I don't know if it's possible, but maybe you could have the cooler and radiator custom built into base cabinets, with the radiator just under the toekick, and the swamp flush with the cabinet face (second pic). ETA, when we lived in western Colorado we had swamp coolers on the roof, which makes more sense, as cold air sinks. Did you plan to leave the long heater under the seating on the kitchen side of the non-peninsula? The DW should remain to the left of the sink, but with it open you wouldn't be able to access the uppers to the left--dishes would need to go in the uppers to the right. The cabinet under the seating, on the kitchen side could be reserved for items not often used--turkey roaster or canner, and the one on the LR side could be turned 90 degrees to open toward the LR, so that space is not lost.