It is one of the technical rather than one of the aesthetic issues involved in landscape and garden design. The technical issue is, in fact, that you can and must facilitate the design through the client. I like the panning for gold analogy. It could be only a matter of shaking out the sand and gravel from that pan that is handed to you to find if there is any gold there. Or, you can be proactive in determiming what goes into that pan before you start swishing it around. You have to use your clients dirt, so to speak, and he has to put it in the pan. He might not have put much into that pan and it might not have much potential in it. If you swish that around, you won't have much to show him. No one wants to pay someone who can't get any more gold out of the pan that he can on his own (garbage in = garbage out?). Instead, you have to use your experience and knowledge of the subject in order to get him to the gravel that is more likely to have gold in it. Then you have to get him to put it in that pan before you swish it around. Then you will at least show a bit of shiny color in that pan. Now you have his attention. He wants more gold, realizes that you know something about how to find it, that he is an essential part of the process, and that you are competent in controlling that process. Other than that, we would be doing nothing but arranging flowers or drawing other people's visions. There is not a lot of value in that. You won't get paid much if no one sees much value. The second part is What Rhodium hit on. Efficiency affects cost. Cost affects whether or not you can get a design job because the client has to value your design work at least as much as the amount of money you are asking him to give up to have you do it. It may be ideal to have a ton of color renderings, construction details of everything in the design, and a whole lot of design spec's. That can, in many instances, push the dollar amount beyond the potential client's value on the project - sometimes less is more.

Jillius, I made the Saturday afternoon "deadline" he wanted. I didn't think I would. But, thanks to you and everyone's incredibly generous help, WE did it! I'm thrilled with the plan! I read through the thread again just now. It is completely blowing my mind to see how the design evolved and changed over the course of a week into what we have now. Everyone played an important part with all their input. I will be forever grateful to all of you. It might take a few years to have it all up and running, but I will keep you all posted on the progress. I will start a new thread whenever he gets the walls and roof on. Laughable, I'm am dead serious, just last night my husband said, "You are going to have to start calling me 'Mr. Rebunky' on your GW." Hysterical you said that. Imgch, thanks. I love your reveal! I'm going to go look at all your eye candy again right now. Aloha!

Susan, what a pretty girl! I think you're hairstyle is very becoming on you. It would be easy to wear in different ways, too, and to jazz it up for an occasion. I like it very much. HERE is my haircut, not me in the picture, but my style. My wonderful stylist has helped me discover my quite curly hair and to take advantage of it. I can wear it curly, or sweep it back or blow it out to be poufy or sleek......anything. She has convinced me to not color my hair and I am loving the S&P and streaks at the temple. I used to think that I was a drip-dry kind of gal, but it's really not true! I have several products that I use religiously and a couple that I've only recently been introduced to. Another Dove soap user here, for as long as I can remember. I also use two products by UNICURE, an odd ball brand but I'll cry if they stop making it. My mother sent me my first bottle when I was in college. I use their blue shampoo but it is their conditioner that I purchase by the gallon. Seriously. I use it after the shower all over, absolutely on my wet hair as a leave in conditioner/volumizer/bodifier. I wash my face with it at night and apply it to my face after my shower and before makeup. The stuff is a magic elixer for my hair, especially! Limp, thin, and fine textured hair by nature but not what I end up with with a little bit of the Unicure. If I don't use it, my hair ends up flat. My hair stylist introduced me to Paul Mitchell's Conditioning Sculpting Foam with Flexible Hold. It has a red top, if you look for it. Applied to towel dried hair in a small amount, it turns my thinning hair to what appears to be very thick. I use it when I'm going to let my hair air dry or style it. After a brushing, my hair is left bouncy, full, shiny, and soft. I had no idea that a styling foam could do that. My night time moisturizer is coconut oil, sometimes day and night in the winter. Susan, do you have the eyebrow product on in the picture? If so, I don't think it would be dark enough for me. Your brows have the perfect shape, by the way.

I agree with the suggestions to retain as many of the original fixtures as possible. I love period bathrooms (especially early 1900s) so much that I bought 2 old medicine cabinets off of eBay, very much like yours, when we were having our house built. The mirrors aren't perfect, but that just adds to the charm IMO. And as already noted, in your case it wouldn't be the primary mirror in that bathroom. For above the sink, I think an apothecary mirror would look great. For a small bathroom, one toilet paper storage option is to put extra roles on the handle of a plunger. We keep a plunger in our powder bathroom, and I painted the handle (it used to be bright yellow) the same white as our walls and use that to store extra rolls. It tucks into the corner so kind of disappears unless you're looking for it. Just an idea that might work for some.