I wrote out a whole long response and then lost it when my browser crashed . . . here's the main essence of my suggestions, although I still would vote for no foundation plantings. I would suggest that you map out any paths with flour, not just as a single line, but the actual width and location of the path and try walking it to see if it is comfortable, even if they are paths you won't use much. You don't want to leave so little width that anyone walking the path has to brush up against your plants. You will want your plantings to stay low as well as narrow. If you grow them up to the bottom of your window, they will be against the shingles and you will have discoloration and rot issues. I'm making some general suggestions of shrubs that stay low, but I don't know how much sun this area gets, which will influence what does well. For instance, the red color on the Midnight Wine weigela will be better in more sun, while the variegated leaves on My Monet weigela will do better with some shade. Also, there may be some lime leaching from the foundation, so you may want to do a soil test in that area to see how acidic or alkaline your soil is. I'll let you look up requirements of plants that appeal to you. Here are some low bushes to look into: -Small weigelas include 'My Monet' and 'Midnight Wine', both of which will stay under 2' height and width. -Rhododendron 'Checkmate' is a PJM type of rhodie, but unlike regular PJMs my Checkmate, which is probably 6 years old and went in as a 2' high plant is now only 3' tall. It might be a bit wider than you want, but should be easy to keep in check with light pruning. Some other rhodies with shorter stature can be found on the site linked below, which allows you to search by height, and then the database entries will include width. Not all of these will be easily found, however. -There are some small boxwood varieties, like 'Morris Midget' and 'Morris Dwarf'. -There are several varieties of short, golden leaved spireas, though I am not sure how wide they get. -Some of the new varieties of Hydrangea macrophylla are quite short, such as the Cityline series (Berlin, Venice, Rio, Paris, etc.) though they aren't hardy enough for me to have any experience with them. Another option would be to have plants that stay skinny enough so that they won't be against the foundation. A trellis with one of the smaller clematis might work for you. 'Piilu' is one that is fairly restrained (usually 4-5 feet) but still flowers well. 'Bijou' stays under 2 feet. You could ask on the clematis forum for other suggestions. If you put the trellis between the windows, it would have the decorative metal work for winter interest, and the flowers in the summer without blocking the window. Here is a link that might be useful: American Rhododendron Society database search

I almost went with the set EngineerChic used, partly because the faucet was a good size, and partly because I wanted the shower hardware for that series. Then when the shower stuff didn't work, I ended up with Price Pfister Pasadena sink and shower trim. It's about 6x6 and is very comfortable to use to wash your hands. I HATE the sinks where the faucet is so close you can't move your hands. While our yet-to-be-remodeled half bath has about a 5.5 in projection out over the sink, it has very little height so it is not as functional for me. If you are really interested, I can post a pic with the water on this weekend. Pasadena wideset:

Hi Angie -- that's right! I'd forgotten about that underside runnel ... and I haven't seen it (though I might not have noticed) in a residential setting. Funny... It's a great idea though. I'd do it if I were you. I'm not sure there is a "Standard" overhang -- I think it depends where you live and whom you talk with. I think it must have been here that I read 1.5" was "Standard" and when it came time for me to discuss this with fabricators and the like, they all acted like I'd crawled in from Mars. And they charged me extra for the "extra" overhang. I do believe, though, it is nevertheless "standard" for some, despite the protestations I happened to receive. But I wouldn't assume anything! This was totally confusing to me so I'll try to spell it out. Please ignore if it's patently obvious to you: I'll call it a mini-treatise on overhang. (i) There is no standard overhang (ii) over hang is measured from the cabinet box ... or at least it can be. And hence the possibility for confusion. (iii) If you choose drawer fronts that do not "inset" right inside the cabinet box, then they will set on top of the front of that box, and add extra thickness. This comes out of the "overhang" measurement. Thus, if you have, say, frameless cabinets with 5/8" drawer fronts, and your fabricator says "Sure, sure, 1.5", standard overhang..." what that translates to, functionally, is (1.5" - 5/8" = 7/8") overhang. That's less than an inch. Thus it is possible for everyone to do as you specified, sort of, and still wind up with less overhang than you'd anticipated. I had them cut "2" overhangs", from which the 5/8" was subtracted resulting in a little less than 1.5" overhangs. It's enough. But it was a fight! And one that I'm glad I put up. And also, remember that your drawer fronts usually have a little cushion they will sit on on top of the cabinet box, a pad or something -- that takes away a teensy bit more depth too. However, it was never clear to me during the skirmish why there was all this miscommunication. But I understand now; it depends where you're measuring from. As a homeowner/user, I don't care about the box at all; I don't pay attention to it. It's the drawer's front panel that matters to me, where it ends. But the contractors sometimes don't even *see* those drawer fronts so they completely ignore the issue. A real miscommunication. My experience at least. One more thing. I've whined about this a bunch but I just spent several moments ruing my ogee edges all over again. A day never goes by when I don't at least once, usually several times. I hate em. Lots of folks on here love em; I don't. This time it was bits of eggshell -- can't sweep it into the compost bucket. They get stuck, hide, on the little swoopy edge. Someone mentioned that also not-standard may be the angle of the ogee. Another had probably tighter curves and loved theirs very much; it could be that mine are very "lazy" and better catch stuff. It is the one thing I regret the most about my kitchen (which means I'm overall as happy as a clam; I admit this is not exactly calamitous). But I do want to mention, that I felt this, dunno, "glamour-pressure" to sex up the counter edges and yet, function is the most important thing to me and for some reason I just glazed over that consideration. If you're a stickler for function, you might want to consider skipping the whole countertop edge thing. Wish I had! Oh -- except I would, given the ability to choose again, ask for mitred edges, as opposed to standard. Both wind up straight but the mitred blends the swirls of the stone's pattern and the sandwich has a random-looking join - with very happening stone it can make quite the lightening streaks. Not sure whether this was depicted in the posted options.

I'm getting a bit picky here but bear with me. Ticor does not give a spec drawing but no problem if you have the sink. When you get home, measure from the center of the drain to the back wall and across the center to each side. Then it's easy to figure out where to place the faucet exactly. Also take a quick look at the Grohe link below so you understand how the water looks when it comes out in the spray mode -- it's a bit wider than the stream mode. This is not a difficult adjustment -- you just want to understand it well enough to get the counter guys to work with you on the placement before they drill. D sinks often have corner placements. It looks like the lever works side to side and that it's installed facing front so clearance shouldn't unless you're in a corner or some tight space. From the spec sheet you linked it says your sink is 10" deep. But Ticor is a couple of sandwiches short of a full -spec picnic and no contact phone number. Sheeesh. But no worries, you have the sink. Here is a link that might be useful: Faucet spread