Is there any way to load more then 1 pic at a time with this feature? Not sure...will upload one now, and see if after I preview I can maybe do another one...doubt it though. No, just one at a time...That's fine though... Here is another new daff bed from fall 2011. Folks often ask to see pics of my daffs in bloom, but when they are in a 'daff' bed, as opposed to being in a bed with other things, they just aren't as impressive...imho. Of course they have various bloom times too, so the whole daff bed is never 'entirely' in bloom at any one time. The brush will be cleared that is shown to the right, and the bed will be expanded to about twice the size this fall....hopefully anyway.

Wow! Thanks so much for the advice! Pps7, your house is going to be beautiful. Your clippings look very similar to mine. Have you chosen your materials yet. Macv, I so appreciate your input. So the cornices should look like pps7's and the stone house I posted? Is that difficult to change at this point? Do you think my builder accomplish it? The facade originally had angled bays with kind of a "circus tent" looking copper top (can you tell I have no vocabulary for much of this?). We needed to make a bay on the side into a 90 degree to address a problem in the bathroom - not enough room for the tub -so I thought it would be better to make the front bay a 90 degree also and ran into the problems you see. As for the 12/12 roof pitch. I guess it's probably too late to do much about that. Is the fact that its a single story part of the problem? Like Hadley, I'd love to know if there's any good way to introduce more Cottswold-y elements such as asymmetry. Thanks again for everyone's help. Obviously I need it!

caroleoh - Great point! I hadn't thought of that. I think I'm going to look around for something I have around the house, like a large tray, or something else shaped like that. I could tack it up to see if that might be an issue in the hallway. Not sure what I can find, though. Parma - I'm liking the mirror more and more, and I can't stop thinking about it - LOL! I have it bookmarked and open in my browser. I don't know if you read the review on it or not, but a decorator who bought it said it looks even more beautiful in person (and it's stunning already, if you ask me). I thought the exact same thing that you did about it picking up the same metallic effect on the picture. I love how it sparkles and the details of the tiny flowers painted on it. I agree that it will look best as a solo piece, which, as you mentioned, may be the way to go anyway. I measured it out on the wall, and at just over 32", it will be slightly larger than half the width of the bench. It's substantial enough, I think. What do you think about Caroleoh's point about how it would look from a side angle in the hallway?

My best suggestion is to ignore a lot of the hype as you make your plans. Putting money into the high priority it-has-to-last-for-years things is essential, but not particularly glamorous. Don't stint on plumbers, electricians, structural advisors, and financial advisors. Be sure that your carpenters, installers, etc. actually know their stuff. It's so easy to get caught up in the fun parts. Some months ago I was feeling that we needed a little sobering up on the GW and I posted a "don't stint on infrastructure" thread that was apparently a downer for some readers. But I also got some private mail from people who said "thanks thanks thanks." Safety, heat retention, efficiency, financial solvency, reliability, and durability are truly glamorous when compared to folly and catastrophe. Anybody with money in their pocket can gussy up a kitchen, but doing the really useful stuff requires deep thinking and if money is tight, requires recognizing alternative options when they're available. Serendipity sometimes does come into play--Craig's List or reuse centers or closeouts or such--but you can't plan around them. Since "chance favors the prepared mind" you need to know brand names, products, colors, options so that you can recognize a good deal when it appears. Give yourself permission to pay full price for something, though. You can't live on wishes and get this kitchen done. There is a lot of distraction, esp fashion and advertising and peer pressure. You will do well to make lists of things that are Wants and Needs and Don't Needs. On the GW, I believe some of the most useful helps are the discussions of what is good or bad in a floor plan. It's also very helpful to analyze the finished kitchens so that you see what they're trying to illustrate. There are indeed smaller kitchens here--modest, attractive, functional ones. Using your Wants and Needs list, go find examples of them. It's also important to try to fast-forward your family configuration so that the kitchen is designed for all of you as you grow older. Your kids become adults and you become old. This is inevitable so plan ahead. Also plan that as soon as your kitchen is done, fashion and product lines will change so you need to tell yourself that you actually are satisfied and not chase the rainbow. You need to think about the importance of visual things vs functional vs personal and decide who gets to make the initial decisions and who gets to edit or veto. If necessary, create a straw person or two to include in the conversation. In my case, there was a fictitious old lady who would need things that might not be required right now. But don't let things paralyze you--the quest of the perfect gets in the way of the quest for real life solutions. You've all waited long enough--get on with it!