We are right at the beginning of a huge transition in our country's housing stock related to performance and health. Build your house the old way (probably local code minimum) and you will get a home with average energy costs and perhaps more importantly, un-healthy Indoor Air Quality IAQ. Build your house the new way (IECC 2012) and you will get a cost-effective energy efficient home with dramatically better IAQ. Insulation is important along with the other things discussed in this thread. The two topics that deserve more light are 1. Airtightness (as measured by blower door test). 2. Fresh Outdoor Air Introduction with mechanical ventilation. Meeting the minimum requirements of the International Energy Code IECC 2012 is a cost-effective path to low- energy bills and healthy indoor air. Individual opinions and anecdotal evidence can be helpful but meeting these minimum guidelines is ones best bet for those results. Building with deep floor trusses is an easy way to get ducts into conditioned space. Even better, hang the trusses from the wall to reduce air leaks and thermal bridging. jowens751, Murphy is beautiful. Its in building climate zone 4 but personally, I would build to Zone 5 minimums due to your exposure. I would also go for less than 1.5 ACH50 on the blower door test. International code is currently at 3 ACH50 for zones 4 and above but Iam pretty sure the 2015 version will be much closer to 1.5 so try to stay ahead of history if possible. Airtightness is much easier to measure than real world R value and it has a much bigger impact on energy costs. Insulative sheathing (foam being most affordable and popular option) is practically required in the new energy code for Zones 3 and up. Open cell foam for cavity insulation has become cost competitive with densepack cellulose in many areas and blocks air movement better. Find out your local climate zone and see what the minimum energy codes (future laws) require in Table 402.1.1 of the IECC 2012. lexmomof3, I would probably upgrade but might want to cross post to HVAC forum. SEER ratings are rarely accurate as they depend on different Compressors, Air Handlers and duct install. In other words, a 12 could be outperforming a 16 but thats usually an exception. Probably more important is to get a variable speed or two stage unit to better handle de-humidification.

the base problem with bloodgood.. as i understand it ... is that there is no known true plant... apparently.. for decades.. any red seedling off such a plant.. was presumed to be bloodgood ... and they are so mixed up in the trade ... who knows what you get ... so if you want a predictable color.. i suggest.. you buy some other named cultivar.. to insure you get what you are actually paying for ... in other words.. skip bigboxstore ... on the other hand.. price rules.. and who realy cares.. if it greens later in the year ... would you complain if the little rug rat with brown hair went blond in summer sun??? .. would you love him less??? .. multi season interest is usually a plus in the garden ... not actually standing there.. let me suggest.. that in no way .... would i consider that spot full shade ... if you have glasses that darken in sun.. and you stand in that spot.. and they stay dark ... that is a fair indication... that there is a lot of light there ... ken

I don't know off the top of my head what zones are in AR. You can add that to your posts by going to "Your Houzz" in the upper right of every page, then "Edit Profile" and under "About Me" add "My zone is 4b-5aNH" with whatever is appropriate filled in for the zone and location information. What would work as an alternative depends on where you are and what your goal is for these shrubs. Are you making a hedge, or using this as shrubs to give structure in a mixed perennial border, or planting them as isolated specimens, or . . . ? Are you particularly looking for dark-red foliage? I'll give you suggestions that I might use here - you'll need to check out whether they are suitable to your zone and soil and goals. Depending on the space you have available, you might want to see if any of the Physocarpus/Ninebark selections will grow in your area. Many have dark leaves, and P. 'Tiny Wine' is smaller than most types (which make large mounds a bit like forsythia); 'Tiny Wine' is still not a small shrub despite its name which probably refers to the leaf size. There are several kinds of dark-leaved Weigelas as Whaas suggested, and you can check them. They vary in size, how well they tolerate shade, and the quality of coloration of foliage. There are dark-leafed selections of smoke bushes, Cotinus coggygria, which tend to be tall and more upright than the ninebarks. If you have acid soil, PJM rhododendrons have dark slightly reddish-green leaves in warm weather that turn to a lovely mahogany in winter. There is one clematis that I know of with relatively dark foliage, at least early in the season, 'Lime Close' AKA 'Serious Black'.

How about a couch facing the fireplace with a chair at both ends, and the tv to the right of the fireplace? I agree that if you do any tv watching during the day, you will get a tremendous glare from the slider with the tv directly across from it (says the person with a giant picture window directly across from the tv.). If you tuck the chair something like this, you'll still have room to get in out of the slider without difficulty. Actually, with an 8' slider, you'd probably not need to do much tucking of the chair at all. I'd put a sofa table (the trolley?) on the back side of the sofa to help delineate the space, too. This might not be the best example, but it's the basic layout that I'm picturing (except it shows a love seat where I'd place a chair, and 2 leather chairs, where I'd only put one chair. Oh, and the tv should be next to the fireplace, not over it....) If you put the trolley at the back of the sofa, this will give you room for the keyboard along the wall to the right of the slider (where the trolley was sketched in on your latest floor plan.) If you know yourself to be a furniture rearranged and mover, then yes, you might want to skip an attached, unchangeable chaise. Some folks are rearranges, others are not. Rearranging is in my blood, but you have to know yourself.