Thanks everyone, for all the nice comments. Myrle, how nice to hear from you! You are right, I moved here to the Michigan U.P. in June of 2008 and we bought our wooded camp property in October of that year. We have built a little primitive cabin and lots of gardens there! It's much different than the gardens at home, because I avoid the hostas at camp. The deer just love them too much. We garden in berms, and lots of containers of all kinds (we actually have two boats, a 14 footer and a 16 footer, that we have set up as gardens)! We go for all the color we can, and try to have many flowers blooming during every part of our way too short summers. I'll try to figure out somewhere I can post some photos for you. No hostas, so probably not appropriate for this forum!

Hey, no green thumb! I have been thinking of you and your patio. I'm so glad you found someone who really listened to what you wanted. Now, you can enjoy the planting and evolution of your outdoor area! :o) I hope you'll post pictures when you can. I totally agree that I never want to be "done" planting things, as you said. The expanse of land is for sure our focal point, and I don't want to overdo it or obstruct the view to the back yard. Squirrel, your dad sounds like he was a wonderful, creative person. I think that creativity is so important with outdoor areas, just as it is indoors. It's amazing how much is added to a property visually with plantings and color in the form of flowers and trees. I'm going to check out the link you posted. Thanks so much! While we'll value insight from a professional, we definitely want to have some input. It's not going to happen overnight, that's for sure. Maybe it's too much to Photo Shop too, but a visual would be very helpful. Carol, thanks for your thoughts. I would love a colorful tree, as the Redbud you mentioned. It's interesting you mentioned maple and oak trees. We have a 140-year-old maple and a 150-year-old oak in the front yard. I love them SO much. We had to cut down a clump of box elder trees to place the house, which may not have been a great loss, as I understand they are not great trees, but now the back yard has a large clearing, compared to our tree-filled front yard. I want to keep the clearing for the most part, but add some trees around the perimeter, and both maple and oak are native here. I guess we have to stay at least 25 feet away from the patio with large trees, and that's okay. We do get shade on the patio most of the afternoon from the house itself. Do you all think that the cushions for the patio furniture must be the same color, or can I mix and match with patterns and solids, etc? Thanks again, all, Jan

Here's your "boring" house with green shutters and a wood door. I didn't add landscaping, but a flowering tree would be a good addition.

Marthaelena, can you help give me a more specific recommendation on what might look good? Because I started out thinking I could change materials and just couldn't hit on an idea that would work. Kitchen will be warm contemporary with medium stained shaker cabinets on cherry; dark granite or soapstone, and oak hardwood floors. The kitchen is at one end of the mudroom, and at the other is the back hall and then the laundry. Laundry floor is tile that relates to the kitchen backsplash but basic white slab melamine cabinetry. So I feel like a third look in between might be too much. I can see keeping the same color and switching from shaker to slab in the office/mudroom area, for example, but I have a harder time picturing switching to a different wood tone. Maybe something like this - maybe I paint my island and then carry that color into the mudroom? I am one of those people who cannot figure out how to put things together visually. I know what I like and what I don't when it is done, but I have a very hard time visualizing what will work and what won't. mnhockeymom, love your lockers. Who did yours - cabinet company or finish carpenter? I want something very similar with the bottom portion being deeper than the top, and then I'll have cabs with doors over the top. At the end of the run I'll have my spare refrigerator. We also have one locker with a door that is dedicated to shoes as we have many, many shoes and they all live in the mudroom. We take off our shoes as soon as we come inside so the kids don't have any shoes upstairs at all. DH and I have some but most are mudroom-based. Anita