kt, Since I don't have to design for anyone but myself, I really have grown to the point of having as much fun as possible and not worry about it too much. [g] I don't have a setting or a piece of property that would allow me to end up with a work of art anyway nor do I have a reputation to maintain, so I feel a lot of freedom to do what pleases me. That is hard enough to do. lol I have always found the tension for me to be between the part of me that is the 'plant collector' and the part that really loves a good cohesive design. In my own situation, I find lots of obstacles to creating a great design. My setting, budget, manpower, etc. etc. So, I go as far as I can go with those constraints and then I let out my 'plant collector' to play. [g] Once I got the stucture all settled...where the walk/sitting area/borders etc would be, then I play in the borders. I don't usually hit that right the first, second or third time. I think it is because I really fall in love with certain plants and am determined to drag them home and make them all play nice together. Which is easier said than done. So that is my rather simplistic approach to design. Which I am sure wouldn't work if I were designing for someone else. On the other hand, I might not have the budget/setting/manpower constraints either though. I used to get frustrated when a design or a border wasn't working the way I wanted it to. I don't have to think about whether it is or not, I pretty much know. Knowing 'why' it doesn't work would be my challenge. But, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that I can enjoy my garden 100% even when the design is not working out the way I want it and is still a work in progress. For one thing, every day that I can go out to the garden, my thought is always, 'ooohhh I am dying to see if 'such and such' a plant is in bloom', or 'I wonder if there are any butterflies on the butterfly bush today' rather than 'how is my design looking today'. [g] Secondly, I am planning into the design other things in addition to the way it looks as a whole, for instance, is there fragrance, is there always something in bloom, will it attract wildlife, will it be good and not cause me extra work or problems. If it does these things, then I have those enjoyments to comfort myself with, when the design falls short of my expectations. If I could get the design to look spectacular, well that to me would just be like 'the holy grail'. But, if I did get it all done and settled just the way it should look best, I have a feeling I would need to move and start a new garden very shortly after that..lol. What would I have to tinker with and plan and plot? You are in a different situation than I am for sure. But I have a feeling you have just as much fun as I do probably more..lol I wonder though, if you feel pressure to get it right the first time. To me, you have answered your own question, that you can rely on your own sense of taste. If you look at something and it looks cluttered to you, than it is. Of course, you can't really wait until it is all in and find it isn't working. So do you use your own garden as a lab and try out new ideas there first? I'm sure you change and continue to develop and refine your own style over time. That is a very personal process and I guess I would hope that if I were in your situation, that I could just relax with that and go for it, whenever circumstances allowed. Sounds like that is exactly what you are doing. :-)

I’ve only just discovered this board but what a great thread! Building on Raye Smith’s suggestion, go round your house with your smartphone or camera. Take an overall picture of each room in each direction, then close ups of any smaller stuff, closet and drawer contents, identifying marks/serial/models numbers on appliances/TVs/other electronics, etc, etc. You can do this over several days if necessary. When you are done, add labels to each photo indicating what it’s of (Tommy’s room, master closet, jewellery box, etc) and upload the pictures to the cloud or copy to a flash drive and store in your safe/safe deposit box. Hopefully, you will never need it but in case you ever need to make an insurance claim, you won’t have to rely on memory. If you can manage it, update the pictures annually.

Hello sylvia - yes, I am quite sure. The agents who quoted us over the phone both suggested we look at zillow, which is how I knew where they got the figures from. The agent who told his office is taking 10-12 months, those are his words. In fact, he told us a "good news" story about a sale nearby which took 9 months. As regards the dual agency, we are relying on our lawyer's advice. He is vehemently opposed to it. He says there are far too many instances of agents accidentally divulging important personal info - such as how badly someone needs to move - in order to facilitate a sale. In his words - "Even granting sterling integrity on the part of the realtor, it is a bad position for a human being to be in, representing both sides". As far as the realtor.com thing, that one has us puzzled, too. I was under the impression that all MLS listings show up there, but apparently that isn't always the case. Perhaps they don't want to extended type listings there, but that has not been what they've said. Finally, yes, these are actual licensed realtors. The last one has 20+ years experience, 7 in this area. We've never heard most of this stuff, either. That is why I posted here, to see if anyone else has. Just as an update, the realtor we interviewed this morning was more promising. Unfortunately, she was almost an hour late ("no gps"), and forgot to bring comps. Normally, that would have red-flagged her for us, but under the present circumstances we are going to meet her again Wednesday.

Mimi~ I like the candles. :O) My Thanksgiving table is fairly basic. I use antique silver for all of my serving dishes/shakers/platters/etc. I use silver candlesticks and buy fall colored tapers (I get mine from PartyLite and they are gorgeous colors.. and unscented). Last year I used their pecan colored tapers. Glassware all clear. Chargers are silver (fake...from Costco I think). The food is all on our table, in various bowls/plater/raised servers. I also use small photo frames and use them to frame namecards at each setting. Each guest has individual tiny glass salt/pepper shakers as well. It's very elegant, but honestly, it's super simple. Gives me time to make the huge meal, which I do by myself!! Aaaacccccckkkk!! :o~