You hear some interesting things working at a nursery. Customers say the darnest things. My favorite came from early this spring. If this were a book I would entitle it: "IS THIS MUSHROOM EDIBLE?" So I get this phone call from a customer asking me if I know about mushrooms. Just to confirm I asked the gentleman (sounded like he was older) if he meant how to get rid of the mushrooms in his lawn. He said no, he wanted to know what mushrooms were edible. He said he thought he heard that any with gills were poisonous (flawless logic...). You know when something strikes you so funny that you laugh, even though you know ya' really shouldn't? That is what happened to me- though thankfully I was able to turn it into cough that lasted awhile to add a air of authenticity ;-) My only reply was that I REALLY was no expert on mushrooms and I would advise seeing if there is a a local mushroom-hunting group or specialist and asking them before eating ANY found mushroom. The guy even asked if I knew the phone number/how to get in contact with them. Yeah...I have that in right here next to the numbers for Skagit gardens and Monrovia. LOL. "Is this edible" has popped up before too with regards to other things. Hate it when I am asked that. Because obviously you have to be 1000% sure it is, otherwise they are NOT going to be a repeat customer, if you know what I mean, lol. I once told [a thankfully good-humored customer] that pretty much everything is edible, the question is whether or not you would survive the attempt. One thing I never EVER what to hear again (but know I likely will if I work at the nursery again next year) is "what is that grass planted around town that looks like wheat?" Talking about Calamagrostis. I can't for the life of me understand why people think it looks like wheat. Drives me nuts. Also for questions on the Euphorbia polychroma/epithymoides planted in the beds. Seems I alone get three questions a day about it when it is in its prime. "But it doesn't look anything like that plant" they say, holding up a not-"blooming"-anymore-1 gal.-potted version of the Euphorbia. SIGH. Ditto the "that plant looks like a weed" and "that yard looks kinda' nice, except for the lawn". CMK

Just shooting from the hip here, going line by line through your post: The pillows that came with the couch ARE pretty, but I'd still change them, or add to them. The smallest ones are too small. The rug is too small and pale for this floor and your furniture. If you're really committed to it, pull the couches forward so their front legs are on the rugs, and then adjust the recliners to suit.This may also help both couches share a coffee table or ottoman. Or you may not need one at all. (I'd prefer not to have one in your arrangement. As for family pics on canvas, I want those, too! What scale and where to put them I can't say because I can't see the walls of the room. Can you take a shot of each wall? Big vases where? I tried corner lamps in my living room (similar layout, as we've said) It didn't look right. And at night, I didn't like having lamps on next to the TV. Also, and this is a "me" thing, I didn't like having all the "electronic stuff" on one wall. Too much like a wall-sized entertainment center. A sofa table could work, but I'm so into balance, I'd need one behind each couch. You have a built-in ~what~ with nothing in it? And where is it? Is the pass-through of this room behind the recliners? How much space is there from behind the recliners to the next wall or piece of furniture? Each recliner should share a side table with the couch next to it, and the tables should be round, not square. I'm big into plants, so I'd make sure to put some in front of those windows. I love your floor and am exceedingly jealous. Here are some pics of the pool. I took pictures from the beginning to the end of the process, but I'm assuming you want to see the pool and not the process. This is a picture of the pool the day it finished filling, which is why the water looks green, no chemicals yet. Hardly any landscaping is done. And notice how the close edge of the photo shows the deck meeting the dirt that used to be grass. This shows the pool and deck in relation the the back of the house. See how the water is finally blue? And you see a peek of the brick patio I put down after my hubby graded the dirt for me. I'm very proud of that! And this shows the other side, how the ground slopes away, and how much yard we still have left over. I'm just starting to work on landscaping. See the finished patio? Also, the iron fence-work and three brick columns are done, but none of these pictures show it. Same sorta angle, but from an upstairs window. This view is from standing in the ~other~ back corner of the yard. It's beautiful, but not done (like everything else) We still need to paint the trim and door of the screened porch, finish landscaping the dirt slope, and build steps where you can see the grass ends at the patio. My husband wasn't open to a pool at all, either. I started jokingly telling him, "I'm not broke, and I'm not asking," and "Great. I'll use MY half of OUR money to pay for it." Finally, I put an ugly pop-up pool in the yard, and kept it there for two years, then replaced it with the same thing when it wore out. By the time that one died two years later, he was sold on a real pool. I did all the maintenance for the pop up, and I do all maintenance for this pool. But that meant I could design and build exactly what I wanted. I even created the shape myself! Here's the eyesore that caused him to give in.

Lavender - thanks for the layout and granite feedback! Rhome -- thanks for your layout ideas (and forgive me for not calling on you specifically for advice, you obviously know what you're talking about!) My question was about the upper cabinets -- @lavender, I am SO looking forward to our new lazy susan base. It will have an adjustable shelf with the lazy susan attached (so no center pole to interfere with objects) and I can make the top shelf taller for appliances, and the lower shelf shallower for bowls, etc. As for the uppers, the plan currently includes a cabinet opening fully on the sink wall, abutting a blind corner cabinet, opening on the range wall, that goes into the corner. My KD said that she could change the design to a 90-degree-opening shelf, like this: Rhome, you're right that the cabinet sizes would change -- the KD suggested using 21" uppers on either side of the range for symmetry (which would necessitate changing the lower tray cabinet to 9" instead of 12"). I still think it might be worth it for the increased access to the corner space. We currently have an angled cabinet, and everything gets lost in it -- I just pulled out a 4 year old cake mix last night! Never again!! The KD insists that we don't need a filler between the pantry and fridge, but I'm not convinced. The Kitchen Aid CD French Door doors swivel somewhat when they open, so I'm not as concerned with a problem when they fridge is opened -- I am more concerned with not being able to open the pantry doors fully to access the pull-outs.

As requested earlier from Davidro who wanted to understand traffic flow, below is a whole house "sketch" which shows our first floor layout (upstairs is only a loft) and second diagram is where I'm at with regard to kitchen design after input from you guys and after Ikea consultant/designer who was at my home today gave as far as cabinets fitting. Also, from the earlier discussion, I had some confusion about whether I could relocate the washer/dryer to the hall. The contractor who visited today didn't have any problems with the relocation. It helps a lot that our foundation is "pier and beam". Moving plumbing around is a whole lot easier. New location of washer/dryer may be a bit claustrophobic in the hall way outside the bathroom but I only do laundry a couple times a week for short spurts. I'm in the kitchen a whole lot longer and since the relocation of washer/dryer is the only thing keeping me from having the kitchen layout I REALLY wanted from the beginning (barring the fact the pantry has gotten quite a bit smaller), I am a happy camper. I'm going to lie low a while and get our bathroom done and maybe a roof before I come back with any updates on the kitchen. And for anyone who is in doubt, the Ikea prices for all cabinets is half of what price was quoted for Innermost cabinets by Home Depot. And the Ikea quote includes several of the appliances though I'm not sure yet if that is how I will really go. But cabinets -yes - their prices are too good to pass up. The money we save can go for the bathroom we're getting that has a curbless shower, and several other expensive details which Ikea can't help us out on. I'll still be listening but hopefully everyone can see the aisles around the island are considerably wider (maybe even too wide with my feet problems). If I need more pantry space, I'm fairly sure that several of the drawers in the main part of the kitchen will not all be used so I can use them for pantry space spill over if there is any. THANKS AGAIN (though I will definitely be back - still need to pick out countertop/backsplash/flooring/hoodOverCooktop and make decisions about appliances..) And since I haven't marked it well, let me explain that there are upper cabinets on either side of the cooktop and also to the left of the fridge. No uppercabinets on the sides of the "cleanup sink" with the large 6 foot wide window. Think I may wait until kitchen is done and probably install some open floating shelves on either side of cleanup sink - more for esthetics than function but I think I can wait until the last minute for that. (Maybe even some art work...)