Hi Brent... thank very much for your feedback! Always nice to hear some others' opinions. Sorry about all the pics... I knew there were lots so gave fair warning in the subject heading + resized them all! :) I, too, like evergreens... but what was the deciding factor for me was that the city planted 7+ spruce outside my fence in the park already (see pic #5). Just thought it may have been a bit much for my taste. Part of the reason for the paper birches was to give some different colours (white bark + turns nice yellow in the fall). They say that birches survive in poor soil conditions... but I still think they are a bit finicky. So we'll see how they do... When I have guests we usually sit up on the deck or are in the hot tub. People generally don't venture down into the lawn area. I guess not much to look at down there yet until stuff starts growing up and filling in. The river rock was actually an extension of the rock that I put in along the south side of the house last year... more for functionality than anything else. I just found that the south side of the house was frying the grass... no amount of watering would save it so cut it out and installed the decorative rock. I kind of like the effect of the rock and the bluestem... reminds me of the cottage. But of course different strokes for different folks. The kids factor could be an issue sometime down the road (gulp). I'm a single guy for now with no kids... but you never know that can always change...! Thanks again for your opinions... really like to hear what others think. Especially people who are into it enough to read up landscaping stuff on the forums. Cheers!

Thank you everyone. Wish I could remember the other GWer who did something similar in a closet. That was where I got the idea from. The whole thing cost $35. The hooks were $5 each, and we already had the baskets and the paint. DH did the whole thing in one weekend. I am NOT handy like that. I just have the ideas, and he carries them out for me. In our last house we had plaster walls, and every time I hung a picture we ended up with a huge hole in the wall. He has banned me from all power tools- LOL Can't wait to show you all before and after pics of my whole first floor!

Good, I'm glad someone stepped in with a tutorial for the "biscornu" pincushion. I have never needed one. As soon as I spied a photo of one (made from quilter's cottons) in a blog, I instantly knew how it was constructed. I piece them by hand, to get sharp corners. Jan gave me the name ("biscornu") and I went looking. Most I have seen are made with cross stitch fabric, and are beautifully detailed. Oh, and to answer the question from empress... I bought that rose fabric ages ago, in the mid-90's, before I even imagined I would ever make a quilt. Thought I would make a shirt from it, but never did. Finally washed it to add to my stash, and from the texture, I wonder if it has some polyester content. It is made by Cranston. I love the colors, and think the rose motifs would look very nice, enlarged and done up as applique. The other face of the rose biscornu is from a dress I used to wear. I reuse fabric whenever possible. The plaid biscornu is made from two different plaid shirts I got at the second hand clothing store--a great place to find fabric for quilts! Oh, and of course (she calms down slightly) clothing for myself and hubby.

Hi Vicki, I’m so sorry to see what you’re going through. I did have a good out come with this seller and I actually buy and recommend her products often. Prior to this situation however, I had a problem with a woman who was going to make some custom valances for me out of my own fabric. The fabric was expensive, 20 something a yard, she botched the entire job up and then cancelled the order on me (so I couldn’t even leave a review). She sent me some of my fabric back, but in the end between fabric & shipping costs, I was out about 100.00 or more when it was all said and done. I have to agree that Etsy is unquestionably pro seller, buyers with a problem don’t have a chance. In a perfect world, they would have someone who can act as an unbiased liason between a seller and buyer to help negotiate a fair compromise. The other thing I learned from this last experience though is that the majority of sellers have put a lot of time and effort into their shops. They really do care about finding a happy medium and doing the right thing. My suggestion would be to fight fire with fire and start a thread linking to as many of the applicable former Gardenweb rooms as possible. Share your story, be transparent, name the shop and lay it all out there. Etsy may be pro seller, but my experience has been that the Gardenweb forum is not. I would also head over to her facebook page and post there as well. ETA: The resolve from this situation actually came about after another Etsy seller saw this post and sent a message to the seller I was having the issue with. It ended up being the best thing to happen. Obviously, there was a glitch somewhere but looking back, I can say now that I think it was an honest misunderstanding.