I had mentioned previously about a half wall made out of glass blocks that we want to take out of our dining room (Yes, I'm sure many of you originalist / preservationists are horrified that I will be taking out an architectural detail that is original to the home.) ANYWAY, we've had various opinions about closing that wall in since if you close it in, you lose "the view" from the front door. It isn't good to see everything at first glance, which is one reason why people looking for dates don't usually walk around naked. However, l think it is good to see natural light when you enter a house, and that can be accomplished without making everything completely open concept. It's one of my goals in my kitchen remodel--if my damn fridge weren't in the way, you'd be able to see the small window in my back door as soon as you walk in the front door. While you will never be able to see the whole first floor at once, you eventually will be able to see daylight from every direction when you enter--front, back, and both sides. It's important to see that in a smaller house. I know alot of people disagree with that - but isn't "good" taste really just "more accepted" taste? How can someone's opinion of how something looks really be better than someone else's? I just don't get that. No, no, no. This is the anti-fashion thread. We are speaking against what is acceptable, because what is acceptable is often wretched, and only seems beautiful because it currently has the approval of the crowd. One test of good taste--not the definition, just a handy rule of thumb--is how long it looks good. How (I hate this word) "timeless" it is. You can see photos of rooms from the '40s, '60s, '70s, '80s that look laughable today, while other rooms still look wonderful. That won't tell you what is in good taste today, unless you have a time machine, but it does prove that there is something objectively different there, beyond whether somebody happens to like it. Here's the reason why "do what you love" is wrong, except in the context plllog mentioned. Human beings are bundles of many different things. One thing is appetite. Another is reason. Often they conflict, and are in tension with each other. Sometimes they can be reconciled. To say only, "do what you love" is an appeal to pure appetite. Pure desire. It is completely subjective, fleeting, and frankly, not very elevated or important. After all, animals are always "doing what they love," whether it's peeing on your carpet, mating, or eating your cats. Children like to "do what they love," all the time, without regard to consequences. Some love to scream. Some love to pull boiling pots of oil down from the stove. Appetite is self-centered, which is why it always amazes me when people boast about doing whatever they like, damn everyone else's opinions. They talk as if selfishness were a virtue. Also, appetite is known only to the self, and cannot be shared. Reason is a whole nother ball game. It is a higher function than appetite. It can be shared, because 1+1=2 for you as well as for me. Sharing means even if people don't agree, they can still reason together. You can still pick out logical flaws in my arguments. I can still follow your arguments and perhaps eventually agree with them. There is a conversation there that goes well beyond "I want this," to which no one else ever has anything to say. Except maybe, "So what?" Aesthetics is the union of appetite and reason. It is like an educated palate, that learns and understands at the same time it appreciates and enjoys. It can be shared and discussed, and new ideas can come of it. If an oenophile gives you a wine that you like, and then says, "Taste the chocolate," guess what? You actually can taste it. You learn to taste it in other wines that have that note, as well. That doesn't happen if all someone says is, "I like this." That's nice, but I can't taste through your tongue, so your subjective feelings are not really of interest to me. I can't share them. All sorts of arts--painting, sculpture, music, garden, architecture, drawing, design, new media--all of them have a long history of people writing about them. Those writings do not consist of people saying "Don't like it. Like it." They talk about form, and color theory, and references, and technique, and common themes, and on and on. In other words, they reason about them, objectively. Vincent Scully changed the way people think about classical Greek architecture by discovering objective relationships between ancient buildings and the surrounding landscape. He did not write a book saying, "I like it." Or, "It makes me think of birdies." He looked at something of beauty, and reasoned about it. Because aesthetics involves appetite, it can never be purely objective. There are no formulas to which all must agree (although, surprisingly, the "ideal" face does involve a formula, as does the Golden Rectangle). But because it involves reason, it is not purely subjective either. That is why I have no truck for the statement that, because I like it, therefore it is good. Where is the reason in that? The unexamined design is not worth living in.

I am not a decorator or have a very good eye for colour. However Neither of those things has stopped me from expressing an opinion. So here goes - I love the brick wall in combination with your cabinets. I am assuming that your wet bar will be the same cabinets as in the kitchen. (Maybe some glass uppers in the wet bar to lighten the area) The effect of the two of them is warm and elegant. The brick wall has pattern in it. It has the pattern of shape, small rectangular and the pattern of colour. When you stand back and look at it as a whole the colour pattern is large with its reds, oranges and golds. (maybe its my monitor but that's what it looks like). Your floor (I think the smaller tile is your floor) has the same tones in it and you have yet to mention plans for hardware, lighting fixtures or backsplash. The other patterns that you have going on is that of your sofa and armchair - unless they are being changed. The other thing is what is your focal point and I think you have already decided that it is going to be your cabinets/brick wall and I agree. I think that they are fabulous together. My point in bringing this all up is that I am afraid that if you choose any of the granites that you have suggested (except perhaps African Ivory or maybe Bordeaux Sienna) is that you are going to wind up with a riotous jumble of reds and oranges (perpetual Fall) and all sorts of pattern sizes with no cohesiveness to the area . The granite should support your focal point and not try to compete. As mentioned here several times as well - your eye needs somewhere to rest and I haven't seen where that would be. But maybe that is the plan for the backsplash. I would step back and think about what else you have planned for the space before making a final decision on the granite. My opinion for what it's worth.

It's a Type A biosolid (so is composted horse manure) which means that some of the vegetables available in your grocery store have probably been grown in it. Here's a quote from the Milorganite site. Note that "wastewater" is another name for sewage, "microbes" is another name for bacteria (feces are normally 50 to 60% bacteria), and that the process described is the nicest possible way of saying "sewage treatment plant". "Milorganite is composed of heat-dried microbes that have digested the organic material in waste water. Milorganite is manufactured by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. The District captures waste water from the metropolitan Milwaukee area, including local industries such as MillerCoors. This water is then treated with microbes to digest nutrients that are found in it. Cleaned water is then returned to Lake Michigan. The resulting microbes are then dried, becoming Milorganite fertilizers. The Milorganite program is one of the world’s largest recycling efforts ... Milorganite, like manures and other organic fertilizers, contains micro-levels of pharmaceuticals as well as household and personal care products"

I'm with ya - also have a small back yard surrounded by a 6 ft fence and lush is the way to go. Here is a picture of the Morning glories on the fence last year. It's hard to see, but I made a trellis from two sticks with twine woven between them, which they had to climb to reach the top. Beyond that you can see a couple of hanging metal buckets with coral impatiens. I tried to grow an upside down tomato in the wire hanging basket there - you can kind of see the stem hanging down from the liner in the pic - it didn't do too well (probably won't try that again). This year I'm determined to go all out with vines and hanging plants everywhere! I'm also going to do a climbing rose right about where the pachysandra is in the pic. I ripped all of that out last fall and installed a trellis a few inches from the fence. Going to amend the soil this weekend, and then I just need to plop in my rose when the mailman brings it in about a month.