astonishingly, there are roses grown all over Europe in the tiniest holes and as long as the roots are actually getting to ground soil and not contained within a complete container, the minuscule surface opening won't matter at all - heck, there are immense street trees grown with the entire trunk encased by pavement. As for oxygen, there will be plenty of it in the interstices between the soil grains, even heavy clay, as long as drainage remains good - the big issue will be that compacted earth but 3 feet down is a fair depth. For some plants, the shading by pavers is an absolute bonus since the roots are cool and as long as they manage a decent run underground, there is no need to worry - although you will have to water patiently and slowly, dripping a can over the course of a few minutes to allow water to penetrate deeply enough and not simply run off. Once the rose is established (after a full growing season, ideally, but certainly for at least 3 months), irrigation will not be a major issue either. All Austin roses take a few years (at least 3) to make fatter stronger canes - for several years, they will nod and flop - pruning will certainly help to thicken the woody stems but as with most things, time is the answer.

I just went thru this and had the type of paper that DID NOT easily come off. I did my bedroom and dining room. Some valuable lessons were learned. 1)Be prepared for the paper to pull off some of the drywall paper in spots...this will mean spackling. Be prepared to accidnetly mar your wall while scraping. Remember, you don't know what lies beneath so be prepared to spackle, caulk, prime and paint once the paper is removed. 2) Get a paper tiger tool and use it all over. Try to as high up to the ceiling and down to the floor as possible. The middle wall is easy but the most important spot is at the top and bottom. This tool allows the remover to soak in and makes paper removal musch easier. If you do not perforate the paper enough it starts to come off in layers...no fun. Paper Tiger it. When you think you are done; do it again. 3) Spray your DIFF ( I used Sherman Williams brand) on HEAVILY after mixing with HOT water. I used a tank sprayer but that just made a big mess on the floor below me. I then turned to spray bottle. Also, using it smaller amounts allows you to keep the water hot. Work a small area first to see what you are in for, maybe a single sheet. 4) Let the DIFF (whatever) soak in for 15 minutes. Do yourself a favor; just leave the room. Do not be tempted to pull the paper off....it only leads to a mess later on....layers, pulling off drywall, scraping hard and damaging the wall etc. 5) Spray your solution on again. Walk away for another 15 minutes. 6) Spray your solution again and then find a corner. If you are lucky you will be able to pull the entire sheet off leaving minimal paper behind. If unlucky it will come off in layers. In those case, spray and carefully scrape and pull. It should come off but will take more time. If this happens be sure to use the paper tiger even more on the next sheet. 7) Once the paper is off BE SURE TO CLEAN THE WALL. Use the DIff to clean the wall. I'd then use soap as well or something stronger. Failure will show when painting. You will find while rolling that the paint does not stick to areas where paper paste was left behind! Now I really think my case was a worst case scenario and hopefully the above steps will make your removal a peice of cake. Note they also sell a gel removal solution that does not make as muck mess. I have not tried it. I do know its more expensive. Good Luck.

Got it, thanks! I think you're then left with a usable kitchen that roughly 13' x 13' if you expand cabinetry on the slider wall. I definitely would relocate the refrigerator down to the end of wall B so it's not as close to the stairs to DR. The L peninsula will provide extra cabinets and seating. The J (squared off peninsula) would be better if you end the J roughly where the current island ends. I prefer the J to the L as that would allow conversational flow with wrap around seating if you do a 90 degree. Since you have the room, I'll toss out a 3rd option that I'd really prefer: consider a circular seating area on the long leg and not placing chairs on the return. If you add a window on the sink side you won't have a lot of uppers, if you want any. It looks like you may be able to add one upper there. Would you consider an island cooktop with DO? If so, the ovens next to the RF would allow you to have a complete run of uppers on the DR wall side and uninterrupted counters underneath.

"We knew we'd have to change things but we also knew that the house had been lovingly and carefully designed. We could recognize that even though we were clueless 20 somethings. Your sellers aren't distressed. They have time to wait for someone who will respect their choices (even if they may want to change them). I vote for leaving everything as it is" You could be right, edeevee, and there are many people here who would know more about that than I do. However, IMO there is at least one thing that's changed since the 1980s - the advent (onslaught?) of HGTV shows in which rooms filled with perfectly good furniture are redone with new furniture as a means of so-called staging and where buyers, sellers, and real estate agents intone key words over and over, repeated as mantras, that include "stainless steel," "needs updating," "accessories," "granite," "open concept," and the like! On these shows, the latest crop of clueless 20 somethings walk into a nice house, take one look at the "dated" carpet or last year's paint color on the walls of one room out of seven or eight and reject the place out of hand because of all the work the house would entail. I realize I'm exaggerating quite a lot, but it's possible these shows, and probably many magazines, have cued people into expecting certain elements as part of a ready to sell house.