The higher end fake grass substitutes are not cheap to install either... I'd suggest that bark mulch is the most practical, and if you lay it over compacted earth sloped to drain as if for a patio, with weed fabric on top and 3 to 5 inches of bark it should work fine. You will have the incidental bark mulch getting tracked into the house, depending on the coarseness of bark you choose. You probably will only need to top of with new every other year or so. If this mulch is in a full sun location, no need to worry about mold, unless it doesn't drain well.

Juliann, I'll post a site from the UK that has pictures of various types of gardens. This link goes to their Cottage Garden which they say is "contrived to look uncontrived". There are many other types of gardens there that might provide inspiration. Which plants you choose depends on which climate zone you are in. I'm in zone 3 so am somewhat limited in what I can grow. I'll post a pic of what I call my wild bird garden. It's an area in my large garden that has the birdfeeder and birdbath. I allow the flowers to go to seed for the birds so they self-seed. This area has changed over many years altho I initially seeded shasta daisies (the butterflies love them) and yarrow and planted a few established perennials. The yarrow seeds I planted were a mix of red, pink, and white, but the white resembles the wild yarrow we have so we pull it out and it's mostly now only tones of pinks and red. There are also Lamb's Ears because they seed all over my garden but I leave them in this wild area (the bees love them). There are a few other plants, a pink mallow that's 'weedy' but it fills the space and is quite pretty and we also have several lilacs here. Near that area there is also a drift of common old irises which we've allowed to spread. They are in the lower part of the rockery and I will eventually weed some of them out as the bloom time is not very long. If I were deliberately planting a wildflower garden I would not buy a wildflower mix as there could be invasive plants in it. I planted a mix about 14 years ago and still have Dame Hesperis (Dame's Rocket) altho pull out many every year and try to dead-head them ASAP before they seed. It's quite a weed in warmer climates. I would choose seeds of plants I like that are hardy but not invasive and mix them together. Another option is to plant in swaths with various plants and grasses hardy to your area. Keep in mind the moisture requirements of the plants as you decide. The area where I have shastas, mallow, and yarrow needs little watering and only a spring weeding so is easy care. Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden House

home4all6, I had an idea that could be a middle ground between working within your home's footprint and a MBR suite/kitchen addition. It is spurred by my memory of your comment that the FR addition was either built to be or could be turned into a first floor MBR suite. This likely won't be appealing to you since your children are still quite young but it won't be that many years before the idea of having some space between their rooms and yours will be quite appealing. Also, I don't know if this holds true for your area but first floor MBR suites are popular here because it means that people can stay in their homes longer. On to my idea: Build an addition for a larger eat-in kitchen, addressing mudroom, side entry stairs and PR issues at the same time. It's possible that an addition may offer up other possibilities for a PR location that won't require losing your home's center hall entry. I know you don't use it and wouldn't miss it but losing the central hall entry could be a negative for future buyers. Then, at some point in the future (that will arrive sooner than you realize), convert your FR into a MBR suite and convert the 16x13 room you are currently using as a MBR into a bonus room/media room. Is the existing laundry room large enough to be a walk-in closet as well? If not, you'll need to relocate this when you convert the FR into a MBR suite. Or perhaps include room for W/D etc in your mudroom plans. I don't know your market so please ask local realtors which of the potential revisions will make your home most appealing to future buyers. I'm not saying that's what you need to choose but it's good information to consider as you decide how to proceed. btw, this thread is coming close to the 150 cut-off so it would be a good idea to start saving all the information and suggested plans now before they drop off the forum.

Hi, I believe Rainbow is the best brand for a playset/swingset. Go to a dealer and play on the unit and see for yourself. We have 3 daughters and that is exactly what we did. We thought people were crazy when we saw Rainbows on ebay going for $2000-$3000 used. My 5 year old daughter just got her wish granted from The Make a Wish foundation. What did she wish for?---She wished for a Rainbow Clubhouse. This one is not cheap as it is the King Kong model. It weighs close to 3500 pounds with the slides. We did put some extra money towards it as Make a Wish only covered 3/4th of it. They had a set limit on what they were able to spend as we knew it but wanted to expand the set and they were find with it. We did buy a used rainbow to get a 90 degree tube slide to hook on to my daughters set. We also bought a glider off of ebay. The best place to get a rainbow used is www.craigslist.org Now those of you that want to knock us think about this. Our daughter was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma brain tumor, brain cancer. We did not know if she was going to live or die. She suffered through surgery to remove the tumor, chemo and a stem cell transplant. This child was very sick and now this month will make one year of being cancer free. So, her wish for a Rainbow Playset was worth everything to us. You should see her face when she plays on it, very happy. We pray the cancer stays away and that she will grow up and be able to live a normal life. We plan on making her life a happy one! So...We aren't done with her Rainbow Playset. We are looking at getting a Used King Kong Castle to hook with it. They are worth the money! 250 pound people have been on the set and it doesn't move. For more info on my daughter check out her website www.caringbridge.org/visit/corinlesage