Moon, I've also read literally dozens of landscaping books, and still couldn't landscape my way out of a paperbag until I started studying design in a classroom setting. Some will say I still can't, but there it is. So it's not you. The way design principles are presented in gardening and design books makes sense only when you understand the principles by actually practicing using them. At least that's how it was for me. A scale drawing of your property showing the location of the house is a good place to start. Once you have that, you can use tracing paper to play with ideas. Start by listing what you do want and prioritizing the list. I can't tell from the photos if that's a little patio in the fenced off area behind the house or not. If you need a small patio for yourself and a couple of friends, you may want to start there. You can start by sketching in possible plantings around the patio to give it a little privacy. You don't have to block out the neighbors completely if you don't want or need to, but even a low planting will give you a feeling of comfort, and visually reduce the size of that space to a more human scale. You can then think about what you want to look at when you are on the patio, and sketch in ideas for beds that will not only give you a view, but a place to putter as well. Maybe a patio is not your first priority. It may be that you want to landscape the front to make the house seem more like it's "in" the landscape than sitting "on" it, all alone, as it is now. Think about adding some ornamental trees that frame the view of the front of the house. Pencil them in and go outside with your drawing, and imagine how they will look when they mature a bit. Do the same from inside the house, in the rooms where you will spend enough time that the view might be important. You may find that your placement blocks a view you want to keep, or will block the sun too much. Adjust if necessary. If you already know you want a fence, sketch it in, and play with plantings that conceal parts of it to make it less conspicuous. If you need shade, that's also a good place to start. Research trees that will flourish in your conditions, see what the local nurseries have available, and plan where to put them for the most benefit. The afternoon sun in the west tends to be hot, so trees placed to throw some shade on the windows or sitting area can be selected. They don't have to be huge trees to give shade as the sun gets lower in the afternoon, and the southwest and west sides might need it the most, but experiment with where shadows fall and pencil in some trees. Do you need a veggie plot? Compost pile? Shed? If so, figure out where they will be convenient to use. Veggie gardens need water, compost pile may need screening. I wouldn't worry about microclimates yet. As you plant things and put in fence, etc. they will change anyway, as sun and shade patterns and wind will be affected by anything you add. For the moment, select plants that are at least hardy in your zone, or go one zone colder to be safe in an unusually severe winter. You can experiment later with fussier plants. Hardscape is expensive. Fortunately, if there isn't a good reason to have a walk or other feature included, you can skip it. If you know you'll need a walk to make access from front to backyard more convenient in wet or winter weather, include one, just don't put it so close to the house that you end up with the dreaded 3' bed. Leave 5 or 6 feet for shrubs or groundcover, or a flowerbed if the location calls for one. I wouldn't put in a walk and focal point just for the heck of it. If you find that once you get started a walk seems like it makes sense from point A to point B, add it then. You can always wait to see where you wear a path in the lawn. All of this can take a lot of time and thought. If you're patient, you can start small with whatever ends up at the top of your priority list. If you're impatient, you can always hire a designer to do a full plan or give you some direction.

Fallingwaters - Yes, I would like a garage entrance, preferably in the far right corner. It's a small garage and I want to keep the stairs along the exterior wall in case we someday downsize our SUZ and get a small car that can fit in this one car garage. As for the view, I prefer the back view and view off the deck. On the right / garage side, I only have a narrow walkway and no view. The rough sketch I have above is just about my whole downstairs. My front door is in the center of the house with stairs leading up in front of my basement stairs; a cape cod style home. I will link to my draft blue print. I feel there is room for improvement in terms of space allocation and I am open to reducing the side of the working kitchen if it improves flow and space functionalilty. Chibimimi - I could move the door to garage, but it is better in some ways to keep it in that corner, as discussed above. Yet, I am open to all ideas that make the overall layout better. I also invision the kitchen on the garage side. Yes, I could put the half bath in the DR / garage corner. I think the code would allow it since my current half bath is designed in this manner. Yes, a spot for my dog would be ideal, especially since she sleeps in a crate at night. I will look at tambour doors, I am not familiar with this. Thanks for your feedback. GW is wonderful! Here is a link to my cross post on the kitchen forum: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg091217106684.html?14 Here is a link that might be useful:

Hi - can you say more about your false bottom window seat? Does that mean it's part of the wall construction? or would you be able to remove it to use the whole wall as seating? You know that you could build a banquette out of cabinets, right? They do it out of over the refrigerator wall cabinets - it adds storage and seating. One of your pcitures has the drawer version. Just a thought. I've included my favorite link of banquettes - even if you don't go with a banquette, it gives you some ideas of how a smaller eat-in space would look/work. As for color - I'm thinking white. Trim and all. Choose one of those BM whites that they are always using over at the kitchen forum. Then you can use whatever colors you want to accessorize and put some additional punch into the space. Check out the one called "corner oddity transformed" in the gallery for what I'm seeing in your space - they have a similar tile. The wainscott might be a nice addition too. Or, "breakfast room color" that has the green wall you would like, but trim, furniture, etc., is all white. Here is a link that might be useful: banquette gallery

Thoughts on this drawing: - Is that half-bath 4 1/2 x 4 1/2? If so, it's too small. I strongly suggest you drop a tape measure in your purse, and every time you use a bathroom -- at the dentist's office, in your friend's house, where ever -- measure it. Develop a sense of "just right". I promise you, it won't be 4 1/2 x 4 1/2. Consider grandma using this space with a walker. If you go with a pedestal sink, it'll be a space-saver (and you don't need to store much in a half bath), but it'll still be too small. - Still on the half-bath ... go with an in-swing here. This door, as shown, can block your hall traffic. - While we're talking about doors, the pantry door will stay open most of the time, so I suggest a pocket door here ... if you're able to "park it" in the wall by the fridge. Why? Same reason as the half-bath: as shown, it's a traffic blocker, and with only a 3' walkway into the pantry, you don't really have room to comfortably "park the door" in that pantry entry. - I'd like to see a pass-through door between the pantry and the kitchen. Imagine how convenient it'd be to walk into the pantry, pick out your cans and "set them through" to the kitchen countertop rather than carrying them. - Beware of placing the freezer against a wall. Be sure you'll be able to open the door all the way. - Will you have a cabinet near the fridge in which you can store glassware? You know you want these things close together. - You have 4' between your island and your cabinet runs. I know this is what most people consider "just right", but I find it a little wide (then, again, I am small). Go down to Lowes with the aforementioned tape measure, and you'll see that most of their stuff is 3 1/2' apart. Decide for yourself whether you find this comfortable. - What's the cabinet between the sink and the dishwasher? - Your "serious cooking zone" seems to be angled towards the crook of the "L" ... as such, I'd be tempted to bump the dishwasher to the other side of the sink ... or to flip-flop the dishwasher and the sink. This would give you more storage /drawers in the spot where you'll cook most. - In a dream kitchen, in a kitchen this big, I'd want a bigger sink. Seriously, it's the most used appliance. Go big. - Where's your microwave? coffee pot? trash can? - I see you have a second reach-in pantry. Unless you have some very unusual needs, I don't see the point in BOTH large pantries. - I'd extend the mudroom wall so it "touches" the refrigerator space. This would hide the exterior door, and it would place the half bath and pantry door IN the mudroom. Can you swap the mudroom and the pantry? A mudroom would benefit from windows - and maybe you could even put a door to the back yard in there. Of course without seeing the rest of the plan, I have no idea if that would make sense. Yes! Mudroom on the corner would be nicer ... and windows in a pantry are a negative (light is the enemy of food storage). I spend A LOT of time in the kitchen ... So this is going to be a huge upgrade to me in terms of space. Since I do spend so much time there, I’d love to bring some beauty to the space too....namely the windows. Red flags ... a bigger kitchen is not automatically a better kitchen. What you want is an efficient, well-designed space. Who says this? A person with a very large but poorly laid-out kitchen. No one ever says, "This room has too much natural light." Love big windows in a kitchen. As far as appliances, I’ve never cooked with gas ... but I was leaning towards an induction range, 30 inches. I have only limited experience with gas, but I'm not overly impressed. I would also consider a cooktop with separate double wall ovens (we host large family dinners so an extra oven would be appreciated). I also considered a regular range with a separate wall oven on the wall with the reach-in-pantry. Just don’t know if that would look weird. I’ve never considered two dishwashers but I don’t hate the idea. Before you start adding in extra this and oversized that, consider that all these extra appliances drive up your space requirements ... especially since you've already said you want the large windows /thus will be giving up some upper cabinets. How often will these things really be used? Will they "earn their keep"? I doubt it. but maybe a 5 ft window is still good enough? A 5' window is nice, but it isn't going to give you the sweeping views /light that I think you were pining for earlier. Are all meals at the island? No love for your island seating. Take the family down to Waffle House for a meal and sit at the bar. Did you interact much? Did you enjoy this seating pattern? An island is a great place to sit while you work, and it's a great place for a child to sit ... but it's NOT a great place for family meals. I like this pantry /half bath layout better than the OP's original. I'd put a pegboard for storing cast iron pans and utensils on that blank pantry wall.