HM, What I am saying is we (our organization) have never used the 1/3 rule. First, it is a bit excessive. 1/2 the diameter of the originating limb seems to be more than sufficient. But on top of that, trying to get crews of 20 pruners to correctly identify 1/2rd is asking for trouble. So even when they are 1/2 of the originating limb, they tend to remain intact. Let's just assume this is a tree that is under the age of three...all my trees I do now are on a fruiting wall trellis. Trees are anywhere from 3-6ft apart. The rules I give our pruners are along these lines... For limbs directly off the leader: 1. If the limb is the same size as the leader, cut it off. 2. Tape flat onto the wire any limb that is within 6in of a trellis wire. 3. If the limb is over 45 degrees vertical cut it off. For limbs already on the wire: 1. If the limb is the same size as the originating limb, cut it off. 2. If it is more than 45 degrees vertical cut it off. 3. I want my side limbs perpendicular to my wires, so if the side limb is parallel to the wire, cut it off. 4. Head back wire limb to maintain space with adjacent wire limb. 5. Work back side limbs to 4-9in targeting 1-2 fruit buds on Gala and 3-4 on Fuji or Honeycrisp. Heading back 1 year wood is ok if there is a lack of buds and it is too long. On all cuts above 24in from the ground, make them dirty...a .5 to 1in stub is fine on gala and fuji. 1-2in on Honeycrisp. That is the general template we use..each block gets tweaked a bit based on what I am seeing and what we did last year that works or doesn't work. My pruning probably seems a bit drastic, but my goal in the first three years is to grow as much tree as possible. Any variety on M9 or Honeycrisp on any root, once they go from a vegetative mode to a reproductive mode it is hard to get them to grow. Hopefully that clears it up. It was lunch time...I was hungry.

@funkycamper, I just tried a layout with the sink centered in front of the window again. It won't work. The sink is so long, there isn't enough space to include the stove along the same exterior wall, unless I want to live with just 12 inches of countertop space on either side of the stove (I don't - I need wider storage space underneath). And I think it would look strange to have the sink off center in front of the window, which is the only way it would work. The good news is, when I walk through the doorway from the dining room, the stove would be visible right away. I wouldn't be able to see it while SITTING in the dining room, though. But I intend for everything in my kitchen to be beautiful, so I'm not particularly concerned about which piece is visible in the doorway.

Sinks under windows are a holdover from when all dishes were washed by hand - before DWs! Now, the Prep Zone counterspace is usually the "thing" that makes the most sense to go under the window! +++++++++ While it's not a rule, I put my trash pullout in the Cleanup Zone instead of the Prep Zone - and I regret it every single day! If only I could do it over.... I have only about 48" b/w my peninsula overhang and the DR table if I center the DR table under the chandelier - another regret. It was supposed to be more, but we forgot to move the chandelier in the DR to accommodate the new location! It's only an issue when someone is sitting in both locations, but that's often enough, especially when we have guests. Finally, I actually followed a rule - minimum of 15" clear leg/knee space for the seating overhang - and it's still too shallow! I wish we had done 18"! My DS never sits there (he uses the DR table instead) and my DH only uses it for breakfast - and that's only b/c we moved the TV and that's the only place he can see it while eating breakfast. He has to straddle the cabinets and lean over to reach the counter. (Yup! I'll go to any lengths to get my DH to sit there! ) My DD and I sit there, but my knees do hit the back of the cabinets (but just barely).

That is the direction I've decided to go. tone on tone neutral let the eye be peaceful and quiet in the room I'm thinking modern brushed nickel rods not to thick or? 1/2 panels I don't need privacy its just to complete room and horizon or hunter Douglas Roman shades I. the provenance collection just for that couple hours of sun during day to see tv. Thank you again for taking your time to help.