We have been known to pull out a 25 year old azalea border right by the front door so we could plant our veggies close at hand. It sure does make it easier to keep the hungry critters out and the veggies watered. Friends and family actually understand! Goes to show that nutjob behavior comes to be expected of some of us.

Talking about color and the use of color in the garden is one of those things that tends to put people in defensive/hostile mode because it's difficult at times to clearly describe what exactly one means when talking about color and the use of color in the garden. So things get misinterpreted or overly simplified as each person brings their own biases and interests to interpret what was said. There is (an annoying :-) ) tendency in some quarters to dismiss color - particularly flowers - as a sort of frivolous, unimportant 'icing on the cake' element in designing a garden. That sort of dismissal of color irritates me greatly. But it also irritates me when the 'any color goes with any other' sort of line is thrown out as an oversimplification. Because the perception of a color can very much depend on what color it is partnered with. Change the partner and you change the effect. So, for me, how I use color in the garden/where I place a particular plant depends on what effect I want to create there. In my early gardening days I went through the polychrome 'anything goes' color phase but became unhappy with that because I began to see, as GP1 said above: ' "Too much color is the equivalent of no color at all". It becomes like a street lined with billboards each competing for attention and no color stands out. ' Now I try to think through what I need to do to create a desired color effect. I don't always get it right - and it can take years to gradualy change the plantings to get to where I want to go - but it has made a noticeable improvement (to me at least!) in my gardening outcomes. GP1 - as a trained artist, you (and the gardening artists in your neighbourhood) probably intuitively use color in your gardens to create desired effects whereas for plebes like me it's something that requires deliberate thought and 'misses the mark' more often! :-) Playing with color to create effects is fun - and not limited to gardening :-) Below is a picture of DH wearing a 'tumbling blocks' sweater I knit about 17 years ago. I was aiming for an 'autumn leaves' color effect. Not perfect by any means but it's still one of his favorite sweaters. The link below is to a Google image seach that shows other sweaters of the same design in different color combinations (the fifth one is DH's sweater....) so you can see how different the sweater looks depending on what colors are used and how they are combined. And that brings me to the issue of 'rules' and styles etc. 'Rule' is one of those words that also immediately gets one's back up because most of us don't particularly like the idea of being ruled! :-) Styles tend to imply a lack of originality - a 'follow the herd' sort of mentality and we all want to be thought of as individuals. But understanding what a particular 'rule' is trying to achieve, and the consequences of breaking it is useful when assessing whether it helps or hinders what you are trying to achieve. 'Rules' can be a sort of distilled 'wisdom'/short cuts that can be useful in getting you where you want to go without having to reinvent the wheel each time! Styles, in a gardening sense, are often a response to particular times, places, cultures environments, etc. Understaning why they are/were popular can be very useful in helping you decide which styles - or elements of a style - can be used or adapted to positive effect in your own garden. That's one of the reasons I like to read widely in garden history - the more I know, the clearer I see what appeals to me and how to achieve it. Certainly my interests and tastes have changed over time but change is a constant in the garden so I'm always looking for ideas that I can incorporate - harmoniously - in the garden. The constant that drives my garden is the desire for it to have a peaceful and harmonious feel while still being a vibrant space. Here is a link that might be useful: tumbling block sweaters

Here they are!!! [I understand about the exterior wall issue. However, if the sunroom is treated like an interior room, then I assume it has been insulated, etc. and is usable year-round...please confirm] The sunroom is insulated but unfortunately there is no heat run out there so in the winter months (i.e. now!) that door is always closed because of the minus degrees! However, we are eventually going to run heat so that space will be an all seasons room. I would assume that into the plan (as in the summer we will probably remove the door and in the winter it's always closed anyway). [I would definitely eliminate that corner cabinet as it is one of the things that jumps out at me as being too big/massive for the small space. (It feels "wrong"!) Will this be an issue?] is this the one on the bottom right? The big pantry? Yeah I think that it is very large and blocky, we were planning on removing it and putting it somewhere else in the house. [When you say you cannot move the sink & range, would you be able to shift them a few inches?] I think that the sink could move a few inches either way (as long as it was still in cabinetry, I mean when we install the new one we could just use a small extra piece to modify the pipe a couple inches). [When you add the DW, you will have to add additional plumbing...at least a drain and water pipe (hot or cold, depending on the DW). You will have to add that plumbing to one of the side walls since there's no room for a DW on the back wall. So, if you think adding the DW to the left wall is feasible, then why can you not move your sink there?] I think the answer is that we have lived without a dishwasher and will continue to be fine without one for a while, but obviously we need a sink the next year or so :) We had really wanted to avoid working with the plumbing this go-around, however if there is just a really improved way that requires moving it then we will for sure consider doing it now...especially in view of there being no cabinets there during reno. [For now, you could have a standard electric range (which, btw, is less expensive than a gas range), but later you could put in an induction range...many, if not most, who have switched from gas to induction have been very pleased...] I definitely hear your point and it would really make the reno easier, however I really don't cotton to induction cooking. My mom has tried to make the switch and it is just driving both of us crazy! I think that the gas range is something that I can't give up :) [Do you have a pantry elsewhere? Would you like a walk-in or step-in pantry or other?] Our "pantry" is the floor to ceiling cabinets on the bottom right (kindof in the eat-in section of old kitchen), however that is what we were wanting to move (perhaps) as I would probably prefer more counter with uppers and bases than a pantry...I don't know though, your thoughts? The other measurements of the counters are... there is 13"...

I have a Ruvati, curved front stainless steel apron sink. LOVE it. One GIANT 36" bowl, it's super thick stainless, nice sharp corners (zero degree radius...I know some people find them hard to keep clean, but our sink is more decorative...the dishes go in the dishwasher, we have a laundry sink for the dirty stuff like clothes and plants, and really, it's for filling pots and washing veggies and such. Love it. Cutting board and strainer that mount right in, nice lining underneath to keep the sound down, and came with a strainer to keep us from banging the bottom of the sink. Just gorgeous; granite installers thought it was lovely. It's SO huge most people call it a small bathtub, and I'm pretty sure we'll bathe our children in it until they're 4 lol