Wow what a beautiful kitchen! I love the granite, the hood, and the windows flanking the stovetop. Can you explain how you got such a great deal on the hood? I'm so glad I stumbled across this post because I'm looking to use the exact same Aspen light from Circa Lighting for our master bedroom! We're going for a craftsman feel and the iron finish would work well with the iron handles on our dresser. My only concern is that there is no diffuser on the bottom which might might be too bright when we're laying in bed. The light isn't over the bed but centered off the end of the of the bed a few feet away. What is the wattage of the lights you have in there for those pictures? Do you think that fixture would work well in a bedroom?

OK, we're not finished but here are some progress pics. First, a big thank you to my wife who has really jumped in and helped me a LOT on this! A few generic comments- we've still got some planting to do, particularly around the gazebo. So it's not 100% complete. As mentioned above the plants are spaced for their mature size. So they look a little spread out right now, but they'll grow into place. The Bermuda grass is just coming out of dormancy, so it looks pretty wimpy in the pics. This first picture is the view from the driveway and sidewalk approach. There's a Siren Red Crepe Myrtle accent with a couple of Cordyline Red Sensations next to it. Veriegated liriope and dwarf mondo grass fill in the area in front and a border of Red Muhly Grass is behind. I discovered that spring is a bad time to buy Muhly Grass because it's not growing yet and is therefore hard to find except in small size. It'll eventually fill in and create a solid border though :-) The below pic shows a red banana tree (which was battered by high winds a couple of days ago, that's why the leaves are torn) surrounded by Pee Dee Gold Liriope with some Dwarf Mondo grass in front of that. That's a Tonto (red) Crepe Myrtle in the back. The grass is Mexican Feather Grass and is beautiful when the wind blows it! There is going to be a large Koi pond in front of the gazebo with an arched bridge connecting the patio to the gazebo (that's why nothing is planted there).The small bush/ tree outside of the bed is a fruiting Pomegranate tree. They only grow to about 10'. Below is the back of the gazebo with a Texas stepping stone to the backyard area. The small plants surrounding the rock area are an interesting new variety of Asian Jasmine called "Salsa". The leaves are beautiful- red, green and yellow all on the same leaf! It is not supposed to be as invasive as regular Jasmine, but I enclosed it in metal edging just to be sure. The Crepe Myrtle to the right is lavender. In the background is the stepping stone & gravel path we made back to the equipment pad. I like this because it makes for a really cool "zen view" from the other side of the pool through the slide opening. This is more Mexican Feather Grass with the Pink Muhly border coming up to each side (just beyond the pic). That's another Cordyline in the middle and Blue Fescue lining the front (this view is from the back). Last pic, this is really to show a "before" pic of the pergola. I put this in myself many years ago and it needs to be refreshed. I'm going to rebuild it sometime this spring or summer- removing the roof panels, power wash the cedar, install a roof gable with "sunburst" pattern, re-roof it with sheathing and shingles, install some decorative trim on the columns. That's it for now, back outside for more landscaping!

We are doing the best of both worlds in our pool. We built a beach entry that has a very gentle slope that goes from 0 to 9" in about 12 feet. It will be mostlly quatrzite (and some PT as it gets deeper). Then on the other side of the pool, we built a "kiddie" pool that really is for me. It is 18 inches deep and raised so it flows into the main pool. I plan on putting a lounge chair in there when the kids are not splashing around in it and just laying in the water. I looked at nylon lounge chairs and found many that are either just slightly less than 18" high and some that are just slightly taller than 18". So I will probably order the ones that are 15" or so high and that way my little tush can be in 2-3" of water all the time to keep cool. :) Katherine Here is a link that might be useful: Our pool build -- 3rd pix shows kiddie pool, scroll down a few posts for beach entry.

Our depth is 18". We LOVE it. Like I said, the only regret is that it isn't bigger. The color is Caribbean Blue PT, I love the different colors it changes to due to the weather. Sometimes it is very green, other times it is aqua or turquoise, just like the Caribbean Sea we love so much. Desertdance, if I had my way, I would have done ours like yours! Beautiful!