You said you don't know what you are doing, but you don't look like a beginner by any stretch of the imagination. I like your "cottage style" planter (window box), and you made a great choice with the bricks too, BTW. I'm new to container planting - if you ever need suggestions, the container gardening forum is a great place for advice (you seem to have more of a knack for it than I do, however). I also arranged a window box this year, and only recently transplanted into other containers...in doing so, I found that it was one big root system (I could pull it out in one piece and it was a 36" planter). Yikes! I had sweet potato vine, 2 coleus plants, black potato vine, alyssum, and ivy. I think it was the vines...huge root systems. So, next year I have to consider the number of plants in one planter - early in the season it will be ok, but as the roots grow the need for fertilizer and water increases with it (I learned the hard way). Have you considered planting clematis vines? I think they'd look fabulous on your balcony and it would be a great splash of color! You could grow them in pots up a small trellis or obelisk. Check out the clematis forum if you are interested. Are you open to constructive feedback? I think the bistro set would look spectacular if you positioned it more to the left or right, rather than direcly in the middle. Since your balcony is symmetrical, asymmetry would be a nice balance. And instead of the chairs being directly across from eachother, you can place them both facing outward (see my picture). This might not work for various reasons, and I can't tell where your "exit" is based on these pictures, but it doesn't hurt to play around with it and see what works. Good luck with decorating your balcony - it looks fabulous, and you've only just begun.

If you want a small tree at the right end of bed (near corner) then putting in a Hydrangea that's NOT a tree, won't work. You'll need to find another place for it. Earlier I recommended PG Hydrangea which can be grown as a small tree. Burning Bush, common Lilac or Philadelphus coronaria are other large shrubs that make good small, multi-trunk trees. For planting a large groundcover bed, you'd want to arrange plants in rows with the leading row in line with the front edge of the bed, but set back a uniform distance from it. Usually, the same spacing between plants works well as the front set back distance... so let's say for Hosta, 18". Then space them 18" apart in the row. 18" Behind that row is another row laid out in the same manner, except that you would place these plants not directly behind the first row, but offset them so that they are staggered relative to it. Continue the process until you have reached the back of the bed and filled it up. Since you are planting around trees, just don't place a Hosta where the tree is. You can come close, but not so close that you are struggling with tree roots (the tree being the Dogwood) as you don't want to disturb its ability to grow. When the Hosta grow, they will nestle around the tree trunks just fine. Though you PLAN the planting beginning with the first row, you'd actually install plants beginning with the last and work your way backward so you are not crushing installed Hosta as you plant more. That's the manner in which you'd approach laying out a normal large bed. Now let me contradict that. If your bed is only 4' deep from front to back, the above instructions would only allow you to place 2 rows in the bed. That'd work OK, but if you have sufficient Hosta and want a full look more quickly, keep the plant spacing the same, but adjust the row spacing so that you can fit in 3 rows...say each being 12" apart. (Spacing would now be 18" o.c. x 12" rows.) Whether you install whole Hosta clumps or split them up is a factor of How many you need vs. how many you have available. Split them if you're going to need a lot of Hosta or if the clumps are so huge they just need splitting.

Nosoccermom, I will give you a couple of tips from my limited experience. Make sure you spend the time to fill holes and dings with wood putty before painting. Each little blemish will show up much more after painting than in the original wood appearance. You need a really good paint brush - my favorite is the Purdy Clear Cut. I don't know why I just liked it in my hand. Also, I used a small fine roller from Seven paints - I did not like how a sponge roller looked. After a year +, the upper cabs still look like new but the lowers definitely have little dings that need to be touched up. So make sure you keep some extra paint! We used a clear silicone(?) on our seeded glass inserts. Hope this helps a little. If it seems daunting - it is daunting. This was a big project IMO. :) Here is a link that might be useful: this old house - how to paint your cabinets

Reader, the prints in the bathroom are called Serengeti I and II by Tandi Venter. The artist is from South Africa I believe. DH and I had the opportunity to go on a safari in SA with our church group a few years ago, and although these are just common art posters, they make me think of our personal trip. I bought the prints on eBay and made the frames out of door casing trim. They are fantastic posters, but the odd size made buying stock frames impossible (and custom was more than I wanted to spend ;-) Lynn, thanks so much for the kind words. I'm glad you commented on the cabinet color; I haven't seen many painted to blend with the walls, so I wasn't sure of the reception it would get. Those original cabinets are extremely sturdy and well built but didn't have anything going for them in the looks department. I wanted to downplay their appearance and size but maximize their function. It didn't hurt that using all one color allowed me to just spray on the paint willy-nilly, either!