Unfortunately, our community had a rash of incidents about 4 years ago that may have been linked to open houses. Small items were missing, keys disappeared, or windows/doors were left unlocked and perps returned to steal stuff shortly thereafter. My realtor was really great at telling us to remove ANYTHING small that we did not want viewed or lost. The list included, keys, meds, money/coins, any jewelry, small pictures, collections, items with personal importance. Glassware, silver, even china should be packed away. Remotes, laptops, I-pads, chargers, tools, dvds, etc...all needed to be in locked drawers. Calendars with your schedule on them needed to be hidden. Even items stored under beds and in closets should be in boxes/totes that were taped shut. We even had a few beers in the fridge walk off. We had about a couple dozen showings that I know of. There were faucets left running, windows left open, heaters turned on and left on (in summer). We had kids crawling under beds, playing in closets, jumping on beds. (I began to just go next door and look through the window to see what people were doing while at my house. When I saw 2 girls jumping on my antique bed in the front bedroom of my house while the parents were milling about in the back yard, I walked over and rapped on the window of my bedroom -- boy did those two girls take off like a shot to the backyard!) I was really floored when I saw private items like dresser drawers had been opened and some of the contents moved around (husband is very OCD on his drawer organization and we know they were gone through!). I even had a closet staged with nothing but my business suits hanging in it -- and some of the jackets had the pockets turned out like they had been gone through! I wanted to put a mouse trap in one -- but held off. Visiting realtors were bad enough at keeping track of house hunters when having private showings -- it would have been worse with an open house. We eventually sold to the parents of a woman who stopped by my neighbor's place while I was sitting on the porch with my neighbor. The lady came by to say she didn't have a realtor yet, and her parents had just sold their home across the state and were looking for a home like ours. She asked if I knew the people who lived in the house on the corner (mine). I fessed up right away that I was the owner and she asked to have a quick look -- normally I would have referred her to my realtor, but since she had custom plates on her car, my neighbor and I figured we were fairly safe! (She was the wife of a local doctor we later found out.) The quick tour of the house convinced her it was exactly what her parents wanted -- and 2 days later they traveled the 4 hours to view the house and make an offer! yeah! Maybe if I had an open house she would have stopped by, but she was attracted by the street side for sale sign in a neighborhood she was targeting. I'm certain she would have called the realtor's number had I not been there, but we used the opportunity to sell the house.

Chess-yeah that's me - yes, that is exactly right! the owners dad built it about 70 years ago. Jamie Ludwig - I posted some additional photos that did not seem to upload before Saypoint - Was thinking I can't do seating on either side of the door because on one side you have fireplace and the other side is the entryway to the other room. We tried the sofa facing the fireplace but it did not seem to work well as it felt like you walked into the sofa when you came in. Also tried the sofa in front of the tv with the back to the door but then again felt like you walked right into the sofa and it was too close to the TV.

People have storm doors because, they open doors and pull down the screen for air. A storm door has a security lock on it, for safety. Phantom screens are wrecked by children and pets go right through them and can escape your property and end lost or worse. I personally, would never ever be without storm doors on my house. I have very nice wood doors, and they are original to the house and still in excellent condition because they were protected with storm doors.

Vegetable gardens are not something I'd recommend for a front yard, street side planting. They seldom have much aesthetic appeal, often look quite messy and typically require protection from insect pests and animal marauders. And they often do not exist at all for 4-6 months of the year, perhaps longer. Curb appeal factor is a negative, not a plus :-) The simplest approach is to use a groundcover, preferably evergreen, for the sloped portion and remove the grass and replace with gravel or crushed rock at the street to accommodate parking. Or some combination of low growing shrubby material and some flowering perennials. Make sure the pathway from street to entry is generously sized - at least 4-5' wide.