that is AWESOME. just awesome. question - we are in the process of choosing appliances for our outdoor kitchen (will be nothing near as cool as yours, sadly) and are wondering about an icemaker. i see that you have one - do you love it? does it work well and meet your expectations? how much ice does it make in a day? we've been told by one builder that they don't tend to last very long or don't make the amount of ice one would expect. really, i'd be happy with just a large freezer that would hold ice and keep it frozen that we could dip into to make blender drinks.. thanks for any info - :)

I think this varies with climate. In a theater of seasons, the outdoor kitchen will require turnoff of water in winter and turnon in spring. You won't have many outdoor guests at temps below about 50 degrees and even then, you're wearing coats and eating s'mores or hot rum--a kitchen is not necessary. I suspect that most outdoor kitchens are for parties. Do you give parties? Big parties? How often would a two person household use an outdoor kitchen? Or is this an ego thing...Does the person at the grill crave an audience? Are you so addicted to cold beverages that you can't tolerate a whole walk to kitchen for another bottle? I've seen some beautiful stone or brick ones at the patio store near us. Then I think about keeping them clean--you'd have to have a spigot, hose and hosewinder close buy so you can de-spiderweb and clean up the outdoor kitchen before use. We have squirrels everywhere in our yard, letalone dogs, other critters, and bird doo. Would you trust open work surfaces without a good scrub-down? Add the time that it takes for the patio and outdoor kitchen to dry off afterward...and would it be dirty again soon on a windy day? And how do you handle hornets? Gotta keep things scrupulously clean. As for me, if I had an outdoor refrigerator I'd have one more thing to try to keep track of. "Is there beer in the outdoor refrig? And will the neighbor kids find it?" "Is there anything rotting in that second refrig outside, the one we were crazy to buy?" If there are dirty dishes, who washes them and is there light to do it or do you wait until morning ... or just haul them on a tray to the indoors kitchen?" If there is an outdoor dishwasher, do you store beverage glasses, plates, tableware outdoors or lug stuff from kitchen both ways anyway? ____ Here's what I need to augment my deck: a weatherproof, spiderwebproof place to store a few items: salt & pepper, napkins, serving spoons, matches, pencil and notepaper, extra basting brushes. I've considered a mailbox but haven't found one that doesn't look like a mailbox, yet. On another note, I have bought DH a clip-on LED battery powered gooseneck light for his Weber grill as a Christmas present. We use the grill year-round and it's pretty dark out there right now, at suppertime. Should prove a help to determine whether the meat is pink or raw.

I would be willing to bet that the original intention is not to plant directly into the planter but set pots in it such that they are hidden. However, there is now a mishmash of many pot sizes, with some of them being large and exposed. Seeing the pots detracts from the overall picture. The goal would be to adjust the elevation of whatever holds the pots such that they don't show, and that whatever is growing in them finishes concealing them. This should not really be hard to do. I would not think that the goal is to hide the background fence, but to merely conceal its lower portion (to no more than half its height) and attaching mechanism. Therefore, I'd be looking for something fairly low and bushy, spreading, possibly draping. But what's chosen will depend a lot on climate and conditions. I don't know, Nicole, why you wouldn't be able to do this on your own. It's a matter of just buying some durable plants and dropping their pots into the slot. You would probably need to re-pot them first into slightly larger containers so their roots have some growing room. And then just water and fertilize them.

I once stayed in San Blas, Nayarit (on the beach), and so I am familiar with that area of Mexico. There was a bit of a problem with mosquitoes, and so I had to wear insect repellent while there, but only in the evening.Here's the laundry room - a bit small, but probably adequate. We'll find out if the washer and dryer are in good condition on Tuesday, after the home inspection. We have much better washer and dryer here in L.A., but I think these will be okay. We will mainly use them to wash sheets and towels for guests. The dryer is gas, which will save on electricity, although with our solar panels, the electricity bill should be extremely low. I've found a contractor in CC that I think will be good and not too expensive, and we will have him bid on changing the tubs to walk-in showers. At this point, we have decided that we want to convert both tubs to walk-in showers - just because that is what we both want and will be happier with. Also, the off-season is coming up, starting in July. I would leave my bathroom as it is if the tub had tile around it, but since it has a plastic surround, I want to replace that. I also really do not like the tub and do not plan ever to take baths there. We will not be renting to people with children, partly because of the pool. Our real estate agent said that people in CC prefer walk-in showers and that tubs are not required by most renters. Anyway, as I said, if someone wants to have a soak, they can do that in the spa in the patio.We want to do the renos now because we have the cash, and we want to use whatever is left over to pay down the mortgage.