Yes Fran, 5 or 6 out of 25 would be a good number,outstanding even. As for blooming and Bonsai quality tho, it was an intense effort for one year/season by them. After the display I'd bet they just pitched them. Many times, for a display like that, the plants are 'forced' to make sure they are ready for the display. Then, once they are bloomed-out, the energy to make it through the dormancy period is gone. I would try to make one decent one for our socitys' fall dinner once in a while. They were always 2nd year plants. One year to grow and styled then not allowed to bloom. The second year they would get the final styling then allowed to bloom for the raffle. The bad news is that after all the work one of these would live maybe 4-5 years at the very most. You will probably make a very nice Mum Bonsai but, it is very labor intensive. You go...hey...we want pictures!!! There is a ton of information about this on the web and, pictures to look at for style. Bob

I can't make much sense out of the diagram or the photos because you don't say which way the trusses span, how they are spaced, and the diagram is apparently not to scale (24 ft wall is shown longer than 28 ft wall?) If the trusses are designed to span the 28 ft dimension of the house, then walls near the mid-span would have no load to carry and could simply be removed. Bearing walls under trusses are rare and would occur at about the 1/4 points where the V-shaped intermediate chords meet the bottom chords. The force at the bottom mid-span of this kind of truss is horizontal tension only. If the headers/walls in question were actually carrying the load of the roof, double 2x10's would be needed (or larger in a cold climate). So, it appears to me (although I don't really understand enough about this structure to have a clear opinion) that someone might have tried to remedy the bottom chord sag in overloaded or poorly designed and/or fabricated trusses by reinforced them with plywood gusset plates at the connections and adding walls/headers at the mid-span. However, it does seem odd that vertical or angled chords were not added to the truss to transfer load to the walls/headers. Perhaps there are transfer beams along the bottom truss chords extending out 7 ft or so in each direction from the walls/headers. Of course, they would have to be very large inefficient members. Perhaps they span the entire room. Then again, maybe someone just added some walls and doorways to separate the spaces and used 2x6 headers in case the trusses sagged a bit. Are there sufficient supports below the wall and the jambs of the opening that take loads to the ground? If not, these walls are definitely not structural. A center beam might have been designed to only carry the floor load. This would be obvious to an engineer. You should strip all finishes and then have an engineer tell you how to repair the trusses so they can span the entire space without any walls or headers (if you can find one willing to take responsibility for patching a poorly designed truss). If the exterior walls are leaning out at the top plates, then the connections at those points may have failed, spread, and forced the bottom chords downward. Sistering some chords and proper joint reinforcement should make the existing trusses work properly but if the exterior walls are not plumb, you might have to pull them back in place first. Truss design may look easy but it is a job for a structural engineer. Don't rely on advice about complex structural conditions from a contractor or anyone on the internet. Get an engineer on site. Your son might be wiser than you think.

I doubt any residential property with trusses has any interior load bearing walks both outside walks are load bearing. And I'd say all commercial building with trusses wjth interior walks are definitely load bearing not residential . Me I would treat it as a load bearing wall building 2 posts Anda large beam the span of the wall to be removed . Or better build two walks the. Height of the wall to be removed and 3 foot longer with studs 3 foot o.c on center first then remove the wall. If I seen it . I'd know in a minute if it was. But I seriously doubt it is with house trusses only your exterior walls that run the length of the home are load bearing . W trusses . If the home has floor joists on a second floor that's the only time it would be load bearing....

fairytalebaby, I'm so excited for you. I remember your beautiful setting when you posted over on Building a Home. When we picked out paint colors before we had furniture we also stuck to neutral. It's hard enough to choose paint when you have actual materials you are trying to match but without the furniture, neutrals are your friend. As for the ceiling. There is no rule, only personal preference. I was formally a white ceiling kinda gal but the more I looked at new homes and some beautiful shots here on Garden Web, the more I really wanted to try some color. I love it now and can't even imagine going back to white ceilings. I'm a total convert. Some like a 50% cut of their wall color. Some like light gray (like Ellen Kennon's Gustavian Gray) Some like cream. It's totally up to you! Good Luck and can't wait to see what you're picking out for your interior! Beautiful Home! Lindy