Cross referencing with your other thread, it seems your walkway is flared at both ends. From your drawing here I thought it wasn't. OK, so you aren't going to re-pour it, and I wouldn't either. If you were, I would not make that corner a right turn, but rather redraft the whole thing into a more gradually curvy swoosh reaching further down the driveway. You could leave the narrow bed by the garage wide enough for something, but to be honest, I think even with a redo I really would just pave to the wall - fill in the whole bed. Plants don't like growing in that situation anyway. With what you have I would tend towards a concept that works for me in my narrow beds: Basically a container gallery with plants at their feet. You could fill in the whole bed with pavers and put in a killer container gallery, or make it a container gallery among plants like mine. Your plants can be a single ground cover or a collection like hostas, hellebores, etc. In short, a bed like this only avoids being a plant line-up with a LOT of hardscape (can include wall art). If you really don't want containers, then study columnar conifers. Say, Taxus media 'Flushing,' Taxus baccata 'Golden Dwarf,' and the other usual suspects. Very structural stuff, including anything smaller you put in and can prune fairly flat (Cephalotaxus might be cool like that, has great foliage up close). But stay as far back from the door as you can with anything tall or wide. I would not do vines here. I would do structure. Structure is really missing from all the plants you have there too. Indeterminate blobs. You need big leaves. But I'm suggesting containers because to me your yard really needs hardscape. I know you have rocks, but they echo what I think is a bit of a design failing IN your beds (never mind their shape for a moment): kind of a tendency toward... spots? That captures what I don't like in your narrow bed now, what I don't like about the rose bed (and sorry, I hate those plants anyway - more indeterminate blobs with small leaves), and what I don't like about the rocks you've got. Plop. That's kind of the way I see a lot of those placement decisions. Collecting your boulders into groups might be much better. Collecting your plants into groups would too. I know all this doesn't address overall design, but that narrow bed isn't likely going to be part of any overall design anyway as it doesn't have "line" connection with anything you might do on the property (unless you can apply Woody's idea of running lines across the walkway...). I still like Woody's drawing but as far as overall design is concerned, I LOVE pls's concept. I wonder what would happen if you erased all the beds you've got and tried to sketch that out. Maybe boulder rearrangement could be guided by this concept at least. And it might enable you to keep some of the house wall clear. So I'm rambling a bit, sorry. Yes, I see bed shape as a problem here, but I think bed design/planting scheme is also contributing to the whole composition not working. Focal points, structure, hardscape, garden furniture... I think that is where you will need to go once you have bed shape worked out. It is not only plants that contribute balance, unity, repetition, etc. Actually now that I think about it, my plant zoo is actually irrelevant to my yard's design. I could move all my plants into different positions tomorrow, and the overall impression the yard makes would remain the same based on the hardscape alone. I think you are expecting the plants to BE your design, and that is maybe the fatal flaw. Karin L

Hi Zootjsj and welcome to the wonderful world of poultry. Your scheme so resembled ours I couldn't resist a reply, but as beginners, it truly is a mere 2 cents worth. We have 4 Indian runners, 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Brown Chinese and 2 Toulouse. How's that for a mimic of your plans! We raised all of them from a home made brooder - as wonderfully educational as it was messy - so fair warning. All were very different. As we put it, "the chicks were dizzy, the ducklings were busy, but the goslings would look you in the eye!" The "buffies" (recommended by my Mom who raised birds for years) are good layers (brown eggs) very sweet and easy to handle. I'm told they're a dual purpose bird (okay for the table) but can't verify from experience. Were so pleased with them weÂre planning for more, or a good buff roo as they do go broody and will populate. The Runners are equally reliable layers, but too flighty to sit on a nest. We have 2 drakes and 2 ducks. They are very "patterned" birds - so what ever routine you begin, know that they'll count on its repeating, everyday. They will rid your gardens of bugs & slugs (of which we have no shortage in these parts). We give ours range of the garden in the mornings, it's hard to herd them back to the pen though. Our drakes are fiercely protective too, though not at all aggressive to humans. Early last summer when the geese were younger, though 3 times the size of the runners, we would put them together in the same yard to keep them safe while we were away. Rudy, our lead drake, would not back down for the sake of size. He once latched on to the tail of a goose that got too close I guess. She ran around the coop twice bellowing and trying to shake him loose. He held on tight, flailing and bobbing along behind her like a loose diaper. Finally Lincoln, our gander got involved and then things got even more exciting! Suffice to say that after that we got busy fencing a separate paddock for the geese. We free range our geese when we can. I believe they're healthier for it. Ours do not wander much. We raised our Chinese (thinking they were Africans), and added the Toulouse after we lost a pair in a dog attack. And yes, as someone mentioned, Fido across the street, who wags his tail every day as you retrieve the mail can surprise you and become your #1 predator. In nearly a year, this was the cause of our only loss (though I think weÂve also been plain lucky). We are finding our gander to be a bit of a handful now that breeding season is approaching. We tried not to get too chummy as we raised them and I would offer you the same advice. Don't hand feed them, etc. We are simply learning to work with/and around him now, and fortunately have the space to do so. We don't have children, which would worry me at the same level as an aggressive dog with kids about. Don't know if its due to his breed, upbringing or individual nature, but he is beginning to slowly charge us at night when its time for lock down. The Toulouse are more mellow, but were flock raised and are now beholden to our gander - so can't tell you much more about them. Just be careful with these guys. Oh and yes, gosh are the Chinese noisy! Good fencing and night shelter is a must, at least around here - we went the extra mile and have been grateful for it - cage wire 8"-12" underground then overlapped with chicken wire 6ft or so up! We supply grain and layer pellets supplemented with greens we've grown on our own. All are terrific foragers if you plan to free range. We get lots of advice from the homesteader down the way who blatantly told us that despite all you do, you have to expect some losses. If you have farmers in your area, make friends and ask lots of questions. Hope this was helpful. Good luck. You'll do just fine with what ever you decide, have a ball and learn lots along the way. Please, please keep us posted. No matter where youÂre at as your plans unfold, we can inevitably learn from your individual experiences too!

Okay, I am going to be harsh, people on GW who know me, know I am never harsh, I avoid when I do not like something or I avoid having to say anything. But I know you have posted twice. Forgive me in advance. It's Blah. You need a direction. You need color. You need not worry that mixing woods is not going to work. It will be fine. But you need more color, more excitement, more energy and more of YOU. What colors do you love? I am thrilled you are thinking of a granite with some color. This is great! You asked ".....is it going to look like a mishmash of colors with white, black and stainless steel appliances?...." Yes, it could because you need a direction. But you can find the direction and style. You can do this. Be brave! You asked... "...........table will go with the oak cabinets? Will the one we picked out tentatively work...... Can I go darker on the kitchen table without clashing with cabinets?.." YES! Yes to all your questions. The table can work, going dark is okay. I prefer sticking to your similar wood cabinet color but since you need a bit of drama going a bit darker is going to be fine. But before we even consider the table lets find out what else is going on with your space. Lets look at what you have chosen. Oak, gray floor, Black island, White Refrig. These are not really a main color. All Neutrals. What color do you like? What colors are in the rest of your home? Not sure what you like? Take a walk into your closet. Look for your favorite top, dress, scarf... Look around your house is there a painting, a pillow, a curtain that you love and want to keep. Use this as a guide to decorating the rest of the space. The black, white and oak are neutrals. You need to bring in some spice to the space. Have you visited Finished Kitchens Blog? I urge you to take a look at what others have done with oak. And have you done the Sweeby test? Check out the link this is a great resource to discovering what you want. After you have come up with a theme and a color direction. I don't mean neutrals I mean your favorite color you want to accent. Lets reconvene and talk about how to make this work to be spectacular. YOu can do this. ~boxer

Ok, I'm a dork, usually I click on them and they'll still be small, the one time I don't and they're larger! Sorry bout that! Thanks terriks for posting them, my old eyes just aren't what they used to be! Love the color and how you've been able to incorporate it into the room so far. It's addicting, isn't it? LOL So here's my .2 cents...in stead of white curtains, which I agree can be costly, have you considered using valances in the aqua instead? I think they'd look very nice with your blinds. I realize with the drape, you're trying to soften the night stands but I don't think they look bad at all. I know a lot of people like to use a drape cloth to hide whatever it is they don't like, but I'm not a fan especially with bulkier pieces. That said, there are other ways to soften them without covering them completely. For example, when I was looking for something to put under our lamps, (which also sit on a set of very big night stands,) I found some really cool place mats made out of a natural material for .99 cents at IKEA. You can't tell that's what they are for or cost and they worked perfectly. So maybe you can get creative and find something like that to help to soften the stands up a bit. I also see the bedding has some red in it, but the red pillows are so much bolder than the blue that they draw the eye immediately to them. I think what I would do is use the pillows as my opportunity to introduce more white into the room with either solid white or a pretty white & blue stripe maybe. Do you sew? If so, it wouldn't be difficult to make some pillow covers for those red pillows and then you'd have a lot more flexability with fabric choices. Maybe even make the valances as well which is another very easy project. :c) In the bedding the red they've used looks great, but compared to the blue, it's a bold color. I'd probably leave it in the back ground and not use it as a primiary color in the room because it competes too much with that pretty blue. I realize you didn't say anything about this, so I hope not to offend, but maybe you can move or even replace the dresser at the end of the bed with a smaller sized bench. The dresser is out of scale and looks out of place in that spot. I hope that helps, you're on the right track, it looks good so far and I really like the bedding you chose, very pretty!