First, start a list of wants and needs. Consider how you want to use your space and let you imagination go wild. Plan big - you can always start small. Then draw your yard on paper. Make special note of the sun angles in winter and summer. How does water move off your property? Leave open space for pathways so you can move through your yard. Decide on a main theme or focal point. You have your Japanese theme, but maybe you need a focal point like a fountain, small water feature or pond with Koi. You may draw several variations on you want to use your space, but this is the design process. If you hire a landscape designer they will ask you these same questions. Collect pages from magazines that show the landscape you are visioning. Take photos of landscapes you like. If you email me, I can send you a template for the wants and needs list and a few tips to get you started.

Welcome to winter sowing, Paulsm. My first advice is for you to go to Wintersown.org, read especially How to Winter Sow, but generally everything you need to know is there. Reading the FAQ on the home page for this forum will also provide valuable information. There is a wealth of information on this forum, and lovely, helpful members here to help you along. We are more than happy to help you with any specific questions, so don't be shy about asking. Good luck.

Justgotabme - Ha ha! Sadly I wasn't much better before I had kids. At least not about getting organized and staying that way. But I did have more energy to just stay up an extra half hour and tidy up so it didn't get quite so crazy. The good news is that after I wrote my pity-party posting last night I did get up and pick up the scattered mail, any trash on the floor, DD's books and got the toys back to her zone. Some of the stuff is gone off the couch too, mostly just the trash stuff though. Looking at what I just wrote about not being able to get organized and stay that way... I'm not sure that's true. I don't think I have EVER been organized. I have gotten my house neat and clean, but I think I can't keep it that way precisely because it is not organized. On the other hand, I think my kitchen is fairly organized and everything there that belongs there has a home... but it doesn't stay neat because other things like to camp out on the kitchen counter and table. I don't think most of my house is unorganized because I have too much unloved stuff (though that's certainly true of the garage), we do haul stuff to Goodwill several times a year and there's an ongoing goodwill pile in the garage. But I'm sure if I started digging through my closets I could find more to haul away.

This feels like a six-figure list, but hard to say much beyond that to price. Don't understand Sophie's dismissal of solar -- ours has a 10-year payback estimate, and that's before we sell any credits. It's great to have zero heating costs at some times of the year, to feel like we're decreasing our environmental footprint, and to hope someday to run our car off the system too. For your project, agree with aprilneverends about just getting some contractors to walk through it with you. It will clarify some things (probably none of them have solar connections, or you'll find out there are zoning issues, or whatev.), it will give you some numbers, and they may have advice about how to think about the projects in the sense of logistics (can you live there, etc) that will help you plan and even assess your enthusiasm. For sure, I wouldn't sweat a designer yet, although you will probably want a kitchen specialist to help you get the most from your enlarged kitchen space. Are there some parts of this project that are needs and others that are wants? because you might decide you don't need to do it all. Your kitchen looks pretty great for a family of four, for example, and I'm not sure you'll ever get back the (extravagent) cost of getting an extra 3-4 feet in each direction...