We raised Carolina wrens in a pig flower pot which sat on the deck railing. They chose this pig with the tough thorned aloe vera plant for 3 years running. To sort of hide the nest from our movements, I located the tall pot of bougainvillea in front of it. The day the fledgelings flew, I always called it WHEN PIGS FLY. They are still hanging around our garden, fussing at us for trespassing, and I still call them the Pig Family. Now we have the second pair of bluebirds in a nestbox in the hosta garden. They have babies in there and when I am close enough I hear them begging for food. I sure hope they fledge before the weather gets too too hot. Last year the pair abandoned the 2nd round of babies because it got too hot. This year I spray the area around noon to 2pm to cool it down. It helps a lot. I also have out water bowls and birdbaths, but the favorite way to shower for all the birds seems to be rubbing on the wet leaves of the peach and camellia trees while the sprinkler is running. Or the doves bathe on top of the umbrellas; Water is a prime concern and I have containers of it out everywhere....which I refresh daily to avoid mosquitos.

Can the bathroom door be reversed in its set-up? If so, then here's an idea: Your space is small so I'm suggesting apartment size appliances: 27" fridge and 18" DW (Miele is reportedly most space efficient). You could even go with a 24" wide range to gain you 6 more inches of counter. I placed the pantry out from the side wall so that the sliding door can still slide open. I placed the pantry between fridge and wall so that you can fully open the fridge doors (they need to swing open past 90 degrees), allowing you to pull out fridge drawers. I tried to place the sink below the window but that would not have allowed for a 36" corner Susan and you really can't give up storage in your small space. If you can, enlarge the window so that the sink is centered under it. I'm not crazy about the range placement but there really isn't room on the window wall (I'm assuming that your local code prohibits you from placing a range under an operable window). I'd encourage you to go for an island hood, not a downdraft ranges. It's an increased cost but worth it, IMO. Venting for the latter isn't the greatest for pulling smoke and fumes out of the kitchen and if you have a gas or propane range, it pulls on the flame (my pop-up downdraft has blown out a low gas flame on the back burner). So, let's talk storage. There are 2 upper cabinets, one to the left of the sink and one to its right. Dishes and glasses go here. The 6" pull-out cab to the left of the range can hold oils and spices or it can hold silverware and utensils in holders like this, The 30" bank of drawers to the right of the range can hold spatulas, pot holders, pots, pans and (maybe) baking dishes. The 9" deep, 42" high cabinet behind the range provides more pantry storage, plus it provides a buffer for the range. The 12" deep pantry cabinet across from the fridge is floor to ceiling, providing even more storage. Build a cut-out in it for a GE Spacemaker II microwave like this (source: mommyme at ikeafans.com) To extend your work prep area, go for a sink set-up that allows you to place a cutting board over all or half of it, like this (kitchencritic.co.uk) or this (Sears) If you can't move the bathroom door, the above plan will still work with a simple change. Swap the location of the 12" deep pantry with the 15" wide pantry and fridge. I didn't suggest that first because I was trying to keep all the major appliances in the L.

janniemac, the white supports that you see are 4x4s, but they probably don't need to be that big. The ceiling joists run perpendicular to the 4x4 supports and the beadboard. The joists weren't in the right place for how far we wanted to hang the swing from the back of the porch, so the 4x4s are each lag bolted into two joists and the eye bolts for hanging the swing are in the center of the 4x4s. I think you could accomplish the same thing with 2x4s. Hope that helps!

Local garden center. The box stores are just big hardware stores