Thank you all so much for your responses! You guys are great. A few things before I respond individually. Our HOA has ridiculous rules about landscaping. Every house must have two trees out front: a pine and an oak. So unfortunately, removing them is not an option. Trimming them helped a ton and you can now at least see the house. Sunnyca, I know what you mean about creeping fig. I just love it so much. *sob* And the houses around here that have it are freaking adorable. I know how much work they are (as does DH) and I even tried to talk him out of it yesterday because I know it can be damaging to the mortar. KarinL, I know exactly what you're talking about re: outer space. It's something I hate about this house too. Worse yet, it's closer to the street than my neighbors so it looks even more awkward. (In case any of you are wondering why we bought such a house; we moved here for DH's job and chose this suburb for (a) the school [we have four kids] and (b) the commute. This house was probably the 70th we looked at and the layout inside is perfect for us which was more important to me than the exterior.) Catkim, the Sago was removed because we simply don't like them. I know that's somewhat of a sin in the landscaping world! The windowbox with the yellow flowers was one I googled. I'm not going to be using yellow in the box. Possibly geraniums with maybe varigated vinca vine. We can definitely grow lavendar and salvia here. Nandina, that's an exceptional idea. I'm pretty sure they'd allow it. Another poster suggested that when we replace the lantern to have it hang lower to that space between the door and the window. Thoughts? Inkognito, we're definitely painting the motifs above the windows. They're so "hey look at me!!" the color that they are. We actually might mix some water with paint and use it as a stain. laag, we were hoping to build a pergola/arbor/trellis (whatever they're called) in front of the garage with something like clematis or mandevilla growing from either side. My only concern about whether I want to pretend the garage isn't there or just celebrate it, kwim? Not "celebrate it" but just incorporate it since it's obviously there and there to stay. Also, I'm pretty sure once we paint, it's going to inpsire my neighbor to do the same. Her landscaping is fantastic and her taste inside her home is nice. You've all given us plenty to think about and I'm anxious for DH to read this thread. Thanks again!

Comparing the Cabrio and the Harmony to the Duet isn't exactly an apples to apples comparision, because the Duet is several hundred dollars more in price. Also, in order to get the full benefit you have spend even more on platforms to raise both the washer and the dryer up to eye level. As far as wash performance goes the Duet probably has the best wash performance as far as removing stains, and the Cabrio probably has an edge when it comes to particulate soils and pet hair. The Cabrio probably also has an edge when it comes to rinsing out particulate soils and pet hair as well, but they are probably comparable when it comes to rinsing out detergent. The Duet is the clear winner when it comes to water consumption, but the Cabrio is still pretty good. As far as vibration is concerned, the Cabrio is the runaway winner, primarily because front loaders as a genre are intended more for solid brick houses in Europe as opposed to wooden houses in North America. Capacity is at least a tie, with maybe the Cabrio having an edge. I've actually heard of people washing more than twenty pounds of laundry in Cabrio, but if you stuff it too full you run the risk of it sucking your socks and underwear between the inner and outer wash tub. The Duet Actually has a smaller volume wash tub than the Cabrio, but since it's a front loader, and since its wash tub is tilted up, all that volume is useable capacity. Allthough, the Cabrio wash tub volume is all pretty useable as well. Right now the Duet, being a traditional front loader, is a pretty safe bet since the technology has been on the market for years in Europe. The Cabrio technology is newer, but impeller washers have been on the market for years in Asia as well, allthough the impellers over there are deep fill washers, whereas the Cabrio is an HE style washer. If it's any comfort, there are now actually three Cabrio style washers on the market, the GE Harmony, the Cabrio/Oasis/Bravos, and the Fisher & Paykel Aquasmart, so it looks like all the major appliance manufacturers are converging on the same top loading HE washer design.

We just did the ultimate paint-off in our house testing a bunch of low/no VOC paints and unfortunately, Harmony came in at the very bottom of the our pack. The paint was very, very runny, drips everywhere and the coverage was not very good and we were painting over light cream walls. Pittsburgh Pure Performance was a little better, C2 was better than that but I could still smell it. We are going to with farrow and Ball because it had NO smell and went on like buddah. i wish BM Aura was available in Canada because it is suppose to be fab too. Try getting a bit of the paint and see if you had the same problems we did. HTH, Christie

Just go shopping and look at things you might like. My towels are from Target and the tassel lamp is from a flea market, artwork from Stein Mart, candles from TJMaxx. Just take your time in finding things you like. I think the white tiles will look great with that color. You have far more light with white tiles than I had with the blue pearl granite. Go for it. Do almost everything in white and it will have a cozy spa look. Do you have a shower curtain? If not, look for one similar to a flame stitch or an ikat which would have several colors, including a cool color like your paint and maybe some fiery reds and do all the rest in white. Maybe add some red candles here and there.