These are personal preferences so you may feel differently... 1) I prefer a laundry room be located somewhere near the bedrooms/bathrooms so it doesn't have to be lugged up and down stairs all the time. 2) I'd want a window in the laundry room, and room for plenty of counter space for folding clean things, a laundry sink, room for a 5 ft long hanging rod (we hang tee-shirts to dry instead of putting them thru the dryer) plus room for an ironing board. A window makes the space more pleasant and allows you to sort socks under natural light (which makes distinguishing the black from the dark blue a whole lot easier.) 3) Is there a wall between foyer and kitchen? My kitchen is sometimes a bit of a mess and I would not want random strangers who happen to ring the front door bell to be able to see into the kitchen. 4) I would be concerned that the kitchen would be too dark. Even if open to dining room and great room, the kitchen is quite a distance from windows in those rooms plus, because they are shaded by covered porches, they won't get all that much light anyway. 5) Am I understanding that garage is a front facing 4 bay garage where you would park cars one behind the other? If so, if you don't have an alley exit, getting the inner cars in/out would be a bit of a PITA. Personally, I'd prefer a side-load garage if the lot is wide enough. 6) I'd want my wrap around front porch to be deep enough to be of use as an outdoor living space.

Wine corks idea is so cool! In our last project we did a small desk in the kitchen with a magnetic fabric panel, the owners had small children and didn't want any tacks that could potentially fall out... I thought it was pretty nice, but next time instead of paying extra for the magnetic fabric I am going to put a thin piece of metal on the substrate and then wrap with a fabric of clients choice..

Last kitchen. The upper cabinets on either side, plus a full drawer base held most of my clutter. The bulletin board was great for invitations, photos, appointment reminders. I had a large calendar on the desk, and plenty of outlets for charging. Like the first photo, my new desk area is almost identical with the exception of the drawers base. It's mot as large and I miss those larger drawers. however, I do have a huge corner cabinet off to the left, in addition to the two that flank the shelves that are used for junk. The trick to organization is the baskets. I don't have a bulletin board over this desk because the electrician put the phone jack and electrical outlet right over the desk. Instead, I put a large board in the laundry room. One tip that I have used in my last two homes. Don't settle for a normal desk piece, and don't let the cabinet guys hang it to low if you are a tall person. I got a unit that has a taller drawer. The standard units are not deep enough to hold today's phone books. Because I am taller, I wanted more knee room under the desk. I did the same with my bathroom vanity. Higher and taller drawer. You can also run your desk unit the same height as your base units and use a stool under the desk, instead of a chair. I've done that before! Bath

marking spots where plants should have come up by now. Remember, this is a new area, and I didn't want to dig in to plants early in the spring. There should be hibiscus coming up. Guess, it might not have made it. But, if all fails, as long as the other house won't sell, I can dig some more. :) Moni