Thanks, BC. I'll move them into more sun tomorrow, only it's supposed to rain, will stick them up on the porch. I've got so many things going, I'm having trouble remembering. Usually if there is a large drainage hole(s) in a pot, I stick a stone over it. And I tend to over water. When I see the top looking dry, I water. They came pretty soaked, too. Maybe I'd better ease up on the watering. Well, a guy stopped by tonight and will take out my cherry tree stumps and till me a spot for my tomatoes. Pretty expensive tomatoes. And I forgot two other small places to till. I'm going to have to decide if that stepladder is going to work because I'm going to ask if he can till that area in front, too, while he's got the tiller here. I think it is going to look tacky. The stepladder. But it's all I have ready for a trellis, and I want to try it. I kind of envy you having room for a redbud tree in your front yard, should be fun to plan around that. They tell me over on the tree forum that my redbud seedlings will take 7 years to bloom. Everybody around here is growing hostas under their trees. It does look nice, but I don't want mine to look like what everybody else has. Let us know what you come up with.

luckygal - Wow, so many great suggestions, I don't know where to begin! Thank you so much! I like the idea of marrying the colors with the fabrics, and carefully bringing in the secondary colors - I have a feeling it's going to take some trial and error to get the right balance of color, but that's part of the fun - right? The blue mason jars, fabric valance, and wood blinds all sound lovely! I'll play around with fabric prints and colors some more too. As for my style, as I look through my inspiration photos, it seems to be simple, clean traditional (lots of white kitchens), with some cottage and french country touches - nothing too fancy, fussy or rustic. I think modern traditional/cottage would be a good description. The rest of our new fixer upper house is a blank slate right now, so I think I need to be careful to keep the same feel in our fairly open first floor. Thank you again for your fantastic ideas! :) nosoccermom - That is a Very good point! My mockups were probably not very fair to H and I. I've added some "beadboard" to the mockups below. (Well, to the best of my ability!) Fun2BHere - So glad you like it! I'll definitely take a trip to the fabric store before committing to anything. And thanks for the ikat link! lavender_lass - You changed your vote! So, green walls/backsplash with tiny touches of blue - got it! :) I have so many different combinations of colors to try! (The key for me is going to be keeping it fun instead of stressing about it!) I'm 99% sure we're going to keep the butcherblock. :) Thanks again for your suggestions! andreadeg - You are too sweet! Thank you! :) I agree with you completely about the beadboard width. I think we definitely need a wide beadboard or v groove plank since our cabinets are so chunky. Do you think the width of the backsplash planks should match the cabinet stile and rail width exactly (3.5") or should be a touch bigger or smaller? That's a great idea to get the lighting installed and let things "brew" some more (I am itching to get the chandelier hung!). I think we'll definitely do that. Ah! Painting the inside of the glass cabinets! I love that! Thank you!!! The windows trim is Definitely getting painted, either Simply White to match the rest of the trim in the house, or Cloud White to match the cabinets. (The trim around the sink window will touch the cabinets, so I'm thinking maybe the kitchen trim should match the cabinets...what do you think?) Thanks again for your wonderful ideas and kind compliments! :) work_in_progress_08 - Thank you for your advice and vote! I too am a lover of soft colors. I'm strongly leaning towards keeping the kitchen palette light (with the exception of the black, of course). I think we will keep the butcherblock. The black counters are temporary (and budget driven), they are butcherblock that was stained black with india ink and sealed with poly. I want to eventually change them out with soapstone or granite. loribee - Thanks so much for your vote! teresa_nc7 - Thank you for your advice! I will be sure to visit the fabric store before making a final decision on the fabric. Where can I find examples of cottage geometric prints? That sounds intriguing! geokid - Thanks for your vote and that rug is very pretty! It might be a bit too saturated for the kitchen, but I'm going to keep it in mind for the den/living room. :) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * You are all so wonderful! Thank you again for your terrific ideas and advice! (I am so relieved and grateful to have your help to figure this out!) Some decisions made: 1) We are keeping the butcherblock! 2) I don't think I have the guts to go for the blue backsplash (my apologies to the G lovers!), so it will be green, or....perhaps even white (see below) 3) Green will stay as the main color, and I'll try my best to carefully weave in some blue (plus tiny touches of something in the red/pink family for a bit more warmth) 4) I think we need to go for a wider beadboard or v groove backsplash to balance out the chunky cabinets, instead of the traditional skinny beadboard. Backsplash width example: A great point was made that the white backsplash needed beadboard to get the true feel. I tried to add beadboard below ("try" being the key word!). We will be sure to try Both the green and white in real life before deciding. What do you think? Very rough Beadboard Mockups: If we go with "I" below, I think I'd like to have green beadboard for the butcherblock counter, and paint the back of the glass cabinet blue so the kitchen isn't too white: Thanks again, everyone!! :)

Thanks for the comments. I forgot to ask... do you think the door should stay white or be painted. I am thinking I will leave it white, but would love to hear your feedback. I should have added some more details about the front bed. I plan on planting some more shubs and perennials in the front garden and adding a stone/slate border. The trees that are there are: - accent or dwarf blue spruce - it is almost full grown, so it shouldn't be a problem. - weeping douglas fir - the nursery said it would double in height and stay relatively narrow. They also suggested we remove the top branch and make it more weepy, which means it would not reach the white part of the gable. - purple fountain beech - this one is a tree and one I was questioning. I planted it off to the side at the corner of the house, figuring it would grow tall. There should be just enough room for the width, but I figured I could prune the width if it gets too full. I have seen these trees planted in the front of other houses and thought they looked nice.

No, kids are gone (YEAH! Love them, but I've done my job)No grandkids that will visit anytime soon, no pets, only a man that can behave like a kid (you know that one). I really don't think the door would be an issue, it's not like we would fling it open and I could put one of those stoppers where it won't fling open all the way - we had that on our front door in our old house. Had a console table right behind it, and it never hit it, so that could be an option. I have so much wall space in this house I will NEVER be able to fill it with pictures. I have a corner of my living room that will be a gallery, and a really long and wide hallway that needs lots of "stuff" on the walls - they're empty! As for what I'd be putting on there, more than likey it's going to be breakables, but what about using the sticky stuff they use in museums so if it gets bumped it stays? Never used it, don't know the name of it, but know it exsists. The opening from the kitchen is 48", the unit is 50"w, so basically, you'd see the entire piece, so I thought it would be nice visually. The piece will come out the exact depth that the floor vent that's next to the bathroom (seen in 2nd pic). The door to the bathroom when fully opened is right in line with that same vent. I wanted to make sure if someone was coming out of that bathroom that we've yet to use would knock in to the piece. They wouldn't, unless they're a very large wide person (if I don't stop eating, that person may be ME!) I want to say THANK YOU ONE AND ALL for all your insights, thoughts and ideas, I appreciate everyone taking the time to reply. I'm a bit torn, I see what some of the problems could be, but I really like the look of this and think it could work. Here's a few more pictures I just took, so this is as it stands now. Sorry about the messes u see, still working on this house (and will be for quite a while!) From the kitchen Coming from the den - straight ahead is the bathroom, right is to the kitchen Wall in question and door that opens up against wall Wall opposite from wall for the piece with the doorway to kitchen Wall in question, just another angle Full doorway coming from the kitchen in to hall View from the bathroom looking in to the den straight ahead Sorry for the junk in the background! ...