I have three that have pleasantly surprised me. Knock-out roses. I purchased 2 double pinks and have been really pleased with the low maintenance requirements and ease of cultivation from these roses. They smell good to boot! The Encore azaleas. I have a couple of cultivars that have been very easy to grow and are prolific bloomers. They grow very nicely in full sun and fertile, well drained soils (make sure no alkaline soils). A third is an annual-tender perenial that I was given some seed is 4-O'clocks. These are easy to grow and self sow without taking over. There are many colors to choose from, I have a fushia color that is very pretty. If you have not tried these guys, I would suggest trying. They like full sun and do not seem to be picky about soils. I am sure that there will be more that I could name that I have had some success with but these three come to mind.

When we go to mom and her dh's, we stay at their home because they have room for everyone. My dh and I share the cleaning/kid duty with no problems from anyone. I do basic cleaning while visiting but generally don't do deep cleaning. I would do what ever mom asked though. I feel I will be needed more as they grow older and I'm kind of looking forward to helping out. Now,,dh, he often does some heavy duty thing with mom's dh to help them get a complex job done. He enjoys that because it gives him something important to do and of course his help makes things better for his in laws. When my family visits, they stay in our finished basement so they can have some privacy. They can sleep in, read, watch tv, until they decide to come up and visit. It works for us. I've only had one "argument" with my FIL and mom's dh. Both times I left very quickly with out a word. I think everyone knows I don't put up with stupid crap more than one day. That's just the way I work. Life is to short to live with chaos.

Depends where you are, so I'd take the suggestion to scour Zillow/Realtor to get a good benchmark. Some items I notice "nicer" homes have after a certain price point: Custom front door Insulated garage doors (actual double steel, not styrofoam panels glued in) Better landscaping (can tell what is professionally designed and who hires Craigslist) Amount of hardwood/tile compared to vinyl/carpet Millwork (baseboard size, anything custom like crown or wainscot) ^ entire house isn't covered in painted MDF and caulk Lighting fixtures or adequate lighting. It's obvious when you see all ~$100 fixtures or expensive stuff % of brick/stone outside, and done nicely or not Master bath almost always has a tiled shower. Acrylic units instead of fiberglass If there is space, some sort of thought out deck/patio in back that makes sense Landscape/outdoor lighting. Anything. So many homes with nothing but 2 coach lights outside... Appliances are weird. Only expensive homes have Subzero/Thermador/Miele/etc, but I still see expensive homes with Fridgaire/GE/Whirlpool/etc. Looks out of place and like they couldn't afford to build as big as they did

I'm chiming in late, but I'm in this situation now. Just paid an architect $27,000 for a from-scratch design for a 3000 sq ft home. He did a site visit and extensive topography analysis, as it's 17 acres in the mountains. He took all of our ideas and we went through many iterations. He listened, modified, listened, and modified. There is no plan I could have ordered off of the internet that could have sufficed, even with modifications. All details for cost were discussed with him upfront. We are working with an exceptional custom home builder who can make modifications to the structure, if needed. (yes, additional cost, but that's expected). I've thought about working with an interior designer for selecting paint colors, flooring, etc. I'm 62 and have most of the furniture and household things I need. I will need sofas and some bedroom furniture. Should I expect to pay a designer what I would pay an architect? What I want from an interior designer is interior design. Following up on orders, deliveries, etc., well, that's a personal shopper, which does not require a degree and doesn't command that type of salary. I think I would prefer the approach Sabrina Alfin suggested. Give me ideas and links to buy. I will gladly pay you for your exceptional taste and for creating a cohesive look. I may want to spend $600 on a sconce and use only the best Benjamin Moore paint, but I may want to use some pretty good looking $4 drawer pulls from Amazon. I am looking for design, not a logistics coordinator.