oh and its pre dug so u have to do no diggen

Plenty of post in here on wintering and they should be just fine...they will lose their leaves but thats to be expected and dont water as much as u normally would. Id wait till most of the leaves drop then prune back seeing how they will be inside. Check out all the other postings regarding wintering in here...you should be fine.

Lighting can be such a challenge when you have beams, vents, plumbing, electrical... Ahhhhrrrggg. I can imagine you must be beyond frustrated when you have to change your dream a bit to get some function. Don't give up, there can be a solution to this. Some ideas I have may or may not help but at least it can generate more ideas... What about undercabinet lighting? This combined with what you want to do that your GC says casts shadows can help nicely. Undercab is great functional lighting to cook and clean. And if you have a shadow from another light source it won't bother you. Or maybe Pendants that are attached to track that does not need to be centered. I think with an 8 foot ceiling it might not be best to build a soffit. Rather lower the lights with a modern track. Instead just use pendants that do not have to be centerd. Maybe some that are staggered or at different heights. Make it look like you were trying to make it uneven. That always adds interest to the eye. Even different size pendants or style to make it look unique. I am not sure of your style but here are some ideas that maybe can help you think about your own space. ~boxerpups Different heights create great eye candy with lights Oversize fixtures set up to the ceiling not the space below also add visual interest and provide function/style. The Pendant is on one side of the island. But still looks lovely. These look centered but they are not. These lights are not centered above the peninsula but look beautiful in the space. Track lights in a modern space are appealing but truly functional as they can be moved for style.

Hi all - thank you for the comments -- I didn't want the grout color to blend in - I guess that's what I meant by tiles popping. anyway - I went with a medium smoky tan and unfortunately got a light tan - kind of ivory -- not happy - but installer tested a corner and said he could remove the grout if I didn't like it. I don't believe that is possible without damaging the tiles - I'm not sure. I will probably go ahead with the test color because I would hate to damage the tiles. Otherwise if I feel lucky - I might change it to a darker more gray color.