Hi Jane: I got the magazines! thank you. My review: Ideal Homes are very much like Domino but the style is more diverse. They have instruction on how to achieve the same look -- I like that. It's a how-to type of shelter magazine. 25 Homes is more like a showcase magazine much like our quarterly publications Decor, or Dream baths. Again, the style featured is diverse ranging from modern to cottage. My observation: The Brits love Slipcovers :-) They use a lot of F&B paint (I'm so glad to see so many F&B colors in action) They use more antiques/older pieces combine w/ newer pieces in their homes. There are a lot of painted cabinets in the kitchen. Overall, I really enjoy the magazines. Thank you Jane, for the generous offer. These will go to my magazine collection :-)

1. Glad you don't want grass in your city lot. Agreed, it is a mosquito magnet, and mosquitos are getting worse and worse because of the warm winters we have been having. 2. I really like your bricks and would not pave over them. You just need a good vision that will tie together a new fence, the bricks and your three large sides of beds. 3. Regarding your bilco doors to the basement, it brings up a question about the whole back of your house. There is a lot of mismatched after though happening. You need to think about the new awning and how you will repair the wall that is the base of your porch. Once the back of your house has more of a "look" to it, you can paint your bilco doors to become part of that scheme. Obviously the setting of the houses below are quite different than yours but they both match the doors to the look of the house and they have planting nearby. Perhaps you want to flank the left side of your basement doors with a planter so there is greenery on one side and steps on the other. I'm obsessed with city back yards and find lots of inspiration just doing a google image search for "Brooklyn backyard ideas". Good luck. It is a wonderful space.

Builders do not design homes. Architects design "dramatic" homes. Once you have the architectural plans, then you want to find a builder who builds a high-quality home and would do a good job with the type of home that the architect designed. Often, the architect will recommend a few builders who he has worked with and who he believes can implement his design faithfully. So, you should not be looking for a builder yet at all. You should be looking for an architect who can design a dramatic home.

Can i come and live in the library?? seriously cool house, and they used great materials throughout,..I also do hope that if at some point if you decide to work with the kitchen layout you save cabinets. And even that backsplash-while I would do something very different, I'd leave it there for now..very good installation. lol. i'd already wait until I have my plan for the kitchen. Abour era...The thing is-several things were going on, architecturally speaking..there was this and that Colonial Revival still going on, and Arts and Crafts, and Prarie as a part of it if I remember correctly, etc, etc..and yours, seems a storybook to me, or reminiscent of strorybook, but I'd love to see the roof. I'd say you can play with lighting there, a lot. Basically it needs to speak to you, to house, and between itself. I'd go with something playful and colorful. And not taking itself too seriously. (Tat's basically their mistake with master bath etc..columns and whatnot. One can easily say when it was remodeled too, due to the very pronounced Tuscan style. If they'd stayed true to the house, that would be harder to say. ) lighting can be Crafsman, can be bohemian crystal (I have a chandelier with dotted glass,,,70 bucks on Craigslist for me, several thousand for same on 1stDibs..), can be certain mcm, can be many things..Can be all of it if put together in a considerate way. Budget plays a role of course. I gathered almost everything vintage. When they also knew how to make everything better. So I paid for the whole house lighting the price of just a dining fixture of my dreams. (dining fixture of my dreams was not cheap-I have big dreams)) But to tell you it wasn't a PITA..it was, I wouldn't lie. Yet still I'm happy I took that route. so-maybe a hint on your budget? Ginatay-beige will be next big thing)) I do love purples and red though ..well, it's so very personal. Andrea, your current belongings-what colors are they? Do you have some inspirational pictures to show us? So we know your preferences better-and thus can give better suggestions? I'm sorry if I come across as overly excited..that's because I am, nice houses still have this effect on me)) So happy for you. Take your time to decide on everything, you won't regret it.