Well I donÂt want any chickens (got my fill of them when I was a kid! Turkeys too!), but I wouldnÂt mind keeping a Hobbit or two in my back yard, so if you ever find a source for them, let me know! ;-) HereÂs some information on the early history of "hoop houses!" When I was a kidÂearly fiftiesÂand my parents built their first hoop houses to increase our perennial and mum production, they modeled them after the quonset huts that were widely used during WWII for fast, cheap, and moveable housing and warehousing. In the beginning we called them quonset hutsÂthe same name that was used in WWII, and the concept of using such a structure as a "cheap greenhouse" was brand new and completely untested. They were covered with plastic in winter and screening in summer. When my father built our first ones, he made a plywood "frame" to bend the 1" aluminum pipes over, and then they were permanently placed into the ground. As I recall, the frame was a quarter of a circle, so one end of the pipe was inserted into something and the pipe was bent on the one end, and then the other end was inserted into whatever they made to hold it (donÂt remember exactly how they did that) and the other half was bent, forming a half circle hoop. You seem to be good with construction projects, and you could probably have build your own frame too, but IÂm sure the store-bought one was a lot easier. HereÂs an interesting factoid about quonsets in WWII. I learned a whole lot about quonsets when I went to the Anchorage Museum on one of my layovers. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> When World War II came along, the American military found itself in need of a prefabricated, lightweight shelter that could be easily shipped and quickly assembled. The Quonset hut, that sliced tube of corrugated metal, was the answer. More than 153,000 were produced as part of the war effort. In its aftermath, even more were built and existing huts were adapted to house the postwar population boom. Of course, it couldn't last: the American desire for permanence meant decay and neglect for many of these rough-and-ready shelters and quickie warehouses. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Have fun with your new Hobbit house, Skybird

Lv- Here's a quick sketch, to see if you even like this idea, before we go into any real detail :) All the windows and doors are the same...can you add a window in the bathroom? I did change the sunroom door, so it swings into the sunroom, not the kitchen. So, as you enter from the left, this is your new entry/storage area. On the left, or top, you have some hooks for hanging items, a nice bench under the window, and cabinet storage past that. On the other wall, storage (maybe some of this storage could be extra kitchen cabinets?) the washer and dryer and more storage. The kitchen is in front of you, with a big window, over the sink. The fridge is in the corner, by the sunroom, with storage, dishwasher, sink, trash pullout (?) then turn and base cabinet, range and another base cabinet. The uppers are on both sides of the window...or you could put some open shelves. There's a raised counter, behind the range, for seating. The dining table is in the middle of the kitchen, with the hutch and door to sunroom, above (on the plan) and the wet bar, over on the wall, around the corner from the laundry. A pull out couch or futon, with a table or ottoman, as well as an end table and chair, are in the front (other side of the stools) with a TV and media storage. Great place for hot days or in the evening to watch TV and a space for overnight guests. The sunroom could also sleep an overnight guest, maybe with something like the daybed (picture I posted earlier). Add a small bistro table and a couple of chairs, and a great place to see the view. Even curl up on the daybed, with your book or laptop, if outdoors isn't an option sometimes. The bathroom is in the same place (same size) with the door moved over a bit. This allows a nice sink with vanity, tub (claw foot?) a toilet and a separate shower. I based this on the design from the Sarah Richardson show, I mentioned earlier. The bedroom has closet space, as well as a small closet, by the front door....and a linen cabinet to buffer the public area from the bedroom. The bedroom has plenty of room for a nice sized bed, chair, dresser and even a bench or trunk, at the foot of the bed. So, don't know if this is your style or not, but it's one idea. If you want a bigger area, for the sofa/TV, let me know. Sorry, I don't have any pretty software, but hopefully you get the idea (LOL) Best of luck with your little house! :)

I've never seen your kitchen (or any pictures of it) and thus don't know how your tiles or countertop or paint or cabinets will look like under different lighting, so I have no way to know which would make your colors look best, but my inclination is to go with PAR38 bulbs in 6" cans, because that gives you the most options now and also in the future to change if necessary, or if better/cheaper LED lights come along. I've generally found high color temperatures (4000K and up) look best with white cabinets, which turn yellowish under 2700K light, but that wood cabinets look best with lower color temperatures. But the differences between halogen (about 2850k) and 3000 or 3500K are more subtle. I lean towards the GE 20947 halogen PAR38 bulbs I mentioned earlier, in part because I've used them frequently and can vouch that they give off great light (a 2850K 100CRI halogen won't dull colors like a 2700K 82CRI CFL does), an even well-focused beam spread, and not much glare. And the light bulbs themselves look good, more so than many LED floodlamps currently available which look more like showerheads or jet engines with visible heatsinks. The halogen bulbs have a rated 3000 hour life; by the time they burn out there should be a much larger, higher quality, and cheaper assortment of LED retrofits available then there are now; indeed, a halogen bulb now and an LED replacement two or three years hence could be less expensive than an LED bulb now. I don't notice much heat from them when installed in an 8' ceiling - they're much further away from you than the lights on your rangehood, and considerably bigger but only slightly higher wattage (and wattage correlates with heat). If you're really concerned about adding any heat though, maybe something like the Home Depot Commercial Electric 5"/6" LED modules (or another similar brand) would be better - they're cool, not wildly expensive, efficient, 3000K, but also only low-80s CRI. You can put a PAR30 bulb in a 6" or 6.5" can, but doing so requires a conical trim kit to look good (so there's no big gap around the bulb), and I've never liked that appearance - the fixture looks too big for the bulb - but getting a PAR38-capable nonetheless gives you that flexibility, whereas a 5" can can use only a PAR30. Myself I still prefer to use 5" cans for PAR30 lights for the neater appearance. Long necks or short necks are a choice only for the PAR30 size; other sizes have only one common shape. The long-neck bulb is more common in residential fixtures, and most of what you'll find in consumer-oriented stores. Cheap bulb extenders are sold in hardware stores that will effectively turn a short-neck PAR30 into a long-neck version, and sometimes the socket in the recessed fixture can be adjusted in or out to suit either. The short-neck PAR30 (or smaller bulbs) are a good option when dealing with shallow ceilings though where big cans may not fit. But most times (and nearly all times if there's an attic above your kitchen), there's plenty of space for a normal-depth large can.

To me, it seems as there is less conflict in it now. Still, I am bugged to bits by the landing area of the steps. The landing area seems compromised and it's relationship to lawn seems like an upside down prioritization. In general, I think hardscape is dominant and planting is subordinate. One should make the landing be what it needs to be and make the lawn adapt to it. It may be more evident if you remove the lawn from the picture and replace it with the grey stuff that you have everywhere else. Then one ends up wondering why the landing is the way it is. At least, I do. It looks suddenly malformed and shrunken. At another location, the way the stone path passes by the last "block" (surrounding fire pit) on its way to the back door seems awkward. At ground level it creates a small triangle of whatever-the-grey-stuff is. (Gravel?) The small triangle should be eliminated.