If you want a small tree at the right end of bed (near corner) then putting in a Hydrangea that's NOT a tree, won't work. You'll need to find another place for it. Earlier I recommended PG Hydrangea which can be grown as a small tree. Burning Bush, common Lilac or Philadelphus coronaria are other large shrubs that make good small, multi-trunk trees. For planting a large groundcover bed, you'd want to arrange plants in rows with the leading row in line with the front edge of the bed, but set back a uniform distance from it. Usually, the same spacing between plants works well as the front set back distance... so let's say for Hosta, 18". Then space them 18" apart in the row. 18" Behind that row is another row laid out in the same manner, except that you would place these plants not directly behind the first row, but offset them so that they are staggered relative to it. Continue the process until you have reached the back of the bed and filled it up. Since you are planting around trees, just don't place a Hosta where the tree is. You can come close, but not so close that you are struggling with tree roots (the tree being the Dogwood) as you don't want to disturb its ability to grow. When the Hosta grow, they will nestle around the tree trunks just fine. Though you PLAN the planting beginning with the first row, you'd actually install plants beginning with the last and work your way backward so you are not crushing installed Hosta as you plant more. That's the manner in which you'd approach laying out a normal large bed. Now let me contradict that. If your bed is only 4' deep from front to back, the above instructions would only allow you to place 2 rows in the bed. That'd work OK, but if you have sufficient Hosta and want a full look more quickly, keep the plant spacing the same, but adjust the row spacing so that you can fit in 3 rows...say each being 12" apart. (Spacing would now be 18" o.c. x 12" rows.) Whether you install whole Hosta clumps or split them up is a factor of How many you need vs. how many you have available. Split them if you're going to need a lot of Hosta or if the clumps are so huge they just need splitting.

This looks lots better without the hutch! I think I feel the same way you do about doors. When I asked our designer who was taking my design and putting it into construction drawings what he would change, he said, "You have too many doors!" I told him I needed every one of them, kept them all, close most of them daily and the others weekly, and thank my lucky stars every day that I didn't listen to him! So it seems to me that you should keep these doors for all of the very good reasons you gave, ESPECIALLY because you can't multi-task in the kitchen with noise (I'm the same way), or you will probably regret it. I have a somewhat similar situation at the end of our lower level TV/WS room that sort of funnels down as you approach our stairs--a set of 48" wide double doors on the furnace room on a slanted wall on the right, a set of 48" double doors on a closet that juts out into the room on the left, and a set of 54" double doors to the workshop sort of straight ahead, just past the bottom of the stairs that go up to the right. I had planned every inch of our house, but the closet was an afterthought. When the 3 sets of doors were installed, I thought, "Wow, that looks cool!"--just like I HAD planned it! So, in spite of the irregular nature of the space, the thing that I think makes it work is the absolute sameness of the doors and trim, as well as the relative distance between them. But it's definitely not symmetrical. Our doors have no glass, and are stained 3-panel oak with with a simple 3-1/4" arts & crafts trim. We don't have all of the competing glass around that you have, since there are no windows in this area. Because you only see your 3 sets of doors from the family room, and with your seating arrangement really only facing the 2 sets of doors to the interior of the house, this will probably work out ok. I'd make the doors to the kitchen double doors, and have them open onto the family room walls, and have the lites, trim, height, and frame width match the doors to the dining room as much as possible--make it look like they were all put in at the same time. The sliding door to the deck will look different no matter what you do, but I'd try to get the other sets of doors to match it in trim and height, although I'm guessing that you won't be able to match the sliding door lites' design, since your pictures are showing different styles. Also, take into consideration the lites' style on the exterior windows of the family and dining rooms when you're finalizing your sets of doors. Not sure I'd put glass doors in the cabinets in the family room, since there's already so much glass in this room. In any case, can you try this out with a double door in the 6' space, see if you think it might work, and let us have a look? Anne

annkh I think I have space for everything. The kitchen renovation adds a lot more cabinets than my existing setup. What are your thoughts on mitering the ends of the crown to the slope of the roof? That's the only way I can get the taller cabinets in. I guess I could go with 39" uppers. I'm still thinking about ways to reduce my price. I've taken some suggestions by livewire. I could reduce the cost by doing the following. -Creating a 9" full door base for my cookie sheets, cutting boards, etc. This would eliminate a costly all drawer base cabinet. I will, however, have to extend the easy reach corner base cabinet 3inches. I don't think it would add that much cost to it. (potential savings $200) -Go with a chimney vent. (potential savings (700-800) -Go with a blind cabinet in the wall corner. The blind corner and larger wall cabinet will add some cost, but I will save around $600 on the square wall corner. I will also need to order a trim piece for the other wall cabinet that butts into the blind corner. What is the normal size trim that goes there? (potential savings ($300) -The sink cabinets will cost around a thousand dollars. $450 sink base, $500 for the legs. Finished flushed ends added to the sink base $60. two trim pieces $80 I really like the look of the apron sink with the legs on both sides. I may be able to look at a spec book and come up with a similar look. Half legs would save a little bit of money. -DIY paneling for the peninsula. This could save me anywhere from $700 to $1200 depending on the tier discount I receive. -Raising the cabinets will add to the price.

went shopping again today to look at granite again- this is a granite i fell in love with when we first started looking around a month ago. Decided to go back to it and analyze it more... here's a pic from pinterest that gives a nice idea of how it will look. I think I am going away from the Cambria Canterbury and going back to granite which was our first thought. I think it just looks more rustic. :) Also wondering about a chiseled edge in the granite- I saw a pic and I LOVE it!! heard from the kitchen and granite people today that it is higher maintenance bc of the nature of it... anyone have experience with this? I am posting a seperate thread about this too. thanks for your input! :) Here is a link that might be useful: typhooon bordeaux and black cabs