I'm sorry your not getting any answers. The truth is most gardening furniture stores have been cutting back or going out of business. The big box stores are so much cheaper. BJ's, Costco, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Even Home Goods gets stuff in but their season is winter after Christmas believe it or not. What exactly are you looking for? If it's tables, chairs and umbrellas or sofa sets, there is Fortunoff in Wayne. Now that it is August, they will be cutting back on display space and putting up Xmas but everything should be on sale. That is the largest, most consistant I can think of. Also there is Fountains of Wayne, also in Wayne on 46 W, just before the intersection of 80, 23 and 46. They are close to each other. I don't like them as much. I'm sure Bergen County has a few spots on or near Rte 17 and Rte 4. Maybe someone can elaborate. Otherwise, there are smaller places that have more specialized offerings. On Rte 23 in Riverdale, there is a little florist shop next to Circle Farm. They carry organically carved wood pieces and petrified wood. Pieces run in the hundreds to a few thousand. You would never know it's there. Many nurseries offer some kind of limited choice including bistro sets, arbors and trellises, wooden table sets, fountains...

No stairs going downstairs /we don't live in basement land. A real window would be fine . . . if it were to fall in the closet, but I'm not sure whether it would bisect the staircase itself. If your landing is around the 5' mark though, I'd assume a (small) window would fit into that closet. I'm thinking that it could be a small, non-functional window -- after all, we'd never want to open it in the closet. I think the dining room roof overhang will end up being a BALANCE between letting in enough light for the sun-filled space I want vs. overheating. Perhaps we should go with a ceiling fan above the table. I have several pictures of dining rooms in this style that I love, but this may be a weak point in the plan. Yes, I count 12 floor-to-ceiling windows. We had them in our starter house (though only four of them), and I LOVED THEM. They're something upon which I'm willing to splurge, and I like the idea that we'll have a wide-open view of the pool. However, if we check the price and find them outrageous, I can see a couple possible downsizes: - On the back wall of the living room I've placed a bank of three. That could drop to two. Considering we have a single door there, perhaps two is the "right size" anyway. - I could go with standard-sized windows flanking the bed. - Perhaps the study windows could become standard-sized. However, even thinking about them being a big splurge, I wouldn't give up the floor-to-ceiling windows altogether. I loved them too much in our old house. They brought in so much light, and the cross-breeze was wonderful in the spring and fall. The garage isn't particularly drawn to any scale -- it's just stuck in there. I can't say I've much thought beyond, "Yes, we'll store pool things there". I should investigate just how much space is necessary for these items. We recently ditched our lawnmower and other yard tools and have no plans to replace them. We're done doing that ourselves. I do have rakes, hoes, etc. for flower beds, but those don't take up much space. We're Southern, so we don't store our patio furniture in the winter. We're still using it. Similarly, HVAC units are all located outside here. I'm imagining it behind the pantry, enclosed by a trellis box and surrounded by flowers. However, in reality, the HVAC guy will tell us where this should go. He might say it should go along the side of the house. I feel out of my element on this one. I don't share the concern about walking through the study. That was the last part of the plan that came together for us: We tried all types of staircases in the space that's now the study. Tried bumping the entryway forward to the edge of the bedroom. Tried all sorts of things . . . 'til one day we thought about the staircase going to the corner, and it was a EUREKA MOMENT. We both like the arrangement very much. We think we'll like that the bedroom will be more private, and it provides a nice small entryway, while keeping the stairs out of the way but visible from the living room. Yes, I can see that everyone wouldn't like it, but I think this is one of our favorite parts of the plan. I'm trying to work on an upstairs . . . but while I think I have a pretty good eye for one story things, I find myself unequal to the task of "going up". The problem is that I'm set on a 1.5 story, and I can't visualize how far everything should scoot "in". I know exactly what I want upstairs: A small seating area, two bedrooms joined by a jack-and-jill bath and good closets. And I want to keep the plumbing roughly somewhere over the kitchen (or somewhere we already have plumbing -- I want to keep it somewhat consolidated). I'm still playing with upstairs layouts, but I'm not feeling very successful at all. I suppose the best choice is to draw out my best and throw it out here. Y'all do make good suggestions, and even when I don't care for the ideas, they often make me think, which is good. Thanks, folks! I'm enjoying the ideas you're sending out.

Wow, it's been a few weeks since I posted, no one has any info?

I live in MN, too. Have had a powder-coated aluminum (I believe) set on my screened in porch for 15 years and no noticeable rust yet. I do keep a plastic table cloth, weighted with cast iron trivets on top of the glass. Each year the tablecloth takes a beating so I get a fresh new one for the spring and summer! I do move the patio furniture a few feet in, away from the screens since we don't use the patio at all in the winter. Here is a link that might be useful: 15 year old patio furniture