Personally I wouldn't want a boulder or brick wall because I don't wan to kill anyone even if they are stupid and talking on a cell phone while digging around on the floor for change. To save your house and front lawn a long term solution you might try is putting in what I think of as a tire trap. Dig in 2 to 4 rows perpendicular rows of 8 x 8 treated landscaping timber. See if you can get it pre-drilled somewhere so you can pound rebar down the holes into the ground. Bury them a few inches. Anyone coming off the road's front tires will, hopefully, bump up over the first one, go back down and not have enough energy to buck over the second, if they are at higher velocity, they will hit the third one. You might want some cop traffic expertise on spacing. They will look kind of weird, you could try hiding with some shrubs because weeds will grow inbetween, but you cant fill in with anything like flowers and mulch because that would defeat the purpose. Maybe some heavey duty weed barrier and dark colored gravel? As for the mailbox, I've seen some country people put their mailbox's out on a long long long horizontal pole, the base is set way back. Paint it a bright color and put reflectors on it. May not stop people from hitting it but would help in court if it ever comes to that.

The mortar joints look like they are raked; mortar purposefully removed to a uniform depth to give a texture to the wall, and make shadow lines at each course. This looks like mortar has washed out, but it was a design feature. The thing that always happens with porches where the columns are sitting atop tall plinths is that they start to buckle/bend at the knee, The plinths start to lean out at the corners and it is a relatively simple job if it is a wood frame, but if the plinths are brick, they have to be taken down, new footers poured, and rebuilt. Hopefully you have wood under the siding not brick. The concrete front steps have got to be replaced, they are pretty hopeless to repair, and they are breaking down. A "proper"roof over the porch would be standing seam metal, not shingles or slate; soft or brittle shingling will be wrecked as icicles drop or ice slides off the main roof and hits the porch with force. I am quirky, but I kinda like the front awning with its curved/skirted corner treatment. Surely once they are sent to recycling they will never make a comeback. I'd think about running some strings from them to the ground in the spring and letting morning glories climb up them for a privacy screen. The back stoops and awnings need something else. Maybe a pergola on the side connecting the two doors, and a wooden deck to replace the concrete?( Delete the twin facing staircases; it would be replaced by a continuous wood deck), maybe one stair coming down toward the front, and another down into the back yard if needed. Casey

Visited Pool town yesterday. They recommend an IBEX support system for pool vinyl pool installation. They have a special polymer coated one for use with salt pools. The fall season special puts me at ~$30K with salt water, increased pumps, lighting, resort steps, 3' architectural crete plus an additional poured area 8'x10', colored with overlay coping, Octal pool circulation sysem (8 returns, underwater circulation). Question, how strongly do you feel about the heater in NJ climate? IN other words do you find yourself using it often? I don't for see me and the Missy swimming on cooler days. The kids perhaps but they don't mind a cold pool. They will deduct $3k for the heater and $1200 to run gas which amounts to a lot of money. Not including the utility costs. Or, is it like buying a car without the AC? My 2 neighbors with heaters never use them. One is broke and the other is too cheap he says. Also, do you believe in the salt water system? Lastly, architecturally stamped concrete or take the credit and do paver stones. We just installed a 1,000 sq ft techo bloc patio with builtins, fire table, sitting walls and light piers. This would cost more to do around a pool and I don't mind the look of the color poured textured crete. My concern is the upkeep and risk to cracking. They say the IBEX system will minimize risk due to the anchor system under ground providing some additional stability at surface. Is that nonsense? Would you instead take the credit and up-spend on the paver. My concern is more about the risk of cracking in this climate and not the look. I don't need matchy looks.

Thanks all! lindavana - we got the light from Metro Lighting, its a Capital Lighting Chandelier, 4912BI, you can get in 8 or 12 lights. drbevdc - thanks!, my boyfriend is a big beer geek and this was his special request, we love how it turned out. Everyone raves about our open shelves, found them on Etsy and we love the navy cabinets. ILoveRed - curtains are our only window treatments on the main floor and since we are city living we were not sure how much everyone can see into our house, so they had to go up right away. I had purchased the curtains in advance so they were ready to go. We had the brackets hung by the construction team before we closed, so it was "easy" for me to jump up and hang them...i dont do heights very well and was a little scared since the ceilings are 11' tall, but I got them up! Rugs were all from our old house and the right size so easy to just lay down, whew.