I would appear your house is on a corner lot, yes? Yet the orientation of the bed is entirely full frontal. I would add more plants around the side, some simple, low maintenance flowering shrubs would do it. I agree with the comment on proportion. Is the tree in photo #1 still there? If so, it might suffice as it grows. Don't put giant Phoenix canariensis quite so close to the house as pictured. My next comment is not directed at this homeowner in particular, so please don't take it personally, it's just a general observation of photos I've seen posted on this board. I don't understand the penchant for tacking these kidney-esque beds to the front of a house and leaving the rest of the garden untouched. This example is better executed than most, but I see these as not much visual impact for probably a significant investment, which is unfortunate. I suggest to anyone looking through these threads for ideas to spend just a little more for a professional designer with a lot more imagination. In this case the homeowner wants low maintenance, and maybe that is the overriding design concern, and well met here, but the space has so much more potential.

Congrats on finding land you love! Below is a link to an old Gardenweb thread you might want to read before closing on the land purchase. If there are things mentioned that you haven't done before you close, they should definitely be at the top of your list to take care of ASAP. As for doing part of work on the house yourselves, it is certainly possible but how successful you'll be depends in large part on just how 'handy' you really are and on how much time and energy you have to devote. You don't mention having any children yet but, since you mentioned wanting 3 or 4 bedrooms and that you're in your late 20's, I'm guessing that you may plan on having a child or two eventually. A pregnancy WHILE you are in the midst of building can severely cut into your time/energy for devoting to the build while simultaneously putting a sense of pressure on you to 'just get the darned house finished!' LOL! So, my advice is be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. But, if you have some actual building experience already... like maybe having volunteered extensively with Habitat for Humanity or having done some major renovations on a previous home... and can accurately judge both your skill level and the time you'll have available to devote - then go for it. Nobody else will ever put as much CARE into building your home as you will! Getting a contractor who is in charge of finishing the entire house to agree to let you do certain portions of the work yourself MAY prove difficult. Contractors are much more likely to prefer to hire 'professionals' under the claim that they can rely on professionals to get in and get the job done and that having the homeowner do part of the work could delay the overall progress. It also puts you and the general contractor in a rather odd relationship in that, the general contractor works for you but, to the extent you are acting as subcontractor for some portion of the work, you work for him. It kind of blurs the lines of authority. It is also possible to enter into a contract with a builder to him do the foundation, framing, rough plumbing, roofing, and finish the shell (up to dried-in stage or to the sheetrocked stage or to whatever point you decide) and, once he has completed all the work he was hired to do, he gets paid and steps out of the picture leaving you to finish the rest of it yourselves...either by directly hiring subcontractors or by doing the hands on work yourselves. Getting a bank on board with this kind of plan can be a bit difficult though. Banks typically want the house to be finished and ready to be lived in when the last of the construction loan money is drawn down. Plus, if there are any warranty issues once the house is fully complete, it can be difficult to nail down responsibility. Another option would be to go the owner-builder route so that your are your own general contractor for the entire build. That way you hire can subcontractors or do specific jobs yourself, as you desire. You're in total charge. There are consulting companies that, for a fee (which is much less than a general contractor's typical percentage) will guide and assist you as you owner-build. They lead you thru the applicable laws so that you get all the necessary permits and inspections, advise you on the order in which to do various jobs...including how far in advance one usually needs to order certain materials, provide you with lists of pre-vetted subcontractors which you can choose to hire, etc. They'll even help you find banks that will give construction loans to owner-builders. Working with such a consulting company can give you the same clout with subcontractors that a volume builder would have because the subcontractors know that, if they don't do a good job for you, they lose all future business that might come their way via the owner-builder consultant. (And owner-builders tend to pay subcontractors ON TIME so, once they've worked for an OB, many subcontractors actually wind up preferring it.) Be aware that, as an owner-builder, YOU are responsible for any state mandated warranties if you sell the house to someone else before the warranty periods have expired. My sense, from being on this board for more than 5 years now, is that owner-building is MUCH more common (and much more accepted) in the south than in the north...maybe because we tend to have fewer laws that protect homeowners from being victimized by unscrupulous builders here in the south so, to protect themselves, more southerners decide to owner-build. Or, maybe it is simply because having warmer weather most of the year just makes owner-building seem more attractive. Let's face it, most of us know that we don't want to be freezing our buns off hanging sheetrock or installing tile in an unfinished unheated shell in the middle of the winter! We don't even want to have to be closely inspecting a sub-contractor's work when it's 20 degrees outside. LOL! I know at least a dozen different people who have owner-built custom homes (with guidance from one of several different owner-builder consulting companies) and every single one of them says that they saved money, got a nicer home, and would owner-build again in a heartbeat. As for plans... you have several options for finding a plan and there are pros and cons to each: 1) If you want a custom design, hire an architect and have them create one just for you. Expect to pay anywhere from about $5/sq foot to 15% or more of your build price for architectural services. Price depends how detailed you want the plans and specs to be and what services, if any, you want the architect to provide beyond just rendering basic plans. If you want the architect to oversee the build process (i.e., ride head on the general contractor) expect to pay quite a bit more than if you just want them to render plans for you. At a minimum, if I hired an architect, I would want them to provide plans and complete specifications and then agree to be available (perhaps for an hourly fee) to settle any disputes regarding interpretation of the plans. And I would also expect them to provide, for free, any additional architectural services that proved necessary due to any flaws/omissions in the original plans. 2) Find a design online or in a house plan book that you generally like, purchase it along with a CAD version, and have it modified as needed to meet local codes. Some of the online plan sources now ask where you plan to build. I assume they do so so that they can advise you on whether the plan you have chosen already meets the building codes in your jurisdiction or can be modified easily to meet codes. Unless you find a plan that needs very very little modification to suit you perfectly though, you may wind up wasting significant time and money going this route. And apparently a lot of architects really don't like being asked to modify a pre-existing plan. You may have more luck if you hire a younger architect who is hungry for work. Alternatively, take the CAD to a draftsman to revise then have it the revised plan reviewed by a structural engineer with knowledge of local code requirements. Note that, in this case, if there are any flaws/omissions in the final plans, you're on your own hook to work out an acceptable solution with the builder. 3) Find a house built locally that you like, track down the architect and find out if he/she will license the plan to you. Be aware that if the house was fully custom, the architect may have contracted with the homeowner NOT to re-license the same work within a certain distance from the original build. (Folks who have paid for a truly custom design may not want another home exactly like theirs being built a block away!) Building a house from a plan that has already been successfully built minimizes that chances that there are undiscovered flaws/omissions in the plan. 4) Hire a design/build company that has an architect/draftsman on board. The really major potential problem with going this route is that, once you have a satisfactory plan, you can't put the design out for competitive bids. You are locked into either accepting the price the design/build company gives you for building the house or starting back over at square one. And, if midway thru the build, you find you have to fire your builder (it happens) or he goes bankrupt (it also happens), I'm not at all sure what legal right you would have to use the plans to finish the build. 5) Hire a volume builder and just choose one of their designs. Typically the only customizing that a volume builder will allow is in the finish work. I.e., you can choose paint colors, carpet colors, and choose from among the a limited palette of tiles, hardwoods, plumbing fixtures, and lighting fixtures. Don't go in thinking you can ask them to move walls or add in a window or two. Probably won't happen! 6) Design your own home. This takes an immense amount of time and study. It is definitely NOT for the faint of heart or those who are unwilling to learn one heck of a lot about architectural design and building codes AND be willing to learn to use a reasonably good CAD program. It also probably helps to have a good knowledge of basic physics and, even then, you'll probably eventually want to have your design carefully reviewed by a structural engineer. And of course, if there are any flaws/omissions in the design, coming up with a way to fix them is all on you. Here is a link that might be useful: What do you need to do/know if buying raw land

I think I'd turn the office's door towards the foyer. It'd be more private that way. Secondary bedrooms look good, but both of their baths could use work: One has only a minimal vanity/sink -- no space for storage. This bathroom has no storage space -- no space for a hamper, barely space for a trash can. The other is trying to house two sinks in a too-small vanity; you really need at least 6' for two sinks to fit comfortably. I'd say make the mud room another 2' wider . . . so you can have shelves, lockers, or something else on the wall shared with the pantry. The storage would be very useful in that spot. Do you have a door from the mudroom /pantry area straight into the entryway? I can't quite tell, but I think you ought to have a door through that way. You don't want to be forced to circle through the kitchen if you want to enter the house and come straight towards the bedrooms. Note, too, that without such a door, you'd have to carry laundry through the kitchen and down the mudroom hall -- you're going to want a more direct route. Does the breezeway serve any function other than joining the house and the garage? I mean, I've seen some breezeways that also hold a couple chairs for reading . . . or whatever. The kitchen is large, but it's too choppy --- your work areas are divided from one another by walkways. I would want a pass-through between the kitchen and the pantry. If you're picking up lots of cans, or if you're moving lots of home canned goods into the pantry, you're not going to want to walk around that corner multiple times. Nice dining room and nice great room. Your plumbing is really spread across the whole house. This will be very expensive to install, and more plumbing lines = more opportunity for leaks in the future. You have three doors leading out to the back porch -- and two of them are within a few feet of one another. I'd cut out one of these. If you keep the one in the dining room, I'd consider making it a slider (take a look at the new sliders -- they're nothing like their 1970s counterparts) because a slider wouldn't interfere with the dining room table placement. Front porches usually end up being "just for show". As a result, I'd eliminate the steps on the sides. I can't imagine they'll be used much, and I'd save that money. This post was edited by MrsPete on Mon, Nov 3, 14 at 23:17

My soil is acid, and yours is probably not, so I can't suggest many of the plants that do well for me, but I do have some plant suggestions along with a few general suggestions. (Please forgive me if the suggestions are things you already know.) I assume from the sketch that the area is pretty much full sun and am making suggestions based on that along with avoiding plants that like acid soil. If I am wrong about either of these, there are some additional plants I can suggest that either like shade or like strongly acid soil. What deer enjoy seems to be somewhat dependent on what your local deer have gotten habituated to eating, though if they are hungry enough, most anything is edible with the few exceptions of toxic plants like monkshood. What may not be eaten in one area might be part of the deer buffet in another location, so take deer resistance with a good dose of skepticism. IME, you will find that discouraging deer from starting to view your yard as dinner by using sprays or a dog or a baited electric fence will help. If your yard has included negative experiences, they may be less likely to visit you vs. your neighbors. The only real guarantee, however, is a tall deer fence. While there are some perennials and shrubs that have long bloom period, think about the foliage as well, contrasting size, texture and color to add longer season interest, even when they aren't blooming. Your photos of the design show some of this type of contrast, though much of the texture is relatively fine. Some plants also have colorful berries or seed pods that will continue interest after blooming has ended. There aren't a lot of shrubs that fit the requirements of deer resistant, long blooming, drought resistant, weeping, and 30"-36" (in addition to liking sun and non-acid soil.) There will be more grasses or perennials that have a general shrub shape and will meet the requirements, or you can decide which of the factors is least important. Check out something like Caryopteris 'Sunshine Blue' or lavender, neither of which weep/arch, but fit all the other needs. Both have interesting foliage, are deer resistant, drought resistant once established, and stay relatively short. CSB has a shorter bloom season (~3 weeks) but really nice gold to bright chartreuse (depending on time of year and light) foliage all growing season. Lavender is somewhat short-lived so would periodically need replacing to look good. Rather than ground covers per se, you also might want to think about planting a drift of plants that would cover a similar area. More expensive initially, but perhaps less maintenance, particularly for some of the more aggressive ground covers which won't stop at the edge of where you want them to be without a barrier of some type. They may end up in the grass or the drive or mixed into other plants without a fair amount of vigilance on your part. Something like one of the shorter western Agastaches is deer resistant, drought resistant once established, and several types have interesting grayish foliage that will contrast well with something like the Geraniums, as well as long bloom. IME when happy, they will seed a bit but not overly so and should do well in your sunny setting. They come in various shades of reds, pinks, yellows, and oranges, but prefer. Check out herbs as well since deer don't usually prefer strongly scented/flavored plants. something like variegated culinary sage or creeping rosemary have interesting foliage, though they aren't necessarily long blooming. Nepeta might work well for you here, though it isn't a ground cover, more of a sprawler in my garden. I think there are shorter types that are a bit tidier and most are quite long blooming. IME they will spread some via rooting stems and via seed. There are a few short bee balms, which might work for you, but be sure to choose one that is mildew resistant if that is a problem in your area. They do try to take over as much territory as allowed, so either give them a root barrier and periodically check that they aren't crawling over it, or every year check a couple times and pull out pieces where you don't want them especially around the edges. Kniphofia is a plant with low grassy foliage but tall wands of bloom, and IME if kept deadheaded will continue to push out flowers all season. They are reputed to be deer resistant, but the deer in my area don't bother my gardens, so I can't assure you that it's true. They would need to be planted as drift of multiple plants since they don't sucker. Take a look at Veronica 'Georgia Blue'. IME the bloom season is relatively short though very full, and there is a bit of a repeat in the fall. The foliage is tidy, dark green in the warm weather, but mahogany in cold weather. Mine is evergreen and it spreads moderately in my garden, growing more loosely in more than half shade and making a dense mound in sun. One of its strengths for me is that it will grow around other plants, filling in without overwhelming or being overwhelmed.