I'm sorry I haven't been on here in a while. We've had some work things going on for the worse. Thankfully, I'm OK but some of my friends did not fare well. It's been crazy the past couple of weeks. I've looked at your plans and love what you've done. The one issue I do have though is that the plan takes up the whole back yard as it is b/c of the sliding over of the carport/garage. We had originally done the garage that way so we would be able to have a yard/pool and a view into the back yard as well. So that would probably change a whole lot for this plan. I like the front! Forgive me for asking (I haven't been that active on this particular forum since we're so new at this) but do you do this as a hobby or a side job? You're very very good! Re: the two desks. We don't really need two desks in the office. DH and I both have laptops and the kids will either use them or end up with laptops too. We will probably have one desk and cabinetry on the other side. Our kids could not possibly do homework at the same time in the same confined space! LOL! So given that information about the backyard, that's going to change having that master sticking out in the back, huh?

Interesting thread. How often do I take a hard look at my home? Frequently, however that doesn't mean I do much, or anything, about it. I can relate to what stephf said and often play the game of "what would I change if I lived here" in other people's houses but also play âÂÂwhat could I change to improve my worldâ in my own. Most of the time I only change out accessories without buying anything new as have enough to rotate items. I satisfy my need for change by decorating seasonally. I'm not using as many accessories as I used to and my seasonal decor is much more subtle but there are changes to more seasonal colors. Now that it's fall I'm using accessories with fall colors, more natural and wooden items, and a few faux pumpkins/Jack-O-Lanterns. A few years ago we repainted and bought new upholstery with neutral colors so this works well. After many years of trial and error and sometimes not liking my house much I am finally happy with most of my choices and there's not much I want to change right now. When I move (likely in the next couple of years) I will be ready to buy all new upholstered items and will then change my color scheme and perhaps style. I'm a senior but will likely never stop changing things around in my house. I have never changed out everything all at once in 47 years. Have added and eliminated but never decorated from a clean slate. The only time I decorated 'from scratch' was when we moved to Europe for 3 years and bought almost everything new and a few things 2nd hand. Sold everything before we returned home as I had no attachment to any of it. I much prefer to collect over time and let my decor evolve as it will. Some of my old pieces have good memories such as pieces that belonged to DH's and my Grandmothers. I buy several new accessories every year, mostly handmade art pieces now. I have downsized and re-homed many items in recent years and continue to do this. I sell the better things thru a consignment shop and donate the rest to thrift stores. We had this house built 17 years ago and it now looks completely different from the way it did when we moved in. Different color walls, different flooring, different furniture. While I like to think I don't change things often my decor has definitely evolved over time. It has happened so gradually I have never realized until now how different it looks. I still have the same DR furniture, a chair that was DH's Grandmother's, and a small antique sideboard but everything else in the public areas has been acquired since we built. Only the upholstered furniture was purchased new, everything else is antique, vintage, or repurposed. I still have many of the same accessories but also many different ones, purchased new as well as from 2nd hand venues. Realistically I expect my house will continue to evolve subtly and will look quite different 10 years from now.

I'm ordering it. It's not that pricey. I'm considering it for the foyer or the dining room, but I actually think I'm going to put it over the tub in the master bath! Out of my comfort zone but out of the public eye too. =) I'll see when I get it, maybe I will decide to let it out of the master bath. I'm thinking for the foyer I'd rather have something that mounted differently, but I can't find that one in a semi-flush mount. And I agree khinmn92, the artichoke leaf one would be a dusting nightmare. =)

Follow-up in case anyone ever comes back to this thread via a search. I know that I sometimes find an old discussion thread and wonder about the conclusion. The lights are used when we are outside in the evening, such as when the dogs are taking care of business in the courtyard or when we are grilling or sitting around on the deck and want some light. So I would say the use is about half & half for aesthetics and useful light. We want light but not too much light. These are not security lights that are left on overnight. I posted the same question to a neighborhood online group ("Nextdoor"), and once I made it clear that these were not security lights left on overnight (to those concerned about light pollution), 25 degrees was the overwhelming recommendation of the ~12 people that replied. In the end I chose Satco S9410 bulbs: 25 degrees, 2700K, 13 W (50 W eq.) PAR30 LED. I think that they look better, especially since we have dimming capability on all loads and will probably run them ~50-75% capacity, where I think they look best. I attach 1 more photo with Satco 25 degree (S9410) on left and Satco 40 degree (S9415) on right. Dimmer is off (ie, 100%). Both of these bulbs have 1000 lumens. I tried to set exposure on my phone camera to remove most of the hot spots - the remaining hot spots are not there in real life. The full beam spread is now mainly a function of the recessed fixture. However, you can see the narrower main beam area (intensity) on the 25 degree light. Due to circuitry in the lights they run a bit hot at full voltage. Not so hot that I couldn't unscrew them, but hot enough that I had to use fingertips only. Someone else with more sensitive skin would have had to wait a few minutes for the lights to cool before removing them. The temperature does decrease with dimming - which is good for discouraging bugs, and another reason to run them at 50-75% capacity.