... and I certainly can't argue with either of you. Perhaps not well stated enough to make it apparent, but I have been in agreement all along. The reason I even broached this subject matter is a mirror of Pam's comment: "But the designer and educator in me will continue to try and broaden the way these posters look at their property and expand their approach in creating their own landscape to address those issues they by intent or ignorance (and I don't mean that in any sort of derogatory manner) choose to ignore..." Perhaps I am rooted in a paradigm far removed from normal. As a young boy on the farm, I was constantly being regaled with admonitions to consider the down line consequences of your actions. It was especially driven home by my father to give consideration to placement of things like building siting and fenestration. At an early age it was pointed out to me which direction the prevailing wind (especially winter wind) blew and to give it a prime consideration. Shingles and siding were to be lapped so that they would not catch this wind. Building openings were placed to minimize the impact of weather. Trees were planted in locations to take maximum advantage of summer shade, yet not create snow drifting problems and/or provide shelter from blizzard winds. Even the corn rows were planted in certain directions to minimize wind damage. In many ways, my father taught me early-on to avoid the classic, old conundrum of painting oneself into a corner. One of the potential benefits of this forum is that a few people will hopefully begin considering a few things beyond a shiny-new, brass kick plate on the front door of the home they are considering for purchase. My hope is also that a few more folks start to realize that it is their money on the line and that entitles them to be more demanding. For the most part (at least within reason), the builders don't really care (and it costs no more) where you decide to place things as long as they know about it beforehand. However, if you totally abdicate all decisions to them; well ... I guess they show about as much concern as you do. Unfortunately, you are the one who gets to pay for their dumb decisions! Landscape design involves more than flowers. As but one minor example: The placement of my garage was crucial in my planning stage; long before any dirt was turned. Firstly, I was adamant that I was not going to live in a home that said, "Welcome to my garage!" It quickly became apparent that was going to require me to purchase a corner lot; and there are not a lot of those. Secondly, I was adamant that my garage was going to be on the north and west side of the home to blunt the prevailing winter wind in order to conserve heating requirements of the home. Along the same energy conservation theme, I moved the setback of the home 4-feet to the south; which correspondingly made the garage stick out 4-feet to the north. This gave me a protected 4-foot nook to not only conceal my A/C unit but also create an area that was always in full shade; which bolsters cooling efficiency. I also made the garage 6-feet deeper than standard (very cheap to do at this stage) in order to accommodate an additional stairwell that went directly into the basement. Another change that I made from the conventional garage plan was to move the garage service door to the rear. This accommodated direct entry onto the rear patio for things like barbeque grills; which could now be conveniently stored out of sight in the garage. As a side benefit to moving the service door to the rear, it forces people to enter my home from the front doorway entrance; the way that I designed the home to be entered. I chose to be involved in all of these decisions. Invariably, most of these choices cost no additional funds. In fact, in many cases it saved me money. The largest investment was time spent in thought. However, the real benefit is that these active choices made my home (not just house) so much more livable. As Laag has repeatedly maintained, "Most problems are to do with elevation and grading." Even with all of the pre-planning, I was unexpectedly forced to deal with a cheapo-contractor that quickly slapped up what he called, "a luxury spec-house". He realized that digging a shallow hole for a basement costs less than a full depth hole. This placed that house a full two feet higher than any other home in the development. No problem! The eventual first-time home buyers never even noticed because they were concentrating on the shiny-new, brass kick plate on the front door. However, this forced me to adjust the previously intended grade levels of my garage floor, house foundation, basement egress window well and eventual patio. Grrrr... Anyway, I am just throwing a few of these real-life considerations out there for novices to see. There is no sense in making everyone "test the electric fence". IronBelly

Remind your Bad Selves about that when you feel like it'll never end -- and it's been a couple of years. [snort] You signed up for it! Run with it and make it beautiful. My Bad Self should have said, "we have the slowest reno planning in the history of mankind." The only kitchen action has been removing wallpaper, replacing a few appliances, and the ceiling fan, after it helicoptered itself out of the ceiling. Happily, it dented the breakfast table, and not my head, nearby. But I digress. WeâÂÂve been talking about the kitchen for nine years. It keeps getting bumped by needed repairs (new windows, HVAC, electrical service, crumbly adobe exterior); by my decision to build a greenhouse (yay!) and by our enjoyment of working on our big desert yard. IâÂÂm a caregiver for my Mom, who lives nearby, so we maintain both houses. MomâÂÂs medical issues land her in the hospital regularly. After I live with her for a while, or get her through weeks in a rehab hospital, I just donâÂÂt have the heart to start changing walls. I lose the wind in my sails. About six years ago, we hired a designer to help us figure out the kitchen dilemma. Met him at a home show; OMG, I was so excited! Paid a deposit of half, after the initial consult, and then he disappeared. We called, and he showed up a few days later with drawings I could have done in about three hours. No ideas, no help. (I know this sounds unlikely, but trust me.) I didnâÂÂt know what to do. I was ashamed of myself for not researching him more thoroughly. About five days later, he started dunning us by mail to pay the second half. We did; I just it over. Poof went a four-figure fee (a chunk of change, for us) and the wind in my sails. Rats! Soon after, the golf course adjoining our neighborhood went bankrupt, dropping home values. (Oh, good.) Major investments in the house seemed less wise. However, things are looking up, finally, with a new medical park, on the derelict land. (Hooray.) Battling on, in February, I did a thread about our kitchen, and everyone here came to the rescue, with tons of wonderful real help, ideas, and thoughtful discussion. Then I had to help Mom through another medical hurdle... IâÂÂm back again, thanks to the encouragement I find here. And eventually, I still think we can make it beautiful! We may crawl, instead of run, but thatâÂÂs truly OK; progress is progress. And that, CEFreeman, is the genius behind this thread you started, to celebrate small accomplishments. Thank you! (And, very kind of you to maintain the peeky-holes for the raccoons.)

My DH says I take WAY too much time making the decisions I have to make with our house projects. I'm the sole researcher, designer, planner and a co-hands-on executor (with DH) of our DIY building projects. It took us 5 years to do this last house. Plan, design, and contract the build. I designed and had a draftsman draw prints. I was the chick with the clipboard until the rockers left. From drywall on it has primarily been just the two of us. He has a full time job that is not building. We have made a good team, in that he has the expertise- I have the vision. We have put in countless hours making the decisions that go into these projects. Thankfully I found GW early on with researching windows. Google has led me to GW on numerous topics, which answered most of the trying technical issues. I usually only post when I get really stuck and need outside input and opinions. Mostly on decorating questions...;) IDK -- is 5 years too long to come up with a house from scratch? DIY? I have no idea; I do know my DH thought I belabored the process. As in it was a huge issue- how long I would take. But it was lots of design as you go stuff. However he is happy with the result.

Thank you all; you said: “remove the mantle” (HIwEase); “take the surround and end it from wall to wall run it up to the ceiling with different tiling” (Claire Larece); “painted the same as the wall color(…) 3 inch or so wide black metal frame around the firebox” (lefty47); “something that goes wall corner to corner” (beesneeds); “Remove the current fireplace surround, fur out the wall, and tile with large format tiles” (groveraxle). We did it, TY !! ... Now will you please help me out switching art between living room and family room? <new thread? this one is 100+ long>