Just to add a bit of confusion to the discussion about the "evergreens". :oP The only real "evergreen" Rose I have in my garden is 'Cooper's Burmese'(don't loose one leaf, and leaves are always green, without changing to red or maroon green), which is related to R. laevigata. R. laevigata herself is reported to be not hardy in England, so I suspect she don't withstand persistant temperatures lower than -6/8 °C in a location without summer heat (this also is important, I think, not only winter temperatures). Both Banksiae (Rosa banksiae in all her forms, R. fortuneana) and Bracteatae (R. bracteata, 'Mermaid', 'Maria Leonida') aren't evergreen, at all in my Zone 9b/10a garden (min. winter temperatures never below 0 °C, approx. 4-5 °C). Banksias are almost deciduous, Bracteatas "semi-evergreen" (they always loose the oldest half of their leaves). Wichurana and Sempervirens Hybrids are the most beautiful ramblers here. Multifloras cannot compete. These rambling beauties are almost evergreen. 'Félicité et Pérpétue', 'Spectabilis' are avergreen in my garden. Wichuranas obviousely are, too. But if some are at their best when it's hot, others dislike to flower under my strong sun. 'Albéric Barbier' is the widely cultivated rambling rose in Sardinia. It's so easy to root cuttings, so vigorous and strong (don't care to be completely neglect), that almost every white rose you can see here climbing on a wall or fence, is the lovely Albéric. And it's absolutely evergreen here. 'Albértine' is pretty, pretty, pretty. Just a little thick and stiff grower than Albéric. The flowers are gorgeous in their lovely shades of light pink and salmon, and the fragrance very good indeed. 'Paul Transon'/'Paul Noel' bloom late in may, and suffer under the hot sun. It's better in a semi-shaded are, where the flowers are bigger and long-lived. 'François Juranville' is amazingly beautiful in full flower, and almost thornless. The little, shiny leaves looks pretty good. 'Breeze Hill'is another must to have. Flowers are bigger than any other Wichurana, in an unusual shade of white/buff . The plant is buchy and prickly, good as a freestanding bush. There are many other beautiful Wichuranas, Ingrid. What about 'Alexandre Tremouillet', 'La Perle', 'May Queen', 'Mme Alice Garnier', 'Léontine Gervais'.... ;o)? Ciao! Maurizio

jejvtr: Thanks for the complements on my bedroom, though it's still in the "getting the bones right" stage--as is the rest of my house. This forum has been so helpful--you cannot imagine! I can see a rug working in this room as well. I remember your lovely dining room drapes and I also like pinch pleats on a decorative rod. For so long I was thinking I had to use a double rod and I did not want 2 rows of rings--plus I do not like clips. However, a salesperson told me at RH that I can use loop rings (or simply remove the clips and use them as loop rings)--which then got me rethinking the rod setup. Then today I was looking at a website that mentioned a layered treatment with a traverse rod below and a decorative above--which again got me thinking as that way I won't have 2 layers of rings and I have much more choice of rods! Regarding the mirror, I don't think I will have room for both it and the TV, plus we also put in 2 mirrored closet doors in the room (not in the pics). What do you think of Les' suggestions for a vase and table lamp? I'm really not sure what would be better--center or off to the side. Hope some others chime in on that one--or perhaps squirrel will kindly do a few mock ups for me--pretty please.

I would definitely, get two or three quotes, or more for the test to see if it's leaking, call the better business bureau, make sure the contractor has insurance, and ask to speak to some of there past customers. This is a politically correct approach, 99.9% of reputable contractors will gladly let you speak to some of there customers as references. You want to be sure that it's not leaking!, you don't want a contractor to pull it out and then surprise it was leaking and next thing you know you slammed with a whopping bill to clean it up. The sinking sidewalk, call a concrete raising company, or concrete leveling company, they pump under the concrete and it raises back up, then seal the seam along the foundation. A french drain would be good if you have a lot of water coming in, But the french drain needs to go along the wall. and if the sidewalk is next to the wall , well it would have to be dug up to place the french drain in. Concrete raising is economical, and works great!, Seal the seam along the foundation with a top quality concrete caulk, make sure the gutters work good, and the ground slopes away from the home. This should solve the water problem. Additionally, if the concrete in the basement is not painted, you can get a product called RADON SEAL, it sprays on like water, using a regular hand held garden sprayer. Seal and cracks with hydraulic cement, use a cold chisel to open the cracks up a bit so the hydraulic cement has a good gap to fill about an inch. let that dry according to the manufacturer, then spray the Radon Seal. This product is absolutely the best water sealing product you will find for concrete basements. Must be bare concrete (no paint). can be painted after or what ever. never comes off, Radon Seal creates a molecular bond with the concrete and actually changes the molecular density. http://www.Radonseal.com All the ideas you have sound good. Depending on the amount of water, I don't believe a french drain would be necessary, but installing one could never hurt. Like I said I would raise the concrete and slope it away from the home.

hi erika, we don't have a formal dining room. we had one, but needed it to redirect the traffic in our house. The dining room was essentially a pass through from the entry way... very awkward. in this renovation we completed we did away with it and have a nice table in our living space (which is sort of a combo family, dining, kitchen space). our architect came up with a plan that will allow us to turn our laundry room into a dining room down the road if we feel we need one (this would mean putting the laundry upstairs which would mean adding on a bedroom upstairs (on top of a flat roof)... all of this would be a significant investment so we don't plan to do it unless it really irks us to not have a dining room. I personally don't feel the need. that CP photo you posted was one of my inspiration photos for my kitchen. I love that kitchen .the designer i used said that it is in Portsmouth, NH... I asked lots of questions about that particular kitchen and studied it as if I were preparing to take a final exam! on another note, I wanted you to know about a Boston area GW get together coming up in early September. at this point, I think the 6th. It will be in burlington, MA so maybe something not too far from you and hopefully you can make it. keep your eyes peeled for a post on it.