Wish me luck...killing things!
Kate OK USA (7b)
7 years ago
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Karen Holt
7 years agojdlaugh
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoRelated Discussions
Things I wish I never planted
Comments (47)I despise creeping charlie. It sends me into digging fits of rage...digging up established perennials just to eradicate the area of CC. HOWEVER, you can only get to the CC if you get get past all of the wild strawberries...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! *LOL* When I first moved in 2.5 years ago I saw the little yellow flowers and tiny red berries and said, "awwww, isn't that cute". Ahem.... As for "real" stuff that I planted... Pink primroses..pretty when they flower but spread like crazy and look like crap most of the time. Lambs ear is pretty crazy, I have it growing MANY feet from where it started. I didn't plant it but I left it when I moved in and not IT'S moving in! Still, I love the fuzzy leaves. I have sweet autumn clematis eeeeverywhere. I love my huge "planned" vines of it that I transplanted but WOW, the seedlings are outta control and you can't ever get the whole root. I, too, have lemon balm, mint and ribbon grass. They get huge and rambling but I haven't had much problem with digging it up where I don't want it. The mint actually makes me laugh because I can't BELIEVE where it'll pop up! hehe...See MoreThings I wish I'd specified on my plans.
Comments (2)Well said Junior. As I, and others have said on this forum: NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING! OVER COMMUNICATE!! We are building our third custom home, and each architect is different, each builder is different, and each sub is different. Even with this home, there are so many things I would do different. I have given our builder lots and lots of pictures. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. He has quite a file on us. We also made a personal binder that contains notes from our meetings with the builder and subs, every bid, every selection, all plans, interior and exterior elevations, etc It's been my bible throughout this process. So far we have been fortunate that our builder has not charged us anything to move a couple windows, move the speaker locations, and a couple other minor changes. He's been absolutely terrific throughout the entire process. Even when we changed the size of baseboards, there was no change order. And he has gone out of his way to make sure he gets good pricing on materials. I personally have purchased most "allowance" items and paid for them as we go. Huge savings....See MoreThings you couldn't live without or wish you had added
Comments (37)Surprised no one has mentioned, but even in SoCal, I love my Warm Floors in the bathroom under the travertine - could be my favorite thing! During the winter, I wanted to lie down on my bathroom floor. Glad I held out for an outside spiral staircase to the upstairs deck, two-sided office desk, pot filler, upstairs laundry, pool bath, undercounter micro drawer, trash compactor (everyone tried to talk me out of that & said they were passe'), recycling bin, fixed & handheld shower (overhead shower was a bit of a waste...), doggie door hidden under kitchen desk - people think she's magic when she appears :), pull-out shelves for printers, etc in office & grommets for wires & got rid of most of the clutter, LOVE the light system & setting up scenes - esp. our 'night track' button that saves me turning on & off 6 banks of lights just to get down to the kitchen at night, my daughter's 'all-off' button that blinks until she turns all the lights off @ night Bain-Ultra air bath - no more gross jacuzzi jets shooting out gunk! Wish I had closet lights that come on when doors are opened, had organized the pantry lay-out a little better, figured out drawers/pull-outs for wrapping paper better, looked more closely at cabinet depths - can't fit a whole lot in, perhaps put an elevator in - was $10K in the beginning & just heard a woman is paying $70K to retrofit her house for one. I need the exercise now, but who knows what the future will hold... not a whole lot more than that though - we thought it out pretty throughly. STUPIDEST purchase ever - the Aquatics laundry air sink - basically a jacuzzi for my underwear that you can't even use soap in as it bubbles over & makes a mess. You can do a better job swishing your hand around in the sink a couple of times. Whatever possessed me to get this, I don't know... Almost Done!!...See MoreThings you couldn't live without or wish you had added
Comments (60)THINGS I'M GLAD WE DID We planned for the future and ran PVC pipe underneath all our concrete walks and drives so landscape lighting could be added later. Also ran pipe for electric wires out to the backyard where we would be building our barn the next year so we wouldn't have to dig up the yard again. Wired for an entertainment system in the basement (which we are finishing now -- 2 yrs. after move-in). DH insited on 400 amp service so we would have plenty of electrical for pool, barn etc. Splurged on the kitchen cabinets and appliances. It's one of our favorite rooms and is large enough for both of us to cook at the same time. Makes cooking & cleanup easy and enjoyable. Insisted on a pool bath with a separate entrance into the home. We fired our first designer when he insisted it was a waste of space in our northern home and would present a security risk because it makes another entrance to the home. It's great not to have guests walk across our wood floor when coming in from the pool to use the restroom. It's also a great changing room for the pool and hot tub and the shower is a great place to wash the doggie. Lots of very large windows to view the beautiful landscape and wildlife from everywhere in the home. What a way to increase the endorphins during an upper midwest winter. We used to live in a house where we could barely see outside. Our coffee area in the MB suite. We saw this in a parade home and had our second (and final) architect plan for this. It consists of some cabinetry, a small refrigerator and a bar sink -- perfect for making coffee in the morning or storing juice and sodas. It's located outside the bedroom, bathroom and closet area but still inside the suite area. Planned for a single, very large MB closet. It's 10 x 15 and is a perfect size for storing all our clothes and is also a roomy changing room. A covered lanai in the back of the house to escape the summer heat but enjoy the rainstorms. Our hardwood floor (Brazilian Teak) throughout the house. One of the biggest "wow" factors to people visiting. THINGS I WISH WE HAD DONE DIFFERENTLY Mostly small size changes which you wouldn't understand unless you were inside the house. A couple of feet here and there to make a room slightly larger. We actually cut those feet off the original plan to keep it just under 4000 sq.ft. Boy, I wish we had kept them. Really checked our cabinet layout. Our laundry room has a tight area when using the fold-down ironing board. It's mainly because we chose a front loading washer & dryer which are deeper than traditional machines. Try to visualize the cabinets and how they work in the room....See Morestockergal
7 years agostockergal
7 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
7 years agoKate OK USA (7b)
7 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
7 years agoKate OK USA (7b)
7 years agosoonergrandmom
7 years ago
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