Thanks to all for your thoughts! I think I'm sold on the wreaths in the windows idea, with a single tree or some other kind of decoration to the left of the double doors on my porch. I am afraid of ladders and the roof, and was hoping someone would have some magic extension pole product I hadn't heard about. darn it! My christmas tree will show through that big front picture window--do I still need wreaths on it? Or should I just do lighted garland somehow? We have aluminum siding so nails or staples are not possible. Do those 3M hooks work on aluminum? How do you all attach wreaths to windows? Again, the bottom floor double hungs will be easy, but I'm much more concerned about the second story double hungs. Also concerned about the wreaths blowing all over the place in the wind. Regarding the porch, should I get a tree or just a small topiary to the left of the doors? I really want to go nuts, at least as much as I can afford to within my budget which is somewhat limited. Regarding the japanese maple--we just had it trimmed (it hadn't been maintained in YEARS) and so it's looking sort of sad right now. It might still work to decorate it with lights ,but it doesn't look now as it did in the picture. I want to also hit the mailbox with some decorations, but not sure what yet. thanks to all for the ideas so far!! Judithva, I adore that house you posted--would love to achieve something close to that look!

Before my (late) DH and I embarked on a large renovation/addition, we did the math to compare what the addition would approximately cost (x), then added that cost to the approx. value of our home (y), and priced out homes in our area for sale at approx. x+y. For us it was worth doing the addition rather than buying a different house, even though ours ended up over $200/sqf, probably closer to $300/sqf. For comparison homes in this area are about $1.5+M for new builds; homes for teardown between $400=600k in very rough approximations. Some things to factor in: the cost of a rental when you move out during construction, including the cost of switching utilities to the rental then back (it's not so much the cost as it is the hassle. For example, keeping my same email address with Comcast required almost an act of divine intervention, not to mention about 20 phone calls.) Also count on scope creep. We were victims of our own enthusiasm and I can't tell you how many times we said, "While we're at it, we might as well do...." That's how we ended up going from the kids wanting a dog and me saying "no dog until I get a mudroom", to a 1000+ sqf addition with gutted kitchen and 4 gutted bathrooms, plus a new garage and a new roof. World's most expensive dog. (But Hendrix is worth it. :) ) Finally, there are compromises you will make that no one has to make with a new build from scratch, and there will be surprises. (Like when they cut an opening for my new office window and found a vent pipe no one knew was there. Or when they broke the sewer line while digging the new foundation.) I guess this is a long way of advising you to have a good contingency budget. For us it was totally worth it and I'm so glad we did the addition. And you have something in your favor I didn't know about at the time... this forum! I often wonder whether my layout and kitchen would be different if I knew about this forum and the kitchens forum when we did our work.

Restoration of the windows may be cheaper. If you do replace. Replace exactly and make sure the brick mold is also replaced in kind. Be careful with window salespeople. They will agree to anything to make a sale and forget your brick mold. Restoration is best. Here is a listing of restoration people by state. http://www.oldhouseguy.com/window-restorers/  Heirloom Windows are replica window replacements that I would recommend. Best of luck!

Unless you see water coming in that are (i.e. climbing that "interlock" rail of sorts) and spilling over the door, you might need to check where it is sealed to the deck on the outside. Ideally there is some sort of sill pan or other water prevention measure to keep water out of the rough opening. Is that leak at the meeting rail where the two panels meet? In cold Canada, you can sometimes have condensation issues where the pieces interlock and it can sweat and cause drips down the interior. There are a whole host of sources of moisture here. That said, a competent window/door installer should easily track it down.