I don't think I've ever seen Adeniums at HD. They probably would not know how to care for them

From what I've read so far, both plans strike me as...starters. I also definitely like the U better, but that's not saying much yet. I'm making some assumptions here that may not be at all valid in your case. But, you're having trouble designing a kitchen you really like into that space. You have a lovely room for dining that you almost never use. Is the front living room what you think of when you look forward to getting home or also gathering dust? Yes, center-hall colonials are tricky, but is the way your first floor serving you all you could want? If you could somehow sell seldom-used square footage for $50,000 and the promise of at least hundreds saved each year in expenses, would you? And be happy to live in the downstairs space still left? With this sort of scenario in mind, to me the first plan makes expensive changes with absolutely no promise of genuinely expanding living into the space available. Enlargement of the kitchen should shift at least one daily meal into the space currently occupied by the dining table, but would it? Or would it just perch you guys on stools and damage the DRM's elegant ambiance? I know the bay is new, but it also looks like a former kitchen and breakfast room that underwent an unfinished transformation--that outside wall an obvious remnant of its previous life. (If you did this, how about doors to a nice brick or stone patio outside instead?) The second plan is a simple spiffing up of the parts of your house that get heavy living, so I agree it's a good choice if you like the way you live in the rest your house just fine as is. Small kitchens are greatly underrated and can be truly excellent, so once you work out the details to get what you want--excellent. I'm also guessing the coziness of your kitchen dining area is one of its big assets, so that part doesn't need to be larger. If this were my remodel, though, and if the front rooms were mostly unused, I'd be not be happy with the allocation of my space. People do find ways to make good use of center-halls without ruining their character. Those that do tend to sell very well in most markets. After all, a lot of people who like their look won't buy them because of their space-use issues. For my own list of wants, I like halls for themselves and would definitely want the center hall as a major feature--with nice views in both directions. I would not want a large kitchen, but I'd want a bit larger one laid out just the way I like it. I'd like two places to dine with different moods, but only if they were both used a lot. One would be decorated nicely enough for seating guests to dinner, but so formally that it repelled us most of the time. (We have this, BTW.) I'd want a living area that multifunctioned for daily living and allowed guests to separate--in actual chairs!--into different conversation groups. If it had to be in 2 different rooms, I'd want good circulation and communication between them. I'd want an inviting, comfy area I could go read while my retired DH watches drag races, and vice versa--he splits while I watch Design Star, (one of those embarrassing things I wouldn't normally admit to). I'd like one living space to be sunny, with doors to the garden, and I'd like another to be just right for snuggling up inside when it was horrible out. All this in a center-hall with those great corner rooms and a kitchen remodel opening up possibilities, and I'd start by erasing their labels.

I feel your pain! We have really aggressive squirrels around here and they do go after lily bulbs along with tulips, crocus, and they dig up just about anything I plant fresh - even if they don't eat it. Iris, echinacea, hosta, heuchera, dicentra - nothing is sacred! Tell me, you're in Illinois; have our southern Ontario black squirrels migrated to your area? They're a melanistic morph of the Eastern grey squirrel (also fox squirrels though ours are mostly Eastern greys) and they tend to be complete thugs.

This common aloe is probably 10 years old. I've pulled the lower leaves off when they get ugly and to harvest for the jelly to the point that it now has an actual woody trunk that goes sideways in the pot. Very ugly. I'll harvest the leaves and freeze the jelly, then cut it back almost to the soil and put the pot in the coldframe. If I get new aloes in the spring from the roots, I'll keep it and if not I'll buy another $1.49 aloe and it will be big by the end of summer. It's too ugly to give away and has become too heavy and ugly for me to baby any longer. It weighs about 40 pounds with that pot and I love the pot. ETA: One of my neighbors will take the aloe and the aralia tree. I just wanted to share some positive news.