You may be reading the wrong magazines. :-) I like the occasional Better Homes & Gardens article for its "garden porn" quality, but Sunset and Fine Gardening are both 100 times better at giving you a good idea of how all the pieces of the property fit together and form a whole. They often have full, if not very detailed, plans for the properties they feature, rather than just having a bed with all the plants in that bed. They also discuss the reasons behind many of the design choices--such as site orientation, lifestyle, screening needs, etc. I've enjoyed any number of landscaping textbooks, as well. These tend, these days, to be heavy on the modernist aesthetic, but there are still very solid design principles presented. My faves are those that focus on contrasts--this doesn't work and why, versus this that does and why. Most of these are focussed on commercial/public spaces, but the same principles apply. You should also pay attention to what you like, PERSONALLY, about a space. I happen to LOVE height in my freestanding beds. I want beds that go from 1' or less to at LEAST 5'--or if it's a hell strip or something similar where "low" is generally preferred, I like it to 3'. I love shady places. Most rose gardens bore me to tears. I like stolen views and garden rooms. I dislike looking across five sun-bleached beds at a glance. I like hidden corners. I love variations in color in foliage--a great emerald green "wash" with gold and purple against it, or purple and blue. (Not so fond of gold and blue....) I like plants with strong shapes and attractive foliage--or that are easily hidden by those with the attributes when they stop blooming! I love grasses and shrubs, bulbs and large-leafed plants, and compact conifers. In colors, I like many combinations, but I'm not fond of yellow, going more toward variations on a main combination from the red/pink/coral/orange palette with accents of purple (foliage, mostly, but some blooms)--in fall ornamental cabbage under Japanese maples against a brilliant green backdrop are stunning to me. So I know what works for me, personally, and what doesn't. This lets me make good aesthetic choices once I've figured out the bare bones of my project--other than just saying I like plant A and plant B, so I'll have them both, just 'cuz. The fact that I personally like plants *together* more than plants apart makes it a lot easier for me. I'm not swayed by the collector/true *gardener* compulsion to have lots of different plants that I like individually. I care more about how they'll look as a group. I like trees first, shrubs next, then perennials, and finally annuals (especially coleus and elephant ears, though flowers, too!) for adding bulk and color where it's needed temporarily. Other people have very, very different tastes than I do. Plenty think that orange/purple contrasts are ugly and prefer complimentary colors. That's fine by me. Others adore low, sun-washed beds, and many thing a rose garden is next to heaven. Or they love drifts of annuals. That's great, but it's unimportant for me figuring out what *I* like!

Your sink and stove are way too close. That's where all of the action in the space happens, and if you have them on the same run, you want at least 48" between the two. The fridge should always be on the perimeter of the kitchen, as it's often the destination of those looking for a drink or a snack from outside the kitchen. Placing it on the perimeter keeps those folks out of your hair. A range often looks great flanked by two taller objects, so I placed the fridge and the pantry to either side on the back wall. The space isn't made any better by the addition of the peninsula, it's just made harder to access. It works best as a galley. The bay window is ideal for seating, but not with an oblong table. A round table perfectly suits it. One with leaves to expand allows you to seat up to 10. The secondary sink added nothing in it's location. Placing it to the right with coffee making stuff and barware gives it a dedicated purpose and using glass cabinets above displays your coffee mugs and wine glasses. I can't tell where the windows are on the sink wall, so I left the sink in the same location you had it, and having it off center gives you the big long stretch of counter between it and the banquette as a prep area. Again, I can't tell where the window(s) are, so I just placed wall cabinets above. They may or may not work for you.

At 10 years old, I would have figured them to be less than $420. Couple that with the fact that windows are 10 years old and very likely outside the frame warranty before you even put them in unless you get a waiver from Eagle.

Clob and Zach, The above version is not exactly as I interpreted it, but it sounds like Zach knows more than I do about it so if I say something that confilcts take his version. These are all rumors and gossips. I would prefer to wait to get the official version, because rumors and assumptions are where most people get angry. My current understanding was more basic: That NBC, the owner of iVillage of which Gardenweb is a relatively small portion, simply woke up and decided to cut its losses, probably due to a change in business strategy. They then dropped GW/iVillage flat on its face, but some very dedicated GW people couldn't bear to see the incredible archives and membership dropped flat. Somebody alled Houzz, which is owned by a guy and his wife, who used to be eBay's management but got out of there into this home decorating idea to share ideas, and supposedly has over. Although they created Houzz, they are not involved in dictating anything and that is up to Houzz members. Meanwhile GW people have worked under a great deal of stress, and I wonder if with pay, to make a transition. No one really could be sure what would happen and basically the entire database was rushed on to the Houzz servers as best as they could in very short notice. As for not telling users, that's a judgement call. I think no one wanted to make a promise they weren;'t sure they could keep. Now Houzz caught the whole thing in its safety net and built this whole incredible new system to accomodate GW's getting dumped on their servers qas a result of the NBC corporate decision to abandon us. Now they are working the back room tirelessly and under fire to iron out the problems from the transition and are making improvements every day, even though none of this transition was planned to be like this. Screw NBC. Houzz is really cool and GW was transplanted and suffered a small shock, something I think gardeners understand. Don't forget that "joining the Houzz family message" that some people got (I didn't!!!), what, 10 days ago weeks ago. It was apparently so close to then when the deal was inked and we were saved from the browser error "URL doesn't exist" crap. Like Zach says, people being critical and opportunistic have no clue what good will is involved from some dedicated people in the back room of GW. And the website is free and no more annoying ads, and hand's off moderation, and the capability to really kick ass making this an incredible site. It is apparently here to stay now. That's my answer to the "white knight" question, but it is all water cooler gossip. There are some people working in GW that are feeling really down now after going through this and having gossip instead of support which I'm sure they didn't expect, but they are real cyber warriors as far as I can judge. Houzz btw, is the 200th or so most visited US website, same with Canada, and is even popular in Russia. They have from 15-30 million visits monthly. Cheers! PC