I got a free photo book from Shutterfly which I finally completed. I decided to title it "Christmas" since that's my favorite holiday, and the "theme" for which I had the most pictures. The photob book will rest on my coffee table during the holidays. I'll try to post pics after the invasion of the bins has ended. Right now they (the bins) are winning.

My guess would be that particular pic above was done in Photoshop since it is done pretty exactly as far as alignment w/ the counters, etc. You might be able to get a rough approximation using paint but I'm not sure you are ever going to be able to take a picture of a piece of granite or something and align it right on top of your counters in a realistic way in a Paint program. If you have just a few pics, then someone on here would probably photoshop them for you? I can do it if you'd like, but probably not until Monday.

Thanks for asking! I really want to run this past someone, but I think it will work well. Summerfield posted a few new ideas for my plan, after I showed you the other version. At first, I wasn't sure about the master bedroom in the front. Then, Summerfield posted another version, with the big living room in the back. Between the two, I thought...if the living room and bedroom would work in those spaces...we could have the kitchen/keeping room, on the other side of the house. I've always thought this was the best place for the kitchen/keeping room. It has the best views, the perfect big fireplace (really better than having this in the living room) the size is great...now the baking area can actually be IN the kitchen! And we have a lovely lilac hedge (15' high) on the other side of the proposed porch. So, with Summerfield's help, we came up with this new plan. I really like it, but like all things, it comes with compromises. The mudroom, laundry and utility areas either had to go where I want the porch...or on the other side of the house. Not only did we REALLY want the porch, but the parking will be on the left side of the house. It's about 25' between the kitchen and utility room. There is a small pantry by the fridge, but most long term food storage, paper products and pet supplies will be in the other area. However, we're used to a bit of a trek, so I think it will be fine...and at least we don't have to go to the basement! The claw foot tub will (hopefully) have climbing roses around the bay window, as well as the window seat in the master bedroom. This is the corner (south side) where we plan to have the garden, so it will be much easier to have roses, lavender and other flowers...off the bedroom than my husband's 'rustic' living room. And, the views out the living room will be of the pine trees on the back hill and the horses in their pasture. So...all things considered, what do you think?

For learning SketchUp there's a pretty decent series of books called "Google SketchUp for Interior Design and Space Planning" or some such. I bought them last winter when I was first learning it. The books ended up being a bit too basic for me, since I learn computer stuff quickly -- it's what I do for a living. By the time the books arrived I'd already learned most of what was in them. But for someone who's just starting out I think they'd be good. The series has 3 books. They're all pretty thin and fairly inexpensive. I bought them on Amazon. I agree that graph paper is a good place to start, though. Or go buy a cheap architects' ruler at Office Depot. I think I got one for $5 or so. Laura still annoyed that Google got rid of SketchUp