I certainly hope that no covenants are strict enough to demand meatball shapes. Some shrubs are more conducive to being sheared into shapes, but others are not. As to the statement "The amount and character of the landscaping must conform to the precedent set in the surrounding community", I'd interpret it thus: - Amount = you must have some sort of landscaping (trees, shrubs, grass, mulch) and not just empty dirt mounds and weeds gone rampant. - Character = you must have some order to your landscape that offers cohesiveness in such a way that it looks like landscaping. I would not interpret this to mean that if your neighbors have crepe myrtles therefore you must have crepe myrtles. And if you do have crepe myrtles that does not mean that you have to hack them into nubby stubs like your neighbor does cause that is just wrong. Nor does it mean that you have to populate your landscape with just exotic plants; by all means incorporate native plants if you want. Native does not have to mean unattractive, wild and unkept. With proper research you can identify beautiful native shrubs, trees and perennials that can be incorporated into a landscape that looks like a "landscape" (for lack of a better word). This is my front landscape, and it is all native plants except for one Daphne, 2 leftover boxwoods, and some daffodils. It was previously neat groupings of European hollies that required constant trimming to keep them below the windows.

You could go for broke and spread out the kitchen. In just a few years you're going to have many potential cooks/helpers, so having separate clean-up and cooking zones, and multiple prep areas will provide space for everyone to work. Helpers could be loading or unloading the DW(s), or gathering dishes to set the table, without crossing your work space. Someone could be making lunches while you are cooking breakfast. Even now, you should consider a bigger fridge, or two 30" refrigerators. You'd even have space for a bigger range. Without measurements I don't know if this will fit, or if you have this much latitude with the layout and cabinets.

When house hunting we saw a house that was nothing special by itself but had the most amazing(and probably very expensive) windows. It stood on a rather boring street, was nice but not the best layout inside, and I didn't like how it faced open space for dog walking with some superugly fense around. Yet the windows made this otherwise non descript place in a way that I remember it 4 years later..to the point I gave it brief consideration even. I told my DH "they'll sell it tomorrow". I was right. It got multiple offers and went under a contract in a day or two. And the sole reason for it was these windows:) Which, by the way, they had only in the front..:) The house you show is not bad at all, if you compare it to many. Imagine it with different windows..add , mentally, flowers to that tree in the front..the inside should be seen, in order to make suggestions. And one's style should be known. You can't do anything truly great to the inside of the house where there's not "you" in it. Nobody cares that much about orange peel of the walls- art is what makes people stop and stare. Color that'll make them feel cocooned or invigorated. How the room will reavel itself differently from each point. People love to discover. Give that sense of discovery, even with few and mundane things it can be given. But of course one can go for smooth finish if orange peel irritates him. One can go for wallpaper or murals if he loves them enough. One can add arches, skylights, moldings..glass doors when one needs sense of privacy without loosing the light, where makes sense..carve out more storage.. It's a question of budget (windows are very expensive for example) and thoughtful consideration and what bugs one, and what doesn't, and what brings most joy.

Thanks Pudge. The local store gave me a prompt refund. A manager at hom solutions heard from me (loudly, she didn’t care) and I sent email to a home depot exec and hom solutions feedback. I am not looking for any more compensation, although it would be nice to get a large home depot gift card. They’ve already honored a cancellation of a few thousand dollars, so hopefully that will figure negatively into their performance metrics. I’m not allowed to write a review on their web site - apparently only happy customers who complete the installations are allowed to do that, skewing the results. On other independent sites, their flooring services get one star reviews. I would rather get the word out that this service by this company (hom solutions carpet division) is atrocious. The fact that a subcontractor or even the company can refuse service to a customer so readily after making them work and wait 4-6 weeks is borderline discrimination (not necessarily of a protected group, but discrimination if they don’t feel like working, or don’t feel like paying, or don’t want to get a substandard review, or don’t like the house or situation, or in general don’t want to make the effort or be helpful). I can understand “right of refusal” or “choosing your clients” by a small business or independent contractor with limited capacity, but a contractor doing work for a large company like Home Depot needs to adhere to a level of service that reflects the company mission. These people refused service 7 weeks after I paid thousands of dollars and worked 12-16 hours a day 7 days a week to get ready to “meet their standards”. I suggested to the exec that they fire the company or overhaul it if it is owned by home depot. (I actually made a difference with an ISP years ago when the service became painfully slow and the staff said it was my fault. It wasn’t, the VP heard about it, and she changed the way they troubleshooted problems.) This is a business problem, not so much a subcontractor performance problem. The company blamed me, the payer, for a problem that was easy for them to solve, and should not have occurred in the first place if they had had customer-friendly policies. There was animosity from the time the estimator came out to the time I told off the manager when the installers wanted to go home. (This may be only the second time I have expressed anger at a company. I have a lot of experience doing business.) Most people and companies are open to reasonable solutions. Not this company. They keep looking for ways not to do the work, and even more ways to make the customer do excessive unreasonable work, like move all the furniture out of the house in order to install carpet. CARPET. Carpet is a disposable product. It’s not building a house. I met with 2 other companies over the last two days and they seemed so easy. One was ready to install tomorrow. I chose the other because they had prettier carpet, so it will be another 1-2 weeks. (I have to reload two of my empty rooms to survive until then. No bed, but I get my tv and clothes back, the dogs get some floor space, and I’ll have to do my millwork outside.) I already expressed my concerns about what would happen if the installers with this new carpet company walked off the job. The salesperson assured me that wouldn’t happen. He has seen my house. He accepted the job. So far, he has been awesome. Anyway, what I want is to shake up that hom solutions/home depot carpet division and get them to implement policies that are consistent with their customer service mission and the level of service that I have come to expect at my local store. Sometimes I care more about companies than they care about themselves. I probably shouldn’t, but it’s my nature to want to help businesses that have been so helpful to me in the past.