I've just been lurking here so far, but couldn't resist this thread as it looks like you've got a great lot and house to work with! Beware: I'm no pro, just have some ideas for you :^) I agree with Brent that you should start with having your walkway layed out first and let the traffic dictate the layout. I also think that with 'beds vs. plants first', it would depend on what you have a better idea of. Sounds like you definately know you want deep beds around the house, but plantings you're not so sure of? So why not start with your beds and let the placement and soil dictate your plantings? Seems logical (and so much easier when you're telling someone else how to do it!) I love conifers myself for all season interest, but you can have too many and definately plan for mature size! Why not stick with something dwarf in your beds but place a few larger varieties out in your big beautiful yard to create a park like setting interspersed or grouped with something deciduous? They can be useful to create some much needed shade and privacy areas in your yard. You mentioned placeing 4, one at ea. corner of the house? I'm thinking 3 or 5 with it being a corner lot (triangular) your 'anchors' would look more appealing and fit nicely into the overall layout. The same when designing your beds...I think curvy would go nicely with a corner lot. I don't think you can go wrong with curvy beds. Deal with the basics now and the details will follow! Hope this helps! Are you putting in a vegetable garden? Looks like you've got lots of space to work with. Make sure the conifers don't shade any veggie areas too much.

Our climate: Indiana weather. Zone 5b. The kitchen faces the east, but it faces the ravine behind the house. So while there will be some sunshine, a lot of it will be blocked by trees. Especially in the early morning, which is fine, I'm not much of a morning person anyways. It will have 9ft ceilings, or just under when finished. The overall style of the house is barn-esque. We wanted something that would blend in with the setting. Brown metal gambrel roof and wooden vertical siding with a large stone chimney off of the family room. I don't want the interior to match the exterior, and it doesn't bother me that it doesn't. I actually like the idea of formal rooms inside of a barn, kind of a pleasant surprise when you walk in the door. I'm sure others will hate it, but it's the look I'm going for. I would like the island to be the majority of the countertops in the kitchen. I would like for it to be used for prep as well as seating if possible (my husband wants an eat in kitchen, I want a formal dining area, and I'm willing to do both even in the same room if the areas can match well. I would be insane to have any more kids, but I thought that after the first, and the second, and still managed a third. So while highly unlikely, there is a rare chance that I'll miss having little ones around when they all are off to school in 3 years. The front entrance will be the most used. Our actual yard will be in the front of the house where the kids will do most of their playing while they are young. It's defined by trees right now. I would love to keep it that way. As the girls get older, they will probably hike around in the woods more, and instead use the basement entry. We plan a walkout basement in the side of the hill with a porch off the front of it. I think the hill is too steep for the basement to walk out directly at ground level. We do not want to change much of the land. There is a small creek and a large trail that will run behind the house. I would have loved to put a half bath under the stairway, but that stairway will also lead to the basement, so there isn't enough room for a bathroom there. Honestly, I don't think we will use the family room much. I just labeled it family room, because as lavender_lass stated, it's a trophy room. If a door is necessary, I don't want to be able to see through it. While I personally don't mind the taxidermy (I hunt as well), I would love to have a place for it in the house. I have family that isn't a huge fan of seeing it, and it does get a little overwhelming in our current tiny home. Mostly, because it's spewing into every room in the house except the kitchen and dining room. I think we will actually use the living room more often. We're not too big on formal around here, although I love the look. And I think the living room can have a formal sense to it, and still function as a heavily used area. That being said, I don't mind opening up living room to the kitchen more, as long as there is still a defined space. I do not like open layout floorplans, and love to be able to get away from a messy kitchen if needed. That's my biggest concern with a combo kitchen/dining. Although, I love pictures of fancy eat-in kitchens. Chicagoans- I love the sliding doors with the rail at the top. I have the current setup in my new temporary kitchen here at our current home. I would love to do this on as many doors as possible. I would also love for their to be French doors to the porch from the kitchen/ dining room area. I haven't decided on countertop either. I saw some gorgeous black and white marble that I loved, but marble makes me a little nervous. My husband is well known for throwing down tools and anything else on the kitchen countertops now. Thank goodness they are pre-cut green laminate pieces that I actually enjoy watching getting demolished a little bit at a time. I'm thinking something very durable that will last forever would be ideal. I would prefer to have a kitchen that will last for the next 10-15 years, at least, with little change. Here was my little board of some materials if I went with off white cabinets.

If you give up the wall oven and use a range, you can easily move the fridge into the new section. Then make the area where the fridge was drawn into a snack/coffee center with the MW, and a small sink. It would be perfect for making a quick breakfast or a sandwich. If you don't want to look at the MW from the DR, you could hide it with doors, which is what I did in my vintage style kitchen. Deep drawers below could store small appliances. You could also put a wall oven beside the fridge in the following drawing (as in sena's illustration), with dish drawers below. You would have landing space for both the oven and fridge. I realized that the sink in your inspiration pic is off-center, so I increased the sink to 33", and decreased the trash pull-out to 12". The faucet can be centered with the window, to help disguise the fact that the sink is a few inches off. I have a 33" apron sink and 12" trash. Love both! The sink hides a lot of dirty dishes, and the trash pull-out is sufficient for our family of 5. I keep a large metal trash can in the mudroom, where I empty the kitchen trash as needed, and we compost, so YMMV. The corner by the DW could be voided, or you could have one of the pull-out storage units. You can check deedles' and arlosmom's kitchens for their corner cabinet solutions. Both are vintage style kitchens in older homes, and are two of my favorites. arlosmom's kitchen reveal and link--still makes my heart skip a beat :) deedles' kitchen reveal images--hidden MWs images--corner cabinet pull-outs

Although it is not your glam, the color is neutral gray and that fits your scheme. I wish there was one w/out the faux FP, but that might be a feature that draws him to it. What will go in it? Glass doors are nice to protect DVD players, etc. https://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/category/collections.jsp?categoryId=cat3850077 change knobs for a glam look https://www.livingspaces.com/pdp-sinclair-grey-74-inch-tv-console-94752?utm_medium=products&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Ci_PLA_Shopping_II&landing=product_listing&lsft=utm_source:google,utm_medium:cpc,utm_campaign:Shopping_Tier_3,adgroup:Furniture_Media_TV_Console&gclid=CjwKCAiA_ojVBRAlEiwAOLRxI7YqPXsPiJjGVJCLi0iQrfVHAy3b-0lXAn0Sqkj58Lnn2SY9f9c_OxoC9tsQAvD_BwE