Well you've gotten some good landscaping advice GB, and will probably get more. I'm going to commit a forum faux pas and offer some gardening advice. If your husband got the soil in that bed from the pond, it may be kind of clayey and you might want to add some sand to it. I bought a bag of play sand at the home and garden center and mixed it into my clay beds, about 10% and it did wonders to improve things for the plants I planted. But I don't know for sure what your soil is like. You can also buy other soil ammendments at the garden center depending on your needs. Pond soil might be quite rich in organic material, but I can't tell from the picture. I do not know for sure if a japanese maple would be appropriate for the bed but I think it might, if it was a small one, of which there are many cultivars. People grow the little maples in pots on patios, and I seem to recall that jm pots are rather shallow. But the place to ask that question is on the Japanese Maple Forum. They are very helpful. They helped me a lot when I was getting my jm. I ended up mail ordering my tree, from a mail order source recommended by the folks at the JM Forum. I don't have time to search for my old post, I doubt if it is still active, but you could search that forum for recommendations, I'm sure it is a common question. I was very skeptical about mail ordering a japanese maple, and when it came, (in a cardboard box, no less), I was even more skeptical. I put the little stick in the ground a year and a half ago and hoped for the best. My maple has been amazing. It survived the winter and was very pretty in the spring and all through last year. This year it has really taken off, is about twice as large as it was last year, and is growing like gangbusters. I don't have a digital camera anymore but I've posted a picture from last June. The variety I chose is called "Fireglow" which I chose specifically for its smaller size and more upright form than the traditional "Bloodgood" variety that you find everywhere. For my situation, and I think yours too, Bloodgood would get too big. Plus, Fireglow lives up to its name in the spring and fall. It's also supposed to be very hardy and so far mine is proving to be. But there are gazillions of other maples to choose from if you're willing to seek an out-of-the-way nursery or mail order. The folks on the JM Forum would be very helpful in offering suggestions. If you don't want to go with the maple, there are two other small trees that would make stunning focal points, I've seen both planted in foundation beds. These are Sargent Crab (a small white flowering crab that had those bright red berries in the late fall/early winter), and a little tree called "Harry Lauder's Walking Stick" which is also sometimes called Corkscrew Hazel. It is related to hazelnuts, and has a very unusual form, all twisted. It also has very pretty spring flowers. It looks interesting in the winter and early spring, two times of the year when most other things look drab in the Midwest. Google the tree in the "Images" window of the Google search engine and you'll be able to see some images of this tree. One other small tree that I like is called Amelanchier, or Serviceberry. It has white flowers in the spring, pretty purple berries that the birds just love, and red foliage in the fall, and the tree has nice bark and form in the winter. The birds eat all the berries so the tree is not messy. There are some smaller, more shrubby varieties that are quite stunning. The berries start out ruby red and gradually turn purple, that is if the birds don't immediately scarf them all down. Sometimes the tree is filled with songbirds, which is nice to see if you like to watch birds. As for other plants with red foliage that are small and shrubby and might look good with boxwood, I like redtwig dogwood, especially the kind with varigated leaves. If you keep it pruned the new growth is stunning in the winter against the snow. Another great shrub is winterberry holly. It is totally different from the chinese hollies that they sell everywhere in the nurseries. It has small deciduous leaves, but amazingly bright red berries totally cover the shrub in the early winter. The only downside to this shrub is bunnies and deer love it. A couple of other small shrubs to consider are the "Wine and Roses" wiegelia (they can get big unless you get the dwarf variety) and this spirea that I have in my yard, I think it's called "Gold Flame" or something like that. The new growth is red, and the flowers are hot pink. It actually looks very good with my japanese maple, and I like the fact that even when it isn't blooming it looks pretty, unlike some of the other spirea. Another great plant is Fothergilla, there are big and small varieties. It has pretty white flowers in spring, and gorgeous red foliage in the fall. So do some of the viburnums. Heuchera, (Coral Bells) is another red leaved plant that seems very popular, a lot of my neighbors have it in their foundation plantings. The red, cutleaf japanese maple is very popular around here as a foundation planting, mixed in with evergreen shrubs like you mentioned. I think the japanese maples also look good with azaleas, which come in stunning red shades but I don't know if those grow in your zone. I cannot recommend barberry, no matter how cool it looks, since I work in forest conservation and have spent many hours digging out invasive barberry from the woods. It overtakes the forest floor and crowds out all the lovely spring wildflowers. Here's my fireglow, last year.

In your latest, while the pantry access from the kitchen won't be quite as convenient, I think it will work. I think it's better than the one with only one entrance. Plus, it gives you a shortcut from the garage to the Garden room w/o having to go through the kitchen - which I can almost guarantee that people would do - and that they would cut through the main workspace instead of going around the island. I like it! I also like the idea of the appliance pass through - which makes me wonder if you could also use it as a staging area for things you want from the pantry to cut down on the amount of running around to the side door with your arms full - you might want to make it another foot or two wider to use it that way. Will the pass through have a door to hide the appliances from view when not in use (and to hide the interior of the pantry)? I do have two concerns about the pantry: #1 - You don't appear to have much real storage space. Do you really need that sink in there? I'd rather see that wall be all shelving for food storage. If you really want a sink, then put it on the opposite wall. Make the wall that's shared with the kitchen a row of cabs + counter with the sink. It would also make it easier for the pass through idea. #2 - The refrigerator & Freezer locations...First, the refrigerator may not open fully b/c it's against the wall and it might not quite fit b/c of the door frame/trim. You will need at least 6" b/w the wall and the refrigerator to allow it open fully - and then it will be opening into the doorway. Second, how wide is that aisle b/w the refrigerator and freezer handles and the opposite wall? You don't want to have a "pinch" point there since you will exiting with items in your hands/arms. I would try for at least 45". So, how much space do you really need in your office? I know that when I work from home, I rarely take up more space than that needed for a desk to hold my laptop + two large monitors + notebook space (yes, I still take hand-written notes!) You might want to take another foot or so of depth on the "bottom" to add to the pantry to give you a wider aisle. Inside the pantry, I would add another 6", at least, to the refrigerator/freezer wall so you can put a 6" pullout or similar b/w the refrigerator and wall. Idea! Why not take 13.5" and... From the wall, add 1.5" filler (to clear the door trim) Then, 12" pullout for brooms, etc. Then, refrigerator & freezer Then, shelving Finally, eliminate the "Broom" cabinet on the bottom and use that for more cab/counter space in the pantry.

@jabaz, I have a Bosch dishwasher that I love, so Bosch is on our short list. I looked at one of the their Refrigerators this weekend. My main hesitation is that they only have one regular depth fridge. I don’t think it has all the features I want and I’m not sure I can convince my husband to buy a counter depth one—regardless of brand. They just look so tiny inside. I’m short so it might be a nice change for me, since it is hard for me to reach things in the back of the top shelves. And, by top shelves, I mean every shelf except the bottom shelf. :) @Daisy S, that sounds like the same problem we are having. We also got the extended service plan and have been waiting 9 weeks for them to fix it! The service tech came out within 3 days and then stopped answering his phone. Every time I would call Whirlpool all they would do is call and leave the tech another message. They finally decided to give us some $ back, but it is capped at 75% purchase price not including tax or delivery. As you know, tax isn’t pocket change on an appliance purchase! My sales tax is at 10%!

I really like your kitchen! a smaller kitchen is sometimes more efficient than a larger one. I agree with Patricia that drawers are the way to go. it’s amazing how much more functional a kitchen becomes once drawers take the place of lower cabs. A counter depth fridge would also be a perfect look but make sure you have enough room for everything you normally stow in your fridge. if you think you won’t have enough space use your current fridge in a garage or basement for overflow. i actually found that the counterdepth was perfect because items don’t get pushed to the back and forgotten about.