Hi Pat! May I, along with all the others here who already have, extend a warm welcome to San Antonio! We are looking forward to meeting you at the Oct. 10 plant swap. San Antonio has several microclimates in the city. The south side has very different growing conditions from the north, east from west, etc.. But even that is changing with our recent warmer winters. I live on the NW side and here bougainvillias have frozen to the ground during the winter if planted in the ground. They took a long time to recover and it was late summer or fall before they bloomed after having grown to huge dimensions to match their root system. In more recent years I've noticed that not all die back if planted near a warm wall. In that case they bloom early, but they are huge, which is beautiful if you have the room for them. Here is a thread about the pros and cons of planting in the ground: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/txgard/msg1108114515720.html Bougies actually do very well when root bound in a pot. Here is a photo taken earlier this year of some of mine. Here are some of this years photos of some growing in the ground on the south side of San Antonio: The hibiscus looks like the tropical variety which may or may not survive if planted in the ground. If it is like last year when hardly anything froze back they will survive, but who knows for sure. If you want to be sure and preserve them you might try cutting it back, digging the root ball and storing it in a protected overwintering area. Or keep it in a pot and drag it out on warm winter days where it will probably bloom all winter. The shrimp plant will do well if planted in the ground. They always come back and last year didn't even freeze back. They will tolerate medium dry shade and are great plants. I have four different kinds. Gardenias are sometimes difficult to keep blooming even in ideal conditions. A lot depends on the variety. They like acid soil and even moisture and I've had the best luck planting them in soil, pot or ground, that has been heavily amended with peat moss. I can keep them going about three years that way, but others seem to have better luck than I have and perhaps can advise you. I agree -- playing in the yard is great therapy in times of stress. I trust your granddaughter is well on the road to recovery. Happy gardening!

I forgot to mention--there's a company that makes "ready to assemble" cabinets to CUSTOM sizes and is apparently not too expensive (when compared to kitchen-cabinet manufacturers). Folks over at the Kitchens forum have had good experiences w/ them. Scherrs.com They do mostly kitchen cabinets, but they also do wall units, etc. It's basic carpentry, and they don't care what the size is. You can buy them unfinished, or finished. They come flat in a box for you to assemble (it isn't very hard, apparently), and can therefore be shipped almost anywhere. The company is in D.C., so shipping closer to them might be cheaper. It's really easy to get a bid from them.

Thanks so much for your reply. I was trying to coordinate and yet not compete with the adjoining dining room rug which has similar colors but much bolder. If you zoom into the picture below you can see a patch of it in the right hand corner opposing the sofa. Your suggestion are really nice and appreciated. I see that you used a 9x12 rug. Does you think a 10x14 would be too big?

I would get a new light that is LED 3500 K and in a style that actually lights the table. I would paint the walls the cream from the rug and then do pale blue silk drapes I love the rug it is IMO the best thing in the space and honestly if you don't use the DR why not do 4 chairs and a coffee table and some nice bookshelves and use as a nice spot for a glass of wine before dinner and a library all the rest of the time or jusrt anice spot to relax in the afternoon.