My step mother has those double tens and believe me, that needs to be changed - at least into a single larger can. She has a bottom mount from Kraftmaid that died after 5 years. I'm not sure if it was the frustration of two tiny cans causing overly enthusiastic filling, bad design or that it wasn't full extension making it difficult to get to the back can. For me, top mount(or side mount) is plenty strong enough. We had a single 50qt and had no issues. Cans held by a platform which is in turn held up with 250lbs rated side mount glides. Compared to bottom mount, there were also zero spills into the cabinet itself while my stepmother's tracks were always full of fallen garbage.

Okay, let's see if I can catch up on all of your helpful posts! I met with a landscaper and we were pretty much on the same page but there were a few things that I didn�t agree with. Maybe I just have no clue what I'm doing and maybe his recommendations are truly better than the picture I have in my head! I'll be meeting with another designer on Monday to get his take on it. The first guy was free and we just talked about what the plan would be. The second guy charges $50, but will draw up a whole design. They also do driveways, which the first company does not do. The one thing that I really didn't like about the first guy was that I felt like I had seen all of his ideas in my neighborhood already. I don't want something crazy that doesn't fit the house or neighborhood, but I also don't want the same thing everyone else has. How do you get your house to stand out from the others but still "fit"? Just because everyone else has "x" number of garden beds and "x" amount of front yard grass doesn't mean I have to, right? I did read over our HOA docs and they simply state that no more than 20% of the yard can be raised garden beds or container gardens. I would really like to make maintaining the lawn easier and to shade the front a little more. He wasn't on board with that. As I said before our yard is quite short, only 25 ft deep from the sidewalk to the front brick. So that will definitely play a big part in the design. The front tree is a cherry tree (with fruit) and I have been told that it will grow large enough to provide cover for the front window, not too sure about the door. Every arborist and landscaper that I have talked to seem happy with that tree and tell me not to touch it. The shutters have actually done quite well with all of the sun and heat that they get exposed too. No warping or anything. Considering the roof color is a good point. I think the wrought iron color would look great. I still don�t know what I want to do with the door. I have been playing with pictures of the house for days now. I've cut and pasted so many different designs I'm stuck. I think that there are some styles and looks that definitely work, some that definitely don't work, and then there are the in-between ones. I don't mind having my house look a little different then the neighborhood. I have two tri-levels on each side of me and three true 2 story colonials across the street from me. From my mock-ups I think can get away with some different looks that neither of the other two styles could pull off. And that is why I'm stuck. Too many ideas. I think a designers eye is what I need. The other challenge I am having right now is prioritizing what to do with the house first. The inside still needs to be painted. I could use some new furniture too. If I did do painting I would want to update the lighting while the ceilings are getting a fresh coat. As far as the outside goes, we obviously need landscaping. But we could also use new gutters and soffits, possibly a new door, and new hardscaping. My husband would also like to close in the carport. There is just so much to do and I don't know where to start. The changes we have already made to the inside were easy because they were done out of necessity. Really none of these other things have to be done. I think that I would like to focus on the outside simply because I have a 4yr old and 1yr old that make it a little harder to maintain the inside versus the outside. And I can handle the inside myself. I obviously need professional help with the exterior. So, any ideas on how to prioritize my projects?

Replacing the broken drive will be a great improvement. As mentioned above you should extend the paving to the house and I like the way it is curved off in the images above. If you want to change anything in paint color the easiest would be to paint the garage door, as well a the trim around it, to the color of the roof or the current front door color. As to the front door I think the current dark color is lost against the dark brick background. White would stand out better. You could also use a mid tone accent color. Painting the lower windows in the same dark shade would diminish their distraction but they really do not bother me. Also, if they are vinyl it is not good to paint them dark. I don't hate the shutters. They are not really meant to be on double windows but if you like them keep them. The braces under the upper floor would stand out better painted a much lighter color. When I look at your surroundings and considering the room you have I think it would be nice to continue the wooded look. Distances are misleading in photographs but it looks like you have a deep lawn. What is the distance from street to house? I suggest narrow trunk trees planted closer to the street. Not to hide the house but so the house can be viewed in the distance. I found a few images but I am not entirely happy with any of them. If this idea appeals to you I suggest you hire a designer to help you site the trees. You can pay for the design only and install the plants yourself. I am not professional obviously so these are purely based on my own aesthetics. I just think the front landscaping should flow with the overall picture. I like to have the line of sight open to the front door. That means keeping shrubbery and trees from blocking the view. I made a crude image showing a darkened garage door and one darkened lower window. The color is too dark but is meant to show what it might look like. The goal is to diminish the significance of the wide garage door and focus the eye to the front door. Try to imagine the door in white or even the light gray of the siding. Since you have the luxury of room I'd like to see a large specimen plant on the left side. I

The lawn is the easy part. Post this picture in the Lawn Care forum to get a head start. It is likely too late to do a great renovation, but you could drop a mix of fescue, rye, and Kentucky bluegrass as a start. But lets start with the soil. You probably hate it. If you think you need more topsoil, you don't. If anything I might be inclined to remove some of the crown in the yard to improve drainage toward the street. With a basement the last thing you want to do is create a dam that backs up rain and melting snow into the house. If you look at the bricks on the house, there should be a bottom brick. The bottom of that brick is the sill of the house. Measure down 4 inches and that is where the top of the soil should be. If you have soil higher than 4 inches below the sill, then consider removing some. I see houses every day where the owners have brought in topsoil to "improve" the soil. That doesn't work. New soil is not better soil. Regardless of whether you remove soil or leave it all, it can be improved. This soil looks desiccated which is very hard on the microbes in the soil. It is the microbes that develop a healthy soil. Get 2 hoses, 2 turbo-type oscillator sprinklers, and a Y type splitter for your hose faucet. Also get a hose end sprayer that has a bottle for applying liquids. Put about 4-5 ounces of shampoo into the sprayer bottle and fill it with water. Spray the shampoo over the yard evenly until the bottle is empty. Then it is time to water that shampoo in. Arrange the hoses and sprinklers to cover the lawn on full sweep. Then put out tuna cans to catch the water around the yard. Time how long it takes to fill all the tuna cans. For my oscillator it takes 8 full hours, so you're in this for awhile. If you see runoff at any point, immediately stop watering and let the moisture soak into the soil for 15 to 30 minutes. Then restart the watering and the timer. Stop as often as needed to prevent runoff. When the cans are full stop the timer. The time on the timer is the time you will be watering in the future unless or until you install underground sprinklers. The shampoo followed by the deep watering is all you need to do to reawaken the soil microbes. If you want to make them really happy, apply an organic fertilizer. Organic fertilizers feed the microbes and keep your soil healthy. This will give your yard a huge boost for whatever grass or planting you do in the future. Once you have an inch of water in the soil, that might be the last time you need to water this year. You should see the existing grass respond as well as old and new weeds. That is all good. If you do not seed grass this fall, like immediately, you should know that spring is a poor time to seed new grass. Why? Because spring is when the summer annual weeds are sprouting. Crabgrass is the main culprit, but there are others. Fall is better simply to avoid those weeds. But if you do seed in the spring, just know that everything can be fixed next August when you seed again. Lawn care is as easy as watering (properly), mowing, and fertilizing. Watering is easy enough with the oscillators, so don't get excited about spending thousands on an in-ground system. You won't need to mow until you have grass. For now a string trimmer would work wonders. I've "mowed" my entire lawn with a string trimmer, so it can be done. As for fertilizing, apply any organic fertilizer at 15-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. That helps the soil which help the plants. Read some posts on the Lawn Care forum and see if you want to get involved with that.