Vettin: This is an incredible list. It's way too big for only 10. I'll give you some items that stand out to me as either easy or special favorites of mine. Buddleia--butterfly bush--large fragrant clusters of small blooms. Can get to be large. I love mine. Campanula--if I lived where you do, I would definitly try some of these. The kind of fizzle in the heat here but I think they could work for you. Called "bellflower", they are beautiful plants. Clematis--I have several. look into these and take your garden vertically. They look great with climbing roses or beautiful by themselves. Coreopsis--called "tickseed", they look a lot like daisies. They are easy to grow and bloom very well. A great group of plants. Delphinium--I love these but can't grow them because they don't like my heat. I've heard of others in N. VA who do well with them. GET SOME OF THESE! Dianthus--carnations are in this family. They bloom well and smell great. The ones I grow are rather low growing and great in the garden. Digitalis (foxglove)--Nice tall plant with really pretty bell shaped flowers. They are tall and narrow and add a differnt look and texture to a garden. Edgeworthia--This plant blooms in winter with incredibly fragrant blooms that look a lot like Daphne. The Atlanta Bontanical Gardens have several. They are unique looking and well worth the garden space for the winter blooms. Helleborus--another winter bloomer. EASY plants that take no care and can spread so you can share with your friends. Hosta--a VERY low care EASY plant for a shady area. The clump gets larger and had to be "thinned" every few years but that means you can spread them around. Several of these varieties are nice. Hydrangea--look at the two arborescens. I like these. Beautiful huge clusters of white blooms. Iris--a great EASY plant. Don't plant them deeply at all--almost on the surface or they won't bloom or worse, will rot. I recognize two Iris germanica (bearded irs) as being rebloomers--they bloom in the spring AND fall--Lo How Sliver (white) and Sugar Blues (blue and fragrant). Get at least one of each of these and look up the others to see what they are. Lithodora--a very low growing plant with bright blue star shaped flowers. The foliage is dark green. I really like this plant. Osmanthus fragrans--I did not realize that this plant was hardy in N. VA. If it is, GET AT LEAST ONE! It's evergreen, slow growing, can get 15 feet tall but will tolerate pruning. I keep mine at about 6 feet. Mine bloom in the spring and fall with scattered bloom in the summer. The blooms are tiny and you don't really notice them until you SMELL them. The fragrance carries across the yard and it's incredible. This is one of my favorite plants (and it's not even a rose). Philidelphus--mock orange. Beautiful white blooms in the late spring for me. The frangrance is wonderful. Phlox--there are several different kinds listed. All are great plants in my garden. They give a good selections of colors and they are easy plants. Rudbeckia--black eyed susans--nice sunny cheerful plant easy and blooms for a long time. Salvia--good plants--easy and pretty Scabiosa--pincushion flower--I have butterfly blue and it is one of the best blooming plants I own. The little blue/lavender blooms--about 1 1/2 in. across come from early spring to frost. Easy, easy plant. It's kind of low growing with stems that stick up with the bloom on top. A very nice plant. Hope this helps. Remember, this is just my opinion and I am not in your zone. I also looked at the list quickly and may have missed something wonderful. Enjoy the sale. Take a lot of $ and a truck to carry everything home. Let us know what you end up getting.

Thanks for all the additional suggestions- Unfortunately, the doors mounting on the other side of the wall won't work either- There is a light switch on one of the walls, and the other will soon be a built int book case once the playroom moves to our basement. As far as the couch= I don't think it would be a good idea to move it as it will block the flow from the kitchen/eating area into the family room. But it's not completely out of the question. Kind of playing with it in my mind. I will eventually get cushions for the window seats. I suppose that will have to do to fulfill my extra seating desire. Gosh the french doors were an after thought. When we built the house 2 years ago, we said, wouldn't it be great to have them and so being the impulsive people we were (not so much now) we had them installed. Now i wish I had not installed them as they seem to be causing more of an issue than not! Thanks again! Elissa

A floor plan showing the entrances, exits, windows, adjacent rooms, and access to water and possible venting for the dryer would help. As would information as to whether or not you are crawlspace or slab foundation. In general, it sounds as though you have the room for the laundry, but maybe not the laundry and a major passageway. However, you will need to alter plumbing and electrical to do this, plus get the permit for that. Costs to do that will depend on location and the answers to the questions above. BTW, high capacity stacked front loaders will give you better laundry results and more room for maybe adding in a laundry sink.

My house was built about the same time, and I understand working around existing elements. Are you planning a tile backsplash? Will you use window treatments--curtains, shades, etc.? Is there any reason (safety code, aesthetics) you couldn't have the hood overlap the windows slightly, then tile the window wells up to the level the hood starts, with window trim above? Or tile to the ceiling, and all around the windows, skipping the wood trim? Would that look to institutional? I suppose the tile would need to be set out slightly to match 3/4 thick window trim, or window trim would need to be re-sawed to be the thickness of the tile. Obviously, I didn't include a chimney. Click to enlarge: