Is that overhead lighting working for you in the old bathroom? A light bar and 2 sconces for our remodel last year took 3 months to get (long story) so we had to only use the ceiling cans. One above each sink. The shadows on our faces were awful, both for applying makeup and shaving. I put a diffuser in the cans which softened the light and helped a bit, but I was SO grateful when the new lights were installed. I don't care for the way they reflect off the wall in your photo, but it might only look that way in a pic, not in real light. They are very close to the wall. Taking out the soffit will open the room up more, but make sure there isn't other important stuff behind it (like pipes). -Babka

Canina hasn't really been used as a root stock in the uk for a long time. It is possible that it was rootstock, one of the gardens down the road from me has standard roses on a thorny rootstock, (I can tell because I wince at the suckers everytime I walk past the house!) but more likely it's a birdsown wildling - I have one growing up through a rhododendron, and I like the effect, so it stays. Given that you say it's got ambitions to colonise the path already, I suspect that might be a checkmark in the remove column, given the increased light, food, water that comes with you actively tending the garden, it's likely to get more and more octopus-y as time goes on.

The nursery industry has already responded to concerns about size and seeds with multiple different dwarf and (supposedly) sterile forms or hybrids of Buddleja davidii. Just one wholesale grower alone offers at least several (along with some older, conventional varieties): https://plants.monrovia.com/search?w=buddleja A late friend that was surprised about how much he had to water his Seattle garden after moving here and buying a property went back to Chicago one August to visit relatives. Where he learned that they had had one inch per week of rain since May that season. Out here an entire July may pass by without an inch of rain having occurred. Except for certain outer coastal zones summer rain is not a significant factor on the Pacific Slope, with the Lower 48 consisting basically of a dry summer western half and a rainy summer eastern half - the annual precipitation curves of the two corners (Seattle and Miami) are exactly opposite one another. The talk about how rainy it is here is not based on summer conditions, with there having been a bumper sticker around in the past that read Seattle Rain Festival - November to May. We never get the copious summer downpours of the eastern states, where in the South in particular it may rain feet at a time. So, yes: if a plant like butterfly bush is a noxious weed here in the Pacific Northwest this is not due to the presence of ample summer rainfall.

Thank you Revolutionary Gardens, I should have clarified that we can't get anyone to come to the house for a fee unless we meet the minimum of $5k which is usually for hardscape additions. I haven't tried bringing pictures of the yard and elevations into a nursery but will try that. Christopher C Nc, the junipers are likely 30+ years old and they and the creeping juniper do a good job at protecting the soil on this hill, and we like the privacy from the road a 5' plant provides which still allows a view of the water. That area is a garage and small space for a table, but no living space so there won't be much impact on the view. I like the look of the Korean Spice Viburnum and will check into those. A neighbor recommended lilac but these Korean Spice Viburnum have a lot of color and I think would look nicer for our yard.