I've done a lot of research on this because of the impact of the Biggert-Waters Act next month. First, flood insurance is handled through various insurance companies but is all (mostly) under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). FEMA manages NFIP. The maximum coverage is $250K for the residence and $100K for contents. As with most insurance, you can raise your deductible to lower your premium. New policies in flood zones will all require an Elevation Certificate (EC) by a surveyor to determine your BFE and level of your home (explained later). The Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) determines if you are in a flood zone and the amount of risk. The FIRM maps are always being re-drawn, so you might be out of a flood zone one year and in the next. The result after FIRM is that building codes change to reflect the zones, so in "new" flood zones we have older, pre-FIRM homes built lower than newer post-FIRM homes. As you've figured out, you do not have to be anywhere near the water to be in a flood zone, and you can be right on the water and not be in one. (Really - a good friend has a waterfront home on Tampa Bay but is X, although his pool is VE). The amount you will pay is based on two main things - Base Flood Elevation (BFE) which is how high someone has determined your spot will flood. Mine is 11 feet. The variable is how high the top of your bottom floor is. Example: My house is a one-story pre-FIRM slab, so my tile floor is the top of the bottom floor at 8 feet. The raised, post-FIRM houses are only garages and rec rooms on ground level (no liveable space), and their "top of bottom floor" is at least 8' up. My "minus 3" from my EC is what determines my rate. Obviously, a "zero" or better (+) is going to have the lowest rate. The biggest question is where the BFE comes from. My neighbors are all upset because it has never flooded here in 40 years since it was built, even a little bit, through many, many tropical storms. Remember that is what most of the Sandy victims said, too, only many of them were there even longer. Also, keep in mind that 30% of claims every year are NOT in designated flood zones. I seriously doubt that all the homes being inundated in Colorado right now are in flood zones. I won't get into the impact that the Biggert-Waters Act will have on many homes unless someone asks, but the bottom line is that it's going to affect many of the communities that are still recovering from the BP Oil Spill and the recession in general. People just started going back to the gulf beaches this past summer and now all those businesses that were built before the FIRM maps were in place are going to get hit with a big insurance bill that could put them under and will stall our recovery. Hope this helps you understand a bit about flood insurance. It can be pretty scary, but it's managable for the most part.

Hi, sunkissed. On second thought I think the Brimnes is too tall. In my mock-up the idea was to have the storage unit to serve as an impromptu place for a person to set a drink or an appetizer plate if they are seated in one of your gray arm chairs. Basically, a credenza height. A height of 37" may make that uncomfortable. So, I'm leaning towards a total height of about 30". The EKET series has some good options. The first one is just over 10' wide. The second is 11 1/2' wide. Both are just over 31" tall. Here's a mock-up of scale to show you how the height would differ. For reference the chairs are 35 3/4" tall.

Congratulations on your new house! The first thing that caught my eye is that you have a lot of windows so you’ll have plenty of natural light. That will work well with the farmhouse look. This house has lots of possibilities, but I would suggest you focus first on figuring out your budget and then decide what your first priority should be. Houses always need repairs you don’t expect, so keeping some extra money in savings is more important than getting the decor perfect right away. You can use the idea book feature here or a Pinterest board to gather inspiration pics if you haven’t already. Then as you make each decision you can plan it to fit into your big picture. For instance, I really like Hallet’s idea that you could paint the ceilings and trim. But some farmhouse looks have bright white trim and some have a light greige or other neutral and then bright white walls. If you think through which you’d prefer now then you won’t find yourself stuck later after spending time and money on the wrong option. I didn’t see anything in your original post about needing wedding ideas, so I’m not really sure why the timing of the wedding is important. :)

@Dianna B We bought/renovated a house near the beach 2 years ago, got all the permits to list it as a vacation rental (this was an ORDEAL, so make sure you look into what it required!), signed a contract with a property management company, got pictures taken and the website set up to list it on all the vacation rental sites, and were ready to go live... on March 5. Yes, that would be March 5, *2020.* :P So, instead of renting it out, we moved our family into it -- since everyone was working/schooling remotely, it was perfect. And every single day, I'm grateful for our beautiful kitchen!!!! (The house we rent where we 'live' is a tiny homage to the 70s, in all the bad senses of the term homage. The greenish-yellow counters, the inability to open the fridge and the oven at the same time, the lack of a functional venting system... well; at least it's very space-efficient! haha) So yes, to @Michelle Maurice's point: you never know how you will use your vacation house. :D