(Well, I'd posted this last night and then couldn't find it. I'd gone over to the Remodeling forum to see if you'd gotten any answers there, and I must have accidentally posted it there. So I've recopied it for this forum.) How about: --Move the 13'9 wall "up" 1' to change the width of this bedroom from 11' to 10'. Then cut the long closet in it in half, with the right part remaining a closet. Remove the left part of the original closet wall so that you now have about a 6'6 wide alcove on this bedroom that's ~4' deep. --Now the other bedroom is 7'6 wide between the 5' knee wall and the 13'9 wall, which will be better with the 5' knee wall. We have a 6' knee wall next to a 6' dormer like yours. When the kids are up tomorrow afternoon when I get home, I'll measure things to see how I think it might feel and post again. (Just realized today that since this is remodeling and not a new house, that you can check this out yourself!) --Make the new hall to this dormered bedroom 42" wide, with a wall parallel to the 12' wall of the 12'6 x 12' bedroom. (Could you label your next drawing bedrooms A, B, C, D to make things easier to identify?) ;0) Put a linen closet about 18" deep and 4'6 wide opposite the new laundry. "Below" that, make a 5'x4'6 closet for the bedroom to the right. Then use the space "below" it for another closet the same size for the dormered bedroom. It looks like you're trying to get the same square footage for each room, so you may want to juggle my suggestions around a little bit. If the new closet sizes seem too small, you could make the one for the 12'6x12' BR 4'6x10', make the alcove in the 13'9x10 BR a little narrower thus widening the closet, and make the dormered BR closet 7'6x4 between the 5' knee wall and the 13'9 wall. Hope this helps! Anne

There are pluses and minuses. I have slept in '80s brass beds, 1880s brass beds, and a more modern wrought iron bed. Here are some things to think about. - Metal beds originally became popular as a precaution against bedbugs. Bedbugs hide in wood furniture, so if you get an infestation simply replacing the mattress won't suffice. For most of my life, bedbugs were a quaint old affliction remembered only in good-night sayings. However, they are now back in a big way. If you travel at all, your luggage can carry bedbugs from a hotel (even a very nice hotel) right back to your own bed. If so, you may have to treat or replace the mattress but at least your bed will be easy to sanitize. - You need to plan out where your head goes. Banging your skull on metal is unpleasant. That means you need good-sized pillows for sleeping and extra fluffage for reading. And yes, pillows do have a tendency to slip behind the bed. - I found it pleasant to touch the cool metal with my hands when I was warm in bed. It sounds like nothing, but it actually made a difference in comfort . - By all means get a well-made bed if you go metal. Cheap metal beds flex and move and bend even more than cheap wooden ones. A poorly made bed will make you feel like you are sleeping in a lifeboat on open seas.

Hi all, The cat litter is the approved Tesco low dust that is popular with Bonsai growers. It is not clumping. I have received the water soluable Miracle Gro. I will use it once per month during this dormant season rather than the usual two weeks, with one watering every week on the large plant and every two weeks on the pups. Size of the chick flint grit is about 3-5mm on average as is with the rest of the mix. Should the mix continue to stay wet more than expected, I will try some larger stuff I have. @ewwmayo No, though I prefer rain water to any tap water when possible. When it's not plentiful saving it seems ideal. I will stop reusing. Unfortunately two of the oldest leaves have started dying at the base and a few inches up the leaf itself. It's dark at the base and the leaf surface is brown and extremely dry, like a past harvest corn plant(or dead corn plant for that matter). I think more of the oldest leaves will fall away eventually. It may be a sign the plant is trying to get rid of the old and sick parts so it can continue growing.

Re the star jasmine: too much sun maybe? I'm in the Pac NW but summers, even here, with relentless sun, are not kind to star jasmines. There is a lot more humidity on the east coast in the south, and things do well there because they generally have plenty of rain and humidity in summer. Jasmines also like shelter. Windy situations are not the happiest for them. You did well to mulch them. After this growing season they should be well established. One thing about the brown leaves: sometimes leaves do this on evergreen things just as the plant is making a branch there. Look for signs of new branches and more leaves - that is a natural occurance then, and nothing to worry about. how wide is your bed by your fence? you mentioned planting catmint (Nepeta). That plant sprawls when in bloom, and can get very wide - so be sure you don't buy the giant nepeta, which sprawls 4-5 feet. You do have to cut back nepeta when it's done flowering each time. What other flowers are you considering and what is your color range that you like? i think you mentioned white, blue, and purple. What other flowering perennials have you considered? you said you wanted low maintenance so ideally, that would be something you don't have to deadhead constantly. . There are some amazing salvias that would do well in your climate. Salvia patens has pure royal blue flowers; ' cambridge blue' is sky blue, rare colors in flowers - not sure what zones they need but worth checking out. Hummingbirds love salvias. Salvia guaranitica "black and blue" is stunning! Or you could plant asclepias and attract butterflies. i adore lantana, which here is an annual but in the Caribbean grew as a woody shrub and bloomed constantly - i guess they are considered invasive down south so it may not be the best choice for your area. Here's a nice article about salvias: https://gardenerspath.com/plants/flowers/how-grow-salvia/ As other have said, until things are established you will need to keep them watered. i used to live in the carribean - no water there - we used our dish water and bath water, bailing out the bathtub, to water our plants! nothing was wasted.