I'll try to play catch up. (Have been travelling for a little more than a month in the past 40 days. Much of that was without Internet so more absent than I thought might happen.) The drawing is pretty basic but hopefully it will convey some ideas. First, I would get rid of the odd angles on the beds. They would look much better to tie in to walks at 90* angles instead of weird wedge shapes. In the lower, right corner I'm illustrating two ways you could make a circular bed around the lamp post. (The lamp post is a primary purpose of the bed so the bed ought to use the post, at least roughly, as the radius point. And a generally circular shape would make more sense than a sprawling asymmetrical wedge shape.) Also, I would re-shape the large front bed. It should swell out to accommodate the tree you intend to plant but does not need to extend outward, around the walk in a grabbing fashion. To explain the planting in the illustration, it is a shrub below each window of the garage, and a small hedge below the pair of windows (right half). None of those should get taller than bottom of the window. There is seasonal color flanking the entrance to the porch and at the left of the porch. A perennial mass wraps the garage corners and right house corner. A low groundcover, solid, links the other plantings together. Can't tell how your existing tree would possibly conflict with the proposed tree. (The third picture you posted was taken from a different position so the existing tree location shown could be seriously misleading.) You might want to consider moving the proposed tree farther back in the scene rather than placing it at a pure diagonal to the house corner. (I wouldn't know because we don't have the information.) A large shade tree is probably not in order. A flowering tree (such as redbud) might be a better size to use so close to the house. As far as what plants to use, gauge the heights and research what plants grow locally that could perform well.

Aisles...42" will only "work" for a year or two, at best. By then, there will be more than one of you working in the Kitchen at the same time -- you + one or two children. Unless you plan to remodel again in the next the couple of years. Cheri, they key in your situation was that you had to make do with what you had -- a small Kitchen with many doors. And even you admitted there were issues ("inconveniences"). Forever Now doesn't have those constraints -- her Kitchen is actually at least a medium size Kitchen and she doesn't have as many doors, so deliberately planning a Kitchen with issues when it's not needed doesn't make sense. I would not do less than 48" b/w the island and perimeter -- especially since the DW situation will not be ideal. Keep a wide enough aisle to not only work around the DW but also to allow more than one person to work in the Kitchen at the same time -- it's really a one-aisle Kitchen, so that needs to be accounted for as well. My recommendation is to: Move the island toward the window by 3" or so -- as you said, there won't be much traffic there and, besides, 33" is around the width of a standard interior doorway. Granted, a doorway is only a few inches thick, but I think it will still work, assuming the windows aren't an issue b/c they appear to open inward. Reduce the island's length by at least 2" -- that would still give you plenty of workspace if the DW is moved to the other side of the island sink. Reduce the 9" utility cabinet to a 6". If you keep narrower doors, you may be OK -- that just means french door or side-by-side refrigerators. See below -- you know have a 48-inch aisle. If you cut off the corner as in some of the layouts above, you might gain an additional 2" or so. Just be careful on the left b/c the front door is also in the Kitchen on that wall. BenjesBride...unfortunately, I don't think there's room to turn the refrigerator 90 degrees and place it on the exterior wall. There's not enough room for the refrigerator itself b/w the bathroom wall and the sliding door, let alone the necessary 9" or so needed b/w the wall and refrigerator to allow the refrigerator doors to open fully. Layout #2: With the 21" sink base, you can probably do all your dish rinsing at the island -- so not much, if any, dripping to the DW. . Layout #2 Zone Map: . In the end, it's up to you -- I'm just trying to get you a Kitchen that will work for several years to come while you save for a gut remodel. [It took us about 12 years or so to save up to do a gut remodel of our Kitchen, Foyer, & Powder Room (& replace all water pipes in our house), so I know it can take a while to save money for a remodel.]

You should decide if the brick barbecue is an asset or a deficiency. Sometimes, they are missing parts and if properly fixed could be useful and enjoyable. Given that it's away from the house a bit, it would be useful only if you can take advantage of the campfire/firepit ambiance. A distinct disadvantage to its daytime use is the lack of protection from the sun. You have to figure out if this, with alterations, could be made useful to you. If not, demolish it and return the area to a clean slate. (If covered with a roof or pergola, directly or near, and with some paving underfoot, I could envision it with an old world, getaway, smokehouse feel for larger family gatherings. That wouldn't preclude you from also having a more convenient lounging & barbecue area directly at the back of the house for everyday and smaller gatherings.) There is plenty of space to expand the existing patio if desired. Fortunately, Arizona doesn't have a law that a pergola must be flat. It can be designed to coordinate with your existing roof line. At any rate, the patio will not really be useful until it gets some shade. You'll need to decide if this comes from plants, an architectural structure or a combination of the two. (Are there vines that grow there?) Narrowing down a budget will help guide this decision. I would consider some larger conifer type evergreens for the back, right corner of the yard in order to screen the utility poles and convergence of wires. Other trees, including palms, would be helpful in giving anyone using the back yard the feel that they are protected and sheltered. The small tree at the back of the house seems neglected. You should begin limbing it up with the goal of eventually being able to walk under it as it gets larger.

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