From my perspective shearing shrubs depends on the site, the lines of the house might interefere and cause disruption of the landscape view. It is always good to mix textures because it makes the landscape seem 3-D. I like Euonymous Emerald Gaiety for its leaf color besides being an evergreen. I also like Cotoneaster Horizontalis which is a semi evergreen it and its red berries in the fall. In CO I always used Potentilla K. Dykes for its bright yellow summer color. Then you have various varieties of juniper from Blue Harbor and upwards in height. Most of the plants I listed are considered groundcovers. I have Indian Hawthorn and that doesn't get over 4' in NC. Then you have vaious Rhododenron which generally need some shade Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

Our master bedroom was on the main floor in the last house, but upstairs in this one. We have three children ages 6 - 15, each of whom have a bedroom on the second floor. I much preferred the master on the main living level. In our next house, the master will definitely be back to the main floor. Chisue, Not to get off topic, but I hope you don't mind answering a question. I read your post above about building a 2 bedroom home with a large attic for future expansion, for resale. We are kind of planning that with our next house but for financial reasons. My DH's job requires relocation every few years. This is our 6th house in 16 years. Chances are good that he will get transferred in the next year. Now that the kids are older they do not want to move AGAIN. So our plan is to sell the current home (4500 sq ft) and build a smaller home in the same school district, with 2500 on main level with about 1300 unfinished on second floor. We would buy a townhouse for DH in the new location and he would only come home on weekends. The financial burden of operating two homes is the need to figure out how to cut costs. The kids and I would live on the main level and I would GC the finishing of the second level, while doing as much as possible of the work ourselves. So now that I have given you too much background, my question(s) is(are)... how much did you have to pay per sq ft for the unfinished attic space? It would be nice if I could just figure 2500 x $X sq ft, but I'm sure the extra framing and higher roof line will cost something, as well as materials to cover the extra exterior height. I'm sure it seems silly to ask questions when we don't know if/when a transfer will happen but once it does he is usually gone within the week and the company only covers his expenses for 90 days. I always have a file on hand with as much info as possible so I will be prepared when the time comes. Besides, I love the planning aspect of a new house!

Sprengle-when I looked at the topknob website I also couldn't find the knob-but when I googled it I found it at the website below with Homeclick. THe picture is not as shiny as the real deal. http://www.homeclick.com/web/catalog/product_detail.aspx?pid=41383&chnl=cse&ven=googlebase&cat=Hardware%3ACabinet%20Hardware&brnd=Top%20Knobs&itm=41383M201%7CContessa%20Knob%20-%20Old%20English%2C%201-1%2F4''%20-%20M201&CAWELAID=167014875http://www.homeclick.com/web/catalog/product_detail.aspx?pid=41383&chnl=cse&ven=googlebase&cat=Hardware%3ACabinet%20Hardware&brnd=Top%20Knobs&itm=41383M201%7CContessa%20Knob%20-%20Old%20English%2C%201-1%2F4''%20-%20M201&CAWELAID=167014875

Love Bee's black ceiling and the painted bathroom floor. I've made some departures, for me, in going with a new chandelier for my dining room that has a lot more crystal than anything I ever thought I would like, and I love it. Then I put a large, contemporary crystal chandelier (a disc, basically) in the master bedroom. Love it. Painted the dining room blue when everyone else was going red. My appetite is ruled by what is on the plate, and if that doesn't stimulate an appetite, why eat it? Not one person has refused to eat because it wasn't painted red. But it is a calm environment, so maybe there is less digestive upset after? ;-) Probably my most different thing was selecting three cabinet finishes and door styles for my kitchen when two was not often done. I have two hardware finishes and styles, two faucet finishes, two counter tops -- and it doesn't look wild at all. We also reduced the doorways on one wall from three to two and used the space to put a hutch with fridge drawers and a counter for our espresso machine in the breakfast room. Normally, I would not close an exterior door, but we had one into the garage right next to one to the driveway and another to the driveway at the other end of the counter run. We think we corrected a builder blunder. My porch was painted blue, but it has faded and now that it is time to repaint, I'm going to go darker.