"Self-taught. I got tired of waiting for DH to do projects and just started trying it on my own. I remember the first project we did 18 years ago- painted a spare bedroom. This year I painted the entire outside of my 3-story house (mostly by myself). Just do it. You will amaze yourself with what you can accomplish." Made me smile.

I'm going against the majority here - given that you won't be looking at the fireplace year round (only a major focus in the colder mnths), I'd focus on putting the tv where it makes the most sense (where the most # of people can see it comfortably) since it will get the most use. If hubby is handy, any thought on putting the fireplace up high-ishy on the wall? Kinda modern? Would allow for another chair to be placed in the room perhaps (I'm keen on lots of seating) Did you say anything about venting the fireplace? Will that make a difference in the placement? I'd love to shove a fireplace into my tiny livingroom, but think that it would need to be on wheels (to be removed in the summer) - hahahaha!

Well folks, I took photos towards the end of last summer of the garden area and was both too busy to post them and was also forgetful. Many times I thought, after the fact, while I had those few minutes I should have done it. Anyway, here they are for you to evaluate and especially for lazy_gardens discriminating eye. Just need to add that the fencing and sidewalks will be redone shortly in the future. Main problem I am having is deciding on wood picket fencing or aluminum fencing that looks like wrought iron. In no way do I want pvc fencing because from what I've seen around town it looks really bad in a short period of time. Anyway, critique away. The floor and steps of the front porch are going to be torn out and replaced with a new floor and steps and walkway (either concrete or stonework. I haven't decided yet. The two pictures above are very dry shady side yard. It is very, very hard to keep grass growing there and requires almost daily watering. I am looking into planting substitutes, perhaps shade loving sedges, except for thug varieties that spread by runners. If you have any advice/ideas for ground covers for dry, sandy, infertile soil (even though I amend with cow manure and compost twice a season) for a shady area that is tough enough to take foot traffic I'd love to hear it. No takeover thugs please. Excuse this last picture. I was putting down more cow manure, mulch, and fertilizer at the time. I didn't take pictures of the backyard but as you can see I have a concrete patio and there are various flowering shrubs opposite that (Lilac, Mock Orange, a very old wild honeysuckle shrub that has a great shape, and two Cotinus (smoke shrubs) I've yet to identify. (I'll take more photos and post them when in flower in the spring.) One has coppery colored leaves and pink flowers and the other has purple leaves and a deeper shade of pink flowers. I don't think the last variety is royal purple because the color is not deep enough. Any idea what it can be give a shout out. I didn't take pictures of the back yard because after trying since 2011 to get grass to grow there, including having a shade variety sod put down ( a total waste of 1,500 bucks) the lawn is a balding mess. The reason is because all my neighbor's trees are shading it out. It is also dry, sandy shade, (despite constant amendments) but groundcovers are not an option because the constant running and playing of my 2 Beagles would prevent any plants from growing. Anyway, I've now resigned myself to the fact that the back yard belongs to the dogs.

This isn't exactly a flat saltbox like yours, but note the white fence, small portico, bright red door, and the cream window and soffit trim. Granted it doesn't have the too-close-to-the door window problem. Window grilles would help as budget allows. These mash ups of housing styles that get built make it so hard for later homeowners to improve. Whoever built this should've done a full-on saltbox with evenly spaced windows.