hey kippy the hippy (great name btw) Thanks for responding! i am actually not happy with the bench that is there it looks to 'light" not in color but in weight and doesn't really anchor that area at all. Also unfortunately the gate swings in 3 feet past the window and cannot be flipped to open the other way. I already thought about that lol i hate that it opens in. We aren't allowed to alter the fence due to home owners association rules. (its like the gustapo here with that stuff) My husband is adamant that the gate has to open to a full 90 degree angle. I am not concerned with that but he is fighting me on that one. That makes having something that takes up the full window impossible because the furniture's depth and width would then impair that 90 degree angle. Im not quite sure what exactly you were suggesting with the metal so maybe you could show a picture of what you were talking about? I also agree with you about making the perimeter plants a bit higher. When we buy the boxwoods they will all be the same size (due to cost of taller ones) My original idea was to do something like you see in this picture here. disregard that there isnt any boxwoods at the edge of the fence because there will be. In this picture you see how it kinda staggers in height with it being 90cm high at the very corners and then stepping down to 60cm and then the lowest parts being 30cm (30cm is roughly 1 ft) It will be a matter of letting them grow to that height which will take a few years so it will have to be short for a while. i cannot afford 1200 euro on boxwoods to buy them already at the necessary height. I am intrigued by your idea of not even doing any underplantings at all and just using mulch instead. i agree an underplanting will get in the way of maintenance of the topiaries. I am concerned that not having anything though might make the garden appear too lifeless. I really appreciate your constructive criticism. Some other people on here might as well have just out right told me it looks like S*** for as rude as they came off to me, but I asked for honest opinions and i got what i asked for so im not complaining lol. Anyways thanks for you great idea!

If you're big on midcentury modern, which these cabs invoke (because they're rather teak-like and the grain runs left-right, if I recall correctly) I'd suggest something that looks like hand-made rough ceramics (but NOT distinctly ethnic). Even if most of the tiles are smooth up to date rectangles or squares, a horizontal strip of something more earthy might work. Your challenge will be to merge whites with the browns. Or is the "white" more creamy? I also like the idea of some kind of herringbone to add an angle without going Moorish. If you could stand real rough stone (put stainless behind stove and use lots of sealer on the rest of the wall?), irregular narrow chunks of stone massed in the space, which is common look in tile store displays right now, might add distinction. Perhaps same color tone as your countertop but in rough stone?

I have tile everywhere in my house except the bedrooms and I love it. It is harder than carpet and padding, but I don't have any trouble with the hardness of it. When we took up the carpet I couldn't believe all the fine sand like dirt that was under it. I have allergies and I feel a lot better about not having all of that dust/dirt around all the time. Same would be true if you did wood flooring. I like the tile you've chosen and I think it would be beautiful. Yes, the tile does go under the cabinets. I didn't pay attention to what size your tile was when I looked at it, but we used 16x16 tiles and it looks great. I like the look of larger tiles and the bonus is less grout lines to get dirty. I would have used a bigger tile if they made it in the color I chose. Some cons of large amounts of tile flooring: Where I live I have to keep up with cleaning the flooring more often because of the fine sand like dust/dirt, which means sweeping/swiffering, mopping, vacuuming a lot more often than with carpet. I do it every other day normally and everyday if it's been windy and I've had the doors and windows open. If you live in a climate where it gets cold, the floor will be cold in the winter unless you install heating under the tile. In the kitchen, you need to be careful with glass bottles. We had a bottle of taco sauce near the edge of the pantry shelf and DH accidentally knocked it off the edge looking for something else. Needless to say, it was a mess. Thankfully, it was contained to the pantry. I'm sure heavy cans will pose a tile breakage risk also, but we haven't had that happen yet. Recommendations and things I would do differently: The tile will be difficult to remove if you ever do want to change it, but don't let that stop you from choosing what you love. You stated, and I agree with you, that the tile is timeless and won't need to be changed. It's also neutral so that it will go with any other finishes you decide on. Speaking of which, what are you planning to do for cabinets in the kitchen? (color) Because the tile is neutral, I would recommend laying it on the diagonal to give it some character. It does require more overage, cost and cuts, but I think the end result is amazing! If I had it to do over again, I would definitely do that, but we did the whole tile job ourselves and we were on a budget. Make sure you see samples of the actual grout next to your tile. I picked a grout that I thought would be great for hiding dirt and not showing stains etc. After we grouted, it dried A LOT lighter than the sample swatch. I was not happy with that. On a floor, I think going as dark as you can with the grout is the way to go. If you don't want a contrasting grout, pick the darkest coordinating color. It would be best for you to have sample boards made with the tile and your possible grout choices. I wish I had done that.

Is this rental in a market where the renters can afford to be so choosy as to reject a house because the floors don't match? When I last sought out a place to rent, flooring aesthetic wasn't even on my list of concerns, as long as it wasn't carpet (and that was a functional concern). It was stuff like "are there enough bedrooms" and "is the locaction good" and "is there a dishwasher". The wood floor and wood-look vinyl do not look good together, sure, but is it worth tearing up and replacing right now? If that level of detail is indeed crucial in your market, I agree with the slate-look sheet vinyl. In my old apartment, it was all original hardwood (1915 building) except the kitchen and bathrooms, which had sheet vinyl that looked vaguely like travertine. Wasn't the best looking, but was functional and super easy to maintain. Sheet vinyl is great for rentals, and they make some good looking patterns now (like the slate). For whatever reason, I've always been fine with tile/stone-look vinyl and vinyl-look vinyl, but I just don't like the wood-look stuff.