Not nasty at all! Under the best of circumstances, it's tough to translate the soft-focus picture in your mind to the real world of which plant, which specific variety, how far apart, what to put next to it.... But when you have a lot of other people encroaching on your space, especially people who don't share your vision or your landscape "values" -- that's got to be really frustrating! And it sounds like you have a lot of space to deal with. In the time it takes to get shrubs and trees established, could you put in some hardscape features that would "guide" people where to walk and not walk? (And not park or drive!) Things like some fences, gravel paths, stepping stones. Maybe you could put in some raised berms, mounding up the soil into large curving beds to shelter your area. (The berms have an added benefit of bending the wind a bit and giving you some protected areas.) With a space that large, and with so much to choose from, perhaps you could get a landscaper to come out and work with you to develop a plan. I don't know how much that costs, but I know both my cousin and my sister made the investment and have never regretted it. It's like a multi-year plan; they buy the plants and put them in as they go, but the landscaper has drawn up the blueprint for them to follow. I don't know how your husband is, and I hate to make generalizations, but most of the men I know who aren't gardeners themselves seem to respond well to written plans and diagrams. It's one thing to tell them "I need 6' for these trees to grow up in" -- and another for them to see on the blueprint that the ultimate spread of this shrub goes right to the step, or to the fence line or whatever. (My mother insists that women are much better at visualizing than men, that's why they need the diagrams.) You may be able to co-opt him to put in some of the hardscape features. Maybe building trellises or arbors or pergolas, or excavating and laying gravel paths. That gives him a vested interest in protecting the gardens and keeping his family literally on the paths! Good luck. Building gardens takes a long time and it sounds like you're being pressed on all sides. Carve yourself a little space and dream big.

Read guidelines 5,6, and 20 of this link http://starcraftcustombuilders.com/bath.design.rules.htm#.V5DQCDsrK9I I would do some exact measurement to make sure you have enough space for that double vanity in order to meet building code. Plus making sure you have a full 36" or more available in toilet space vs the 30" minimum for code makes a huge difference in comfort level. The goal in a small space is not to make it feel as cramped and small as it is so I would definitely trend towards the smaller single vanity choice. Even though a double can be desirable, once people really think about it, most find that the amount of times where they would need to use the sink at the same time is relatively few and then when cramming them too close together they find they are too close to be able to use them practically anyway (most of us need elbow room). If storage is the main consideration, you can do a larger single or come up with alternative storage spaces, of which there are many options. But with that said, this is your bathroom so do what you like, but make sure you measure to ensure that your plan does in fact meet code. I don't recommend a toilet wall in a small bathroom as it would fragment and further close down an already small space and I'd be concerned about egress when the bathroom is only 4 ft wide to begin with. You want it to feel like a bathroom and not a couple of closets stuck together.

Wow. You guys are great! Thank you all so much for the kind words and encouragement. It helps a lot. And I see I'm not the only one in this boat! I do know that things will get better, and I can always plant new roses, etc. But it's just the loss of the rare roses that pisses me off. Why couldn't it be the more common ones that are easily replaced? Of course that's not the way it goes, altho there were a few of those too! And it's my fault for planting the tiny own-root bands in this crappy soil of ours before they've grown to a decent size. And it's my fault for not keeping on top of the sprinklers to be sure they are covering the entire beds, and my fault for not getting the most invasive weeds and underplantings pulled out when they were smaller. But... that's because I've been so busy, and overly obsessed and buying waaaay too many roses. I'm not growing and cultivating them, I'm collecting them. That's what I do. I collect things. It's sad. It's a sickness I guess. I know that in the coming seasons I will get all the beds done. And Bluegirl, yes I am doing what you said. I plant a rose, or weed part of a bed. In this heat, that's all I can do. It's slow going, but it's nice when I do get something done. Right now tho, I also am now dealing with the death of my 98yr old mom. We've been expecting it for sometime, but it's kind of surreal now that it has finally happened. My brother just flew out from Upstate NY and my sister is coming up from SoCal, so we will be dealing with all the estate and stuff over the next two weeks. I'm not going to get much done in the yard for awhile, except watering. Which is ok, since it's been too darn hot to work out there. By then it will be cooler and easier to do stuff outside. The only drawback now is the days are getting shorter, so I won't have as much daylight to get things done. Oh well, it'll get done when it gets done. LOL My life will be so different now. I'll have more time and less stress. Not that Mom was stressful. It was my niece who is my partner in the shop, and who lived with her. She's got mental issues and was a nightmare to deal with regarding Mom. Our lives revolved around her needs and wants, and my younger son and I had to go stay with Mom whenever she wanted to have time off. Now I have freedom, and so does Mom! She was trapped in her bed in a body that didn't work and a mind that was basically gone. I will miss her, but I will not miss the ordeals we went thru with my niece. And I will think of Mom when I'm out there working in the garden. Being out there will help me get over her passing. Judith, your chickens sound wonderful. We only have room for a few. (In fact we're not supposed to have more than 2... which is totally ludicrous... why bother?) Anyway.... we built a decent little shack for the girls and have a run that's 8'x24', but we're going to add another 10-12' in length and use our old satellite dish to put over part of it. It's going to be a fun and funky set-up for them. And next yr... I want some of those Blue Laced Red Wyandottes and Brahmas. Can't wait! Oh and I also am using weed barrier under some of my potted roses. Saves on weeds that's for sure. Altho they still get in the pots. But now I am sort of cultivating some weeds. Those are the goodies for the chickens! They love it when I bring them their "greens!"

I honestly feel like if you just remove the tile to the right of the chimney, it will just make it look like a crooked fireplace....people will look at it and scratch their heads. At least with the tile it looks more like a design choice. It might not be your design choice, but it will look like someone had a plan that they executed. If you decide to change out the tile, look at fireclay tile. I think it would work here. Leah, like anything having to do with...well anything...so much depends on your tolerance level. There's "I can't stand it it must go yesterday" AAAAALLLLLL the way to "I love it!!!..It's mine and will become THE focal point in my house". You're the only one who knows where you are on the scale. Watch out that any stop-gap measures don't leave you with worse than what you started with, though :) If you choose to get rid of the tile and just have the drywall...you need to make sure it's not a "normal" pendant. It needs to be a kick-ass pendant. So don't replace what you have with anything featured in the Restoration Hardware catalog... :-/