Thanks to the OP for starting this thread. Many of our decisions were based on meeting the challenges of my back and feet and of course lack of vertical stature! Many of our decisions have turned out well: the raised DW, cork floor, FD frig and shallow sinks. Unfortunately some of them I wish I could go back and fix with the advantage of hindsight: buying the matching MW instead of making a shelf and placing a countertop one in and the faucets at the prep sink. In hindsight both of those decisions happened because of having to meet someone else's deadline and not ours. So, I really encourage those of you are doing your design phase to really think thru every detail now because it is really hard to change them afterwards. I do want to encourage people to have the raised DW. Ours is at the end of run partially behind a wall. We have a shallow drawer underneath it which is great for flat dishes. The counterspace on top is where dirty dishes wait their turn and is backup space for when we are doing lots of dishes by hand. Our frig is at the other end of the kitchen from the MW which is something that I debated on but figured I could work with. It does mean more walking while making things but since I was determined to have my raised DW and the frig not visible as you walk in the house... It is interesting to read what considerations we all have had as we design our kitchens for being used as kitchens. I had thought about making it more of eat in nook type of kitchen but decided I wanted the extra prep space instead. I also believe as others have demonstrated that you can have a functional and beautiful kitchen at the same time. It just takes some thought and planning which is why I guess builders don't want to take the time and thus money to do that. I haven't cooked barefoot but I do find the cork floor is much easier on my back than our previous tile floor was. And one of these days DH will finally take the rest of our pictures so I can post on the FKB!

First, I wanted to thank everyone for their support. Its been a rough week, not only emotionally but also physically because I caught a nasty virus. While I am still (understandably) nervous and will remain that way until everything is in writing, my parents have said we are going with the original plan with only a small change. The deed restrictions state that each property can only be a single family residence and if we build a separate building, aka the mother in laws quarters, we could potentially be violating these restrictions and anyone who lives in our area could potentially sue. To avoid this, the plan has changed and the mother in laws quarters will actually be attached to the main house. I/we didn't actually want to be this close but if it allows us to accomplish our goals then it is a small price to pay. My parents also spoke with my brother and told him that my husband and I were just going to buy a new house and, according to them, he teared up and said he didn't want that. I'm not sure if he didn't want it because it meant he might have to help take care of them when they are older (something he has flat out said he won't do) or because he actually realized he was being a selfish pr*ck and his actions were going to cause a lot of grief for everyone else. Regardless, he has told my parents that he also doesn't like their hair-brained idea of taking on a new mortgage in retirement. So that's where I sit right now. Not much progress on the house but we did get the final coat of paint on the exterior and get tile laid in the breezeway. To answer Christine's question of why we do what we do, my response would be because I inherently do not trust others. I told my husband years ago, when we were poor college kids, that even if I won the lottery and could afford to pay someone else to do all the work, I would STILL want to do it myself. This way, I know it is done right and if it isn't, I only have myself to blame. I will also admit to being raised by my dad, the classic handyman, that if you don't know how to do something, you practice until you get it right. To pay others to do it is a "waste of money". In hindsight, my parents lived practically paycheck to paycheck and doing everything yourself was a necessity but still, its my inherent nature. If I don't know how to fix my car, drain, electrical, etc. I don't hire a pro, I research and fix it (or build it) myself. So that's why I do what I do. I'm a perfectionist control freak.

Oh, Daisy - I LOVE that picture of your steps with the little bunch of daffodils (or are they narcissi/jonquils? Sorry, I don't know the difference!) - on each step. Just stunning! I used to live in the UK and I remember the daffodils everywhere in spring - I especially loved seeing a whole meadow of them, sort of "growing wild" in the local parks (I don't know if they were or probably carefully planted by the park gardeners - haha!). I can also relate to your feelings of wistfulness - I used to live in Oxford and had all those romantic, beautiful Cotswolds English gardens on my doorstep that I never really paid much attention to - and now I live in hot, dry Australia and desperately want an English cottage garden (and am trying to create one, even though everybody local tells me its a lost cause and will only lead to heartache eventually!). Argh! I wish I'd appreciated all those gorgeous gardens I had access to when I was still living in England - can you believe that I never even went to the Chelsea Flower Show? I'm kicking myself now!! :-) ~ HY

@Sherry I tried hovering over stories and advice and then clicking gardenweb discussions, but the instant I click to go to the perennials board/forum the address changes back to houzz. The address bar does change to gardenweb after hovering over stories and advice and then clicking gardenweb discussions, but as soon as I choose a board/forum it goes back to houzz. Very annoying. @Ken it depends on the picture. Some pictures are available in larger sizes, and some aren't, but websites usually don't show the full size image (if there even is a larger size) when you left click them. I am getting the plus sign when I left click and that makes them a little bit bigger, but I can't right click at all.