Dilemma between two houses
Gurjeet Bhullar
4 years ago
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Katie B.
4 years agoKatie B.
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoRelated Discussions
Two planting dilemmas... any ideas?
Comments (18)Hello all -- many thanks again for the great advice! York_rose, we have been lucky (up to now, knock on wood) and have rhododendron as well as hostas around the house, with no deer damage, but they have certainly got a taste for the euonymous. When we bought this house, it was planted with almost entirely deer-FRIENDLY plants: the rhodies, euonymous everywhere (all varieties!), azaleas, arborvitae, yews. We pulled everything around the house itself out except the large, old rhodies, and replaced them with things that seemed to be listed as deer-resistant (not "proof"!) for this area, such as andromeda. There are hostas galore around the property in the summer, but they don't seem interested in those (yet -- and they were here when we bought the house). They do defoliate a couple of aging, vining euonymous that are farther from the house every winter, but the plants leaf out beautifully each spring so I've come to view it as just "natural pruning" ... but I know we may have just been lucky up to now, and I could walk outside one morning and find the hostas gone! ;) We do have native mountain laurel in the woods near the house, and I've seen no damage to those, so it may be that our deer are using the property more as a highway (and we do have a dog, which definitely helps, I'm told). I like the idea of the Clethra and fothergilla (and am going to look into possibilities for other forms of the witch hazel, since the autumn color would be a definite plus -- we don't see the concrete blocks from our property because of the line of sight, but we would see the foliage from any shrub of more than a few feet in height, and fall color would be a definite plus. George, interesting about the bottlebrush buckeye -- I actually have one, that I got at the plant swap at Young's last fall. I had put it at the "near" end of the meadow, so as to have it in closer proximity to the butterfly garden behind the house. So I have no experience (yet) with growing it but will look into adding it up top by our little Stonehenge (which is actually closer to the butterfly garden than where I planted the first one (maybe I should just move it now, before it gets too settled by the meadow ... I had the impression it preferred full sun -- would it do just as well in the substantial shade of this wooded area? (Trees in this area include evergreen hemlocks and deciduous hickories, oaks, and maples.) And thanks again, everyone!! This forum is such a fantastic resource!...See MoreLove two houses for two different reasons...help
Comments (32)Dazzle, this is an excellent forum, the people here are very, very helpful. We are in a similar predicament, with nearly 5 years of looking. This length of time was due to us being too picky, too restrictive... The "dream home" does not exist, even close does not exist...We found some rather nice ones, but these were quickly taken, I was too cautious and slow......my very bad! Take the place that puts a smile on your face.. Children need space, a compact development place is less expensive for a good reason!.. Funny thing for us, the place with room, out in the country is less expensive than the compact property in a development. I've recommended that my wife read this thread and this forum...its a revelation... As to the trim, please do NOT paint - this will ruin it! Honey oak is timeless...See MoreTwo Single Ovens & Cooktop Layout Dilemma
Comments (11)I don't know your layout, of course, but I agree with Ginny about wondering about other possibities. First, your question: I think function that explains placement makes a lot of things look fine. If it were my kitchen and the best layout for me, I'd probably be perfectly happy appearancewise, even more if it were only on view for people in the kitchen, i.e., not part of the main view into the kitchen. In my actual kitchen, I have a 36" stovetop over a 30" (white) drawer stack, and next to that on the left is my (white) oven and to the right of it a 36" (white) drawer stack. I did the 36 stove over 30 cabinet at our son's suggestion to harvest a couple more inches for a wider corner cabinet door. It's been excellent. The cabinets and oven blend together and look good. The island tends to hide the oven from the main entry anyway, and the drawers under the stove look better than an oven would. Nobody's ever seemed to notice the slightly unusual configuration, and we all are very pleased with how it looks. The dominating wood hood between windows over the stovetop contributes by pulling the eye there so that the undercounter area just becomes part of the background. But I don't think it needs that help. Babbling on, but it's about being a little different. Ido really appreciate that I don't have to stand in front of an oven door to cook, and two people can be at the oven and stove at the same time. The stack directly under the stove holds stuff I need there *right there*, which is just perfect. Would do it exactly the same all over again. So, yes, I think you're probably on the right track in thinking out of the box, but if the ovens could move where you don't have to work in front of them and be replaced with stuff you use at the stove, that would be nice....See MoreHelp with kitchen design, trying to decide between two layouts
Comments (79)You know, I agree with you that the island perpendicular to the window wall doesn't feel as right as the island parallel to the window wall. Interesting. I stopped and thought about why that would be. My first thought was that, with the island perpendicular to the window wall, the end of the island closest to the living room now feels as if it's intruding into the walkway between the kitchen and living room. Even though the island ends in line with the side of the fridge closest to the living room, the island still feels as if it's intruding. However, when I look at the island parallel to the window, I also think the end of the island closest to the dining room feels as if it is intruding into the dining room. Even though the island ends in line with the side of the perimeter cabinet closest to the dining room, the island still feels as if it's intruding. So when you're standing in the living room, you like the perpendicular-to-the-window-wall island orientation less (because the island feels as if it's intruding towards you). And when you're standing in the dining room, you'll like the parallel-to-the-window-wall island orientation less (because the island feels as if it's intruding towards you). Given all that, I actually think this shape island (posted earlier upthread) feels the best from both perspectives: That is because the island is completely and clearly inside the invisible borders of the kitchen as delineated by the side of the fridge closest to the living room and the side of the perimeter cabinet closest to the dining room. A square (ish) island doesn't even touch the borders -- it's well inside them by a foot or two, making it impossible for the island to feel as if it's intruding into another room. This home layout is so open that it lacks some of the normal cues (walls/doorways/floor changes) marking where the kitchen ends and another room begins. So in this island's case, a setback from the technical kitchen border helps to clarify things. The island's definitely in the kitchen and only in the kitchen. Here is an edited version that stops the island a foot or two short of the borders in both directions: I'd recommend having seating just on the living room side of the island. Seating on the dining room side puts those chairs back to back with dining room chairs, and I always think that looks/functions a bit oddly....See MoreLH CO/FL
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