Wow, Nicole, that bed is a work of art! Contest with your hubby?! No way LOL. You already won! :-) And good that you're putting those welders to such good use! CalamityJ, I have trouble believing there's anything that you can't do at your house from what I've seen of your talent :-) Thanks Karen, I agree with you about Nicole's bed being very high end. SusieRose, if you could ever find an attactive huge container on Freecycle, that would be the way to go with bamboo. There are so many interesting varieties, but it takes over if you don't plant it in its own "island". Really spreads and is hard to get rid of if you decide to dig it up. Trust me on this one! Ugh, I'll never plant it in a mixed garden again! Unless you've got an area just for bamboo, I'd go with a very large container. You might run an an in the Wanted section of Craigslist too maybe. Someone might have some to give you, or barter for a totem maybe :-) DD, my next marriage is gonna be to a carpenter LOL, but a welder with a rig might qualify LOL. Just kiddin' of course. Luckygal, you'll have to share pics with us when your hubby gets around to your welding wish list. I've known lots of northern hillbillies ..... western ones too! LOL When I first got to southern Calif I thought it would be all cool and groovy people, this was the '70's. The first person I saw when we reached the beach and got out of the car was some redneck with his ciggarette pack rolled up in his white tee shirt sleeve! LOL Of course he probably came from somewhere around here lol .... Stoney, I love your natural trellis! I bet it was fun to make! I'm not familiar with bittersweet vines either, but I love how your trellis looks. Vickie, I agree about the movement in Stoney's natural trellis too. So free flowing .... And Clarejoe .... I love the bean trellis you've made! How smart and it looks great too! Very good way to reuse an old two seater frame! I like how it looks "older" too. Adds character. Just for the record, it doesn't have to be a hillbilly trellis, y'all LOL. I love all the trellises. Just thought that one I rigged up on my deck in 2006 was a bit ummmmmm "freestyle" for my historic neighborhood. Maybe they think I'm into witchcraft too LOL (for the newbies, when we did the Junk Train and it came to my house, my son-in-law from Mexico originally, thought I was into some kind of witchcraft hahahahahah) Is that a wart on the end of my nose?! LOL ~tenderlee

I don't know what zone you are in. So, taking that into consideration, I can tell you what I would do. Taking what you want into consideration, I would suggest that you stick with evergreens, mainly conifers, and some evergreen shrubs for the "bones" of the design out front. You have to plant something tailored, like an arborvitae on the side of the steps where I can see your utilities, the boxes against the home. They have to be kept clear for you. If you buy and plant some interesting conifers, you can also have some decideous bushes and plants, I love the idea of a planter, and mabey a clematis on your lightpost. Japanese maples get BIG. I have a weeping jap maple, a red one, and it's unbelievable how big they get, and you don't have a lot of room there. Maple roots grow everywhere also, they grow out, away from the tree, towards your foundation. I wouldn't plant one there, mabey if you had more space, but I wouldn't do it. I can't recommend conifers for you because I don't know where you live, but you can look up on Google under conifers and see what you like. They don't bloom, stay green, many are very trimmable, or prunable.

HI -- Being that it is a barn style house I think having some wood post and beam structures added to the entrance , the side patio ,and a little over the garage doors . It would be a fitting feature .Find an Architect that works with post and beam and have a mock up done to see what it would look like . This house looks wonderful .

It looks like ceiling has dark stained beams! Once you determine the true style you are pursuing, consider painting the ceiling and beams offwhite to brighten hall and visually lift ceiling. As to flooring, again after research, I would consult with good local flooring people and get their input and ideas on how to approach this flooring project. It is big, so you have good negotiating position for that reason. Verify if they have employees as installers with experience in this age and type home. We owned a home built in 1900 and speaking from “restoring” that home, to do things right, cost 2-3 times more than just “remuddling” it. We resisted remuddling and never regretted it. Key thing is the installers. I can see several possible approaches. Here are a few.