The rules in our subdivision require that a tank over a certain size (maybe 20 gallons) be buried. Our is over 300 gallons and it is buried. It was no big deal. Excavated the hole when digging the foundation. Poured a concrete pad and inserted bolts. Propane company dropped tank (with sacrificial anodes) into place and chained it down. Hole was backfilled with sand when the house was backfilled. The line runs underground (with safety tape over it so it doesn't get dug up) and there is a very small metal box where the line comes out of the ground and it connect to the back of the house. It's no big deal, a small shrub would completely hide it. The propane company owns the tank (so they say, I never signed anything) and they don't charge for it, but I am only supposed to use them for fills (it's only been filled once in two years). Our utilities are underground and our phone and power meters are on the side of the garage, not highly visible. The transformer is in the woods. The meters and boxes on the house are not bad looking at all. A small metal box for phone and cable, a meter mounted on another metal box with the shutoff for the electrical. They are barely noticeable, but we carely planned where they would go.

annz, our house is a foursquare and the rec room will take up two of the quadrants. My husband's workshop is in the front quadrant that you don't see, and the rear quadrant is on the other side of the wall you asked about. In there will be my laundry area, a small bathroom, and the furnace room. I like your idea of a stained glass window; I saw a couple of real beauties on ebay that would be big enough. Unfortunately, they were more $ than I'm looking to spend -- I seem to have kinda expensive taste. suero, smart solution. My cats would have a blast with those blinds. I don't know how well it would work for a stretch of 22' though. Annie, I asked my contractor about the code issue for the electrical panel and then confirmed what he told me online. Electrical panels can't be in closets with combustibles like clothes, and there are requirements for working space around the panel, but they don't have to be in the open in our area. Thanks for the thought though...much better to check out issues like that sooner rather than later. During lunch I walked up to the antique stores in the neighborhood looking for ideas. One store had 4 narrow paneled shutters (2 sets of 2) that were the right width. Another store had a large 8 pane window with that snowflake obscure glass that I could paint the back of. This weekend we may head to the re-store and see what they have in the way of louvered doors. So I saw this photo online. This window is bigger than I had in mind, but I like the idea.

I'm so glad both you and your DH like the idea. I really love it. That room would be so dark and little used without the slider. Of course, if we still had both kids living at home, one would have that as their bedroom and then the slider would probably never be open. The door material is solid and heavy enough to block sounds well from the living room if it was being used as a bedroom. What kind of walls are you doing in your living room? I think I'd be inclined to doing the same quarter-round non-molding type edges I have and then simply paint the door the same color as the walls in the living room. Then paint the bed/play/office room side to match those walls. Personally, I would rather have the door almost disappear instead of being framed with molding. However, a lot of what would look best aesthetically will really depend on your style of home. If you will have interesting moldings in your house, then moldings around the door might work quite well. I'll throw out a couple other door ideas for you. I have a friend who had display-case swinging doors built to hide her W/D in her combo kitchen/sitting room. They are on very heavy-duty piano hinges. There are small rails built into the bottom of each shelf to help hold things on the shelf. The upper-shelves hold things like decorative plates and books. I think she also uses museum gel (or whatever it's called) which is tacky and keeps the plates from sliding around but doesn't damage the items or the wood shelves. The bottom shelves are slanted back with a rail in front and she puts current reading material like magazines and books there, with the front of the facing forwards. I have been there when she has opened/closed them to do laundry and I don't recall that she has to be especially careful when doing that to keep things from falling or sliding. And they don't seem to be particularly heavy to move. I think it would depend on super-heavy-duty hinges to make them easy to swing. It looks great. However, she obviously doesn't have them open any longer than it takes to do laundry. If you want the doors to be able to stay open, you'll have to have enough room in the room the doors swing into to keep them open without being in the way. And, of course, if you want to monitor small children playing, the open doors could block your view. Just thought I would mention it just in case it appealed to you. Another option might be using barn-door hardware instead of sliding pocket door hardware. Something like this but, of course, open to a room instead of a bar. Again, you would need a bit more space in the room the doors are installed to make this work. You couldn't have furniture up against those walls. Just throwing out more ideas so you have options to consider. Personally, I like the pocket slider because I tend to be more of a minimalist in my style. YMMV I just measured and I barely have 1/8" clearance for anything to hang on my door and still slide into its pocket. So even a tapestry wouldn't work. I would even be leery of a piece of paper simply taped on it. I'm afraid it would catch and tear and somehow get into the mechanism and mess it up. But thanks for the suggestion anyway. Well, I've rambled on long enough. I really hope these ideas help you create a space that works for all your visitors and for your lifestyle when you don't have a lot of guests staying with you.

You have mentioned a few things about the house that bug you. It's very normal to feel impatient and overwhelmed. Unfortunately unless you have unlimited funds something's gotta give. I would first get a couple of estimates from professionals on completely redoing the whole wall and learn what your options are for the fireplace itself. Tell them you want a TV mounted. Tell them you want something that goes with the style of the house. From there, and from what you learn, develop your plan. You will feel immediately better once you have a full plan. Suffer a wait until you can do it how you want. You can save some money by doing the demo yourself. Make sure to view the previous work of whoever you hire. Get at least three estimates and make sure your husband is there as well. The room will be beautiful! You will be happy!