Something I learned about the placement of a toaster oven under cabinets. They get pretty hot. Not hot enough to damage cabinets, but hot enough that food stored above them, especially bakery goods (like flours) could be damaged. If you use the oven to bake for any length of time, as I like to do for pies and pizzas in the summertime when the toaster oven heats the kitchen so much less than the main oven, it definitely warms the items in the cabinet above. I always pull the oven all the way forward when I use it--which is nearly every day. This helps the heat to dissipate outward instead of upward. Are you sure you want the coffee area so far from the sink? The area to the left of the fridge is OK for the toaster oven, but I would want the coffee area closer to a sink--and the trash, for that matter. An idea: You could design the pantry with three vertical sections: the top for storage just as you have it, the center with an appliance garage with doors that open out and slide back and away for coffee and other small appliances, and the bottom for more storage. I kinda like this idea. (Of course it wouldn't make the coffee area any more convenient to the sink.) Probably the doors would usually be open, but could be closed when you wanted things to look tidy. By the way, I like what you decided to do with the refrigerator, the two flanking cabinets, and the need to limit obstruction of the doorway. This post was edited by Bellsmom on Sat, Aug 23, 14 at 15:33

Are all of your windows included in the privacy issues? Do you have any public rooms that can do without window covers entirely and privacy still maintained?? I started with double layer of sheers/lined drapes in the the bedrooms. But then I got plantation shutters which are adjustable like blinds are, and there is no curtain in the house except for in the shower! We are in the middle of a remodel that will add 300 sq ft to our house, giving us a space about the size of yours at 1300 sq ft. Our addition across the back will have two glass doors and 7 glass windows. We won't have curtains or blinds or shutters on them at all. The rest of the house has all wood plantation shutters painted white. I am adding to the living room some elements for privacy though. My shutter man has some old shutters that I can get cheap from him (or from Restore for that matter they have some) to use as a screen divider to make a small entry at the front door to keep callers from having the long view through our newly opened up spaces. I was looking for some such shutter screen ready made and found one at Pier1imports for about $359 plus tax, comprised of 3 panels. For that much money, I can go shopping at the used Restore or used furnishings stores and pick up some old closet shutters, some old window exterior shutters, fixed louvers or adjustable, or even solid panel (although I want open and adjustable preferably) for a mere pittance. The shutter man here will put adjustable plantation shutters (4 panels) across the 60 inch wide cased opening between living room and dining room.) Why? Because our two bedroom house will use the living room as a guest room. We'll also put shutters between the single door leading to the sunporch. Mostly they will stand open and frame that 32 inch wide opening, making it more ornamental. But when a guest is in the living room to sleep, they come together and can be turned as required to make the room private. My DH will have his reading chair (now on order) in the living room, so closing off the doors for quiet reading may suit his fancy. Or, the can close off to keep solicitors from seeing beyond the front room. Of the options you mention, the bamboo roll up blinds I like, but they will need some curtains over them to privide the privacy. My choice would be also the white blinds with or without curtains. But curtains will not be required for privacy. Save your money and spend it instead on a good vacuum cleaner to dust the blinds! :)

Flowerlillies: I have seen this before. It appears to be scale. Get several Q-tips and a bottle of Isopropyl alcohol. Pour some of the alcohol into the cap of the bottle. Dip the Q-tip into the alcohol. Now, wherever you see those white, powdery patches on the leaves and stems of your plants, rub the Q-tip on them. Make sure all the white patches are dabbed well. If you've already done this and still need help, you will not like my next suggestion. You most likely have them on the roots of your plants which is why you are seeing deformity. They are literally, slowly, eating the plants alive. What I have done in the past is re-plant any and all plants in the affected plants vicinity. I took no chances. I know this is a pain and labor intensive but being on a balcony actually makes this easier to do. If you have a lot of container plants, work them in batches. Unplant 3 or 4 of them. Make sure to do it over a box or trash bag to catch any of the possibly infected soil. get another plastic bag and gently wrap the roots of the plant and carry it over to the sink or bathtub. Submerge the entire plant in luke warm water with a mild dish detergent. Use just a capful of detergent. Dunk the entire plant, count to ten then do it again. Do this with the rest of your plants, again, working in batches of 3 or 4 if you have many. Before you re-plant make sure you use fresh, new soil. Discard any old soil you've had. There is obviously something in there that is attractive to this pest. Also, what I do is take the soil in batches inside a large plastic container and Nuke it in the microwave for at least 1 minute. This will kill nearly anything such as larvae living in the soil. When the soil has come back to a normal temperature, I mix in my fertilizer, perlite and any other additive. But, more importantly, I spray the soil with Neem Oil. Spray liberally and mix it into the new soil. Make sure to wash your containers in hot soapy water. Now you can re-plant. I would spray the plants with Neem oil at least every 7-10 days. Once this infestation is over with, I would still as a preventive measure spray them once a month and lightly spray the top part of the soil as well. Hope this helps, best of luck- NJC

My wife used to do window fashions. I helped her once in a while - and I've seen many added on sun rooms. In most cases, if they weren't in the original home design, it was a bad idea. First problem is the heating and cooling. Then too the sun room makes the living room really dark. Lots of times the living room then gets unused, and turns into a 'junk' room. The window fashions are not cheap for all the windows. The pre-fab sun rooms I've seen were junk. Hard to install blinds with nowhere to put screws (insufficent window depth).