fillagirl, thank you for taking time to do a search for me. I had a hard time finding examples that actually looked good. Finally found one on this site posted in one of Oceanna's bathroom "eye candy" threads. I ran out to the local big box stores and didn't find anything that would work. I've decided to hold off on hanging a mirror till I get it right. Poor DH & I worked past midnight to ready the room for painting today, hoping we could wrap the project up by Sunday night. He had already spackled/sanded the rest of the room, so I was trying to convince myself that the mirror would be okay, so that we could proceed as planned.

So far Ida has the most likes on a single post which qualifies as the winner. The winner picks the theme, any theme they want. The winner creates the post with choice of theme along with posted guidelines. There are a few that are close. On an almost parting orange note I want to add this house I love that I posted on Robo’s thread. It’s an MCM blend of farmhouse. Pretty cool for a small lot front face garage home. The more I look at it the more I like it. This house but in Florida and with an elevator to the second floor would work for me. Oh, and no basement. I would have to greatly adjust interior finishes to get closer to my budget. It could be done. https://www.openlistings.com/p/5336-lyman-ave-downers-grove-il-60515?lightbox=6

Yay for the violets, Nancy! And...you still have summer squash? The bugs killed ours long ago. Even the C. Moschata. I am pooped. So tired. We shopped today and I don't have to tell anyone that shopping is very unpleasant right now. However, Dillards allows you to try on clothes and I found a dress. It's not exactly the bohemian/fairy princess dress that I wanted. But it fits nicely and its a forest green color...and it's Robin Hoodish (not really), so I bought it. Paid more than what I wanted to pay, but it's done. DONE! Came home around 3 and sliced, breaded and froze okra. Then figured out how to use my pressure canner as a water bath canner and pickled some okra. On my own. The lids sealed so hopefully we're good. My house is getting to the point that I am very unhappy. I know a clean house isn't the most important thing in the world....but I enjoy a clean home. It just feels nice to me. However, a clean house isn't anywhere in my near future. I am hoping the robot vacuums are cheap this Christmas. That will at least help. We are celebrating Mason's BD tomorrow and that will be fun. It's at a very good restaurant that I haven't been to in a long time. Then grocery shopping and then maybe starting more lettuce seed. In between all of those things is animal care. Lots of animal care. There's always one of them doing something they shouldn't be doing or somewhere they shouldn't be hanging out. One of the fat buff orpingtons has figured out how to get out of the chicken yard. And she isn't swift. She is dumb--beautiful but dumb and wanders over by the dogs. So, I'm constantly leaving whatever task I'm working on to catch her or entice her back to the yard. And everyone is always hungry all the time. The 3 young pullets mingled with the main flock today. It went very well. Having a good rooster helps with that. They're roosting in their own coop, though. It will be a gradual thing as always. Momma Blossom will be tired of her chicks soon and those two chicks will need to move to the pullet coop at that time. Although, at least one of those chicks is a cockerel. Tom may or may not start doing meat birds and these two could be the start of it. They won't be THE meat birds, but they might be the parents of. I've named the one I think is a girl. Her name is Gwendolyn, which is sorta funny because Gwendolyn (actually related to Jennifer/Guinevere.) means white ...and Gwendolyn is a dark cornish. I'm simply rambling now.

With 5000 sf you can certainly build a home with the open feel you want with no living or dining rooms, and at the same time have other rooms for your needs that can work in different ways to give you privacy down the road or be switched up for a dining room or living room for resale. We built our new home with no dining or living room. We found them completely unnecessary for the way we lived. I much prefer my kitchen, family room and breakfast room to be of a good size without having to chop it all up in order to squeeze in a dining and living room that I’ll rarely use. Omitting those rooms can double the size of your eating area or great room. If you put an office or study on your main floor, and it’s situated in the right spot, it can be turned into a dining room for resale. You can also fit in a playroom on the main floor that can change to a hangout space for friends as the kids get older. If you like large open rooms, and never use a living or dining room, don’t simply toss out that idea because someone else doesn’t care for it. With 5000 sf there is still plenty of sf for a playroom, office, large bedrooms, and media room that would offer you the privacy you might want now and in the future. It’s not that difficult to design a house that will fit your needs. I have not seen any online plans that i would want to use because even though many have omitted the living and dining rooms, they were pretty deficient on other areas. Your lot size is pretty small for that size house. I would definitely hire an architect that could design a house that not only fits your lot but also fits your needs for today and in the future. I think you can have your cake and eat it too (live the way you want today, easily adjust rooms in the future, and have a house that works well for resale should you move). If you are smart in your design, this can work.