Cute house. Is that a baby on the lawn next to the driveway? LOL. I'm not a professional landscaper, but here's my advice from a first time homebuyers perspective who learned the hard way: Lots of great advice here...I agree with starting with soil amendment, then trees, shrubs, perennials / garden in that order, and wait a year before delving into major changes unless you have a pro landscaper. Keep in mind seasonal interest, evergreens and deciduous. Do you want privacy? You can place trees to block views. Do you want a place to entertain and relax? If so, then you can consider a patio in your landscaping scheme. I also perused my neighborhood for similar homes to get a better idea of my likes vs. dislikes, and expanded on that, and I've spent winter months perusing the web, garden books and magazines for a wealth of information. Usually when I did something on a whim, I later regretted it. I have a neighbor who took a beautiful lilac shrub, hacked it down to the ground at 10:00 pm, the night before she threw a party, to "make more room for seating". We couldn't believe it (as this was the last shrub in their yard). I also have a lilac shrub that I later trimmed up into a tree form to make room for a rocking chair underneath, and it's adorable, very English-gardenish, my husband's favorite place to relax...so the moral of the story is my neighbor has regrets, I'm sure, as she later replanted another shrub in the same place. LOL. As far as your veggie gardens, some municipalities don't allow veggie gardens at the front of your home, so it's always best to check on municipal codes. Consider installing a rain barrel. Our community sells them dirt cheap as a recycling program (old pickle barrels), as opposed to the pricing you see on the internet. Your plants will love you for it, and you'll save on your water bill. Our local dump provides free compost and mulch if you pick it up and load yourself. I always check on gardenweb regarding plant selections, and I've always found this most reliable vs. zone hardiness or performance from garden magazines or nurseries. Gardenweb -trees, perennial forums, etc. are a plethora of valuable information, couldn't live without. Fence - get a property survey if no property markers on site. Check with city hall to see if they have any on record. Inform your adjoining neighbors before installing, as a courtesy, they'll appreciate it, and you can also make sure there are no property line disputes. Confirm municipal codes regarding height, permit requirements, material, etc. I wouldn't skimp on the quality as this will add value to your home, and appeal to future homebuyers with kids and pets. I noticed your access to the back yard is via the side door - think about whether you want your fenced area to encompass the back door as well, technically this area is considered the "side yard" and not the "back yard", in which there may be different height or permit requirements, so again, my best advice is to confirm municipal code (our municipality is very strict). As far as visual sensations, curb appeal increases the value of your home. Bricks - I would not get rid of them if they match the brick on your home. Depending on the year your home was built, you'd be hard pressed to ever find them again, and you never know when you might need them. You could use them as a pillar base for a pergola, for example, and it would look like it was original to the home. Just some things to think about. That's my 2 cents worth. Good luck, and most of all have fun. I knew absolutely nothing about gardening or landscaping, and now I'm hooked. I find gardening very therapeutic. Regards, Kim

Burial wishes should be discussed IN PERSON with all involved beforehand, not written in a will. Final resting place and body handling decisions including are usually made within 24-48 of death - usually way before the will is ever located. You are using that first 24 hours to cry, contact relatives and friends, make long-distance phone calls, looking for telephone numbers, answering the front door with all the visitors who stop by, cramming food into the fridge, getting the church and program arrangements made, choosing pall bearers, selecting readings, selecting hymns, etc, etc, etc. You do NOT have any time to go find a will - especially if it is in a locked safety deposit box or with an attorney. The will is usually located in the weeks following the burial. So family or whomever is in charge needs to KNOW - IN THEIR BRAIN - what your final wishes are. Trust me - my father died unexpectedly a few years ago - I have been through all of this. Do not put your burial wishes in a will or some file that will not be found until much later. Those in charge need to know immediately how your body should be handled. How to dispose of your assets - not your body - goes in the will.

Thanks all, to be honest that was not necessarily the name I would use, more just along the lines of a "style" or look. I have a very small scale nursery resale business that I have named Meadow View Gardens and may expand on that? or maybe just use that name. how do you like Fleur du Jardin? anyway, I'll be thinking on that too. I am definitely looking into unique tags, considered doing a fluer de lis, using a stamp on parchment paper with pink curling ribbon, or I have a variety (understatement) of ribbon to use. I found 2 more bookshelves tonight $10 each, that I can paint, so I'll have the 3 cubbies, and 3 6 ft bookcases. I also have a few other pieces to put in there to display stuff on. Question/poll: paint all the bookcases white? or maybe some of them pink? I will of course know what fits and looks right when I get it all down there and start setting it up. I'm planning to use the waverly fabric hemmed and with an opening for a pvc pipe with a corner fitting joining the two together, which will be hung from the ceiling using white chain hanging from the front and side of the space. The space next to me has a full length black fabric curtain wall, so that will help me too. And I have a whole bunch of white/cream tulle to use, have not put that together yet. might make like a canopy over the middle of the space, that notion is still in the developement stages :) as to how to hang it and what to make it look like. I also love the old door wall idea, will have to see about finding some to use, I'd only need like 3 or 4, I also considered using picket fence pieces behind the white cubbies, anyway, It will all come together and I'm really excited about it. thanks for all the comments and suggestions, (keep em coming, you never know when something you suggest will be just the ticket) I will do my best to keep my space unifed and interesting with great "finds" and will definitely be repurposing old furniture. Found a great woodend dresser tonight for $20 have my request in for another piece that will be great to paint and fix up.

I second the suggestion to decide on the floor first, and to think as seriously about use and maintenance as you do about looks when you make the floor decision. Floors with some variation in them (stone, marmoleum, hardwood, bamboo, certain kinds of porcelain tile...) are much easier to keep looking nice than floors that are uniform solid colors. And floors with some softness (wood, marmoleum, bamboo) are easier on the feet and back than harder surfaces. Yada yada, there are a bunch of factors to consider. But considering them first would probably narrow down your cabinet choices, making that decision easier. As for the cabinets, you mentioned liking sugarbeet. With sugarbeet being a warm mid-range tone, you could go either dark or light on the counters. It probably wouldn't look so good if you used another mid-range like the tan or the amazon star; that could look too monolithic. Also, since the kitchen's on the small side, I would steer clear of ebony or similarly dark finishes. Absolute Black would look nice with sugarbeet, but may be a nightmare for maintenance depending on what finish you get--the tiniest bread crumb might stand out like a neon sign. If you like the black I would suggest Black Galaxy, because it has sparkles in it (hence the name "galaxy"), which makes it much more forgiving--breadcrumbs and other small imperfections don't stand out, so your kitchen still looks great even if you're not standing there with a damp cloth to wipe up every speck of dust. But ultimately, of course, this is all about your tastes... not just in colors and styles, but also your taste in lifestyle, if that makes sense. I mean, for example, do you guys like padding into the kitchen barefoot on weekends to make brunch? Your bare feet will like a soft, warm surface like wood/bamboo/marmoleum a lot better than a hard, cold one like stone or porcelain tile. (Of course, if radiant flooring is an option you're willing to pay for, the equation changes a little bit.) And, do you have furry or feathery pets, or do you plan to in the future? If so, avoid solid-colored surfaces (floor or counter) LIKE THE PLAGUE, since the tiniest dog hair or bird feather will be visible on those surfaces, requiring constant cleaning just to keep the kitchen from looking like a mess. I'm sure you can think of more examples of how you like to live in your kitchen. Let those guide your choices.