excellent questions! right now i'd just love for those pathetic little hydrangeas to be growing, however in the long term: i guess at the front, a little more on the "loose" formal side. whichever style, probably not just foundation plantings. i think those houses with the little dots of green on their brown mulch just look so half-assed. i've got some grasses on the side, but nothing that couldn't be moved. i have ordered from the county plant sale some black eyed susans and russian sage. the more i type though, i think an asymmetrical formal look would be good. the right side of the house is shaded 95% of the time... i don't like taxus or evergreens that much. would boxwood be a quick growing alternative to fill in where those young hydrangeas aren't going to be? anyways, and help/suggestions would be great!

I would replace the brick coping with a natural stone with pieces a minimum of 30" long. Lose the boulders. I see the patio is natural stone. Use natural stone again, but opt for larger pieces. The numerous joints make it look too busy. Replace the tile with glass tile. If you choose natural stone on the raised wall areas, make sure the stone runs below the water line. I see a lot of pools where the stone runs down on top of the perimeter tile. To me, it looks really cheesy. I noticed the spa's bench had tiles along the edge. When we put tiles along the edge, they are generally 14"-16" apart set in a diamond configuration. Right now, your spa looks like a public spa. Sorry. We set the tiles the same way on step edges and benches as well. Lose all the brick on the steps and use the same material for the pool coping on the step treads. One piece treads-no joints. Only at the ends. The interior finish can be in the gray family of colors. It's best to choose several tile and plaster finishes, set them outside next to each other to see how they look in the natural light. Plaster colors change when wet, under water and at different depths at different times of the day. See how your coping material ties in also with other materials. Look at finished pools by your contractor to see them in real time.

Box need good drainage (= root rot susceptibility), can also be prone to serious box blight damage depending on specific variety and site conditions. Most kinds of smoke bush are quite large growing - as in becoming tree sized. Some like to cut these down to near the ground each year but every time I have seen one treated in this fashion the replacement tops were sparse and leggy looking. Dwarf Alberta spruce often has bug problems even in my mild summer area. In addition it is very formal looking. As far as can be made out in these much too far away and dark pictures you have been been planting too big growing kinds of shrubs too close to the house - consider deeper beds and smaller plant choices.

I wanted to suggest you try something in your dining room. Move your 2 upholstered chairs from the ends of the table to face each other in the middle, and put 2 wooden chairs on the ends. i would also move the candlesticks to the sideboard and while i know you are trying to update, i think a lace table cloth might look nice on your table And clip on mini shades for the chandelier