Still cant view them! You need to put them in Photobucket or tinypic and then click on the HMTL link and paste here. It is telling me no permission to view. . . We don't have a circular driveway - doesnt work with our lot (which has an island in front of it) and interferes with the play yard we need there (3 boys). There are lots of beautiful landcaping ways to differentiate the front and back of the home. We don't have a side door because our lot is narrow and long, but a side door would have been a good option. Going through the garage is ok if the only folks who are visiting are family but do you want your kids friends coming through the garage? It sounds like your kids are young, but what about teenagers? Do you want to leave your garage door open for kids to enter? I don't know how far your friends entry is pushed back, but for us it is obvious even without landscaping where you should enter. We are doing two parking pads - one directly across from the front walkway (to encourage people to park and walk to the front door), and another opposite the garage for turn around/kids parking,etc. We went through all of this with our landscape architect and even though I haven't seen it all implemented I do believe him when he says there are ways to differentiate entrances. I just think you might regret not having it and there are certainly landscape solutions for it. As far as the doors go - we did do a more prominent door on the front with sidelights, but a raised panel 9 light door on the back. One will have a formal portico entrance, the other will have a copper swoop roof on brackets. Both will have gas lanterns. I think if you pay attention to the details, people won't be ringing your back door :)

I do think we live in a disposable world. When my parents were married, you bought really good stuff and you intended to keep it "forever"! And as you got a bigger house, you got more furniture. Now, with so many outlets selling so much "cheap" (inexpensive) merchandise, it is not a "forever" purchase but rather for the season or until one tires of it. I remember toasters and coffeepots were a "one time" purchase. Now they are disposable -- if yours stops working, you just pitch and buy a new one. Decor is like that too -- especially holiday decor (any holiday, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and of course, Christmas). It's what is trendy that year. I know one lady who buys all new Christmas decorations each year -- she has a theme (usually by color) and instead of packing it all away, she puts it in a garage sale in the spring. She wants it gone so she can come up with something different next year. I also have a friend who buys new living room furniture every three or four years. It's not worn, it's not broken. She's just tired of it and wants something different. And some of that disposable has something to do with trends in the marketplace. And that's what they want you to do -- change your decor to the "latest" and "greatest"! If you don't think "life" is disposable, just drive past a garage sale -- and see the stuff they offer for sale. Even thirty years ago, that wouldn't happen. Martha

A glue down cork tile is a different beast than the easier to install (and therefore cheaper at the end of the day) cork floating floor. A glue down tile is the creme de la creme of cork flooring products. It requires a seasoned, skilled installer who knows EXACTLY what they are doing and WHY they are doing it. The cost to install a glue down cork tile = same as porcelain or stone. Then the cost of the product + adhesive + polyurethane becomes one of the most expensive wood flooring products we have. A glue down tile is water proof (so long as you use polyurethane AFTER the install). it is allowed in bathrooms and in kitchens. It has a longevity second only to stone (the Library of Congress received their cork floor in the 1880's and it is still going strong). The most experienced installer I know is capable of laying 300ft in one day. That's it. Even with two people, it only gets you 500sf per day. It is a slow process. A cork floating floor is a form of laminate with cork on the top, HDF in the middle and then cork on the bottom. It is a more costly floor to PURCHASE but the install is the same as vinyl click flooring (about $3/sf or so). It is fast and easy to install. It is allowed in kitchens and entrance ways (so long as you follow the rule for seam sealer or extra polyurethane). It is NOT allowed in bathrooms - ever.

I would, myself, but you have to weigh all the factors mentioned above. I had a flat weave rug in the kitchen (covering most of the wood floor) for the years that my DD had a large dog here, to protect the floor. So, it was in major traffic lanes, including from the back door to the rest of the house as well as in front of the sink, fridge, and prep area. I am sure that despite frequent vacuuming, it collected much more dirt, pet fur, and splatters than your proposed rug would! I am not sure what materiel it was made of (it was a pass-along to me) but it felt like wool. I took it outdoors spring, midsummer, and fall, draped it across a couple of patio chairs, lathered it up with carpet cleaning solution, rinsed it with the power nozzle on the hose (took perhaps 15 minutes altogether), and let it dry which generally only took one afternoon in bright sunshine. It held up to this very well. I didn't find this terribly time consuming or onerous, but I can see that others might. Some of the indoor-outdoor rugs are made of material that will dry even more quickly.