Is that yellow I see on the goldfinch's wings? They're beginning to develop breeding color! A very good sign of spring. Today the temperature went into the mid-fifties and I actually heard the red-wing songs (some people say "O-ca-ree", I hear "Skreeee"). A few red-wing males have been here for about a month but without a peep until today. Two grackles also appeared today and I heard their soft chit-chit calls; no creaking sounds yet. I'm sure they will all shut up as soon as it gets cold again, as it will, but the trend is definitely toward spring. Halleluja! Claire

Several suggestions (some in support of what others have already said) and comments-- Lower level: --I'd take space from the too large bath and storage rooms and enlarge the bedroom. --10' is too short a distance for large screen TVs; there are suggested distances for most screen sizes. --The office seems rather large, unless someone works from home, or you plan to have a computer activity area there for the kids. 2nd floor: --The bathroom is larger than it needs to be considering the relatively small size of the master bedroom; they're almost equal! --Having lived with bedrooms that had 9', 10', 11', 12', and 13' as their shortest measurements, IMO I wouldn't go smaller than 11' for a kid's room, or smaller than 12-13' for the master width if at all possible. --I remember a thread discussing jack & jill baths where opinions were about split on their desirability. I'm one of those who doesn't like them. --Our design had a tub/toilet room like yours for the girls' room. It was supposed to be 5' x 7', but ended up 5' x 8' (more space between the toilet and tub). FWIW, it is so much nicer with the 8' length. 1st floor-- --You have too much square footage in the halls for 1400 s.f. Like you, I designed a lot of halls into our house when including the pantry, laundry, powder room, stairs, and entrances. But I kept hacking away and rearranging the plan until I got the square footage better distributed so that my other rooms were the right sizes, and there was no wasted space in the final hall designs. --When your kids are just a little older, I think you're going to wish you had a lot bigger dining area! And when they're teenagers . . . --Our appliances, island, and wall cabinets are similar to how yours are set up, and 42" (cabinet face to cabinet face) is plenty of space between them. (39" countertop edge to countertop edge) --2 different neighbors used one column of 8"x8" glass block as their front sidelites. We used three 12"x12" glass blocks for a couple of lower level windows. IMO the larger size glass block looks better than the smaller sizes that used to be used. --It's more energy efficient to have the fireplace between two INTERIOR walls. Our living room is the exact same size as yours. We put a 2-way FP in the wall between it and the dining area (which has a regular informal dining table) that is part of our kitchen. We also got the FP for backup heat during power outages and have it hooked up to the generator, so with its 2 sides and central location it can heat up the 1st floor general living area. Since our house is also very energy efficient (ICF walls to the top of the 1st floor & geothermal heat), the FP is normally only on for a brief time on cold winter mornings when we first get out of bed and DH has just walked the 200' to get the newspaper. We just moved in in December, and are still finishing up some things on the house. It will be interesting to see how low we have to set the heating thermostat to have the ambiance of the FP when we have company over this winter here in Michigan! So, just some food for thought in case any of it might help. We benefited greatly from various GWeb posts when we were still in the design stage, and I know how hard it is to get everything right. Anne

I just remembered after reading these posts about a picture DH took. He and Ricky were looking for bugs to take pictures of and Ricky starting yelling "I found a double bug papa" ...this is what he found...to this day he thinks it's a rare double bug thanks to papa! I just hope he never talks about his "rare" find at school and the teacher want to see this picture! These moths were huge!

I think you have a great canvas to work with, but definitely need a bit of an update. It sounds like you have plenty of great advice on the landscaping and transplanting a few plants. From what you said about not wanting to update the siding, I would think about updating the trim and your front door! The gray and beige just need a pop of something - a third color added in will help define the spaces of your windows and make your house stand out. To get some ideas, I searched some traditional exteriors to help spark your color inspiration! Even here where they outlined the windows in a fresh white and notice that they did the same but thicker around the front door. I love the strong color they gave the front door as well. I could see this coloring really working on your home. [traditional exterior design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-exterior-home-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_736~s_2107) by sacramento interior designer Kerrie L. Kelly Here is a link that might be useful: [Traditional exterior photos[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-exterior-home-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_736~s_2107)