I used to work at Frank's, too. I was an unrepentant dumpster-diver and took home hundreds of plants that corporate ordered us to throw away. One evening's haul was 27 rose bushes! I was passing them out to friends like candy. I like Meijer, too. I just bought some inexpensive shrubs there the other day, and looking out my window right now I can see the Nikko Blue hydrangea that I got year before last for $1. You know how they have those little boxes with a root in them, and maybe a leaf or two on top? That's how three of my hydrangeas and my Concord Grape started out in life--the boxes were water damaged so they were marked down to nothing. This year, the grape is about thirty feet of vine, with grapes on it, and the hydrangeas are 30" tall and blooming nicely. I love a bargain, and it helps me swallow the $21 each I paid for my Annabelle hydrangeas and the unmentionable sum I spent on my cherry laurel :-)

Thanks for your thoughts and comments! We are also downsizing from a traditional 4700 sq ft house (with formal living/dining) to 3600 sq ft with a great room design, so it is taking some getting used to, but we really wanted a house where we used every inch rather than having all these extra rooms we rarely used. Our old house was large, but didn't use the space the way I would use it--my laundry room was tiny (a closet really) and the bedrooms were large but the kids rooms had tiny closets. So, with this house, we made made sure the kids still had large rooms like they were used to and got larger closets and their own bathrooms to boot (my son doesn't really care, but my daughter is super excited to get her own bathroom and walk in closet :)). Once they move out, we'll have mini suites downstairs for guests. The kitchen/dining/living area is 41' long. Looks like we will be working with roughly the same area for those spaces. :) What is the total sq footage of your house? Of our 3600 sq ft, there is about 1930 for the main and about 1670 for the LL. Nice that you were able to fit 3 bedrooms downstairs and still have a nice sized rec room and play area. We will also have a wet bar down in our rec room. :) Great idea about adding water line in one of the storage rooms for laundry! We do plan to add stairs from the deck outside but just couldn't decide where to place them so figured we would wait to make that decision at the time the deck is being built so we could see what it looks like. I love that you will have an outdoor shower. Love those! We plan to put a hot tub on the deck right outside the master. Thought about putting it down on the LL patio, but my DH really wants it on the deck. Gotta give in to what he wants every once in a while ;-).

Dawn, How exciting! We built a new house 23 years ago, and I don't remember having the angst this remodel is causing. Maybe being younger and having my hands full with a wee babe kept me more centred. Of course, we had a GC- and this time around I'm taking on that role, so that may have something to do with it. Buehl, The tile is from Italy, a company called Marca Corona. I tried to find it online and I'm guessing it may be either 'Re-Action' or Evolution. Very reasonably priced. I also found a pic of Evolution at Oldcountrytile.com that site has beautiful gallery pics that are worth navigating. Unfortunately, I can't post a link to the exact page, but if you go to the Home page, click on products, then walls, then the pink dot at the end of the second line...hee hee... you can see a pic of the tile in a bathroom. The backsplash pics are truly inspiring and I recommend for anyone still on the hunt! Here is a link that might be useful: fastfloors has a pic of Re-Action from Marca Corona

I just measured, and it’s 36 inches from the edge of the fireplace to the door trim on the right-hand side, In 24 inches from the edge of the left side to the window trim. In order to be symmetrical both sides should be 24 inches. I’m thinking a single cabinet base, with open book shelves above, Would work. I’d be ever so grateful if someone could mock that up, so I could get a sense of the look/scale.