There's nothing quite as cool-looking(temperaturewise) as BLUE flowers. I grew Phacelia a few years ago, best blue i ever saw, next to cornflowers. The bell-shaped blue flowers with icy-white anthers were beautiful, and stirred up images of cooler weather. They do have a short bloom time, hot weather just about stops the show, cutting back helps somewhat. Give 'em a try, i believe there are 2 or 3 varieties. Good luck, and enjoy.

Late to the party, but I'm liking the dark brown one. Your room is so spacious and open that I dontt think the darker color will overwhelm or weigh the room down. Did you fall in love with the sofa because of the color or in spite of it? Would you still love it if it you originally saw it in, say, eggplant LOL? The reason I'm asking is because you had mentioned that " There is still a part of me that wants to go with the lighter sofa since that's what I fell in love with. It's the practical side that's telling me to go with the brown." You have a pug. A pug that sheds no matter what (ask me how I know). And she probably occupies the sofa as frequently as you do. And hopefully she'll be around for a while ;o) The lighter color will be a bear to keep clean (ie. dirt) while the dark one will need constant attention with regard to vacuuming. But the darker one will look better for longer. It's a big purchase. Don't let the price of the fabric be the deciding factor unless the difference is enormous. Sit on it and wait for a few weeks, if possible, before making the purchase. We took almost a year deciding on the sectional we wanted and that's including the fabric and color. One piece of advice I can give you is to get a fabric that is "forgiving" when it comes to showing marks, pulls, etc. A textured chenille is a great fabric for hiding a multitude of sins. I can tell you what works for me and I can tell you what I like...and what I really like is your beautiful pug. She looks absolutely precious!

I bought my leather sofa's from Elite leather out of California. I live in Florida and knew nothing of this company but they had styles I liked, were made in America and have a huge custom color selection. The prices are more in the middle in the world of leather sofas. So far so good after four years. At first I thought I had a flaw in the corner of a cushion. They sent two new inserts. It smoothed out after awhile and I haven't had to use the new insert. I can't remember the ship time but remember it came early. I would buy from them again. At one point before pushing the buy button I heard Elite had a side cheaper line that came out of China. Before buying I called the company to be sure my sofas were the American made ones. They are. I never found out if in fact there is a side china link. I bought the Aero sofa in two different sizes for an L shape in my long skinny room. I feel your pain in deciding. When you look at leather sofa reviews even very high end have their sprinkling of bad reviews. It gets so confusing. http://www.eliteleather.com/products/sofas/contemporary Leather colors. http://www.eliteleather.com/materials/colors Types of leather choices. http://www.eliteleather.com/materials/types-of-leather Construction. Not high-high end hand tied but very good. http://www.eliteleather.com/our-craft/design An idea of prices. https://www.leatherfurnitureexpo.com/elite-aero-leather-sofa-and-set.html

Have you considered putting your washer and dryer in the basement or is that not practical at your location? For privacy alone, I prefer the plan from Pill-Maharam Architects that someone else suggested better than your original; however if having three bedrooms and one bath all on one end of your home is essential because of a limit of one bath on that main upper level, at least reconsider your floor plan with regard to your entrances. If you will be accessing the basement from the main upstairs level via an interior stairwell anyway, consider putting that stairwell in a pair of enclosed entrance rooms, both on the breezeway side of the home but with one both upstairs and the other downstairs. Have the downstairs entry as your basement mud boot stomp room and use your breezeway as your mud stomp room upstairs. You could have your washer and dryer within in a closet beside another closet for dirty clothes hampers with shelving above for laundry and cleaning supplies either in the basement entry or the upstairs entry. From the downstairs entrance -- in addition to the closets beneath the stairwell for the washer and dryer and dirty clothes and cleaning supplies -- you could have two doors: one door leading to the upstairs entrance and the other door leading to a downstairs efficiency apartment to make your home a true multi -generational home. If you add a door in the dining area adjacent to the kitchen in the upper/main level to serve as your main level your "back" door, you could create a single entrance in the coldest front corner with two exterior doors: one to serve as both your front entrance and another to access the breezeway. You might consider placing the door to the master bedroom in a wall separating it from the dining room rather than entering the master bedroom from the hallway leading to the other two bedrooms and the one main/upstairs floor bath. If that one main upstairs floor bath is at the end of the hall with the two children's bedrooms on the other side of the house, you might could have two doors entering the bath -- one from the hall and one directly from the master bedroom. Make the front of the roof of your breezeway even with the front of your home and make it wide enough to enable you to have the option of enclosing it later to become a screened porch or even a "sun porch" -- a room that could double as an upper story main boot stomp room. If you tile your entry rooms and have each of them one step below the floor of the rest of that level of your home and include a covered drain in the floor and you could, literally, hose out any mud brought in. Remember that in the northern hemisphere, you'll usually want to put the rooms you want to have the most sun facing the south. Good luck on your new home. Let us know how it turns out.