Stacy, my daughter & I were in Amsterdam the 3rd week of April last year. It was still cool (low 50s) with showers almost every day, but the trees were budding out & the grass was greening. I didn't see any mention here of the tram/street car service, which is very good. Lots of routes & they run about every ten minutes. It's not inexpensive - a day ticket is a better deal rather than a single fare. Almost all the tram stops have route maps on the backs of the stop shelters. The Rijksmuseum had just opened when we arrived & we spent a couple of hours in the Dutch masters area. They do close at 5 PM. There is a very pleasant-looking restaurant in the center of the bldg. English is spoken everywhere - we never had a problem. Be sure to try a Dutch pancake with butter & powdered sugar - a national treasure, & big - about 10 inches across. Yum yum. There's a local restaurant across from the flower market that has good ones. Many sidewalks, especially along the canals, are cobbled - my ankles got tired of holding me straight. Wish I could tuck into your suitcase - you will be enthralled.

Hi Beth, I have seen your super helpful comments on other topics as well and thank you so much for responding so quickly with ideas, I loved them all!! The last photo you attached is exactly what I contracted a contractor for in mat but that didn't work out, see below. You were spot on with your suggestions as a "poured" polished floor was my original plan but the contractor I used - who btw is the technician at a large German concrete company so I trusted him - completely messed up my floor. He was supposed to do a terrazzo floor based on the sample he made me which looked great (photo attached) but it turned into a disaster and he offered to pay my money back but I'm now left with an unpolished floor that has stones in only half of the area and the rea with the stones looks like fly poo..(photo attached). This is the link to the material used: MC Top Floor. I didn't want to go into these details in my original post to spare the readers of this drama but that is the situation I'm in unfortunately. I cannot add a lot more weight and height to my floors so I wanted to continue with the polished concrete type options, BUT the quotes I am getting are horrible, around 4,5k GBP. It's insane and NOONE will do it with a warranty as they say the floor has been messed up by someone else. The best quote I got so far was 2,3k GBP for which they would polish, correct uneven areas and add two layers of coloured polyurethane lacquer which will come out as an even colour of my choice without cloudiness. But there is no guarantee that it will look good so I'm terrified to risk more. I also live in an old building so polishing with those huge machines for longer periods might cause damage. I'm in Budapest and the flooring business is horrific over here, most contractors rip people off and it's a super tight community, they all know each other and quote ridiculous prices. I'm not sure what to do to make it the most cost-effective but still good looking and most importantly usable. Sample terrazzo that was in our contract: And this is how it came out, which is unacceptable, so the guy polished it up and poured a second layer with almost no stones in it. Now it looks like a white subfloor.

Definitely soften the trim color or change the siding and trim color. Stark white and mousy brown are not a good match. Consider having the roof power-washed to remove the streaking. I hate skylights (both the look on the outside and effect on the inside); YMMV but getting rid of that would help the overall aesthetics IMO. I don't like the thin stacked stone (or fake stone) veneer on the house foundation, steps, and matching retaining walls. I'd replace with real local stone. I would also replace the railing with nicer, real wrought-iron. Remove the storm/screen door completely, or get a wood one. Remove facade window screens during seasons when they are not necessary; they darken your windows. Do evergreen plantings in front of the section to the right that hangs over the bare foundation. I like the idea of the pergolas over the garage (and a climbing plant on them). Pergolas over windows make no sense to me. Maybe a flower box or two on the windows over the garage. If you really want to spend money, replace all siding to cedar shingles, upgrade all trim and window casing, replace garage doors with wood, and add copper gutters/leaders. I actually think this is a very cute house with a lot of potential!

TV needs to be mounted on the wall next to the fireplace. Figure out which side works best with the window glare. Get a swivel attachment if needed. One wall taken care of. Art with a similar rectangle frame might be your best bet for the other side. I would go for a family photo gallery on the other wall but I know there are those that loathe personal pics in peoples' homes.