How tall do you want it to be? I can picture an Enkianthus shrub (not evergreen) but kinda narrow and upright for the spot. Have no idea of toxicity. You would have to research. I have 'Showy Lanterns' which has pretty pink bell flower clusters in spring. You could also try to grow a clematis with it with the shrub acting as a trellis. If you go that route, you have to pair the right clematis with the right shrub carefully for the combo to work. So check on the clematis forum for more info on that. There should be just enough sun for blooms. You could even add the false plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) as a groundcover to the grouping if there's enough room. Over time it all may get crowded but that's what editing is for. Mine's in full sun. Not sure how it would do in that much shade.

Sorry, it’s been a long day. A lot of people here today, the designer and a team from the contractor and my head is spinning. As it turns out, you were all right. The designer arrived with 10ft of floor space instead of 7ft, needed by the staircase, which I was pretty frustrated about. Rebunky, I forgot to ask about the fire code but there’s no concern there, because the stairway and entry will be completely walled off from the garage. I don’t want an open stairway in the garage to the apartment. The garage will have an opener with a remote, so there should be no problem walking into the garage to access their storage. At this point, Sena, I’m feeling a little lack of trust in the figures and I’m going to have to have him confirm every measurement I’m using. I haven’t sat down to think about the layout again today. We had a lot to go over today and that was just one of many. As soon as I can, I’ll look it over again and see what I am willing to do to accommodate that. I am not going to go for part of the stairway on a second wall. I’d still like to see if I could keep the stairway in the middle and out of the bedroom and living room. Which would probably mean starting the stairway back on the North wall all the way in the corner, but I need a 5ft landing on the garage level, then 10ft of stairway and a landing at the top. So if I add 4ft so a total of 33ft in length, maybe that would get the stairway in the middle? That’s it for me tonight. Thanks for checking in with me.

A little tough for me to follow Jeff Whyte's thoughts but there's a reason here why I rarely use the term "architect" and instead use "person of talent". I've said here before I know architects personally (yes, the ones with all the education, credentials and 15 letters after their names), I wouldn't trust to design a house for my dog. We're no different than any other profession, there are great architects out there as well as poor ones, education not withstanding. And back before I semi retired and had my big firm of 16 people including 6 architects, we had a guy who started out as the office boy when he was in high school and then went full time after graduation. Very creative guy with just a lot of raw design talent. By 25 he was one of our two lead designers. We always encouraged him to go to school but no interest. He's a "person of talent". And as far as formal education vs. experience, like we encouraged the person above to get some formal design education because it is of significant value, at the same time there's nothing like experience. I think a colleague of mine, Bob Borson in Dallas summed it up well.... "Architecture is not a trade, it's a craft, and to get any good at it you're going to have to get it wrong for a while". And while I'm waiting for the Sun to come up to go out for a run, let me forward to you a thought about the key ingredient needed in your relationship with a person of talent. And that ingredient is trust. In lieu of a massive retype, I wrote about how critical it is here, (scroll down to my 5/13/16 post, my second one) http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3887104/what-should-i-expect-from-my-architect-long?n=22 And good luck with your project! An exciting adventure lies ahead!

Great trip and at the best time of the year for that location. Northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan tend to have a rainy season starting after May 15th and lasting through June 15th. However, this is not predictable; Each year is different. I live west of Milwaukee and have traveled roads in Illinois, I do have advice about potential routes from Missouri to Upper Michigan. I do not know which route you will be taking. The best route for a trip like this one is to explore and let the road take you to points of interest, an unplanned amble. I do have an aversion to certain locations when I'm on a pleasure trip. Listed below are places best avoided. Traveling from west to east through the heart of St. Louis to cross the Mississippi into Illinois. It can be congested, drivers ignoring the rules of the road, with potential for accident. 2. Chicago: Traveling south to north on the toll way. Yep, I94 is a tollway in Illinois from I80 north to the Wisconsin border. Avoid the morning and evening rush hours plus noon time. Sometimes, this route works and sometimes it does not. The best way to handle tolls here is to purchase a transponder at an Oasis or other locations. Go on-line and fill it with $20 to $40. This section of the tollway has high speed gates suspended over the road. The only rule is don't change lanes while passing through the gate. In the Chicago area, toll charges using the transponder is half of that for the manual gates. This is an I-Pass system and works for many other toll roads in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, etc. An e-mail notification is sent when the account runs low on cash. Also, you will be notified by e-mail when it is time to exchange the transponder. Apparently, it is battery powered and needs to be changed out when the battery runs low, or replaced by a revised unit. Typically, the unit we have lasts about 5 years. 3. Milwaukee can't seem to ever finish building an expressway before revising it. Summer is road construction season with lane closures. Almost every morning during rush hour, there is an accident in this system. Its assured if it rains or snows. With the above comments in mind, these are the routes I recommend. For passing trough St. Louis from the SW, bypass the city. If you are arriving via I-44, take the beltline, I-270, to the east and cross the river, then follow this road north to I-55/I-70. Of course, this will shunt you around the St. Louis Arch. If you wish to visit this item, you'll have to deal with the city. Travel northward on I-55 past Springfield and Lincoln to Bloomington. Here, decide if you will continue on I-55 to Chicago, or turn due north. I recommend due north on I-39 to Wisconsin. The main problem you'll have on this stretch is staying awake. There is very little food or fuel stops on this part and radio stations don't have decent music. Bring you own music if that is what you like while traveling. At Rockford, IL, I-39/US-51 blends into I-90. This part to the state line is tollway. A short distance north of the state line, turn NE onto I-43. This road will be uncongested until the outskirts of Milwaukee. Unless you are familiar with the local roads, there is not good way around Milwaukee, therefore, I'll plot a path keeping to the main highways with minimal road changes. When I-43 meets the beltline of the city, go east. It should be labeled i-43. At the east side of town, turn north. It should be labeled I-43. Stay on this to go north out of town and continue the trip. I-43 goes to Green Bay (Home of the Packers!). There, pickup US-41 to take you to Marinette, WI, and Menominee, Mich. Points of Interest: A. If you are interested in geology, this part of Wisconsin has features left over from the last glacier. Geologically speaking, it was not long ago, only about 10,000 to 11,000 years. These features are found in the South and North Kettle Moraine units. The best kettles, eskers, and kames are in the north unit. There good examples of drumlins where I live and I know the location of a crevasse fill. It is more rare than the other features. The western part of Wisconsin was not covered by the last glacier. B. Milwaukee County Zoo. This is a very good zoo. You can spend most of a day viewing the exhibits. C. Milwaukee Baseball Stadium. It has a retractable cover over the entire field with a heating system. D. Port Washington (north of Milwaukee). One hundred years ago, this was a fishing village. Today, its a quaint small town nestled by Lake Michigan with a marina catering to sport fishermen. It has restaurants in full view of the lake. Standard fare is Fish Fry on Friday nights. E. Sheboygan. The best sausage and bratwurst in Wisconsin are made here. F. Elkhart Lake. Road America Race Track. G. Green Bay. Home of the Green Bay Packers Football Team. H. Summer Fest Grounds. These grounds are located in downtown Milwaukee and on the Lake Front. Several weeks of the summer are filled with ethnic festivals. Irish Fest is one of the largest Irish festivals in the world. I. Cedarburg Covered Bridge. This bridge on Cedar Creek is the last remaining covered bridge in Wisconsin. There are a few other small covered bridges, but these are mostly late model props to attract clients. The Cedarburg bridge was open to traffic until 1961 when it was retired. Its unique feature is that no nails or bolts were used to hold the frame together. It is fastened with 2 inch dia. wood pegs. J. Oshkosh. EAA Air Museum with examples of old aircraft. Oshkosh airport is the location of the annual week long EAA Fly In and show. K. Milwaukee: Harley-Davidson Museum Menomonee Falls: Harley-Davidson Factory.