Thank you all so much! Boxerpups, thank you for taking the time to post those excellent examples. Unfortunately, the only exterior wall in my kitchen is the wall with windows which is the dining area in the kitchen space. The sink wall (built in oven/micro) is shared with the master bedroom. I can only guess that roof venting is the only option if I choose to place cook top there. My goal is to get new appliance and countertops without replacing the cabinetry. This is not my forever home and I don�t want to put too much money into this kitchen as I will never get it back at sale time. I�m open to adding a range hood and I particularly like the style hood in the picture boxerpup posted labeled "type 3". One other option I�m considering is telescopic downdraft with a new induction cook top. I might be able to have the island enlarged to accommodate that. So many decisions���I�m driving my poor hubby nuts. Mamadadpaige, I agree that there is awkwardness with the ledge in the kitchen space. It does run around the entire perimeter of the great room though. It�s a decorating nightmare. Cindy

Do you like gardening/maintaining landscapes.... or is it a chore? If the former, and if it was my place Id leave the lower grassy portion near water as is for now EXCEPT take down the fence (what purpose is it serving) and I would want to come up with a jazzier /more colorful design for that blah border planting in front of the stone wall (to left of stairs in pic #2 (what are the shrubs that are in there now?). I would put in some sort of grouping of 3 of something taller / more vertical at the very left of this border (tall enough to balance out the weight of that hydrangea). If its to the side it wont block out that much view and besides you could go quite tall maybe even up to 15 ft without blocking any of the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd floor windows. (I assume the bottom level is a walk out basement?) I would bump out that border to be wider, with taller flowering shrubs in back and perennials in front); Front - is that literally the road in the pic or is it your driveway? The grass area is too small to read as a lawn or anything useful and tends to turn into a weed patch - id put in a bunch of low growing, easy to grow shrubs like spirea which can be use dmore as a ground cover (instead of the usual row or border.) I was going to say replacegrass with stone work or pavers with some sort of stone sculptural piece and/or windowboxes/planters as Nancy suggests but if that's the road and not your driveway I don't want to confuse the drivers by having paving right up to your house - there would need to be some sort of clear border between the paving of the road and your house!!! (for obvious reasons - all you need is one tired driver to wreak havoc)

The Myth of Rubberized Landscapes “Recycled rubber mulch is an environmentally friendly, non-toxic choice for landscapes” The Bottom Line • Rubber mulch is not as effective as other organic mulch choices in controlling weeds • Rubber mulch is highly flammable and difficult to extinguish once it is burning • Rubber mulch is not permanent; like other organic substances, it decomposes • Rubber mulch is not non-toxic; it contains a number of metal and organic contaminants with known environmental and/or human health effects Microsoft Word - B&B #61 - Rubber mulch.doc (wsu.edu)

Go to the library and get some books on landscape design to get some ideas. If I were facing a project this large, I would break it into phases.....do a section then blend that phase into the next phase and so on. Also, there's a great booklet available for free at nurseries and I've seen at the library too. Landscape Plants for the AZ Desert That link is to an Amazon book but I've seen the same booklet all over for free. Here is another good link, I think it's the same booklet only the online version: https://www.amwua.org/plants If you are new to this house, settle in a bit and see where you sit in the yard and how you use/enjoy it. I'm not sure why you think this needs to be done before you lay the 'rock'....are you talking about gravel? Like quarter minus? I hired a 'landscape designer' in 2008, someone who had been posting here regularly. It was a waste of money. Everything she planted died and her design ideas turned out to be problematic. (For example, she liked agave cactus planted under the mesquite trees. And a few other plants as well. It wasn't long before those plants under the trees were struggling to survive due to all the tree litter and debris that accumulated in and one them. Pulled them all out. Easy care, low maintenance was a key factor for us as we are retirement age, 70's, and don't want that burden nor the expense of hiring someone to maintain the upkeep.) You can hire good. Or you can hire cheap. Very rarely do you get both satisfactorily. Again, I'd do a small section, with the help of a designer if you can afford it, books from the library if you can't. See how the ideas work out before jumping in whole hog. Good luck.