alex511 Can I do the same, Charmean? :-)

Charmean Neithart Interiors, LLC. Of course!

jkor Love this article! I am planning to widen our driveway which will mean it will take 80% of our front yard. This article gave me some ideas to ponder. THANK YOU!

alibonelli I agree with albion223. At first I was dissapointed we could not afford to pave the long driveway at our new home. Now I think the gravel suits the rural setting much better and I like the 'crunch!'

vinomanibala i like to see some indian models.can you please add it?

ssrsridhar @

sclawson Purple leaf plum trees are beautiful to look at and smell heavenly when they bloom, but are VERY susceptible to black knot, as are ALL prunus varieties (plum, cherry and almond), and anything with a red leaf is a favorite target of Japanese beetles. Although things I read online suggest black knot can be controlled and perhaps cured, to be practical, I wouldn't bet on it. At least that's what an extension agent in my master gardener's class told me. We kept pruning out diseased branches in our purple leaf plum until it eventually became so disfigured we took it down. By then, the disease had spread from front yard to side yard and infected some purple leaf sand cherries. They, too, eventually had to be removed. Between the black knot and being eaten alive by beetles every summer, both varieties were a nightmare for us. Initially we tried to control the beetles with soap-based insecticides and grub control on the lawn, but it was a losing battle. I will never, ever invest in another red/purple leaf shrub or tree or any variety of prunus. Perhaps this disease carried by spores in the air is not a problem everywhere, but here in the Midwest, it's a killer.

Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio (JMMDS) Love the trees listed here, especially when beautifully and sculpturally pruned. Amelanchier canadensis or Amelanchier arborea (also known as serviceberry, Juneberry, or shadblow) is another of our favorites. They're native to most of the East Coast, provide delicious berries for birds (and humans!), have gorgeous ethereal white flowers, and are stunning in autumn. Supposedly they are prone to various diseases but none terribly serious or disfiguring; we've never had problems with them. Lovely as shrubs or multi-trunk trees.

saudicoach @modfan We just had our shower tiled and used epoxy grout. I used a razor blade to get the residua granules off and a product called Blaze by Bostik for removing the haze. It is billed as a "grout haze and general purpose cleaner". I applied the product to not only the tile but the granite as well, which had more of a noticeable glaze. I used a textured sponge that was a bit abrasive made by 3M. Overall I was pleased with the end result. The Blaze does need to sit for at least one minute before you start to work on the area. Hope this helps.

musingfox I have had my shower tiled in a textured porcelain, including a recessed shelf, and I'm having a terrible time keeping the grout between the schluter edge and the flat base of the shelf clear of mildew! I tried the above suggestion with the Oxi-Clean + Lemon juice and an electric toothbrush and it isn't helping.. I think it's because of the slight pillowing in the diamond pattern. I have included pictures showing the whole shower and a closeup of the tile's profile, thou I don't know how well the texture shows up.. Please please help!

nsavvo Forget the kitchen, though gorgeous... How about the view? Simply divine!

kit4kent kit4kent
I love the brass elements, also, especially the long brass pulls making it easy to "find" the drawer when you're in a hurry. I love the unobtrusive support beam--took a while for me to notice it. The open plan still a warm cozy, country feel.

uberv We replaced a young but badly splintering and cupping cedar deck floor with the original Trex 15 years ago. We went with a custom iron rail in square stock. The rail has been repainted once but the deck only needs a good cleaning once a year. We don't have salt to deal with just Texas sun all day long. THe product does get hot but anything would in this place. We noticed TREX replacing board walks at the National Seashore on Cape Cod before we went with the product.

Jeanne Mika we replaced our deck with ipe wood with tile on the risers-look beautiful.

rwiding Great article with lots of good ideas, particularly the BMW ballet white. We are immersed in the final stages of planning a major addition to our small 4x4 square farm house, a vacation home that needs to accommodate our growing family of spouses and grandchildren. Working hard to retain the authenticity of our 1920's farmhouse.

stlouisgaltoo I wish my farmhouse looked half this nice. I wont live long enough to fix/remodel everything that needs done. Or have the $$$ to o so . I'd be better of tearing down and starting over. Be careful what you wish for. I'mready to head back to the burbs myself. Nice house tho.

vixenhouse Does anybody have an idea what I can out on my gravel driveway, not too expensive? Looks bad! Little blue grey gravel, gets muddy and packs down, washes away. Thanks!

J. Peterson Garden Design vixenhouse, how many inches of gravel do you have? Do you have an incline in your driveway? That may account for some of the washout. If you do have an incline/slope, small gravel may not be your best option. I've found that only rocks that are a minimum of 1" in diameter stay put during a hard rain.

felixgrantham The FRICK! http://www.frick.org/visit It's a house, built around turn of the century, taking up a full block next to Central Park with the family's fabulous Art Collection. Absolute Magic!

Cathedral of St. John in Harlem http://www.harlemonestop.com/organization.php?id=275 is also fabulous if time allows.

Also - Chinatown for food and great decorative accents!

If you're going, check out 1/2 price theater tickets the day of the show at TKTS TKTS (the line is long, but it only takes about an hour) - second location on Wall St. has a very short line if you're staying anywhere near.

cynthia scarlett Thanks so much for this post! Great ideas and it so helpful to have the address, where and how to enter some of the more obscure sites, and fantastic array of not so common sites!

babazar How about some vacation rentals in an unusual place like Bodrum, Turkey, where they started building stone houses 5000 years ago.

Here are 5 of them to view and ponder.
http://babazar.webs.com/apps/photos/

JudithAbraham It looks beautiful. I wish it existed when I went there over 20 years ago. A wonderful destination.

John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. Here is a peak at some low iron glass installs.

The glass edges have been sanded to add a nice layer of diffusing to the glass.

John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. This is the best product I have found for difficult waterproofing installations




We use Kerdi Fix for most of our lighting projects both as an adhesive and as a waterproofing material.

http://www.schluter.com/media/KERDI-FIX-ENG-012013-Final.pdf

JW

embracegrace We put two laundry rooms in our new two story house. The second floor one is used for most of our clothing. The first floor one is in a closet of the mudroom. We use almost all cloth in our kitchen so it's convenient to have it right there. We also have a first floor master/guest room/play room. When our parents and other guests come, they don't have to navigate stairs to do laundry (because they live far from us, they often stay for several weeks). Also, if at some point, any of us have mobility issues, we can move downstairs and still have access to the laundry.

We love our second floor laundry room, which has a stacked washer and dryer. Our main floor washer and dryer are side by side on a riser. The washer is quite loud. I'd love to know if you have a solution for that. We're looking at getting a rubber mat like this: http://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Cal-Heavy-Duty-Appliance-Mat/dp/B004EF8MVG/?ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top. Does anyone have experience with this?

http://www.dejongdreamhouse.com/2012/07/upstairs-laundry-room-tour.html

ruffian829 I'm no expert, but my dad is a master plumber and despises putting laundry on any floor other than the basement/bottom floor. The risk of flooding is huge otherwise. Those little plastic hoses are often the only thing standing between a finished house and a lot of damage.
A lot of the precautions listed above are great but keeping laundry in the basement or on the bottom floor is the best.

And re: laundry shoots/dumb weighers- we cannot have them around here (against code) because they are considered a fire hazard. That is likely why you don't see them anymore.

Bud Dietrich, AIA rossihay - What does your architect have to say?

rossihay our soils engineer said we could use ether one.