It is a lot to read through, but they are selling and did not want to change the siding that much and was afraid that uncovering the 2nd foor railings would be one of those little turned big projects. Actually craftsman style houses did have enclosed railings, usually combined with masonry piers. Was it originally like this? Probably not. Lindamarie, I see you painted the trim under the porch gray, so that looks much better, and makes the address and columns stand out more. The green door looks good with the new light fixtures. . Nice to see it clearly now. Did you paint the porch floor too? Looks like you changed your mind on the dormer, which is probably good. I think I would like the green of the door on the top railing. The grey just isn't quite warm and heavy enough of a color. Not terrble or anything, just needs a bit of something. Try those inexpensive urns with the greenery--will dress it up all winter and make it look less bare. Another chair and a little table on the porch will cozy it up a bit. If the temps are dipping below 50, I would call off painting for awhile. The paint can fail, wihich is a huge mess. Make sure the temp is OK early in the day so it has time to dry and finish what you started. It looks like some trim is sagging on the top porch on the far right. Little stuff like that drags a house down.

does the yellow work with the bordeaux cabinets? how to transition from the family room to the kitchen? which of the above colors? I want to use the darker cream color for the dinning room and entrance, then yellow for the family room and the morning room and the light cream for the kitchen. Does that work or do the colors clash? Would appreciate ANY HELP!!

My world opened up ever since I heard a designer say (and saw what he did) to treat elements that typically are focal points but for whatever reason don't work - an off-placed fireplace (or asymmetrical like yours) and any other design feature - as just another design element. The asymmetrical fireplace would then be a room feature, but not a focal point, so basically you decorate around it. This really helped me with my old house with almost the exact situation. What you do will depend on how you decorate the rest of the room - for me, I placed an interesting table with a lamp (I needed the lighting) and 2-3 decorative pieces to the smaller space on the left. I had bookcases to the right (some books but not too many + more edited decorative pieces) and had a strong picture and attractive glass that drew the eye to the mantel. The stuff to the left and right were the background, although even the fireplace itself was in the background - the sofa and chairs were centered to the room, not the fireplace or it would have interrupted the flow and been off center. Where you place the rug will help, as will what you use to draw the eye to the other side/rest of the room. HTH.

I have four small parrots - two I bought as weaned babies 14 and 15 yrs ago (maroon belly conure, caique) and two I "rescued" from craigslist (nanday and green cheek conures). I do not believe parrots should be kept as pets. They are truly wild animals. They are not evolved to live in homes. They should be in the wild, flying with their mates, dealing with the challenges and mental stimulation of navigating the wild and predators...not locked in a cage, left alone for hours or days on end. I dont think most humans can give them what they need - the constant social interaction of a flock or mate provides. I try to vary my birds' life as much as I can. I feel so guilty for keeping them as pets (although they would die if let free), that I bought large custom stainless steel cages - 4 fix 2.5 ft. They also sleep in night cages. They have cages in the dining/great room for eating on also. They have perches in the bathroom. These animals are highly intelligent and need variation in their lives from the monotony of the cage. They can be very affectionate and all of my birds crave being touched. If I was wealthy I would work to get a bill passed to limit breeding and to set minimum cage limits. In some countries, the minimum cage size for a parakeet is 2.5 feet wide. The minimum for a macaw is 8x8 ft. I feel like we are living in the dark ages of animal welfare in the US. I am renovating a midcentury modern home and I am doing it with the parrots in mind. Their cages are in a bird room for now, but it is too small for all four to get a view out the window. I have paid an architect to design a separate bird room for them, air conditioned, heated, and shaded, but with walls of glass. These animals are so smart, so affectionate, and so long lived that I owe them the best life that I can. As a side note, my two rescues are extremely sweet and mindful. They have never bitten me. I was told that the nanday is mean, but even with the broken wing she came with, she is not. She will snuggle up next to me, laying her side, sucking on her foot. My little green cheek came to me in a cage the size of a shoebox. He was severely malnourished and was missing most of his feathers (they have mostly grown back). Both of these birds just light up my day. They seem happy and I am so glad I found them. If you ever do consider a bird, think about a rescue or rehome!