Your house is not symmetrical so I don't see a problem with the window. I would remove the shutters since you don't want to draw attention to it. A wide stretch of wall is the perfect place for a specimen plant. I would not go to the expense of removing the garage door. Just paint it the color of the house. Likewise I don't think you need a path across the lawn (although it would be nice) . but open the rail and build steps so it looks approachable. What you need more than anything is a landscape make over. I think you should take a few more photos and start a new thread for the Landscape Design forum.

I pinkmountain: Excellent post and so true. If one person does one thing to save energy consumption, and other one does one thing and another and another, it's amazing as to how much humans can do to create a positive world rather than a negative one. The only thing I would add to your comments is regarding gray water. One can water their garden with gray water, but would you eat vegetables and fruits that contain chemicals? Of course, not. So if you do use gray water, make sure the sources are clean. Instead of using soaps, hair conditioners, dishwasher items and cleaners that contain chemicals, check the labels for ingredients. If they don't have one, then look online. Change up your soaps, detergents and cleaners that you use that go down the drains of the bath, sinks, showers, dishwashers. Use products that do the job, yet won't accumulate poisons in the soils for plants and fish to utilize. For example, I no longer use the laundry detergents and softeners that you see on the grocery shelves. I use castile soap, borax and distilled white vinegar (rinse cycle - for conditioner). In the dryer, I dry only to "damp" and use wool balls instead of "dryer sheets". All my clothes and horse laundry come out clean, smell fresh and with no static. I do pretreat when necessary. As to dirt, well, working on a ranch does get my clothes a mite dirty and smelly - more so than typical daily wear whether to the office or casual or date nite.

The new chairs really make a difference. I might consider painting the table legs and accent on the cabinet in grey to tie into your counter color. Love the cool shape on your passthrough cutout. Nice work on the bar cabinet! I just feel like it needs something to definitively separate from the cabinet next to it so it doesn't look like some accidental add on. What about some kind of metallic paint/treatment to tie in the brass tones on the lighting and accessories, with a black or grey top (something like above)? If you must do words, I would use removable word art after finishing as I suspect that is something you will tire of... Perhaps paint a section of the wall behind it, floor-to-ceiling, in black to make it it's own section of room. Or is there room on the other wall next to the tall cabinet where it would not look like the counters' shorter cousin?

I've always had Insinkerator disposals and always peeled into the sink until the day it surprisingly backed up on me. I think that a batch disposal helps with not overfilling the disposal, which is what I probably did. Now I try to be a little more careful. Luckily DH fixed it and I didn't have to call a plumber. This is from the Insinkerator Excel 1 HP manual. I have heard that the busiest day for plumbers is the day after Thanksgiving. Just a friendly reminder. DON’T... • DON’T POUR GREASE OR FAT DOWN YOUR DISPOSER OR ANY DRAIN. IT CAN BUILD UP IN PIPES AND CAUSE DRAIN BLOCKAGES. PUT GREASE IN A JAR OR CAN AND DISPOSE IN THE TRASH. Don’t fill disposer with a lot of vegetable peels all at once. Instead, turn the water and disposer on first and then feed the peels in gradually. • Don’t grind large amounts of egg shells or fibrous materials like corn husks, artichokes, etc., to avoid possible drain blockage. • Don’t turn off disposer until grinding is completed and only sound of motor and water is heard • Don’t use hot water when grinding food waste. It is OK to drain hot water into the disposer between grinding periods.