Hi, Christine. I love you house-its adorable! One thought, though. Since your house is so angular-with all the rectangles and triangular "points"-have you ever though about "rounding" out the entry and steps? You could get a contractor to pour some concrete and round out that corner of the steps, and continue on around(well, not with the steps)stopping short of the front windows on that side. They could advise you-or suggest someone who could-on how to make it all blend seamlessly. You could then place a nice planter under the mailbox, and maybe have a small bench in front of it. I also think a small tree would add a lot on the corner of the chimney side, however far it needs to be to keep it from causing any problems for the house. I know that Japanese maples, redbud, and even crepe myrtles have all been mentioned. I don't have any experience with the maple, but I grew up in a with house that had three redbud trees in the front yard-it was one fourth of an acre, so there was room-and a large crepe myrtle in the back, and they pretty well took care of themselves-my poor mom said she had a "black" thumb instead of a green one because she never could grow anything, and my dad did keep them trimmed, but my dad was not a guy who liked to spend a lot of time on the yard, so he was just a "mow the grass and keep the trees trimmed" kind of guy. So, if you want something that looks nice and can take relatively cold weather-where I live we can get down to five degrees, but in my whole life we've never gone below that, so I don't know about any below zero temps. Still, they are pretty hardy trees. You could also have a serpentine shaped flower bed that extended out from the porch and included the tree, which would again would "round" out some of the corners on the house. Again, just think the house is so cute.

Robi: so the mirror you have must be about 34", right? I think CDR's Pierre Mirror would work well - about the same size as you have but it would appear to be much more substantial and solid looking. I like the rectangular shapes in it, too, which repeat the lampshade shape.

Our decorations go up gradually through December with the tree up before Christmas Eve, and everything stays through orthodox Christmas (Jan 6) or slightly later. We are not religious, but developed this practice when living overseas, realizing that our daughter and husband had multiple Christmas events to attend...a nice break and later Christmas with us, far less busy and challenging for a fit into multiple family traditions. Now, we're finding that Rob and I are invited to all the gatherings which rather defeats the "less busy" purpose. Might reassess! Tree down yesterday, decore in our suites removed today...planning for Spring ;-)

There are many varieties of Yaupon Holly, and 'Sky Pencil' is one of them. Yaupon holly is the common name, ilex vomitoria is the botanical name for yaupons. Yeah, at the Depot you would not expect someone on the phone to know much, but the department manager should...maybe. I find that smaller plants transplant and "take" better than their larger siblings, and are certainly easier on the gardener's back! And fit better in the car...but instant gratification is always nice! Our local nursery gives 10% off if you spend $500, so ask about their discount policy.