Jenn, thanks for sharing your pics. Don't know what I can do to come up with something new this year. All my last year's decs are already posted on this forum! Kathleen, I am home at last! Was gone 21 days--longest time away from home yet! Went to see little GD today--she said "Gramma, why were you gone soooo long?" Enough said--told DH that I would prefer just short trips. He says "how will we ever make it to the east coast that way?" LOL Luvs

Just in response to Caryscott- I think you may be on to something, but so many times the new kitchens are large and high end...and I agree that's hard to reconcile with charming. Charming is usually not huge (although it can be a big space with diffent functions) but it wouldn't be all sleek cabinetry and huge island...and by definition, industrial restaurant/style kitchens are not charming. They're industrial, the opposite of hand made and hand crafted, which I think is a big part of charming. I also think charming has some vintage pieces or usable antiques (stress on usable) and fabrics, plants, and a little bit of clutter. It's important that people can tell someone actually lives there and you should see a bit of their personality, by what they feel is important enough to display. So many of these high end kitchens are beautiful, but they don't look lived in. Everything is very funtional and has a specific storage space, often behind doors (sometimes even the microwave is hidden behind doors). A charming kitchen is functional, but you can see the function. Instead of form over fuction, I would say it's form as function. Open shelves or glass uppers show you where the dishes are, so you can get your own glass of water. You often see pans hanging above the range or over a small island, so helping with cooking or cutting up veggies/salad stuff is easy. Appliances are rarely hidden or covered with cabinetry...they're there to be used and add to the function. Where charming turns some people off (IMHO) is when the clutter starts to become form, over funtion. Dishes that are displayed should be used, cutting and work surfaces should be open and easily accessed (not piled with clutter) appliances should be functional, not decorative...so a wood stove or old gas stove should still be working. Floors, countertops, backsplash and cabinets should be durable and easy to clean. It's hard to imagine a high maintenance finish, in a truly charming kitchen. Yes, you might have a piece of marble for rolling out dough, but it's going to be etched and that's need to be okay. Charming isn't for everyone...and it doesn't always work in a great room space. Part of the appeal is that it's a working kitchen and while you might have an island, table, cozy seating area (or maybe all of the above) it needs to first and foremost be a kitchen. If your idea of the perfect kitchen is a lovely space that hides all of its funtion and ends up looking more like a corner bar in your large living room...that's also a great look, but I don't know that I would call it charming...maybe stylish or modern, but not charming :)

lkplatow - what a lovely and thoughtful gift. I am sure your MIL will be thrilled. You will be giving a gift that can be built upon not only by you, but now friends and other family members can purchase a charm or two for special occasions. Someone posted about the other brands of this bracelet being inferior as they aren't solid sterling (for the silver as opposed to the gold Pandora). While I am not sure about Trolls or Brighton, I did check out Kohl's silver version of this bracelet. and it is, in fact, solid sterling. The price point of the Individuality Bracelets and beads (Kohls)is a more affordable option for anyone who wants this type of bracelet in silver, but doesn't want to spend Pandora-type $$. As far as the durability of the glass beads - I've had mine for quite a few years and haven't yet had a glass bead break or chip. I have both Pandora and other brand glass beads. I am very hard on my jewelry, and don't remove it to wash dishes, etc. I like that you've chosen the sea turtle charm as one of the starter charms for your MIL's bracelet. Very thoughtful to personalize the bracelet with something you do together as a family. As a matter of personal choice, I think this type of bracelet is so much more versatile than the "Nomination" or stretchy charm bracelet that came out about 10 or so years ago. While I do have one of those, I never wore it as frequently as I wear my Pandora. For me, it is like comparing apples and oranges. Since I have accumulated many different colored glass beads, so I can make combinations of colored beads mixed with the other charms when I want to compliment a color I may be wearing. Personally, I don't like my bracelet full of charms, but prefer it only half filled. Happy Holidays!

Life won’t throw us a curveball on more kids, I promise! We have severe infertility and it took many thousands of dollars to conceive our twins. Famous last words! I don’t have the redrawn plans for the playroom yet. But basically we would ditch the linen closet, scoot the wall from the family room to the left three feet, and lose some mudroom space. I would like to keep the powder room though so that when people come over they don’t have to walk by the playroom mess when they need to use the bathroom What I hear you saying is that you're turning this area from a bedroom into a flex room /den. It's nicely located for that purpose ... but it is unfortunate that the flex room /den will receive nicer natural light than the family's main living space. Question though: Why do you need a downstairs playroom AND an upstairs loft? Are you building a room you don't really need? Another question: Are you saying you're going to build the powder room in the foyer AND a second powder room in the playroom? That's an expensive choice while building, and it'll mean more cleaning every week. Cpartist , stop with the pathways. they are not a good representation of wasted space. don't believe me? I kinda agree. For example, the foyer, of course, is nothing but a pathway ... but the floor space in the powder room is NOT just a pathway; it's used for, um, bathroom purposes. That's just an example ... other parts you've identified in red are used for more than "passing through". The whole “best houses” thing does make me chuckle a little in good fun. The best house is the house that’s best for the owners. Maybe no "best house" exists, but "best practices" and "standard rules" that apply to essentially everyone do exist. Sometimes it makes perfect sense /is even preferable to break "the rules", but -- when /if you do -- it should be a decision made carefully /thoughtfully /taking into consideration all the ramifications of skipping over the "best practices". What isn’t easy about the mudroom? I’m missing that. My only criticism of the mudroom is that -- being in the middle of the house -- it'll receive no natural light. Are you planning to harness the storage space under the large switchback stair? It may only be "half height", but it's a lot of space. You're paying for it, and you shouldn't box it off -- this'd be a great space for Christmas stuff, though I'd probably opt to use it for something I'd access more often. Some people dislike the idea of walking through the mudroom to reach the bedroom, and some people dislike the idea of a bedroom being off the kitchen /compare it to a maid's room. Oh, I do see another problem with the mudroom: Imagine you're bringing a sofa or other large furniture into this space ... how will you navigate those corners? Of course, you might be planning a sliding glass door into the back yard ... that would fix any bringing-in-big-furniture problems. Covered porch is big for us because we like to eat outside and this gives us a way to do so in blaring sun or drizzling rain. It will, however, make your living room dark. You could eliminate this problem by placing your covered porch on the SIDE of your house instead of the back. What about the laundry room, that would be a nice room to have on an exterior wall for natural light and a short run for venting. Our laundry room is about that far from our bedroom and I can hear the washer or dryer if I am trying to fall asleep. Yes, washers /dryers are vastly better on exterior walls. They're cheaper to install /easier to clean the vents /more fire safe. All of these are personal choices. So if you prefer as you have, do it that way :) I just wanted to bring up points that would matter to me. I would prefer the bathroom to have natural light over a closet if I had to pick one since I never go to my closet at night when the natural light helps. :) Yes, personal choices ... but never allow yourself to become so attached to a plan /an idea that you aren't honest with yourself about how much a certain issue will matter. Recognition of circulation patterns is a very useful trait to develop and use. Agree. Do not want windows in the master closet because I get dressed in my closet (I suppose this is weird haha) Plus windows in closets = faded clothing. We have a skylight in our current master bath and we hateeeee it! Different strokes for different folks. But I’m big on the “show me a skylight that hasn’t leaked and I’ll show you one that will leak” mantra. Yes, a skylight is a bet with nature. Your wager is a hole in your roof, while nature's contribution is the willingness to work 24/7 to defeat your man-made materials. Water wins 100% of the time ... maybe not this year, but eventually. I think it’s pretty melodramatic to say no light will enter the great room. No it’s not going to be the brightest room in the house but it’s not a pitch black cave But more light = better, and bringing in more light would require very little effort /no additional money. hummingbird, we have a ventless in our apartment and they take 2-3x as long to dry. I have no experience with these ventless dryers, but common sense says that the dampness has to go somewhere, and if venting isn't possible, more electricity /more time is going to be the answer. This does not sound appealing at all. On the subject of the laundry, note that you'll have to pass through a "bottleneck" in the laundry to reach all that storage ... this'll be difficult with big things like artificial Christmas trees. Also, I'd lose the sink in the laundry room. It's the only water-item in that wall, so it'll be relatively expensive to plumb it ... and new washing machines have pretty much eliminated hand washing. My random thoughts: - The overall layout looks okay, but it doesn't seem to be anything special. - I can't quite make out the doors to the backyard. I think the breakfast nook has windows /not doors ... this is good because once a table is placed in this space, doors wouldn't be useful. Is that a door near the fireplace? I'd think a door nearer the kitchen would be more useful, especially since you say you enjoy eating outdoors ... and that makes me wonder if you enjoy grilling. You don't want your kitchen and grilling area too far apart. Be sure the door is hinged in the direction of the kitchen for easy use. - I like the butler's pantry area. The cabinet on the right will be ideal for self-serve drinks or dessert at parties. I'd put pegboard on the flat wall of the pantry; that would be very useful. - I don't like anything in the master bath. Wasted space in the middle, too-wide shower, expensive bump-out for the tub. You have so much space here ... you could have something so much nicer.