"For several years after I first moved in I had bubble wrap on the bedroom windows. In many ways it was an ideal window covering: light filtering but private, cleanable with Windex, perforated at regular intervals for a good fit. And recyclable as a packing material. I haven't been able to sell this idea to anyone else though." After a year and a half in our new house, we still have temporary blinds in the master bath. Another one that has to be breaking rules...I have one counter stool in the kitchen. We don't entertain much and there is only one of us that would be using the stool at any given time (laptop). I decided to buy one, that was really nice, instead of two or four, that were cheap.

@funkycamper, I just tried a layout with the sink centered in front of the window again. It won't work. The sink is so long, there isn't enough space to include the stove along the same exterior wall, unless I want to live with just 12 inches of countertop space on either side of the stove (I don't - I need wider storage space underneath). And I think it would look strange to have the sink off center in front of the window, which is the only way it would work. The good news is, when I walk through the doorway from the dining room, the stove would be visible right away. I wouldn't be able to see it while SITTING in the dining room, though. But I intend for everything in my kitchen to be beautiful, so I'm not particularly concerned about which piece is visible in the doorway.

Let's see - gardening rules I break all the time: - I plant my roses far too close together and I actually want them to intermingle - I interplant with a wide variety of other plants, when "everyone knows" rose gardens can only contain roses (smile) - I don't prune below the first 5 leaf nodule or some such foolishness - if it looks dead or is in my way I cut it back as much as I feel like - I don't spray anything - I don't fuss over them - I don't use products specifically designed (or priced) for roses, but buy my fertilizer at the hardware store and huge bales of alfalfa at the farm supply store - I don't worry about bugs or diseases and make them shape up or ship out - I put colors next to each other that aren't supposed to go together, most of the time by accident but I'm too lazy to move them - I buy roses from anyone and everyone that has quality plants to sell, including big box stores if that applies - I overwinter roses that aren't supposed to grow in my climate - I kill roses that are supposed to be perfectly hardy for me And gardening rules that I keep, most of the time - I find joy in the small things in the garden, and try to see the roses more than the bugs, blackspot or sweat dripping off my nose - I share that joy with anyone who expresses even a passing interest in any of the above - I bring bouquets all the time to friends and neighbors even though I rarely cut them for myself - I bring my kids out into the garden to enjoy nature, including the cool bugs - I get a kick out of helping newbies learn that roses aren't that hard to grow - I don't expect perfection - If I don't feel like getting out to the garden for some strange reason I take a break - I try to spend as much time stretching back out as I do bending over - I remember to hang out on my swing or hammock and gaze out proudly over the garden (however ratty it may look) and sigh, "Dang, I love gardening" Cynthia

The thing is......there really aren't any "rules" :-) You will not find any landscape design text that will state "do not plant too close to a structure" or "avoid placing taller shrubs in front of a window". Most of these are just common sense practices or at best, a rule of thumb. And like anything else with gardening, it will be very situational. Sometimes taller and airy shrubs are intentionally planted in front of a window to act as screening! Personally, I'd rather look out into something leafy and green than need to pull shades or close curtains :-) One of the reasons I do not post much in the Landscape Design forum (even though I am a practicing landscape designer and garden consultant with a pretty successful 30 year business) is that I dislike the emphatic insistence by nearly everyone that too tall or too close shrubs must be removed and that a tree cannot be placed so that it obscures a direct view of the entry. Poppycock!! These are not landscape design principles but rather just personal opinions!! In all my years of garden consulting and design, I have seen these so-called garden design no-no's in all manner of permutations. Sometimes they obviously do not work but many times they do. As noted above, if the placement does not damage the structure or the plant itself and it is something you, the client or homeowner values and likes, then it is perfectly acceptable to leave it in place and work/design around it. And that also includes trees planted close to a foundation. It is not automatically a bad thing but again very situational........depending on the tree species and the structural integrity of the foundation, it may very well be a non-issue. So by all means, go ahead and break the 'rules'....because they really do not exist outside of using some common sense :-) If it works for you and you like it, then go for it!!