Thanks for highlighting these stormwater treatment landscapes! It's nice to see a variety of designs in different places around the US. I work in this field - although more with commercial and municipal clients. I can tell you that the use of rock in non-residential designs is much more limited than you've shown in the examples above. For some reason residential designs seem to use the "dry-creek bed" aesthetic a lot, which is unfortunate. Rock has several downsides compared with using soil, plants and wood mulch. Rock can heat up and dry out soils, stress plants and add to the urban heat island effect. When you get weeds growing up in the cracks between the rocks (which will happen eventually in all systems) you have to move the rocks out of the way, which can be a lot of work. So designers - please stop using so much rock in your systems!

NOW you're talking!!!! Stunning -- every photo -- every word -- every bit. I reread it twice!!

Such heart -- and soul!.

We had a bunch of mice living in the bed next to our backyard patio. It was fun watching them come out in the evening and pick up the discarded bird seeds. But then we noticed there were very few of them, as it turns out we have a small bull snake residing in the same flower bed. It's nice and shady and has a built in food supply. I love our resident reptile. It takes care of the mice outside, and if they get in the house, the cats are right on them.

Several years ago we had our primary bathroom renovated but I wanted to do a refresh. I purchased 12 sets of towels - 6 grey 6 white, along with extra wash clothes. That's for just the 2 of us. By rotating them they hold up longer, and the linen closet looks beautifully organized. Also in the closet I purchased a number of matching grey bins. They hold each person's personal products, first aid items, one is for my haircoloring needs, etc. The old towels are cut up for cleaning, etc. They are stored in the basement in a box on our shelving unit. I only have 2 sets of sheets per bed, and they are also stored in their own grey/white baskets. Everything was purchased at Target. So happy with the outcome.

@gladdygirl I’ve never had a problem with humidity in our bathroom because we have good ventilation with the exhaust fan we installed. I have two drawers for jewelry and bought velvet inserts of various sizes to fill the drawers.

These are genius ideas!

My only reservation is the countertop produce storage. Light exposure triggers sprouting in poatoes and onions, and also toxic solanine (the green color) production in potatoes. These should always be stored in dark, cool places. Other produce, such as apples and oranges will stay fresher if stored in the fridge. A few produce items are better left at room tempurature.

My overall reaction is - why do you want your kitchen to not look like a kitchen. I enjoy my (open) spice racks next to the stove, my (hand crafted) pottery jar near the stove to hold handy utensils, and my row of tall square (see-through) cannisters along one counter, to hold often-used items like crackers, favorite cereals, flour and sugar. It feels like home, and creativity. What's with all this hide-everything trend?