Sorry I am so late coming to your site - you are an inspiration to all, homeowners and advisers alike. For your planting advice, I suggest you call Merrifield Garden Center to see if they will come out your way. They currently have wonderful garden centers in Merrifield and Fairfax (both in Fairfax County) and a new one in Gainesville, but they may come further south to wherever you reside. (www.MerrifieldGardenCenter.com) Even if they don't send designers to your area, they are worth a trip to see their huge selection for a day of pleasure and inspiration, or to pick up some plants. Most of my clients are in the Fairfax and greater Washington area, but I am currently living out west below Front Royal, VA on the Shenandoah mountainside - wonderful views. cascio.offsite@gmail.com

There are more cons than pros, I'm afraid. Near black floors will show every speck of dust and need constant maintenance. They also will suck up a lot of light, so you need to add lots of extra lighting. If they are shiny, they also show marks just as a mirror does. They are not the best for re-sale properties either, as most people prefer something more medium toned for the long term. I recommend going with a more classic floor, and then adding black accents in furniture, etc. Your kitchen could be mostly white cabinets with some very dark stained sections. Here are some ideas from modern to traditional. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Is this a new build? I would suggest you look at each room in detail and put the actual furniture arrangement you will have, to the right scale, and think about how you will move through and use those spaces. Some of those look odd to me, but it may be the way you intend to use those spaces is different to my imagination. The access to the changing room seems only through the Kitchen. and either out the front door or dining and living to get to the pool area. How will this be fenced? Where is washing to be carried from the laundry? Is there a line nearby? Out the front door, or through kitchen dining and living? Bed 4 has to go through a living space to a bathroom, the living room is hard to imagine in use as arranged, and bed 2 and 3 look to have the beds right into a corner for no reason. How would you accommodate a double bed in these rooms? In a few years this may be what you want. If you will have other furniture, draw it in. There a large walk in cupboard/robe off a store room. What will be in the storage room? Draw that in too, so you know there is space and it won't block access to the robe. Many of the storage spaces/benches/shelves are shown with corner shelving arrangements which isn't often the best use of space. Bed 1 looks out onto the front access. How will you provide privacy? What different uses do you imagine in the living, family and rumpus rooms?

Hi there, We have a rural site in Wellington (NZ) that we are planning to build on. It gets really high winds and so we need a robust house concept. Hubby is keen on a two story half round haybarn or Quonset style house but I can't even imagine the floor plan for this type of design. He wants 4 bedrooms upstairs with the master, (WIW and ensuite), living, main bathroom, kitchen and skullery/utility on the main floor. Aiming for about 10m wide by 12-14m long. Anyone got any experience with this kind of design? Any recommendations? Any insights much appreciated :-)