Miranda You appear to be making all the right choices in life. I will be a little bit presumptuous by offering some advice on helping you to raise your child in touch with nature in this age full of all the electronic lures that keep the kids indoors. or, when outdoors, glued to a small screen, rather than the glory that surrounds them. I am writing a book about landscape architecture and have a section regarding the importance of embracing nature in the preschool years. - which I would like to forward that section to you. However, my computer skills are limited to email and US Mail. I don't even know how to attach a picture to the text. If you would like to receive this draft from my future book, send me your email or postal address, and I'll get it right off to you. My email is cascio.offsite@gmail.com Good luck with your new challenges and opportunities. Joe Cascio

I suspect you might be thinking of breakfast as a cereal and toast thing. You might be able to corral the cereal and the bread in one area, with the toaster. But what about the folks that like omelets or poached eggs or pancakes? The thing is, breakfast items aren't as segregated (at least in my household) as you seem to envisage. I use cereal bowls for serving veggies at dinnner; I use all sizes of dinner plates, depending on what we're having for breakfast; and let us not speak of the cups and mugs that get used both for morning cappuccinos and evening espressos, depending on mood. Many of the dishes and appliances and pans I use for breakfast, are also used for other meals. So there's not a lot of point in creating a separate breakfast area unless you have a huge kitchen and an affection for duplication.

Here are my flooring choices. Wood look tile vs. laminate vs. carpet. Coloring is a little off, the difference between the laminate and the tile is not as much as shown here. Sorry about the lighting. The existing tile in the adjacent/connecting room is laying on the tile samples. The furniture in this room is Techline modular office furniture in Cherry finish mixed with Maple desk tops and accents. Sample of the cherry finish also in the photo. I live in a hot climate so warm floors are not a consideration...actually would like cool ones!

My concern would be having to go through the kitchen to get to the laundry, when inside the home. I understand the ease of access when arriving home with groceries or from sports games/work straight into laundry. But I'm thinking of ease of access when at home for dirty laundry. It makes the kitchen a thoroughfare.