It's not the *desk* that needs to be interactive and fun; try ditching the chairs and getting stability/yoga balls :) http://www.philly.com/philly/health/kidshealth/Teachers_ditch_student_desk_chairs_for_yoga_balls_.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/28/exercise-ball-classroom-desk-chair_n_2206743.html http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/education/kindergarten-classroom-has-no-chairs http://newadventuresinfirstgrade.blogspot.ch/2011/09/where-it-happens-wednesday.html

we do in guest bedroom,, but not sure will go with colors I have picked out, and the great room is a vaulted ceiling ....I guess we will just have to see...our house is being built and will be very open..not alot of wall space.

For the living room, the focus should be the balcony area. So flipping the couch to face the wall and not the dining table will help. Kind of like this pic. Even if you already have the sectional that is in the diagram, you should be able to flip it. In fact a sectional would probably work better than the couch in this pic. I also really don't like the style of this pic, but it showed what I meant, For the girls' room: No matter which bedroom you choose, you should maximize floor space so that they have the biggest play space possible in their room (as they get older you can add desks for school work and such). To get this space, I would give them bunk beds. This configuration gives them an open feel and more storage, essential for girls. You posted two different kitchen designs. This makes it hard to give you advice. I agree with other posts that your sink should be away from the wall. This allows you to have stuff to the left of you (drying dishes in my house), while you wash vegetables on the right of the sink. You need the same space on both sides of the stove, also. At least 24 inches on both sides is good. 36 is better, though. The first design has a nice little countertop space that adds a place for your daughters a space to sit a watch/ talk to you while you're in the kitchen. When they added this to the first design, you lost cabinets on the other wall. This is bad, as the space is already storage limited. Try making the rounded countertop bump out into the living space more. If you play with the shape, you could make it work without losing the cabinets on the other side. It doesn't have to be rectangular or a perfect circle. You can see how this one isn't confined to the floor plan of the kitchen. I think this is what you would need to do to make it the most functional.

A rule of thumb is that the distance between the house and a eucalyptus should be 2/3 the height of the tree. So if the tree is maybe 45 feet, you'd want the house to be a little over 29 feet away. As well as any new root growth that could affect your house, cutting into a root system compromises the stability of the tree. Also, even if the existing roots are deep, driving over the area with heavy construction machinery could compact the soil enough to affect the health of the tree. That's not to say that you shouldn't try, just be aware in case it becomes necessary to cut the tree down later. Good luck and enjoy your new home!