I had a good chuckle reading this thread. :-) Winter I can definitely wait for...Christmas!!?? No...please, it's bad enough when they are playing Christmas carols in the stores at Halloween, let along gardeners on the GW forums wishing it were here in September! lol Fall has always been my favorite time of year. Now, it's a toss up between spring and fall. I really enjoy the change in season. We tried moving to the South once and stayed for 9 months. We moved back home. We really missed the seasons, more than we thought we would. Like dtd, I also don't want a greenhouse,or to be gardening all year. I enjoy the break when nothing has to be tended to outside and I can think about something else besides being totally immersed in gardening. [g] This year, I am particularly ready to be finished with the yard. It has been so dry and the yard just doesn't look as good as it usually would at this time of year. We still have a lot to do before we are finished for the year though. I will be glad to cover up some of the mess out there and start fresh next year. Don't you think it has a bit of a melancholy feel though, this time of year? There's just something about the different light in the fall. The way it is dark earlier maybe? So different than the excitement of spring returning. pm2

Renovator8- Thanks for your input, it is greatly appreciated. Garage Stairs to the basement: We've talked about this in the past & the DH has these very high on his "must have" list. We had this before and he utilized them frequently. They lead into a "shoppe" area and he frequently went from outside, to garage, to basement with dirty workboots, etc. I actually like your idea for the stairs. I believe at first our idea was the turn provided a seperation from the "piano area" and the foyer. However, I see that it really does not and see the benefits. I also believe traffic from the family room will better enter the stairs if straight. I must admit I have also pictured boys acrobatically swinging over towards the family room rather than make the turn of the stairs and come back around. I know you are not a fan of wider isalnds, but I was hoping to widen that one some (used to a 48"+ width island). I was worried about it feeling too tight between that walk way when we had a lot going on in there. Saving for a new piano:) Lavender Lass- We will be looking at the layout upstairs. We were going to put 3 boys in one room, if this one happened to be a girl. 3 boys to a room is not a bad idea, but with the age/spacing of our boys it seems best to do two in each room. Thanks for all the input and ideas...We have a lot more to think about!

does not look too bad... here are some of my thoughts: It seems very spacious in some areas, but not in others. I think you can reduce quite a bit of square footage out and never miss it. For example the dining looks like you are planning to have a much larger table in there? I would also give yourself more space in that hall connecting to the kitchen from the dining. I am assuming that will be a main food transportation area, and it looks like you have exactly 3', maybe slightly under. Remember to give yourself elbow space for carrying larger items, such as a big turkey on a platter! I would also recommend more of a closed off space in the mud room from the garage. Dirty shoes, coats, etc will all get piled there (I assume) and being in direct sight from the kitchen, that may not be ideal. It looks like the 3/4 bath off the mud room is a little tight on the door. I would steal another foot out of the office or possibly eliminate this bathroom? The master bath on the other hand looks very spacious, especially in relation to the master bedroom. That bedroom space seems a little tight mainly due to the longer rectangular layout of the room. Also I am not sure if it bothers you having a direct view into the bedroom from a social space. I would recommend swapping the closet with the bedroom and create a tiny tall within the master suite space. This way you are separated even more from the public spaces. I think you definitely have a sight line issue with your master bath tub location. The window there has direct views from the great room and sun room/dining area. Unless you plan on obscure glass, you might be giving family and friend a show! I would also consider stealing space out of the bathroom and the closet and adding it to the bedroom, or eliminating it completely. I am also curious as to the very large space between the banks of bedrooms. I assume this is a kids play area? It appears above the sitting space you have a lot of dead space. Why not pull the entire girls rooms bank area down and align that exterior wall with the wall of the sunroom/dining area? This would save on the wasted space also simplify the roof plan, thus reducing additional costs for no loss in functionality. The bathroom on the boys area seems very small. I think with the other nice size spaces, this would be a big disappointment to you once it is completed. Perhaps eliminating the powder room (thus keeping the bathroom near the kitchen) and adding that space to the bathroom? Anyway, those are my quick thoughts, take em or leave em! Best of luck with your architect!

Is it "normal" to get a sinking feeling every time you think about building a home? Of course not. It's normal to feel nervous about the project's enormity, the expense, the logistics. But a sinking feeling means this is not what you want. You might like parts of the house, but that is probably not enough. The fact is, you will have to put a huge amount of effort, money, commitment into a project that will end up with you living where you don't want to live, in a house and "yard" too much for you to deal with. And at an age when your health and energy are not likely to be trending upward. You will continue to resent his not following up on his commitments. He's getting his dream and you're gonna pick up the loose ends. No WONDER you have a sinking feeling. Just for a moment, and just to yourself, think about whether or not you can back out now. And how you would do it. I think you may already be too deep into this to back out now--for whatever reasons you've agreed to it. What would happen to your relationship with DH if you called a halt to it right now? (I'm not suggesting you answer any of this here; just to yourself.) If you can't see a way out of this, then what would it take to make it go better for you? I think you could assert your right to not have to work to age 70. If he's willing to handle it by himself, it's his dream--let him work for it. Or, let that be a real good reason to scale down the house. Just say you're not willing to work past 62 or whatever. He can run the numbers to see how to scale back the house accordingly. That will get you 2 big things you want: a smaller, more easily managed house and an earlier retirement. While you're having that discussion also tell him that the project has to be scaled back because you're not willing to be annoyed all the time, and scared by living in the midst of undergrowth, and you will need a bigger monthly budget to hire things done. (What was his plan for while he's away for 3 months?) I don't think he's been realistic about that and you haven't confronted him about it. Does he know how much you resent picking up the pieces for him and waiting for him to get around to things? Or, focus on how he's too busy working to consistently get the maintenance done and should plan on letting YOU hire it done; so in his free time he can play country squire or whatever he dreams of. Did you just agree to all this because you can live in a really nice house? Because other than that I don't hear you wanting any part of this. Until you come clean with him about ALL of your reservations, he will have no motivation to start planning realistically so that YOU will also be happy living his dream. (Or as happy as you are capable of, given that you basically don't want this.) This isn't just a house; it's your entire life. Especially since you work at home. That sinking feeling you have is a warning signal. I really hope you'll tell him now, while he has some motivation to make concessions and provisions and to scale things back. If you don't tell him now, he will have zero motivation later. And all you will have is the sad consolation of being right about the fact that he would disappoint you--again.