Or how they poured the concrete curb for my shower 4" to the wrong side so my shower would have been 38" wide instead of 42" wide. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house Or how I noticed the window guy put the windows in upstairs flush with the interior wall so there was no reveal. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house Or how the same window guy instead of centering the windows in my DH's study had them just off center enough that when the matching bookcases went in on both sides of the window it would have been noticed. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house Or how the window guy again first put the windows in the living room so they wouldn't have been centered on the outside wall because he was lazy and instead of measuring just started at one end and then wondered why there was 8" left over on the other side. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how the window guy again (see a pattern?) was off on the window on one side of the lanai door so one window was 1" closer to the door than on the other side. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how when the mason poured the other windows in DH's study, he didn't center the east and west window so one could look from one through to the other as it was on the plans but had it poured so one was 16" off center. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how the window that was supposed to be a full sized window on my backsplash turned out to be only 8" high because the purchaser talked me into his vision and not mine. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how the AC guy was putting in vents wherever was convenient to him with no thought of aesthetics, such as placing a vent off-centered over a door versus centered. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how some of the ductwork was squeezed into the rafters just enough that we had an inspector look and agree it needed to be fixed. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how the electrician put one exterior light fixture 16" from my balcony door, but the other fixture he put 22" from the door. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how we all forgot to put a light switch in the kitchen leading to the friends entry to turn the lights on in the friends entry. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how the plumber put the shut off for the washer/dryer so low on the back wall, there would have been no way possible to get to it because no one had told them that the washer/dryer were going on raised platforms. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how there was no indication as to the height of the risers of the stairs so when I came in and noticed they were 7 3/4" high, I had them redo it because that was too high for my aging knees. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how I realized as they were framing that some of the doorways needed headers, even though it hadn't been specified. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. Or how because of them not figuring out HVAC before building, they had to put a chase in my upstairs closet. So that necessitated them moving the doors to the closet 3" to the left. Something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house. And the latest. I approved the pool design almost a year ago. It has a swim lane with the east side of the swim lane having a 4' depth and the west side having a 5' depth. There is a path on the pool deck to the backyard on the east side of the pool that is 5' wide with steps down to the backyard. Turns out the city requires the depth of the pool to equal the distance from the house, so if your depth on that side is 5' you need a 5' width between house and pool. Instead of the PB asking me to just switch the east and west depths which would have been smart, he redesigned the pool deck and pool so now my walking path on the east side would only be 4' 9" to the water line. He never sent me an updated drawing, or a change order. NOT ACCEPTABLE. So while the pool guy's plans said 4'9" mine said 5'. And I would have never known it, except I went to watch as they were laying in the rebar the other day. Again, something they would have missed if I wasn't allowed into the house.

All of the design and decorating kudos go to the GF! My son just went along and paid the bills..lol..she bought some stuff too.. and my DH and I just helped with the free labor!!! She really has decorated the house beautifully and on a budget.. in all areas except the floor they stayed in the budget we worked out prior to the purchase! Here are a few more b/4 and after.. dining room before.. I still have to get a new pic from that angle.. but next two you can get the idea after living room beforeonce again.. different angle.. but LR after - no more french doors, and wider opening master bath before.. REALLY UGLY!!! This is after.. but before the vanity and mirror were put in.. one wall of all subway tile, my husband did!! And crummy acrylic shower was replaced with tiled with frameless door.

To piggyback on Virgil's comment...could you design the empty nest space on one floor with separate climate zones so that later on you can completely close off part of the house unless you have guests. This makes perfect sense. Specifics I'd care about: - Place everything you and your spouse will need once you're "empty nesters" on the first floor ... and make sure it's elder-friendly. - This is an ugly thought, but it's realistic: It's easy to consider you and your spouse living in this 4000 square foot house together as empty nesters ... but one day one of you will be widowed. Will 4000 square feet still feel okay then? - Put the kids' bedrooms upstairs, but make sure you can close off that space when no one's using it. Be sure you have at least one bedroom that can hold at least a queen bed so that visiting adult children (who bring along a spouse) can be housed comfortably, and think about a room that could become a grandchildren's room. - This upstairs space might one day be needed for a live-in caretaker (who could be a child or grandchild, or could be a paid caregiver). - Lose the loft and instead make the basement a kids' hang out space. - A completely different thought: Design the house so that you have two bedrooms upstairs for your younger children ... and a one-bedroom apartment (with a separate entrance PLUS a lockable connection to the main house) for the older boys. My mom has this set-up in her house, and it has proven itself very flexible over the years. In her case, the one-bedroom apartment is connected to the main house with a breezeway. Initially an elderly relative lived in the apartment. Each of us kids took turns living in that bedroom. It's been temporary housing for a number of people. Now my mother lives in the apartment, while my brother and his family have the main house. Heck that double bedroom might not even get a year or more out of it before the boys are off to college. I say that because it may be another year or two before the house is built. Yes, realistically, the oldest boys will barely ever live in the house ... but assuming they're going away for the traditional college route, they'll be home for holidays and summers. They may or may not come home after college, but they're not likely to stay long. My oldest has been out of college two years now, and as I think about her high school classmates, only one is still living at home with her mom ... and it's because she is a single mother. I know plenty of empty nesters living in 4000+ sq.ft. houses and none of them are overwhelmed. Eh, I bought my current 2400 square foot house from an empty nester who was overwhelmed both with the upkeep and the cost of the home. I know a couple other people who would like to downsize ... but they can't unload their large houses and/or can't find something small and manageable for the same cost now. I do know one retired guy who stocks grocery shelves part-time literally because he can't afford his oversized house ... neither can he sell it. As for maintenance and upkeep, well, if one can afford to build such a house, they will probably still be able to afford it 30 years later. And also afford the help to clean it. Totally disagree. Speaking hypothetically, definitely not pointing at the OP, whose financial situation I don' t know: pretty much anyone can borrow to build a big house ... but that doesn't mean the individual can afford to retire AND maintain the big house. No one wants to discover too late that he cannot afford to travel, etc. in retirement because of the necessity of maintaining a big house. I have always told my husband that I wanted a home where all the kids would have a bed to sleep on when they chose to come back home to visit. Yes, I always want to have a space for my kids ... but at 4000 square feet, you have space for other people's kids too. Remember that an average house in America today is 2400 square feet; you're looking at practically double that size. I agree that's important too, but a few thoughts on that. How many will be moving far from home and how many will be staying with you at the same time? This is more unpredictable than your own health. With four kids, will they live nearby and visit but never stay the night? will they move far away? will they likely come back to visit at the same time? will they send their kids to stay with you two weeks every summer? Other thoughts: - That's a lot of garage for anyone. - I like the connection between the laundry and the master closet. - The master bath could use improvement. - You're devoting a huge amount of space to bedrooms ... but not nearly as much to eating space. Fast forward a decade or two: imagine four children, spouses and grandchildren ... you don't have anywhere to feed even half that group! And, in my experience, you're more likely to have family for a day /a meal than for overnight. - The placement of the toilet in the shared bathroom seems to be very much "out in the open". I get that this bathroom is designed for sharing, but it could be better.

@mtpo Have you considered attaching your ramp to the back door instead of the garage steps? I empathize with this all. I have a fab little house with all budget-friendly concepts for being accessible, but the doors did end up quite a bit off the ground: like 4 steps worth. I would have had to cope with this if I had been able to afford an attached carport, so I know it's tricky to try and do it with steps, let alone a ramp. In my case, though, the mistake was partly mine. The builder and I went out to my raw lot and decided where to put the house (imagine being able to do this!), a few feet here, a few feet there, a little more angled to the south, a little more privacy for my bedroom window, the most exposure for the solar panels on my roof..... The two of us forgot that the doors would be quite a bit above ground because of a slope in the lot. And then, I made it worse because after we measured everything and laid it out, I asked if he could please move the whole house over 2 feet. I wouldn't have swapped that experience for the world, though. And out of the goodness of his heart, the builder himself made me a most magnificent set of front steps, wide and with sturdy rails. And when I said how much I appreciated him, he did the back stairs, too! At some point, I will get one of those nifty metal dock-ramps. ******* Aha! This is the company that builds those metal ramps: https://www.highcountryaluminum.com