Without dimensions on the plans, it is difficult to tell exactly how big the Living Room area is but, it LOOKS to me like you should have plenty of room for a reasonable amount of furniture in there without it looking or feeling cramped. I think the way the master bath is designed is very I personally would not want to devote as much square footage to the bath as this design requires but it is different and looks fairly functional. If your shower won't have doors then I suspect you'll get a bit of water splashing onto the floor outside the shower but with tiled floors that probably won't bother you. I don't think you'll be able to switch the laundry and toilet as Yillimuh suggested tho unless you're willing to lose your hall closet. Too bad because it would have been good to have the toilet a bit closet to the bed and nice to have the laundry closer to the closet. Since you mention you're retiring, have you given much thought to the possibility that you or your spouse may one day become wheelchair bound. One problem with "toilet rooms" is that they're usually too small for a wheelchair to get in/out of. So, people wind up having to tear down the walls surrounding their toilets. While your toilet is tucked back out of the way, consider if you had to take the wall with the pocket door out completely to allow wheelchair access, would you still be okay with entering your master bedroom thru the bathroom then? Do look into sound insulating the wall between the game room and powder room. The game room is nicely positioned to be repurposed as either a formal dining room or a formal parlor if you or a future owner should ever decide to do so. If used as a formal dining room, you wouldn't want to be able to hear the sounds from the powderroom during dinner. Finally, do you mind my asking where your garage is? At first I assumed it was next to your kitchen and I was going to comment that your kitchen might be a bit dark since the only natural light would filtering in from the sunroom...but then I noticed the window over the sink - so the garage can't be on that side. Then I thought it might be at the front of the house (in front of the kitchen office) but, again, you have windows there so that can't be it. Is the garage "semi-attached"? (i.e., connected to the house only via the mud room? If so, please be aware that if you're on a slab, the mud-room section of concrete may be highly subject to cracking. That piece of concrete slab like a small bridge between two very large slabs of concrete. It is natural for monolithic slabs to tend to shift around a little bit. As long as the entire slab moves as a whole, you don't get cracking. But with that "bridge," the garage slab and house slab will basically be two independent slabs and will probably move independently of each other. The bridging section probably won't be strong enough to force the garage slab and the house slab to "move together". And, if they move independently, cracks will show up running across your mud room floor. Even if you have cuts in the concrete to direct cracking to a specific spot, it may not work. I know because I have a similar design with a screened porch connecting my garage to my house. The screened porch is 10 ft wide by 14 ft long. (14 ft from house to garage.) We got our first crack across the screen porch slab within two months of the foundation being poured! After almost three years, the cracking and shifting seems to have pretty much settled down - but we have a half-inch wide crack running clear across the screen room floor in one place and a second smaller crack (maybe 1/8 inch wide) running across clear the screen room floor in another spot. The cracks look pretty ugly but at least it is a porch floor and eventually we'll put down composite pavers (made of recycled tires) to cover the cracks. I'd have been sick if the cracks had been in my nicely tiled mud-room floor. Just thought you ought to know.

Respectfully, the problem isn't that you're crazy. Everyone here is working on developing the perfect house plan. Some people begin with a house plan and make adjustments, while others start from scratch. However, I haven't seen two that come out identical in the end; thus, while I understand your quest for "perfect", you're not going to find agreement on this or any other board. You won't even get "perfect" for yourself (much less yourself and your spouse). Building a house is an exercise in compromise. No matter how many wonderful ideas, no matter how many opinions and how many drawings you go through, you will always end up sacraficing something. Here's an example: I want plenty of natural sunlight streaming into my kitchen. However, after much discussion and professional help, the bottom line is that the house is going to face east. That means my kitchen will face west, and it will be hit by the afternoon sun, making my kitchen into an oven. So I can either scrap my whole houseplan (which I do not want to do) or add a covered porch over the back portion of the house. I really don't want to add a porch, but it does solve my kitchen problem, it will serve the pool area well, and it's the best solution. The point: I'm not getting "perfect" in this situation. To keep the house plan I like, I'm making a compromise on one item in the kitchen. You're going to end up making compromises in numerous ways as you build. It's just the nature of the beast. To borrow your analogy from your referenced thread, you may end up with the "ipad of houses"; that is, you may end up with the best product in your category, price point, etc. The real problem, as I see it -- and I mean this in the nicest possible way -- isn't crazy so much as lazy. You've not done your homework. If you want something other than a cookie cutter house, you have to make that happen yourself. You need to do some reading on home building, and you need to start searching plans yourself. No one else knows your opinions, tastes, and preferences, so no one else can do this for you. The builder is going to tell you how he typically builds master bedrooms; he isn't going to reach into your mind and pull out your ideal master bedroom. When he tells you, "No, we don't do it that way", ask WHY he doesn't do it that way. It may be that your concept is unworkable, or it may be that it's just not cost-effective. As you do some reading, you're going to find lots of questions that'll help you refine your ideas and pinpoint what matters to you. More importantly, you'll develop your ideas into terms that you can communicate to other people. Having a picture in your head is great, but if you cannot accurately project that picture to your builder and your architect, you're all going to be frustrated. I also suggest that you start collecting pictures of things you like. You're not all that strong with verbal communications (typical engineer -- I'm married to one, so I know), so photographs might help get your idea across to the builder and architect. Also, you've not given us any idea of what kind of house you plan to build -- these are the basics that you're either ignoring or aren't communicating to us. Is it to be an old South-type house, a house with a European flair, a ranch? What does it need to do for you? Do you have children? Do you need it to function for you and your spouse . . . but then expand once a month for weekend guests? It's impossible to know what kind of advice go give without knowing what you need the house to do. To give an analogy, it's like asking what kind of dishes you should buy -- without telling us whether you need something durable for kids, something lightweight because you can't lift heavy stoneware, or something inexpensive. Once you have a plan (or a couple plans) that you think you like, come back and post them. With a "starting place" to work from, people can give you ideas on how to improve and how to proceed.

marthaelena, What exactly are you going to do with the space to the left of the pantry? I was thinking of putting cubbies and a desk area for dropping off mail/etc. Would you like to unify the 2 closets (the linen closet by bedroom 1 and the smalish closet in your master? We thought that would make the linen closet weird to enter. But we are up for suggestions. Second floor... I would love if you could sketch out your ideas for me. I don't think we need the double corridors either but could not figure out another way to do it. We are open to any ideas on the upstairs. I like it but do not love it. bigkahuna, That is a good idea for the pocket door placement. I would probably never close it but it would be nice to block off the mud room. In the dining room, you would take the 2 center windows out and put a picture window there? What do you think we should do on the left of the picture window? We need the door to the right to go to the future deck. I am unsure what to do in the family room. We put windows flanking the fireplace and two in the room. We thought we wanted to keep some wall space for furniture. Please give some ideas you have, I know we need help there. Phillipeh...do you think putting a closet in the office would make it too small? Also, how would you lay out the bathroom if you moved the closet? (I like that idea!) Thanks for all of your help so far! We need all the help we can get...

Thank you all for your responses , though , I was hoping to have some input from the original poster. I was attracted to this posting by gsw�s original comment and his very well configured second floor. I have worked within gsw�s stated footprint , and focused on fulfilling the stated desires and foreseen needs of he , and his family. The original first floor featured many problem areas � double entry doors to the foyer � poor traffic patterns � too many small rooms � a claustrophobic dining room � a living room that served as a hall , had only one poorly located window , and a clear view of the bathroom toilet when the door was open. Additionally , the logistics of the indicated stairs would not work , as the needed number of treads and risers would bring the stairs past the upstairs door to the master bedroom. Also , the placement of the windows was an issue � the upstairs windows did not align with the downstairs. The original plan is one-story at the garage and foyer area , and two-story for the remainder. This limited the placement of the foyer. If the foyer was centered at the two-story section of the house , and the living room moved to the left � significant cost would be incurred to provide essential support for the upper floor and roof. The reasoning behind the layout of my proposed plan is , perhaps , easier to follow if you take the needs of the family into mind. The foyer with a coat closet is an obvious household essential. The proposed living room would be a multi-purpose space � the lady of the house was both wise and kind to insist on this , so that she may entertain someone privately , without disturbing the family , and without being disturbed. If she has a guest when her husband , or son , come in � they can enter the foyer, or come in through the garage , and go into the mud room to take off their coat , drop their things in the hall , use the powder room , and proceed to the kitchen, family room, or upstairs without disturbing she , and her guests. Her office is conveniently located with direct access to the living room , so that she may easily retrieve some necessary presentation , or share something with her guest on her computer. Should her guest desire some refreshment � the kitchen is steps away. As gsw has indicated , their parents are older. In light of the fact that they possibly may not be able to climb the stairs , the living room can be closed off completely � using the pull-out sofa for sleeping. If this room is closed off , entry through the front door is still possible through the foyer , or mudroom , without disturbing the in-laws. The � bath/powder room would avail itself to the in-laws needs. On a daily basis , the living room would serve as the welcoming room to family , and guests , alike. Entering through the foyer � into the light-filled space of the living room � turning , and proceeding straight through the hall and into the family room should give a warm welcome to all. The living room can also serve as a dining room , for intimate dinners , or larger parties requiring more places for guests. For parties , hors d�oeuvres can be arranged in the living room , with the office converted into the bar � allowing for mingling through the living room , hall , family room , and deck. On a typical day , the wife comes in with groceries � pulls into the garage � passes through the mudroom and hall � to the kitchen for unpacking. The pantry is conveniently located next to the kitchen , and the refrigerator is easily accessible. She begins food preparation , and steps into the nearby office to access her computer. She can continue with her office duties , as she watches the pots boil next door. If anyone comes in to get something from the refrigerator � they simply come in through the hall door � get what they want , and head back out � without being in the cooks way. The width of the kitchen allows for two cooks to easily work together , and I don�t feel that this kitchen would be a "thoroughfare" as there are alternate routes to every other room. Additionally , the kitchen features doors at all the openings , for when the cook does not want to be on display. The family room , with its large dining area , and full compliment of windows , is a generous size room that lends itself well to everyday life. The fireplace is an option , but I would locate the tv above it , or furniture that would accommodate it in this location � so that everyone can see it. The dining area is easily served by the kitchen , and features a large window. Upstairs � I relocated the entrances to the front bedrooms to facilitate the inclusion of the Jack and Jill bath. My reason for this was to allow a larger vanity than was allowed in the original bath. If the homeowner prefers to keep it as it was , that would be fine , as well. The locking problem mentioned with the Jack and Jill option can be easily solved with the proper door hardware. I sincerely hope that gsw will give some input into what has been discussed and designed. I would love to know what type of exterior style he and his wife are seeking � that would further influence the interior layout , as well as allow for some elevations to be drafted and critiqued � Hope this helps the posters to understand : )