Good comments...I'll address in order... Kirkhall - yes...all guests will enter through the mudroom. We will be in the country and don't expect to do formal entertaining, just family and close friends and such. The door off the dining room will allow for another exit, but I prefer to have everyone come in one door- with no confusion as we have in our current house - especially the kids. I will have windows somehow in the master bath, just haven't gotten that far yet and agree the the corner is wasted on a closet, but wasn't sure how I could rework the plan to get the closet that I desired without using that space. DH works quite a bit in the shop/garage (attached to the mudroom) with friends stopping by, so the bathroom in there will be used primarily by him and the kids. Great tip about the "buffet" counter width...is there a width I should shoot for? Renovator8 - I agree the door to the office does limit counter workspace. I will have to take a look at it again. With this plan I do have twice the workspace (on the island) that I have in my current house, so its hard to think I will regret having the office tucked away where I can hide some of the clutter that now litters my kitchen. What type of stair is less of a space hog? Straight? I could have it narrower, but I would like it to be a bit wider since I think it feels a little more roomy. I will try to post the upstairs and garage later today...the upstairs will house 3 bedrooms, a large bath and a TV room/play room. I'm finding this is all relative - Looking at the floor plan it looked so big to me (but only in comparison to what we have now). I think it is just fits the way we live better. If I wouldn't have GW to bounce things off of, I think I would have even incorporated some poor designs that I just thought were "normal" :) In our current house, on almost the same square footage, we have 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, living and kitchen.

Thanks Chic and Kirk ..... How do you get the picture into the body of the post, I couldn't figure it out. Kirk, regarding the kitchen, its open to the FR, and we don't want a hood hanging in the middle anywhere, so the vision is having the rangetop against the LR wall or back wall .... and if against the back wall we lose the sink, and we want it by a window. Hood would look bad if it was off center. But I see your point re walkway and hot pots. I think there is enough space between island and wall where people could get by, or they would just have to buttonhook around the island if they came into the kitchen when someone is standing by the rangetop. Our dealings with zoning in our town have been difficult to say the least, so setbacks would be a huge issue. I thought about the FR in the middle of LR FR (would have saved masonary $$ too), but there would be no entry from LR to FR - and we didn't want a dead end. We might go for an off center fireplace, with built ins for the TV. I like the idea of two more distinct areas in the FR. If we don't, we might just get a bigger sectional with more space in the middle.

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Hello everyone. I was doing some research on home elevators for an upcoming seminar I am doing for retirees who want to "age in place" or build or buy their "forever home" and came across this thread. It's been very insightful to say the least. One thing that kept coming up is the appearance of an elevator and/or a chairlift for the stairs. Having worked with older adults and mature homeowners for the better part of 2 decades, I can tell you that when someone is faced with relocation to a senior community, assisted living or other such healthcare environment due to mobility issues, how their home looks is the least of their concerns. Before someone is at this point, the focus tends to be on appearances because we are still entertaining and "enjoying" our space. As one ages or health declines, their concern for appearances goes out the window. It's all about what needs to be done to stay here - at all costs. This is also NOT the time you want to be putting in an elevator or doing any major remodeling. People need all the energy they have to simply manage daily activities of daily living and personal care needs. I only say this because as the debate over whether to add or not add an elevator due to the way it looks (and size) tends to be one of younger retirees or empty nesters, if you are truly planning for this to be your forever home, it may be important to fast forward to what life will really be like should you "need" this amenity. My advice, for what it's worth, if you have the means and you are building a multi-level house, DO IT. Don't settle for the small model either - unless it will accommodate a wheelchair and/or full sized walker. That's the point right - mobility regardless of your situation, whether temporary or permanent. All the best. Thanks for letting me join the conversation.