Now that the message has dropped; one thing I'd consider... find a way to use the unused corners of the master closet (you can see them clearly the way the closet clothes are drawn in) and open up a foyer closet. In Indiana, I'd think you'd want one for sure.

Why on earth are their shutters on the porch-covered windows yet none on the exposed windows which logically have the greater need for them.
Casey

@mydreamhome- WOW! What an incredibly helpful response!!!! THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! I even feel like you may have saved me a trip down south.

Now that I can "see" it thru your eyes, I agree with so much of what you've said. (And I love the cabinetry towers idea.) In fact, I've also been eyeing Ginn's very similar- but smaller- plan, Stone Creek. Now I'm thinking that Stone Creek may be better than her big sister- at least it addresses alot of what you've said. Here it is:

{{gwi:1441466}}
{{gwi:1441467}}

I'm not sure that I agree with your kitchen observation- at least in terms of it being "shut off" from the the rest of the house; I kind of like that! :) But I do feel like it needs to be a tad bigger for how I'll be using it. This is a picture of the Shook Hill kitchen as it's drawn, and I LOVE the look, just would want more cabinetry and island space.
{{gwi:1441468}}

And the mudroom- yes, that's a poor excuse for a mudroom, isn't it? :) My hope/dream is to have a project (work?) room- with W/D, desk, cubbies, dog shower, 1/2 bath, etc. I'll definitely need to contact the architect and see if we can make that happen with either Stone Creek or Shook Hill.

If I do end up using Stone Creek, I think I would still push the garage to the back of the house like Shook Hill and would turn the kitchen back like Shook's also, while enlarging that whole mudroom/kitchen area. I might even put some window seats in the "breakfast room" and let it do double duty as a keeping room type area with a small round table or something.

kirkhall- what great eyes you have for house plans! I agree- that's a genius spot to put a foyer closet! If we end up going with Shook Hill over Stone Creek, I'll definitely use your idea!

Thanks for your responses!

If you like this little sister plan, I'd consider moving the study bathroom around to get the closet on the foyer side, again. (you could probably nearly just end-for-end everything in that little bathroom and have it work).

Thanks! I love looking at floorplans and seeing how they'd work for me.

We looked at the Stone Creek too. I really like that layout alot. As far as the kitchen goes, that was just my observation--the cabinetry was also dark with dark floors and a dark countertop so that could have been part of it. Making it bigger will also help!

You may want to check out some of beaglesdoitbetter's threads on the topic of dog shower areas and the like. She has an awesome setup (and some really cute doggie chandeliers too!)

Keep us posted!

I think I have some pictures from the Stone Creek that I pulled from a real estate listing several months back. I will try later on to post them. We have the Shook Hill plan which we purchased several years ago. With the cost to build these days we were glad to see this smaller sister plan! Like I said I will try to post them this evening.

@mfowler- yes!! I can't wait to see them! I've scoured the net looking for Stone Creek photos and haven't been able to find one. I would REALLY appreciate seeing them.

(And p.s.- I am 99% sure I repinned some of my Shook Hill pictures from you on Pinterest! At least your screen name looks like it would match the Pinterest user's name. Small world!) :)

Here are pics from a listing I pulled from Georgia several months ago. It appears to be modified to look more like Shook Hill. I will try to post some extra pics in my photobucket account of Shook Hill photos I have saved which are also from a real estate listing from several years ago. I hope this works for you to at least cut and paste the link to see.
http://s1157.photobucket.com/albums/p587/Mfowler423/

Here is a link that might be useful: photobucket

And yes small world! I love pinterest :-)

@mfowler- THANK YOU!! This is so incredibly helpful. Hubby and I are actually discussing using the Stone Creek plan, but modifying it to look like Shook Hill on the outside; it's fun to see that someone else had the same (partially, anyway) idea! I'm also glad to see the size of Stone's family room- much better sized than Shook's. And I def prefer Shook's kitchen over Stone's. I think Mitch Ginn needs to read this thread and come up with a hybrid plan! Maybe call it Stone Hill? Shook Creek? :)

Hubby and I REALLY appreciate your pictures and the time you took to post them!

Kelhuck you are welcome. I think that is probably the way we will go as well if we build a Mitch ginn plan. We hope to put our home up for sale by summers end and start the long journey to build. Just still not 100% sure of which plan or look we will go with! Keep us posted with what you end up doing.

Mitch was my architect! He did a custom home for me and I have to say the experience was wonderful. He is fast, easy to work with and VERY reasonably priced. No ego whatsoever and he is very accommodating. I wish he built homes too...lol

I gave him a bunch of pics and he got the house right on the first try and in 2 days!!!!!! No Joke

Honestly I hope my whole build goes as well as it did working with him. We should break ground in 20 days so I will post pics in the progress thread in June.

gaonmymind that is great to hear! When I called the firm to order the Shook Hill plan several years ago they were great to deal with. I love his designs!

@gaonmymind- that is good to know! I actually emailed them and Mitch himself replied to my email. He seemed really nice. I think we're going to use him to merge the two designs. Can't wait to see what he comes up with!

@kelhuck keep us posted and @gaonmymind can't wait until you start to see pics!

I was sooo neurotic too...kept changing my mind...lol. But he never had a problem helping me. I will keep everyone posted!

@Kelhuck…were you happy with the hybrid plan you ended up with. Shook Hill & Stone Creek are the 2 designs that I keep going back to but I like certain aspects about each one. I wondered about merging the ideas into one plan. I would love any feedback you have.