Oh, bless your heart. If you have a Google Docs account, you can upload it there and post the link. Or you can print it out and literally take a digital photo of it and upload that to a picture hosting site you have an account on. I'd be happy to convert it for you if you mail it to me, but I won't be able to do anything with it for about two hours. Sorry. If you want to do that send to drjoann at att dot net.

Okay my link goes to the whole photo gallery at MA. The hood I am referring to is the 15th, it is a wall hood in copper, over a stainless range, with pans hanging up on the wall behind the range and stained cabinets to the left, and a dark red Oriental-looking rug on the floor. I would get the island version of that design. My beams are 21" apart and 7 1/4" high. Height from floor to beam bottom is 93 3/4", from floor to actual ceiling is 101". The hood will be placed lengthwise, so the length of the hood will run between two beams and the ductwork can be recessed between the beams. GreenDesigns I would usually agree with you, but somehow our ceilings look very high even though they're not. Everyone who comes in, even contractors, think we have 9' ceilings -maybe the stain or the proportion or the room sizes give that impression? So from measuring things out, the hood *seems* like it would look proportionate even though it actually may not be. But I love your idea to try it out with a box first! Johnliu, for some reason I can't get your link to work, but I'd love to see what you are referring to! Is there a Google search I can do, or would you mind reposting the link? Anna_chosak, I should have worded my response better... I'm sure the 18" hood will look perfect in your space. It's just that I think it will look weird in mine, because the hood will be 42" long and it will sit in the middle of a 15' by 24' room (sorry, I put the wrong dimensions in last night!), and for some reason, even though the ceilings are technically low, they don't look it so the 18" hood would look disproportionately short. After sleeping on it, today I am still considering what I posted last night - having it vent out the side instead of the top, so I can mount the hood directly to the ceiling - but will also email MA and ask how much it would be to have them make the hood only 24" tall, instead of 30". That would put it about 34" from the range top when mounted beneath the beams. What do you think of those ideas? Should I do something else?

You can't upload a pdf. It needs to be a jpg. Change it to a jpg and then you can upload it.

A two storey house is more complicated to design than a single storey house. For example, the plumbing pipes from upstairs have to go pretty well straight down. Your master bathroom sinks have no place for the pipes to drain down because they are over the open area of the great room. Pipes do not need to go straight down in a two story home. The required fall on a 4" drain pipe is 1/8" per foot. With standard fittings you can typically move drains at least 20' in a floor joist. The biggest problem with designing two story homes is doing so in a cost effective manner. Load bearing walls don't need to stack, plumbing doesn't need to stack, your bathroom can be above the living room but making those things happen can add to the cost such that they make no sense in a typical build. The stairs need to be fixed, proportions adjusted appropriately, and the rest is probably buildable if you don't care how much it costs. ---- To the OP... Houses are not a zero sum game. Value considers both what you pay and what you get. Good design is not an expense, it is an investment. If a good design can keep you happy in a home and defer or remove transaction costs associated with selling and moving then it easily pays for itself. Furthermore, if your home lives well for you then it will lead to lifestyle and possibly financial benefits for yourself. I understand that an architect may not fit into your budget, in that case try to find a talented draftsman/designer to help you. I would suggest interviewing a lot of people to find someone who talks to you about your goals and helps refine your vision rather than someone who simply produces plans, as it will help add value to your plan.