Well, what do you think? I am tickled pink. I keep thinking now this is perfect but really this is perfect. brickton - you're a genius, this makes two of the bedrooms upstairs bigger and more functional without that closet sticking out. I think it would be alright for heat movement without that extra bit open. I would be willing to put a vent in the floor in order to keep this. chisue - I don't know how you do it but after thinking about the laundry chute for a couple of days, I think I am convinced. Oh, that reminds me. I haven't been holding out on you - no laundry room in the basement. The walls up and down line up almost exactly. I changed the kitchen window but I'm not sure. If you want to take the time, I'll post a link to a kitchen that I absolutely love. It's from a book that I have and it is absolutely pathetic how many times I have looked at this picture and sighed. My idea for windows is from this although it's not just the windows that does it for me so maybe just transplanting the windows into my kitchen wouldn't do too much. If you go to the link, you'll have to click on the top one, creating coziness ... then scroll down to page 189 in order to see the kitchen that speaks to me. http://books.google.co.za/books?id=7XhZ2LLjhHgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inside+the+not+so+big+house&hl=en&ei=NtrVTaDkDKjc0QGnn8HQBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=creating%20coziness%20in%20&f=false maybe it's just like your first Dr. Who, and that will just always be my dream kitchen. Anyways, I'm anxious to hear what you have to say about this, I believe I already mentioned that I think it is perfect but you guys seem to have a way of improving upon perfection. Look at this, I have room for a bench by the side door and free space over by the washer and dryer for the bottom of my laundry chute. Just beautiful although I notice now that the window in the new bedroom looks a little odd, I don't remember if I put it there so they would be more evenly spaced outside. I'll check. I will be totally shocked if you tell me I'm not done. Thanks for putting so much thought into this.

The posted image is a bit small for me to see any details on. But if others are also having problems viewing the image, I found that if I clicked on the image it would open up in a new tab and then I could click "CTRL +++" and get a much larger (albeit somewhat fuzzy) image to study. At least this works if you using Firefox as your browser and are on a PC. Not being a computer nerd, I don't know if it will work if you use a different browser or are on a MAC. Okay - on to comments.... First of all, I would caution you to be aware of the fact that the more complex the exterior of your home is (i.e., the more corners it has) the more it will cost per square foot to build it. I'm not saying that you should plan on building a simple rectangle - just that you should be aware that "corners" cost extra money because they result in more complex roofs and foundations, and require more framing and more exterior materials per sq ft of interior space. Therefore, IMHO, once you get away from simple rectangles, extra corners should always serve a purpose. Probably the best reason for designing a house with extra corners is so that more rooms can be corner rooms that have windows on two sides. Christopher Alexander, one of the most influential architects of modern times, writes in A Pattern Language, "When they have a choice, people will always gravitate to those rooms which have light on two sides, and leave the rooms which are lit only from one side unused and empty." I hate to say it but you don't seem to be taking very good advantage of the corners in your complex design. At the front of the house, in one corner you've stuck a big closet. Whenever possible, closets should not be on exterior walls and, definitely they should not take up valuable corners. The laundry room takes up another front corner. While a laundry room with light from two sides would be lovely, but in your design the corner jog is cut short by the staircase so one wall of the laundry is probably too short for a window. And, if you put a window in the front wall of the laundry, it will look out of balance on the front facade unless you put a matching window in the closet which is likely to result in faded garments. My suspicion is that you were not planning to put a window in the laundry at all. Then, at the front left, you have an office which really could have light from two sides - but you're only showing windows at the front. Behind the office, you have an apparently-windowless, small powderroom taking up yet another corner. Then in the very back left hand corner of the house is the Great Room which would certainly benefit from getting light from two directions. But the left hand wall of the great room is taken up with built-in bookcases. I'm going to attach a link below to a section from A Pattern Language about window light and also urge you to go to Houzz.com and click thru and find inspiration pictures of rooms that just seem to draw you in as places you would WANT to live. Then notice how many of these images very obviously show rooms that are getting natural light from two directions. (Even if you can't see windows on two walls in the pictures, you can tell if a room is lit from two directions by the studying the shadows.) Okay, enough about windows and light! I can't quite read any of the dimension markings on your plans but guess-timating based on the depths of countertops and widths of doorways and things like that, it looks like you're making reasonable decisions about room sizes, hallway widths, closet sizes, and the space that the stairways will take up. That's good. A lot of people sketch aisles and hallways too narrow or don't leave enough room in front of toilets to stand and think they can have walk in closets that are 4ft x 12ft. Avoiding those kinds of things is a good start. I like that your garage is set back from the main portion of the house. That should help to keep the garage from overwhelming the front elevation. Typically, I don't like front- facing garage doors but with two tandem bays and a lot only 100 feet wide, you may not have other options...especially if you're planning on parking something like a motor home in the garage. I DO NOT like the additional three steps up from the mudroom to the main part of the house! To me, steps at that point are just an extra obstacle to maneuver when entering the house with arms loaded with groceries. If the idea is to separate the mud room from the rest of the house, I would much rather see a door that could be shut when needed and left open the rest of the time than steps that must always be dealt with. If you should ever find yourself in a wheelchair or even on crutches, having several steps at all entrances to your home will make your life miserable. Speaking of which, given the size of your planned home and the fact that all bedrooms will be on the second floor, have you considered installing a home elevator or at least making provisions for the later installation of one? I know you're young but if you live in the house long enough, you eventually won't be! And, if/when you decide to sell it, having an elevator would make your home marketable to older people with bad knees like me. I love the great big pantry but don't like that, in order to reach the pantry when coming in from the garage, one must go thru the mudroom, up those additional three steps, and then clear thru the kitchen to the dining nook and make another right turn. I'd want my pantry to be located close to the garage so I wouldn't have to carry heavy bags of groceries all that distance. Any chance of maybe moving that staircase that is between the pantry and mudroom (and that I assume goes down to a basement) to the other side of the pantry? That would allow you to have a door between mudroom and pantry making grocery unloading a whole lot easier. I understand the extra doorway that goes from mudroom directly outdoors. But instead of two doors exiting the mudroom - one to garage and one directly outside, have you considered having a man-door to the left of the two front garage doors? Then, if you wanted to go outside via the mudroom, you could just pass thru the garage without having to open a garage bay door. Getting rid of the extra door in the mudroom would give you more room in the mudroom for cubbies. You said you already had a kitchen/Great Room similar to this plan so possibly having your kitchen messes totally on view to everyone in the Great Room is not a problem for you. While open plans are extremely popular, I personally prefer to have my sink and the working kitchen countertops at least a little bit hidden from the GreatRoom and dining areas. When I have guests over for dinner, I don't want someone to have to LOOK at the dirty pots and pans still sitting on the stove or soaking in the sink when we sit down to eat. IMHO, Looking at all of the clean-up that will need to be done as soon as dinner is over would tend to destroy the festive mood of dinner. So the only way I would go for a totally open plan would be for it to have an island or peninsula with a raised bar to at least sort of hide my cooking messes. I would NOT want a cooktop on a single level island. PITA to properly vent and spattering grease could hit someone seated on the other side of the island. I'm not a huge stickler for symmetry but I do like "balance" and the off-centeredness your the Great Room fireplace kind of bothers me. I suspect that it would be a MAJOR turn-off to anyone to whom symmetry is important. If you don't want the fireplace centered, I think it would look better to go with a corner fireplace. You could then put bookshelves along the wall shared with the office out to the edge of the foyer and an equal distance along the left hand wall. You could then square up the far back left hand corner and stick in a window or two. (Oops, I'm back to talking about light - so obviously it's time for me to quit.) Looking forward to watching your design develop. Here is a link that might be useful: A Pattern Language, Pattern 159

Wow MrsPete thats a lot to think about! I was not expecting to have to request so many changes to this plan. Considering we hired a professional designer to do the plan. I will do my best to address all the issues mentioned. Again thanks for everyone who has chimed in.. Great point on the double entry doors. I did not even think about turning the lights on. It looks like the master bathroom has double entry doors too. I am not sure I want to shut two doors every time I go in the bathroom. So if we flip the washer and dryer to the kitchen wall and make it come off the mudroom. What about the door entry from the mudroom ? Looks like the washer and dryer would hang out some past the doors edge. But I think this may be ok if they are placed on down the wall verses right beside the door. With the fridge I actually like it where it is for the most part. I like that when you look back towards the kitchen from great room, you dont really see the fridge. But this is also one thing I told the wife she could make the call on the layout of the kitchen. Also as far as all the plumbing goes I will be running everything. I have done a few houses that are rental properties and have all the tools to run pex and the drains. Ok, so maybe we need to make plans to eliminate a bathroom and add on for the pool area. When you say you would build one nice bath between the two bedrooms and having into opening into the hallway for a guest bath, do you mean the bath will have 3 entry doors, 2 from bedrooms and 1 in hallway? It seems like this would also put it really close to the half bath. Also what are the thoughts on a jack and jill? On the closets this is one thing I requested. I want some space for myself!! Otherwise the wife will take it over! I thought the divider wall would actually give you a little more room to hang things also. I do like the idea of putting the shower in the corner and moving the toilet. But at the same time I like the privacy of it being on the outside wall away from everything else. With the windows in the closets I am not sure what to do on this. I do agree its not the best scenario. I also do not know if I want a large window in the toilet room. I know the designer said he had a very difficult time making the windows work on the front of the house. We do plan to make changes to the doors leading out to the porch. I am concerned about furniture placement with all those doors. Also if your looking outside from the great room who wants to see the backs of outdoor furniture? I am kinda at a loss on how that will look. You all have been a great help so far, I am sure we will get this all worked up and build pics will be coming before you know it. I will also try to attach some pics that I gave the designer for ideas on what the wife and I liked. We basically gave him some pictures and he had us fill out a 3 page questionnaire.

LavLass- Thanks! We are so looking forward to those outside areas! Bevangel- Thanks for the initial feedback. I'm rather sick to my stomach about the square feet in this home. I certainly do not want to overextend ourselves in this home, been there. The garage has two sets of stairs & we will get rid of the one that goes up to the bonus room. Currently we have one from the garage to the basement and it is one of the few things that DH really wants and uses all the time. He goes from the garage to the basement shop/storage area with workboots on several times each week. The kitchen forumn did help me a few months back with the kitchen. I must say I have a large U-shaped kitchen currently with a huge island. Some would say it is a barrier, but we love it. We spend more time around the island than our other eating areas. I really want 9 feet or so of windows in there with large dish hutches. Oh, the wants versus the needs. NO, we will not have a counter dephth fridge (too much $ and too small for us). I do however think I do need to think about getting rid of some of the space in the kitchen and going with a somewhat smaller island. We are wanting to use the dining area more. So, I'm thinking if we have say 4 stools it would be fine...more than that and we go to the table for a meal. The older ones can grab breakfast quick at the island and the little ones can still have snacks and lunches there. Sunday brunch, all dinners and other meals that we are all home would be in the dining area. Homework and crafts will most likely be (like now) some kids at the table and someone at the island working while I'm prepping food, etc. I will try to get the upper floorplan posted soon. We have not even begun the basement level. Upstairs is flexible, currently it has 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and a loft area. There is a door that leads to the bonus room above the garage. I also need to talk to our basement guy to see how much a partial basement would/could save us. Perhaps not even worth it, but we want to look at that too. Our basement is 2000 finished in this house and way too big for our needs. It has a guest bedroom,etc that we have never used. We want a small exercise room, a "larger" theatre room, 1/2 bath and a rec room/game room for teens. Thankfully, most of the boys hate being away from us. That will change, as the oldest is starting that "alone" time thing. We are used to all the boys sharing a large bathroom upstairs and that works fine for our family. We might add a second bathroom off of a bedroom...IF...we have a daughter:) I need to address the entire mud/laudry area. I really like a nice laundry room as I do a lot of laundry. We are bad about storing clean clothes in there. Perhaps I would be forced to get the hanging clothes back to the closets if I didn't have so much room in the laundry room:) I would like a floor sink, almost like a mop filler area. I want the kids to be able to rinse there feet off etc. I wanted a small desk area back there for quick school nots, writing lunch money, mail drop, laptop stuff, etc. Someone might even do some homework there and we would keep a lot of craft/homework supplies there (or in a near closet). I'm so confused on how this can be refigured without changing the foyer and everything else?! I do know that a lot of storage can work in a small mudroom space. We currenty have a long hallway with 6 cubbies and it stores everything we want it to. I was trying so hard to get this floorplan done as my designer guy retires next week and someone else will be taking over. With the sale of this house, finding temporary housing, doctor appointments, sleepless nights. I think I need to listen to DH and just slooowwww down. I truly hope this is our "forever" home. Thanks for your time and help!!!