SO glad to find this post! I'm really struggling; didn't catch this on the plan or I would have changed it. We've framed: - a 4' wide, 9.5' long walk-in shower - on each end is doorless opening of 2' wide - there is a 5.5' to-ceiling panel betwn the openings * on the side of this "wall" facing into the main area of bathrm I will do some sort of glass tile and the tub will be there, forming a "T" with the shower itself. So I have a rectangle that's much too long, and am concerned about showerhead placement. DH thinks if I put a showerhead on each end, there will be water splashing out the 2' walk-in. Independent of the decision, we'll likely install Kohler 8030 in-ceiling rainshower panel (I've heard great things from users) in center of shower. But if that's the ONLY showerhead, you're walking to either end to get shampoo, etc. from inset shelves! FYI, I've always planned to put a basic handheld mounted on the 5.5' center wall, facing the back, of course. I know I'm over-explaining, and I apologize, but I REALLY don't want shower doors and DH is convinced that's the only way I can mount a showerhead on each end of shower, since we didn't plan ahead and at least have a 5-8" piece come in from corner of shower before the 2' walk-in. Does anyone have any experience w/a shower this large, or advice on how the showerheads would perform if mounted on each end? For those who have read this far, I greatly appreciate it!

Thank you Loribee, boxerpups, deedee, and Computermom for the compliments on the room. I don't like to post pictures of my rooms because we have dark woodwork, and that's kind of anathema here. (I love that word, and don't often get to use it!) And deedee, I did have some berries wrapped around the candles in my lanterns and liked them. I'm going to try that too. Igloochic: I've had books there, and didn't like dusting them from the amount of dirt dragged in by my two aussies. But I have a couple downstairs I'm going to hunt up to see how they look. Les: Yes, I love orchids, and may do that. Suero: I used to really covet a chocolate set. Thanks for the suggestion. Thanks bumblebeez and gayle for your input. I spent the afternoon shopping my house, and tried a bunch of different things I had. I'm kind of like a magpie; I like shiny things with glass and pottery. I'm missing the texture thing. But, thanks, allison, for your idea about the natural. The funeral thread reminded me I had a lovely piece of driftwood in a pot from my FIL's funderal 24 years ago. I'm going to use it in place of the horn you suggested, if I can get everything together. Thanks, all! Dee

This is awesome feedback and so incredibly helpful! For a newbie like me, having your input really gives me confidence in our layout. So I've been contemplating the reco to switch the fridge and the range. I know having the fridge closer to the hall gives quick access to drinks, ensures the door opens properly and keeps the people from having to walk behind the cook to reach the fridge. But what are your thoughts about the impact of the fridge placement on the openness of the space? Do you think having the fridge on the right and the hutch on the left creates a more enclosed entrance into the kitchen? Right now we dont have any wall cabinets so we enjoy a fairly open and bright space with the large windows. I dont want to lose that so I'm interested in your thoughts. houseful: Your rendering is awesome. Its so cool to see my space in 3D! I surely dont want to lose inches in the planning (every inch counts, right) so Ill go back and recalculate the cabinet measurements. I love the curved island because it adds so much interest. My DH and I really want to maintain the seating for 4 on 2 sides of the island. This is the only way we could keep the ability to look at each other and our guests while eating. We played around with a "T" shaped island (the bottom of the T extending from the window), but thought the proposed island gave us more prep space. mom2lilenj: I fell in love with your idea of switching the DW and trash. It makes so much sense! If we lose that seat in the 33" space due to clearance issues, well definitely incorporate your suggestion. I also like your suggestion to expose the brick in the chimney. We had an architect friend over to take a look at the space and when I mentioned using the chimney as a decorative feature, she said because it was plastered over, the brick is probably not "pretty" brick. Id like to find out though, so maybe well expose a section in the mudroom to find out whats underneath the plaster. Even if its not pretty brick (which Im not exactly sure what that means), it would be awesome to expose another original element to the house. Ill keep you posted. Thanks again for your input and I welcome any other thoughts or ideas!

Hey Kadi, You probably have to reflect on how you live and how you want to use the space. A ton of people will tell you that pantry is huge and what a waste yada yada. My wife and I are preparing to build a house and after much debate.... the walk through pantry is 16'x6.5'. This is its own special place in the house and we want it to be absolutely beautiful. You have a very similar size to ours. We will do full depth counters around the outside wall (Big L shape) and either 12" or 18" deep shelving or cabinets on the inside wall, which is about 10' in length. 3.5' walkway. We plan using a library ladder so we can put shelves up to the ceiling, which is 10' high. We'll also be roughing in a sink, but we may just put one in. Haters will hate, this is a huge pantry and would be a 3 sink kitchen for a 2 person house hold. We're not rich. We just love to cook and we love to cook together so we put serious thought into what we want our future work space to look like for years to come. Our kitchen/living space (open floor plan) is a serious priority for us in our design. We have received all sorts of feedback about our pantry, a lot of it negative. Those people did give us hesitation at first, but maybe ask to see their kitchens/ pantries and talk about how they cook, as then you can most likely dismiss their advice. We realized that the majority of kitchens we went through belonged to people that store more "food" than ingredients. My spreadsheet has 30 appliances on it that should either be on the counter, or easily accessible. Almost all of these things (microwave, toaster, coffee maker etc) go in the pantry as we do not want any counter clutter in the actual kitchen. When we have the space we generally have 5 types of flour, 5 types of sugar, a huge variety of chilies, nuts, beans, lentals, etc. We want everything to have its place and every ingredient to be easily accessible. We are minimizing over head cabinetry in the kitchen - I prefer the cleaner look and my wife is short and anything but the very first shelf is wasted space without a step ladder or her sous chef (me). All of that said... Maybe you have too small of pantry? Maybe you need a sink in there for the coffee maker and quick wipe downs? Only you will know. :-)