Consumers "playing around" with some plans sounds both logical and fun! Unless the consumer is a trained and experienced professional designer, however, who understands not only "plans", but also the many other implications of the composition and arrangement of a "plan" (spatial aspects, circulation net vs. gross, exterior aesthetics, use of light, energy conservation, zoning regulations and building codes, construction costs and time, etc.), then it's often a wasteful use of time by the consumer. Why wasteful? First, consumers who spend a lot of time on making "plans", often get attached to their own ideas! Secondally, it's wasteful for the design professional who subsequently has to take additional time and find diplomatic language that illustrates why there may be better ideas, approaches and techniques. After all, many consumers do their own "plans" once in their life, while many professional designers design many homes each year. This distinction in experience and judgment is why experienced professionals infrequently comment on plans posted on this forum--it's simply too difficult to respond to many of the consumer-generated plans in a simple printed answer. There's just too many things to improve and/or correct. One of the best uses of consumer time, therefore, is to compile a list of "must haves" and another list of "would like to haves" that husband and wife fully agree on. Lack of full agreement just means it takes more time and money for find a design that is mutually agreeable. Sometimes photos are also helpful, as long as consumers recognize that there has to be a lot of give and take to arrive at an appropriate design solution. Insisting that the design professional produce an exact likeness of your photos is a sure way to an expensive project. A useful analogy is one's health. If one has a health problem--an injury or an illiness--one can read on Google about all the symptoms one may have. Thereafter, one may go to a medical center and demand treatment for the symptoms based on what Google says. After all, Google is a good source for information, right? On the other hand, trained and experienced medical professionals know the questions to ask, the information and tests to gather, and know better than most consumers how, to diagnose and treat the medical problem. Thus, at the end of the day, one has to decide about the design of their home--does the consumer know more than the design professional? If the answer is yes, then do your own thing and accept the responsibility for the result. If the answer is no, then find an experienced professional to work with. It's really that simple. Finally, the issue of a licensed architect vs. unlicensed "designers" and drafters. Architects have a legal responsibility and liability for their services, while "designers" and drafters do not, unless specifically identified in law and regulations. Consumers assume all responsibility for building a home from a "designer" or drafter, while architects must legally comply with all applicable legal requirements, ordinances, regulations and the like. Good luck on your project.

IKEA also has a free design tool which you can download. It's limited, but easy. I used a drawing program because I had precision control (tried to learn Sketch-Up, but the learning curve and my patience weren't a good fit). For me, also a visual learner, the layout was key. I didn't need elevations because I was able to visualize them well without drawing it out. The best software isn't free, but might be worth the money. One of the titles is Chief Architect. I can't remember the other names. You can often get a previous version as shovelware (i.e., cheap). These have a lot of pre-programmed shapes and textures, and let you easily click between floorplan and 3D view.

Wow, here I am almost 8 months later and there is very little progress toward our bathroom! No word at all from Jim, the contractor. I wonder if he is still doing the commercial job or if he even wants our work. Plus, Toby, our dog, is even older now - 16 - and on prednisone, so he is peeing a lot. He has doggy dementia, too. He is not terribly confused, not enough to put him down, but there is no way I want new, clean grout on that floor. The bathroom is on hold until he decides to take a trip over the rainbow bridge. I have just contracted to replace the last four windows in the house. The aluminum sliders will be gone in 6 weeks or less! We are getting an awning window for the bathroom with a blind in the glass that can be raised and lowered. It is our sunniest room, and light from that window lights up the whole end of the hallway. I wanted the option to raise the blinds up. The three bedrooms are getting double casement windows with blinds in the glass. Hey - I don't clean, so the blinds are a major, major plus for us! Now I have to get windowsills for all three bedrooms. And for the bathroom, the need for a windowsill is forcing me to decide on the counter top for the vanity. It seems to me that they should be the same material. Tomorrow I am going to try to find the Cambria Quartz source for the area. I want the place where I can get a leftover piece of someone else's slab, since I need such a small piece. My vanity is only 18" x 46". I am hoping for the color called Parys. [houzz=https://www.houzz.com/photos/cambria-countertop-2010-traditional-kitchen-phvw-vp~2704735] Since I still have not chosen the color for the wall tiles in the bathroom, the color for the vanity top is going to determine what direction we go, since it is the next critical decision that I have to make. I like Parys because it is dark and will contrast with the white sink. It will also contrast with all the different wall tiles I have considered. I especially love the glowing blue bits in it. It reminds me of my favorite stone I use when making jewelry, Labradorite! It has that chatoyancy, that glow when it catches the light just right. Opal also does that. Parys just glows in any light. Other things I have made progress on have to do with the vanity. I have sanded it and have decided to replace the original drawer pulls. No way will we enjoy finding the little bail that recedes into a groove on those babies. I am going to fill the holes and then drill one center hole and use a glass knob with chrome in the center. I had already purchased three of them to use on the new cupboards that I was adding into the wall across from the vanity. I have also removed the metal floor protectors on the bottom of the 8 vanity legs and discovered that the small feet that can be leveled that I purchased will fit into the ends of the legs. Holes have to be drilled for them. Because the floor will be made waterproof, and sloped toward a drain, if I did not put levelers into the feet of the vanity, the whole thing would be unlevel and the sink would not drain properly. A and C below make up my leg levelers. Yes, I do try to think of everything. When you have THREE YEARS to do nothing but plan, you do a lot of planning! I have also purchased the shower plumbing - the rainhead, the shower temperature balancing valve, and three volume controls, one for the rain head, one for the shower head, and one for the hand-held, and the controls will each have those labels on them! I already had the shower head. I still have to decide on the hand-held system. I also purchased a really cute hand towel holder. I don't like the rings because the towel gets bunched and does not dry well. This one is from Ginger and it has two bars that move on a swivel, independently of each other. The bars are 12 inches long and the holder holds them a good 2" away from the wall. Plus, since they swivel the whole way around, if one is particularly wet, you can pull it away from the wall and it will hang perpendicular to the wall as you wait until it is dry. In this picture, they show the arms out away from the wall. Normally, they will hang closer to the wall that the thing is mounted on, I would think. For instance, I plan to hang it on the wall to the side of the vanity. The arms would be folded up close to the wall most of the time. I suppose you could install it on the wall next to the medicine cabinet and have the towels hang over the vanity area, if you liked.

If you are hiring a builder you have to trust them they know what they are doing. You are not a builder and the reason you hire them is to know the things you don't know. There are alot of times reasons that you may not understand without an explanation as to why something is done a certain way. If they can't explain why then that's an issue. Id be looking for another builder. Bringing a framer or any other professional only puts the builder on the defense. While you may have someone smarter with you then why isn't he building the house? If you don't trust or like the builder move on. But bringing a framer is a disaster. And will end in an advisarial situation, mark my words. Look at the plan. Red line it and hand it back to the builder and if he can't do it tell me why