Hi all, thanks for the suggestions! It's actually a galley kitchen (slightly bigger) and on one wall the cabinets stop short. I think I got it wrong - it's actually 7 feet not 6. They'll be standard depth so 24ish (I think mine are 24.25'). I'm just hoping for it not to be a missed opportunity to do something cool. I did think a little about keeping plates in a drawer but I'm not sure if we'd really like that or not. So, I'm thinking probably a cabinet with the pocket doors for the micro and oven and the rest is open. I would like a knife drawer so I could ditch the block. I thought a little about a mixer stand but I very rarely use the mixer. I also think a cool pot/pan storage solution would be neat but it's on the sink wall not the range wall so I think that could be weird. It'll be pretty straightforward. I hope to add toekick drawers but the complexity might get the better of me. I'm planning on using Ana White's plans for base cabinets and will most likely have the doors made but hope I can make the drawers myself. We'll see. Doing the shiplap might kill me first.

As long as the other hardware echoes the latches a bit, such as a squarish knob in the same finish and of a decent size, I think it's fine to mix them. I think the hutch is good storage and will look great there. You seem to have two blind corner cabs. I think you would get much more useable space out of putting drawers sets perpendicular to each other. That would leave the range corner as dead space. The peninsula corner could become a cab that opens on the other side of the peninsula for less used items. What are the walkways? Seems like whomever is sitting at the desk will be getting jostled when someone tries to squeeze by. Here is a link that might be useful: NKBA 8 - traffic clearance at seating

You can certainly do a hybrid or combination system. Doing your proposed L/R lay-out, is the only way to go in my opinion, I would still suggest a pipe tying the two sides together. I would put and accessible ball valve in that cross connection pipe so, if for any reason one system went down you could open the valve to have one side support the other, at least temporarily. Do you have a basement under this home or only a crawl space? If you need hot water quickly and not shower volumes in the downstairs rt lav, perhaps a small undercounter electric would do the trick. I hate to suggest that, but you are dealing with geography here. Time, distance & flow rate . The Master Bath will be best serviced by tankless. Your hi flow shower head needs to have a specific flow rate attached to it. A standard shower head will provide 2.5 gpm. In my new shower that means 2.1gpm of 120f water mixing with .4gpm of cold to arrive at my nice comfortable shower temp. I have also seen 20 gpm shower heads. Put a number on the flow of the single shower head please. What is the volume of the tub. What faucet set are you putting on it and is the tub valve going to be a 1/2" or 3/4" connection. With 1/2" pipe you will not get much over 5 gpm. With 3/4" you can get 10-12 gpm. Some tub faucets, the waterfall type, require 3/4". Otherwise the visual effect is not as good. Get the tub volume and compare the flows to the time you are willing to wait for the tub to fill. Yes, you can put tankless in the attic, but understand that you need a pan below them to prevent water damage from any possible future leakage. That is just good sense. Tankless water heaters are compact. As a result people tend to install them in really small spaces. Please keep in mind that this is a mechanical system and must be accessible for inspection and service. I long ago coined the term, "Just because it fits, doesn't mean that is where it goes." You would not believe the places people have installed these. It is a good idea for you to have the "service space" discussion with all of your subs. A lot of duct work gets destroyed by the technician the first time he has to service the heat pump, furnace or air handler. Build all your system to perform well, but make sure everything is positioned for accessiibility. These types of agreements tend to be forgotten when the equipment arrives on the job and the contractor wants to "get it done". So the question to your General and each of the subs is, "How are you going to build and position the equipment so it can be easily serviced". That is a good discussion to have with your architect too. Make your expectations clear and let them know you will be following up to monitor this "agreement". Sorry to get off topic there, but you have what, as I look at the floorplan is going to be a really lovely home. I just want to make sure the cardiovascular systems work well for you too. Another thing, the gas line will have to be sufficiently sized not only for what you are planning for the initial job, but you want capacity for future expansion. I have seen so many places that get undersized gas lines and the owner is blocked from any possible future expansion. This is a big project and even with great care, things pop up.

^ Unless I'm totally misreading your diagram, it's a geometric issue. A typical step is seven inches high, and 11 inches deep. (The building code will not let you have a very steep staircase, and you don't want that, trust me.) If your ceiling is 9 feet, you need the stair to rise at least 10 feet, including the thickness of the 2nd floor assembly. You also need headroom under the stair, at least the height of a door. If you measure the space and work out the math, you'll see that the turn doesn't work with the number of treads you are showing above, in a space that's only 8 feet wide. (Am I reading that right? I'm having trouble seeing it.) The split landing at the turn is also restricted by code, BTW. There are rules, because it's inherently dangerous. You would be better off with a straight run stair or an L-shaped stair with a flat landing and just one or two steps. The stair would extend down toward the front door. As to the style. If this house is somewhere around L.A., you should take a look at the Hollywood Regency style-- that's suitable and it relates to the region. If the house is in San Francisco proper, there are some early homes with a French influence. In Santa Barbara or San Diego, it's a little more tricky. A house really should relate to its environment, both natural and built environment. There is a famous blog written by a designer who loves French style, called Cote de Texas. Here's a link, if you go to her blog and enter "California" as a search term, you'll come up with lots of things to read: http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/ There are many designers on the West Coast who have been influenced by French styles. Stephen Shubel comes to mind: http://www.stephenshubel.com/ Also the late lamented Myra Hoefer, I think her office is still open in Healdsburg: http://www.myrahoeferdesign.com/ Rose Tarlow is another famous California designer, her own home has a strong French/Euro influence. Definitely google her. Check out this link, the first house isn't too bad: http://katie-d-i-d.blogspot.com/2013/07/good-books-california-homes-studio.html One word of caution, it's extremely easy to go over the top and end up with a tacky pastiche. If you keep it rustic and simple, you have a shot. You really, really need a great designer or architect. Crowdsourcing advice from the internet is all very well, but this particular project demands professionals.