Marthelena and Archie123, I just wanted to say thank you. Thanks to your help Marthelena I was able to return the keeping area. I was against the keeping for awhile as I considered two living spaces wasted but with this layout there is minimal wasted sf and now we have a place for the kids to stay while we work in the kitchen. It also allows for a breakfast nook which my wife really wanted. I plan on having a built-in bench and table in that space which I think will add a lot of character. When Archie first mentioned the dining/library combo I kind of shrugged it off, but the more I looked into it the more I liked it. I really don't like formal dining because I consider it wasted space used only twice a year. My wife really wanted one so I struggled trying to fit it in the smallest space without good results. The dining library combo will work perfect. I will line the entire room with built in shelves and my computer and reading desk will fit under the stairs. When we have guests over I will have some kind of bi fold doors or screens to hide the computer and desk but the books will stay exposed. We may even have a serving buffet on wheels that we can place in front of the area to further camouflage the computer nook. To sum it up I just want to say thank you. I feel much better about this plan. I've probably made 30 changes to it and I will probably make a few more minor changes but I feel like the skeleton is there to stay. Here is my final "rough sketch" plan. The measurements are approx so if it seems out of proportion it probably is out of proportion.

Mary, thanks for the feedback. Both dormers currently go up to the ridge. I hadn't thought of having them stop lower, I will have to take a look at that. I will also see what I can do to look at some decorative shingles on the dormer. Will it look odd if that is the only place with shingles? Mama Rachel - You ask some important questions, ones we considered ourselves. It is important to note that Stevenson, WA averages 77" or so of rain each year, our building site only averages ~28" each year, considerably less. It is also very rarely foggy. Has someone reliable confirmed you can do this type of construction? Have you looked into insuring it? A lot of HO insurance excludes mold. There have been a number of straw bale houses built nearby already, one only 15 miles away, all are still standing (some for 10+ years so far). There is also a local construction and design company that builds with straw bale that we are hoping to work with on the final details of our design and consult with on our build. We have not looking into insuring yet but there are insured straw bale houses nearby. Straw bale construction now has a section in Oregon building code and this is the code used by our county, so it is gaining acceptance in our area. Straw bale houses have also been financed in this area. So what is the primary motivation for this construction technique? Is it cost? DIY? Earth-friendliness? Our current construct choice is straw bale for a number of reasons: limiting the number of toxins off-gassing into our home, we really love the feel of the thick bale walls, and straw bale is a relatively economical way to have highly insulated walls. Straw bale is at least as resistant if not more fire resistant than conventional stick construction. An important feature considering a wild fire got alarmingly close to the site last year. Straw bale homes are also quiet. Of course all of these goals could be addressed in other ways, but for now this seems to be a good solution for us. We continue to research the method and actively look for evidence that this is not the best choice for our site. So far, it seems that as long as we make sure we building with dry bales and put a solid "hat" on our house this method should be quite suitable. What type of stucco will you wrap the house with? I am not yet sure what the final skin of the building will be. Possibly lime plaster. It will depend on what is most suitable for our particular situation.

We are likely going to add built-ins to the wall to the interior (down in picture) side of the fireplace wall. We're also thinking of bumping the fireplace outside the house, TBD. Where will the bed go? Does anyone on here actually have windows in their bathrooms? Everyone comments about that but almost none of the houses we've walked have windows with bathrooms. My master bath and my guest bath both have windows. Only my powder room won't have a window. The bed could be positioned on the other wall, but how is that different? It's not. My comment is trying to show you that there has to be a better way to lay out the bedroom and bathroom. Including the fact you put the bathroom and closet on the exterior walls so the bathroom could have windows on two walls and the bedroom only has windows on one wall. We're thinking about what to do there You use someone of design talent to create a well designed space to begin with so you don't need to then figure out what to do there. That's closing the barn door after the horse has left. Where is the wasted space? The wasted space is that from the edge of the bed to the wall you have 13' which is the length of a full room. And your width is almost as wide. Unless you spend inordinate amounts of time in the bedroom other than sleeping, it's wasted space. If it's not being used on a regular basis, it's wasted space. It's an open foyer looking down on the first floor and door. So you're saying you have an open foyer that leads to nowhere that looks downstairs? WHY? No one is going to walk into an empty useless space to look down. Again wasted, useless space. A designer could create the idea of an open space that works with the house but this is not it. Good catch. According to the step calculators online, you're correct. We measured several houses we walked (7.5x11.5" steps) and based off that. But that doesn't net out. will re-measure... We had larger stairs in the plan until we measured real stairs and cut these down. And another reason if you don't have the years of working as a design professional, you hire someone who can catch things like this. And to design something that looks and works better, but hey, it's your 6 figures. We should be able to flip the plan either direction once we find a lot. And on the size we're looking for, should be plenty of flexibility in the orientation of the house. It's dark because it's an INTERIOR space with NO natural light from windows. It has nothing to do with orientation. Orientation will just make the lack of light slightly better or worse. Off of an alcove. You still have to walk into the living room to get to the powder room When you find a lot, also find a person of design talent unless you're willing to waste six figures of your hard earned money on a less than ideal and my guess less than attractive house

We are not planning on having more than one kid, if any. We plan on entertaining friends and family, but the only one who might stay with us for a week at a time is my mom from out of town. With these needs, you have lots of unnecessary space in the basement. Those basement bedrooms don't look comfortable -- the closets are minimal, and they're pretty far from the bathroom. We have a dog and plan on getting another. This doesn't look like a house that lends itself to indoor/outdoor living. Where will you let the dogs outside? The living, kitchen, dining room is all vaulted ceilings, which extends to the covered porch. The living room looks rather narrow, while the dining space is extra-large. Have you laid out appropriately-sized furniture in this design? Don't miss the fireplace and TV as a part of the layout. Do you enjoy grilling out? I see your only outdoor space is the front porch. Consider that your "taking the trash out" path will be fairly long, giving more opportunity for spills and leaks. Moving the kitchen nearer the garage door would reduce this path. The fiance is pretty set in stone about the layout but I know for a fact it needs more tweaking. As a first draft, it's okay -- but I think you can improve it pretty significantly. Keep at it. Changes on paper are free. I know for a fact we need some more linen closets, but I am open to any more advice I can get! The master bath is laid out rather awkwardly /wastes space -- you could easily work a linen closet into that same space. You have plenty of space in the basement to carve out a linen closet. Is it a bad idea to have the two extra bedrooms on the lower level? Given that you're thinking 1 kid max and 1 occasional guest, yes, two bathrooms on the lower level sounds like overkill -- forget "more" and work on "better". More to build, more than will need cleaning and maintenance. Does the powder room on the main floor need to be larger? Its just so guests can use it when we are entertaining. My daughter has that half bath, and it's acceptable but not ideal. It's small and dark. I'd get rid of the toilet closet in the master bath /design a half bath (with two doors) that'd serve the master AND would be open to guests. Less space overall, cheaper to build, only one toilet to clean each week. What else are we missing? Ideally dryers are placed on exterior walls so they can vent directly to the outside. This arrangement is cheaper and more fire-safe. One option: Flip-flop the laundry room and the master closet. In fact, I'd consider flip-flopping the whole first floor. This would allow you to have windows on two sides (improved natural light) in the master bedroom, and the living room makes more sense on the side away from the garage. You could funnel garage-entry traffic through the pantry. If you keep the laundry in its current space, you can combine your garage entry /laundry room and have a much larger /more comfortable space for both. Pull the master bedroom door "back" a bit so the door can "park" in the hallway and won't interfere with the bathroom door. Note that a person coming to the front door will have a sight-line right into your bedroom. That L-shaped stair hides a lot of space underneath -- are you harnessing it for closet space? You're paying for it; you shouldn't allow it to be wasted. You're missing mechanical equipment and vents. You've chosen a 30' wide space -- are you planning on using trusses? IMO the basement bedroom situation is not ideal with the bathroom so far from the bedrooms Agree. The overall plan is rather clunky, especially the basement. While all the necessary players exist, it doesn't look like a plan that'll come together as something really special /something worth the effort of building. I think a bigger kitchen would be better than a walkin pantry . I much prefer pullout pantries to walkins. I think the kitchen is one of the better parts of the plan. I'd like the kitchen better if it were turned 90 degrees so you could have the sink in the middle of the long cabinet run /have a window over the sink. I very much like the idea of a small kitchen and a huge adjacent pantry -- I'd want a pass-through between the kitchen and the pantry. Walk-in pantries allow you to see everything at a glance, and they cost a fraction of the cost of built-in pull-out cabinetry. Additionally, pantry shelves are superior for storing large items like InstaPots and punch bowls. If this were my walk-in pantry, I'd want pegboard on the no-shelf wall. What's the closet-inside-the-pantry? I think your pantry shelves may be too deep for comfort /you don't want things to "get lost" in the back. I hope this pantry is at least 5' wide. An 8 x 10 closet is pretty small for 2 people I'd call that "just right". I would put an egress in the office and not the exercise room if you have to pick. Working in a dungeon isn't fun for anyone. Agree, and work-from-home space is likely to become more and more important in the future. Is this enough space for two spouses? I would consider adding a doggie bath station in the basement somewhere. Actually, even better, do 2 laundry rooms, move the office upstairs and making the laundry room up there smaller with a stackable set (even combining it with the master closet) and putting a larger laundry room downstairs with doggie bath. If you do have kids, you'll be hauling laundry either way with the current set up, so if you have the space doing laundry on both floors would be my pick. You don't necessarily have to outfit a second laundry room with machines -- now. I just bought a new washer/dryer last month, and I was amazed at the size of the machines that're available these days -- they're all huge! By that I mean, the footprints aren't that much bigger, but ALL the machines are all taller /more bulky. Much more bulky than my old front-loaders. If dogs are a priority, I would consider space for crates, food bowls, food storage and more -- you can find some really nice customs spaces online.