Olivesmom, you are fighting an uphill struggle. The small North Carolina house is appealing due to its simple, iconic "house" shapes and other simple, straightforward residential design motif. Due to this simplicity of shape, it can have a variety of exterior materials and finishes (including the great red windows with green trim on one side and the equally great green windows with red trim on the other side). In other words, the design of the house is quite simple, which allows some creative diversity in materials and finishes. On the other hand, the builder's houses that you have posted are very complex and competing shapes and forms, and they are very large, further complicating the idea of unity and harmony. When these complex and competing shapes are combined with a variety of materials and finishes (as they almost always seem to be on stock plans and builder's tracts), the final result is anything but simple, unified and harmonious. These large, complex and competing shapes almost always require a very simple and consistent use of chapes, materials and finishes if unity and harmony are desired. Far too often, however, builders and owners seem to want to have as many shapes, materials and finishes as possible with the result that the finished house often looks like an advertising display for residential product manufacturers. Thus, if you stick with the large builders house, you need to simplify and unify as much as possible. For exampe, one of the first things to do is eliminate the arched garage door openings. There are no other arched shapes in the design of the house, as far as I can see, and thus, the arches are a completely foreign and inconsistent element which add to the discordant look of the exterior. Adding "borrowed" projecting shed roofs over selected windows to the existing design is another aesthetic inconsistency. For them to add to the overall character of the house, all of the gabled dormer windows should be changed to similar shed dormers. These are just a couple of examples. Do you see the issue and what needs to be done? Good luck on your project.

Hollysprings, DH and I are in our late 50's early 60's with no kids and no grandkids. However, we designed our home with a breakfast nook that will seat 8, a kitchen "bar" that easily accommodates 5 barstools, plus a large section of our great room that we refer to as the "dining area" even though we have yet to purchase a dining table for it. ALL of that space gets used regularly because we throw lots of parties for friends AND I have a large family (Dad & stepmother, 3 brothers & 2 stepbrothers and their families, plus assorted aunts, uncles and cousins) that tends to gather at my home for holidays. At Christmas, I wound up putting a 4x8 sheet across the top of two card tables in the dining room so that I could seat 10 adults and two infants in high chairs at that table. The rest of the adults and kids were seated at the breakfast nook, at the bar, and at a third card table in the dining room. I am delighted that I have room in my home for almost 30 people to gather for a sit down dinner and all eat at the same time. Thank you very much. And, in addition to those 3 spaces dedicated to eating, DH and I also have a picnic table on our screened porch where the two of us sometimes take our dinner in the spring and fall so we can enjoy the breeze and listen to the birds. So I guess that means the two of us actually have FOUR spaces dedicated to dining. No wait, I also have TV trays upstairs in the TV where we sometime eat while watching a movie. Does that make it 5??? Does the front porch swing where I sometimes sit and have my lunch count as a 6th eating space? The truth is, none of us NEED 90% of the stuff we have and enjoy. When I was a kid, Mom, Dad, and my 3 brothers and I lived for over a year in a 12x32ft 2bedroom 1bath single-wide trailer and we survived quite nicely. So clearly, when my folks built their first home (1600 sq ft, with 3 bedrooms, and 1 and 3/4baths and a den and separate living room, they must have been building more than we NEEDED. When my Dad was growing up, he and 4 brothers and sisters lived with their parents in a two room home that had neither electricity nor plumbing and they all survived. And then there are folks in third world countries that squeeze 2 and 3 families into a single room. So obviously, even my grandparent's 2 room home was more than they really NEEDED. For most of us Americans - and certainly for everyone posting on this forum on Gardenweb, it long ago stopped being about NEED and started being about what we want most and can afford to purchase. Hollysprings, I respect your opinions and understand that you are attempting to be helpful. However, if you think people may not be making wise choices, perhaps you might try bringing up the issues by asking something like, "given that there are just the 2 of you, do you really want to spend the money to have 3 spaces dedicated to eating?" That way, perhaps no one will wind up feeling that you're being insulting or setting yourself up as an expert on what other people "need" and how they should live their lives and spend their money. Just a suggestion.

In this situation you should really pick out the exact fridge. French doors? side hinged? freezer drawers or door? you say standard fridge-but that can mean various things. You have wiggle room with fridge going to the left a bit,expanding some counter to the right of fridge[would be valuable]..but if you pick a certain model with depth or a certain door configuration, maybe not. It is a compact, small to average sized kitchen-I'd do a single bowl sink so you'd get more counter around sink. Try to shift the range one way or the other. Usually one sets up their cooking ingreds and items on one side or the other of the range-so that preferred side is much better a little bigger. The smaller side is handy-say for spoon rest/cookingoils/pot holders-smaller usage and "landing" of hot items/etc. Having 15-18 inches on one side of range and say 3 ft or so to spread things out for prep and cooking on the other side would be much better than 2 small segments on each side.Hope you really love your new home!

You’re letting the gag rage define the House. Everything in the house is about that odd angled connection. And the bulk and domineering visage of it is what will define your house. Do you want a GARAGEhouse? Why are the cars more important than the people and the house’s relationship to the surroundings. Angled garage plans are a plan of last resort. They are usually a cliche done by the inept in order to “add interest”. The architectural features of the house are what should be interesting. Not your Hulk of a garage.