I understand what you are trying to do with the 4 foot increments; however in real life they mostly don't work out that way because you have to account for the dimensions of the layers, such as drywall, finish trim, siding/brick/stone, etc. So it's important not to go OVER your increment, but it's very likely you will go slightly under most places, or else you will end up with slightly over on external surfaces. If you are planning for certain siding lengths on the exterior then this can put you into small pieces, etc. On the interior: depending on how you cover your windows, there may be space lost due to window coverings out into the room. For example, if you use curtains (and curtains are an energy saving layer at night when drawn during cold weather), they typically use up at least six inches into the room off the wall. So a window over a dresser will use up your dresser top with curtain overhang, etc. Or if the curtains go to the floor then you would have to pull your dresser out 6-8 inches from the wall. Likewise for the desk in your second bedroom. Don't forget this same concept with your barn door, too. You will have to pull furniture out 6-9 inches for the door to clear behind any furniture pieces. Right now you have furniture pieces in the track of your barn door, in the drawing. It's also very awkward to have a piece of furniture partially covered by a window, as it looks your master night stands will be. Much better to have pure wall behind them, or all window, but not in between - it will not look right visually. Remember that your birdseye view shows only the window width. You then have to visually account for more width due to casing/trim and then a few more inches still if you hang curtains and have the rod wider than the casing. Allow about six inches between the bed and a night stand, too. That six inch gap is the perfect place for an outlet bedside. But you also just need it for space. If you have a seating corner in the master bedroom, you will likely sometimes read while sitting there. Therefore you need real estate to put a desk lamp or floor lamp, for lighting. Next up to think about: lighting (and where the controls will be) for the dining and living rooms. This is more of a challenge than it first looks, because you need most your light coming from above in this over-sized single space. Normally you get a good chunk of light bounced off the walls in smaller rooms, but in the case of huge rooms then your light has to come from above and be adequate without being piercing to the eyes. You'll want at least two carefully placed floor outlets in the living room. You'll want to locate your dining table light fixture carefully so it ends up over the table correctly. We did a chandelier type fixture centered over the table, and then two down pointing cans, one on either side of the chandelier. In our case, the chandelier has frosted type glass and the bulbs in the glass pointing UP. It does a great job of washing the ceiling with light, but the table is muffled and rather dark. So we needed down light as well to increase the intensity of light on the table, which you want so you can see well when you are eating, and to highlight table decor. One thing you can do in the living room is plan wall sconces along the available walls that will wash the walls with light both upwards and downwards. Another approach is to place some ceiling can lights near walls, such that their light cones then hit and wash down the wall (if you don't want to have sconces on the walls) Otherwise the room will tend to look dark during non daylight times. Don't underestimate how lit walls will make the atmosphere inviting and cheerful, whereas non-lit walls, even with good ceiling light, tend to make a space dreary. Another great option is to use carefully planned LED strips up against the wall or ceiling, to make a light wash, similar to above cabinet lighting. These concepts do not have to be expensive to do or energy hogs, either, if done carefully. In our bedrooms we used wall mounted two x 4 foot fluorescent t8 fixtures, mounted horizontally on the wall up high. We then put up a curtain rod and valence/cornice to cover the fixture. Light washes the wall and ceiling from the top bulb, and washes down the wall from the bottom bulb, but does NOT glare into your eyes, due to the valence/cornice. Very cheap to do, very inexpensive energy-wise for the amount of light you get, very cheap parts to replace. Lighting is one area where you can EAT IT in your budget if you don't plan carefully, both in buying fixtures and in energy consumption. The three big challenges of "open concept" spaces are furniture placement in the absence of walls, lighting, and electrical outlet placement. (With a two story house you have another: infrastructure placement such as heating ducts and plumbing lines to reach the second floor, but this doesn't apply in your one-story house case.) Don't forget there are in-between models, too, to open concept. Half walls maintain the visual feel of open concept, but also allow for furniture placement against a (half) wall and outlets placed in (half) walls. One thing we did was put cased openings (like glassless windows between rooms) in the wall between our den and dining room. This was intermediate between a wall and open concept. It gave us the wall space we needed for furniture placement and in-wall infrastructure (ducts, etc.) but still gave visual sense of openness between the two rooms. It was a great balance for us. I'm not seeing glaring wasted space. There are a few pockets of space that are just... space. Like the chunk outside the entrance door to the master bathroom. There's a chunk in the guest bedroom. You'll want to trim the size of the shower in the master back into that niche and not bring it the whole size of the niche. This will cost much less to build, be MUCH more friendly to clean and maintain, and give you a chunk of "in-niche" space outside the shower where you can have your ceiling ventilation fan mounted (in our case we mounted two heat lamps on either side of the fan in that niche, but they are on separate control so we don't burn energy using them unless we are chilled). You have very generous spaces in general but not that much wasted space; part of it will be how you use the space and arrange stuff in it. One more thought: if you are a pet person, then plan for real estate for feeding, food storage, bed/crate, toy storage, litter box, etc. And a cabinet or drawer for pet related stuff (grooming brushes, treats, etc.) This post was edited by beautybutdebtfree on Wed, Jul 30, 14 at 22:59

Hmmm. I have never had anything mission, so in my head I must have been scaling it down. When I saw the dining room pic, it reads as heavy and substantial, while the hutch is more slight. For me, when I look at the pics, the scale isn't working. I have no problem combining the different woods. The buffet looks like a danish-modern piece, which I have a great fondness for, and which I definately consider mcm. It doesn't feel at all to me like HW, but then again, HW is not my thing, which is gooooood, cuz it's $$$$$$ :-) I believe the heaviness of the mission would make the buffet feel downright ethereal. I called my sister just now, who loves danish modern more than I do, and asked her if danish modern can go with mission. She said NO. In fact, she screamed it at me. My ears are still ringing. She said that she feels that in a house decorated in mcm, you could possibly have ONE mission peice, but when you have mission as your style, she feels it looks best to stick to only mission, or other heavy, rich styles, like a rustic leather sofa or such. Things with a big physical presence, which danish modern does not have. Like she said "danish stuff floats!" :-) So that's my take...although I don't know if it helps :-) I THOUGHT that the buffet would work, but in my head, I was picturing mission being more slight. I don't know why. I have just never had anything mission and was not picturing something so substantial. I guess I always have to see pics! THAT SAID, I truly, truly believe...that if you really really love pieces, and you feel that they go together, you will find a way to make it work. Or rather, not care if they work or not according to others. For example, I always hear the if you have shorter fingers you should not wear chunky rings. I have kind of broad hands with shorter, stouter fingers, and I proudly wear the chunkiest rings with the biggest rocks I can find, like my canary cubic circonia that goes to my knuckle. I love the huge, unabashedly fake vintage rings, despite the fact that the would no doubt "work" on someone with longer, more slender and sculpted fingers. Pish. The rings are mine now. Those ladies will have to get their own. I do like the hutch very much. And I like your dining room set. But after seeing the dining room set, I am not loving the combination :-( I wish I had been right in saying that they go together...but at least I learned something more today. Which is ALWAYS a good thing. Joanna

We have already adopted a lot of this into our design. Big Don Aslett fans here, too. And yes, having a room that can be converted to an older kid bedroom is useful even when they share. In our case it’s going to be the LEGO room off the play area - it’s for big kid projects and things the littles shouldn’t be into, and I’ll convert it for the college student or two of the bunch down the road. Otherwise it’s three bunks per bedroom and a bathroom for each. Girls room, boys room, extra flex room, and if absolutely necessary, the guest bedroom/craft room/handicapped accessible extra master for our special little guy :) We were thinking over space and privacy in the shared rooms and came to the decision that full beds over a desk and drawer area were the best choice, possibly with curtains rails around the top if they want to pull them for some privacy. Then there is a schoolwork area, personal drawer space, and a mini ‘room’ for the child while still living together. That’s how we made it work in the dorms and I think it was a good setup. It also means we don’t need absolute enormous closets since those are only for hanging dresses and out of season gear. If it comes time to sell it makes the room a lot more functional as a normal master suite and not some sort of freakish planned communal room. YES to a bike loop in the yard, even if the yard is small. Perimeter tracks are SO useful. YES to a drinking fountain in the mud room (outside isn’t useful if your area freezes like ours does). YES to laundry by the bedrooms - we are doing one laundry area in the hall to the master suite, on the main floor, and another laundry area in the upstairs between the kid rooms. They’re many feet apart so two makes sense, and we can barely keep up on laundry with a single machine anyway. Many more amens and agreements to the other list items. When the design is well planned and lives well for the family the square footage becomes less of an issue. I can exist in half the house if I have twice the storage ;) And as another Speed Queen devotee, I cant recommend them highly enough!

Thanks for the Xmas tree love! I couldn’t wait to show you, the LONG AWAITED KITCHEN TABLE AND CHAIRS!!! (No I still don’t have it, took longer than expected and now the small shop got Covid but hopefully we can pick it up Friday) I am so ecstatic, and the hunt fabric looks divine!!! Wishing everyone happy holidays this week! Be safe with all the colds and viruses going around! Xo