We've sold Ashley for a long time. There are definitely worse brands out there...but there are some better ones, too. In leather furniture I am pretty sure that Ashley only has models in their higher quality Millenium label. We sell a ton of Ashley/Millenium, and our policy has always been to discontinue brands that cause us a great deal of service problems. Ashley is no worse in this area than other value brands. Buy the Ashley if you like it. Value Priced brands are what they say they are, but guess what, most higher end brands don't have a better manufacturer's warranty anyways! It's silly to say you can't get 10 years out of a particular brand off hand. It almost completely depends on how you use it. Keep it clean and the leather will last. Don't jump on it and the springs will be fine. Don't drop it and the frame will not break (also when moving value priced furniture, lift...don't drag). You can get a decent sofa at $800 in leather, much less than that would be cause for concern. We also carry Lane (avg $1000 sofa) and Leather Italia (avg $1300 sofa). Our high ends (Thomasville, Bernhardt) average $2000 and up. I've added a link to a good leather article for shoppers below. Here is a link that might be useful: 8 Simple Facts for Leather Buyers

I am doing a lot of "green" things here -- but due to pricing, not everything will be green. MA code has a lot of green-mandated ideas, a lot of which will also be energy efficient, and I'm happy to comply. I'll be putting in solar (on grid but able to go off) paneling, with my home facing due south -- because it also is attached to a buy-back plan on the electric grid, I will be getting rebates. I'm putting in forced-air ductwork, because eventually I plan on geothermal -- until I can do geothermal (which won't happen until I sell the current home), I'm going to have to rely on window fans and window A/C units -- in New England, geothermal will be most useful for summer cooling. Interior stains (except the floor since it is high traffic) are water-based and essentially "no-VOC". I will find the best low-VOC for the flooring stain. Everything wood is from fast-growing pine -- and the house is pine log from a kit -- sustainable growth at least until "everyone" decides to build log. Bamboo would be an even better flooring choice, but my GC has sourced a good place for finding wide plank pine floors. I'm recycling my furniture to my new home. Why buy new, unless something is beat up enough to replace it with something else?? (And much of my current furniture belonged to my parents, or to my grandparents... it's cycled out of that so-stoopid "dated" term to becoming "vintage"!) Um, function dates. Appearance only gets dated if you are superficial, or if you plan on flipping/selling soon... Take into account passive solar concepts. Also where you can (and in my walkout basement, yes) concrete heat collection. Concrete warms slowly, relinquishes heat slowly. In the back of my basement, built into the northern soil bank, I'm putting in a root cellar. (Amusement note: I marked off the place I want this root cellar walled in, and GC noted he'd insulate the rooms I marked in the basement -- that root cellar and a workshop where I don't want cats licking up stained glass shards or sawdust -- I'm like --- um, the purpose OF a Root Cellar is to get the standardized deep-earth temperatures from the surrounding soil/rock/clay! -- Once explained, he agreed! NO Insulation! The earth is its insulator!) At any rate, don't expect your GC, or even an architect, to understand all the fine points of what you may want. You yourself... you have to keep up on the literature and your personal needs for Green. I got several extremely helpful books from this source, over the years: Chelsea Green I can't remember the name of the book (and I lent it out to a friend and it rather vanished) but it provided the angle to roof your home so you get the best passive solar benefits winter and summer, depending on your latitude.

Thank you for the continued advice, I really do appreciate it. Right now I’m considering the Remington sofa from Arhaus, but I am worried it might not be a great value. The frames have a lifetime warranty and the cushion is possibly a 3 year - I can’t remember exactly. It’s upholstered in linen although if I were brave enough, I could go for leather again for 1K more. I wish I could see it in my space! Stated home, I will read up on the 8 way tie and ask more questions. I couldn’t get in to Restoration, but I saw the Cloud sectional through the window. Pass. Crate and Barrel gave me a “sectionals expert” who couldn’t answer any of my questions so I left. I’ll check out Hancock and Moore. Kristin Petro, thanks for weighing in. My mother had a decorator (and impeccable taste) and I think that helped her. Perhaps I should have tried to go that route. I will check the brands you mentioned. I’m the tiniest bit leather shy at the moment due to my previous mistake. Actually, I’m not even sure I want a sectional will it look dated in 10 years? Sarah, I’ve never heard of them but will check them out. Cat mom, shocker, I’d never heard of W Schillig either but I will check them out. MizLiz, I totally get that, I’m allergic to everything too. My sister has a dust mite allergy that makes me feel bad for considering not-leather. The Arhaus piece is made in North Carolina. Christine, Herman’s is a new lead - thanks! Boris, I bought my current sectional online. I did not research the quality as well as I thought I had, and I’m a researcher. I want to see and sit on my next couch before I buy it. You know, once bitten, twice shy. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to help me. If you have an opinion on Arhaus, Belgian Linen vs. Leather, sofa and chair vs. sectional, by all means let me know!

@kgeorge12 regarding the orientation - your neighbors are pretty far away, so I guess the question you need to ask yourself is how important it is for you to have light in your home, vs. seeing a neighbor's house. Your house doesn't need to be oriented DIRECTLY south, either. An architect can help you orient it to maximize both light and privacy, while still giving you curb appeal. I agree with cpartist - your initial draft looks very similar to a lot of home plans I've seen. Since this is for ageing in place, also consider that your kids may come visit when they're older, and with their families. If you do a house with "wings", or an L shape or H shape, you can create privacy for everyone (your kids as kids, your kids as adults, your kids with their kids) while still maintaining your goals. Regarding the garage: if I had your space, I would absolutely put the garage through a breezeway off the house. Regarding laundry, you could consider a laundry closet with a stacked W/D for the kids near their rooms. If they're older, they can do their own and won't need to access the laundry by your closet. It's a long haul for them to bring their clothes to the current laundry room. I assume the closet in the hall behind the kitchen is the pantry then, and the closet labeled "PANTRY" is actually the mudroom closet? If the closet behind the kitchen is the pantry, consider a pocket door there, or an inswing at a minimum. That door will likely be open, and having it open into a busy hallway will get frustrating quickly. If the room labeled pantry is the pantry, it's too far from the kitchen. Also - if you have a king sized bed, you may not be able to get it into your bedroom through that hallway unless it's a split king. They don't turn 90 degree corners through narrow doorways very easily (just tried to put a king in one of the kids' bedrooms with a similar orientation in my own home when we replaced our carpet and couldn't get it in).