Jessica, Your home probably will have a few flaws but there is not perfect plan. After seeing the complete plan set, I noticed many nice things, too. The thing that bothers me the most as I first mentioned is the odd spot by the stairs and hallway. Instead sending this to you email, I decided to post it here in case there is something that I am not seeing or to get some opinions. This is a partial idea of that I think you could do. I wanted to define the Foyer and give some privacy to your mom's room entry. I did not modify the kitchen (lack of time) but I know you will make it bigger. I do not agree with the idea of making the great room/ a big room. I like some separation. Instead the double hutches/built-in that I show, a closet with the door in front of your Mom's room or a wet bar enclosed in 3 walls with doors off the dining or off the great room. The trick is to find the right doors for the bar maybe wood and glass folding doors? The bulkheads are optional, depending on the look you are going after. I have no cad here so I used paint. Hope this helps. About the placement of your home in the lot, I cannot imagine having and architect designing your home and he did not provide a site plan. For a good architect the site is very important. On the other hand, in most areas they require a site plan where you show setbacks to get a building permit. After the big mistake of the builder, he owns you to make you happy for the rest of the building process. Good luck

I replaced my old Neptune FL with a new set of Samsung's this week. My old Neptune set on the floor for almost 10 years. I love the pedestals. I debated between just making a stand or buying the actual pedestals. I was concerned I wouldn't like the height and then would be tearing out the built in. I don't have a problem with the detergent height and I'm 5'3". The only thing I've noticed is the pump is a little noisier with it being on a metal pedestal opposed to the floor. The noise is obviously carrying through the metal box. I'm comparing it to my old Maytag FL. However, the new Samsung doesn't make the "airplane noise" that the old Maytag did. Even when the Maytag was new it was a different sound than the new Samsung is making. Also, since they are so light weight, I would also be concerned with certain brands walking the floor. As far as folding, I always take it upstairs and fold or hang. The only thing I fold, in the laundry room, are the towels. Today I just stacked them on top of the units. No problem. We always come through the garage, so you can see the laundry room. So all dirty clothes are behind cabinets or in the chute. All the clean clothes are taken upstairs and either folded or hung up. Making a platform would not be difficult, especially if you don't put drawers in the front.

I'm not building a house except in my dreams, but here are the dreams: 1- a laundress - washer/dryer, tubs, ironing board, well away from where I am as most laundresses like to watch TV 2- laundry in basement with both a laundry chute and a dumb waiter. I had the chute when my children were little and it was wonderful - well, except when they put the cat down the chute. Large pile of laundry at bottom so no harm done to cat. 3- a full size room with double tubs and room for folding plus room for always-up ironing board. I want this on the 2nd flr. Unfortunately, mine is in the basement and my bedroom is on 2nd flr and I havechronic respiratory problems and am 72. I only do laundry once a week (did thus when children were still at home - don't like never ending chores), so I grab anyone I can - yard man/ plumber/cleaning help/grandson - and ask them to carry up basket of clean clothes. Just call me Blanche DuBois - I must depend on the kindness of strangers.

3z3z3 - a separate post on kitchens would get you more help. if you want to set things up more for handicap/injury use be sure to post that. any of us can get an injury that will cause mobility problems at any time. about 14 yrs ago now (wow... that long ago?) I broke my knee cap. that was painful... and painful to move around. and I'll tell you it was painful to get down/up on/from the toilet. horrible pain. we don't normally realize how much weight / use we need from our hips, thighs, legs to do these normally simple normal life things. when I moved to my new place I did what I could to make things easier for me now and in the future. it started with it having a tubless shower. no more climbing over a tub edge! that's made a world of difference for me! I put in levers on doors and changed a floor (nice one too) that had a too high lip on it from the hallway and DR area. and have plans to change out the bathroom / kit faucets to 1 lever handle. I had some vinyl plank flooring put in cause I do fall frequently (more than normal people) and wanted a softer landing. also, if there's a leak, it'll be easier for me to pull up so subfloor doesn't stay soaked. no cabinet handles with sharp ends and at least a 1.25" projection - also at least 5" long. plenty of room for getting my fingers in/around the handle. the no sharp ends is in case I do fall, nothing sharp to hurt me. I also made sure the place was big enough that I could get around with a walker or wc. I have plans to have 1 lower cabinet changed to drawers in the kitchen (it doesn't have many cabs anyway). I do have a good sized pantry off the side of the kitchen where I could keep more things if necessary. and a ramp is in the back of my mind. unless something rushes it, it'll probably be 2 yrs or so down the road. I have 4 steps in/out any ext doors. I recently bought an AF to use instead of the oven (mostly). some of that is that I'm single and what I use the oven for is usually very little. I also bought a 1 pot cooker (3.5 qt) so I could hopefully use less 'pots' for cooking and not use the stove. this pot will cook something for the time set and then go to 'warm'. if I doze off or forget about it, it won't burn anything up like the stove burner would. I'm also considering an induction hot plate for when I do want/need an actual burner. I think it's less likely to cause a fire than my electric coil stove top burner. I can't remember when I ever had need of more than 1 burner. I lived in the old place 14 yrs with a 1 burner hot plate and survived nicely. Then i'll probably just detach the coils and cover the top - maybe with a piece of SS.