The kitchen layout does NOT work. Green is right that you cannot stand at your sink and load the DW. If you are going to do an angled island like that, it needs to be MUCH larger to work well and to adequately separate the cleanup and prep zones. You need at least 12" cabinet between the corner angle and the DW to be able to stand at the sink and load the DW. And that cleanup zone needs to be opposite the prep zone side of the sink if you are only going to have a single sink. It would be a better layout to put the cleanup zone on the top run next to the refrigerator, and then straighten the island out and put a prep sink on it to have actual prep space on the island. Right now, it doesn't meet the minimum guidelines for 36" adjacent to a water source for prep. And the clearance between the wings and the walls is tight. This is a one person kitchen. If you envision any one helping in here, then it needs to be completely redesigned. I'd personally swap it with the dining room so that it could be lighter. I dislike a dark interior kitchen, whereas a dining room can be a dark interior room because it's mainly utilized in the evening when there is no natural light anyway. The addition of a closet to the office may make it a technical bedroom, but I'd want more room to be able to realistically have a bed in it. And get rid of the angled entrance. It's only hurting the furniture placement in the room. I'm not a fan of the bathroom that ate the house syndrome, but I'd at least want a double vanity in the master. And I'd want the other upstairs bath to be accessible from the hall rather than just the bedroom. If the office has to count as a bedroom, then it HAS to have access to a bathroom. The two baths should also be back to back, as that simplifies the plumbing, and it allows the bedroom to have the choice corner location with windows in two directions. Most locations do not allow a direct stair from a garage to a basement living area. The stair would need to be in a mudroom type area with a fire door between it and the garage. I would redesign the surplus garage space to create a mudroom and pantry space from it and to contain the stairs to the garage.

We put track lighting, with dimmer switches, in our 12x16 screen porch, also with a cathedral ceiling. This allowed us to direct light to reading and dining areas and also reflect light off of the ceiling. We've been happy with the result. We also have a ceiling fan, but did not feel the need for a light for the fan. By the way, make sure any fan you get is rated for exterior use, even though it is in a covered area an exterior fan is recommended. Casablanca has a couple of nice ones. Marty

It is hollow in that area. The garage is a flat roof inside. The porch is a screen door and screened in area and about 4 feet by 4 feet inside the screened area before coming to the front door. I would love to paint the entire house, but definitely the trim. I would love to have the house light gray with white trim or white with black trim and either way a black high gloss front door. I am even going to probably paint the roof a light to medium gray. I agree the attempt to make something out of that huge wall is a big issue. I am unsure what to do to even begin to envelop that big a wall. I thought about maybe a wall fountain on that wall and maybe just letting vines grow on the entire front of the garage, but that is hell when the house needs to be painted.

This is with the table the width of the room. It's hard to get a good shot, but the room is quite large.