I'm not sure the great room is a good size if it houses both dining/living. I think it might be a bit tight. Take a table standard width of 42" then min 4' on each side of that to move around (and that is tight when people sit). So add two more feet Then you have 28.5-13.5 ft left for a living area. I had a 15 ft x 18 ft in my old house for the living part of my great room and that 15' makes it really narrow and very limited for furniture arrangement. I'd do as others suggested play with graphpaper and furniture sizes to see that you have plenty of room. Since your Great room will be used as a walk through area to get between kitchen and bedrooms make sure you have 3-4' of walking space on both sides. One from the master side and one from the front door/other bedroom side with nothing interferring and still allowing you to have the pieces of furniture you want. Remember the FP as drawn will be sticking out into the room as well. I'd maybe consider putting it where one of the French doors are and have it stick out on the porch. This way you have more space and a wall where a TV could go and still be able to arrange furniture so the FP is also a focal point. Our current great room is set-up that way and I really like it. The FP provides warmth and coziness closer to where we sit flanked by french doors (one set stationary and one where both open) and the TV and book cases are on the other wall. My old house had an open great room with dining and living where the FP was placed in between the two. It was great for using the FP as it heated both areas and it was not in the way of furniture placement, however I didn't like that it was sort of not a focal point from one area to the other. Since you have the bonus room maybe you could set that up so you can have guests there. Otherwise you could just make that half of the porch screened in all the way to where you have it now. Not all will have a view, but you'll have a little private area in front of the casita too. You only need a little extra screen since there will be walls covering the other areas so the cost wouldn't be much more.

I made the image bigger by picking it up, moving it to word processing, then zooming in on the screen. - Your site sounds ideal. - I agree with the others about your garage. With so much space, why squeeze it onto the front? I'm not a big fan of angled garages. Sometimes they're necessary for small city lots, but you don't need it here. - I think that's a workshop in the garage. I'd suggest that you don't have the builder install this for you. Instead, keep your eyes open on Craigslist 'til someone sells old kitchen cabinets, and you can install this yourself for a fraction of the cost -- and avoid having it financed in with your mortgage, which will save you big bucks over the years. - To stay on the other folks' bandwagon, I'm totally in agreement that I would not like to circle through the mudroom to reach the master. I don't know that it'd be a make-or-break item for me, but it isn't ideal. - I also agree that I'd want the master bedroom facing the back of the house /would want to take advantage of the ability to have windows on two walls. Your master is kind of small, which I actually prefer -- I don't see the point in a huge, oversized place to sleep -- but windows on two walls will make it appear larger visually and will make it more comfortable, especially since you'd get lovely southern sun from the back. - The master bath could be much better arranged. It's relatively large and could be much nicer. - Love the big pantry. If you're going for enough space for L-shaped storage, only one extra foot could enlarge your storage area by 30%. If you don't do that, I'd consider either in-wall can storage (like Pharoah's Storehouse) for the wall "behind the door, OR at least a pegboard that could store seldom-used kitchen utensils. And consider Lazy Susans in the corner; they don't have to be expensive, built-in items -- just have your shelves built wide enough for the ready-made pantry-quality versions at Bed, Bath & Beyond. - Your eating area is going to be cute, but it isn't overly spacious. If you do away with that clipped corner, you'd have space for a larger table. And in such a set-up (with a big window behind), I always like a built-in banquette. - In the kitchen, angled cabinets are expensive and provide less storage than plain squared-off cabinets. Being in the center of the house, the kitchen won't be particularly bright, so I'd go with white cabinets or pale wood. - I'd consider putting the bathroom into the middle of the two bedrooms. First, this would be more convenient than walking all the way down that loooong hallway. Second, it would allow you to make the back bedroom nicer: It could have windows on two sides, and part of that giant hallway could be incorporated into the bedroom. I don't think I spelled that out very well: When you enter the secondary bedroom hallway, you'd see the first bedroom door and the bathroom door on the right-hand wall . . . but the back bedroom door would be straight ahead of you -- and closer than it is now. Less hallway, more bedroom -- win-win situation. - I have a friend whose house has that half-moon front step configuration, and she has no handrails (where would you put them? Against the house?) as you walk up the steps. It isn't a problem for me, but it is an issue for her elderly mother.

By forcing the living spaces to conform to an arbitrary rectangular shape you have created an awkward house both inside and out - a common result of a first design attempt. They say all good writing is rewriting and it is also true that all good design is redesign. Keep it up until all the spaces work well, even the closets. You might try starting again and looking at it from how you live and let the walls move as needed; the cost of corners is not as important as you might think. Sometimes it helps to turn the plan around for a new viewpoint. You might consider pulling the 1st floor bath and entry out a couple of feet and pulling in the living room wall the same amount in the back. You might also consider turning the roof so the gable faces the street and increase the roof pitch for a stronger front elevation and more usable attic (cheap space). One thing that a small house can rarely afford is the landing area of a switch back stairway. Also, check to be sure it is sized correctly. It appears there are enough risers for a 10 ft ceiling and that's pretty tall for a small house. If the fireplace is gas and will be vented make sure there is adequate space for the vent to go to the roof or the rear wall.

I agree with your architect. The difference between 1-2 feet is minimal in the cost for what it is. Better to have that extra little bit. After consultation with the users of the two bedrooms (hubby as an informal office for him), they decided to stay with the jack and jill bathroom. Of course we have to keep all happy so understand your plight. Can you make the entry area into bedroom 1 into a window seat nook so it at least has a purpose? One other thought. Who will be using bedroom 1? I ask because if you keep the idea I had, you could add a door to the bathroom from bedroom 1 so one door would be from the hallway and one from the bedroom which would afford the privacy the person needs. I like your design better, except that might have been an issue with one of the windows. No issue with the windows because it could be designed so the window is between the two vanities. I was originally thinking of doing something like that in my bathroom, but didn't want the extra windows because the view was facing west.