Until you find a plan that you like, it's an impossible challenge to 3D all the plans on a "short list". Making a 3d of your chosen plan is enough work. My husband has to see homes built to visualize, so I did all the redesign on our plan. I have a way of walking through the rooms on paper by breaking it down into "action segments", "space segments" and "view segments". These are terms that I made up, BTW. Maybe I should rush out and get these copyrighted! LOL For example, if you work away from home and want an attached garage, imagine yourself getting out of your car and going into to your house. That's an action segment. What will you do next? Do you need a place to put down your things (purse, groceries, keys, mail, etc.)? Now what? Will you go to your master bedroom to change clothes? I think you can see that each action segment connected together creates action requirements. I do the same thing for visualizing a kitchen for cooking, etc. A "space segment" is where you look at the room from the most common approach (foyer, open kitchen, etc.). So, if looking at a family room on paper, imagine standing in that approach. Where will you place furniture? Measure your furniture so if you see a wall is 12 feet between windows, you'll know what furniture will fit in that space segment. When you connect all those space segments, you get the space requirements -- adjust doors, windows or room size accordingly. A "view segment" is what you see from one room into another. For example, on our original plan I could tell that we'd have to close our bedroom door in order to go into our master bathroom. I redesigned the plan and put an L hallway to make the master private even with an open door. Another example is coming into the foyer, can you see the powder room toilet with the door open? So your view requirements are created by ensuring that you don't have an unwanted view into private spaces from the public spaces. I know this is confusing and after you've done this a few times, you'll be able to immediately "see" these hot spots on plans. Knowing what you don't want is just as important as knowing what you do want. Cameron

Interesting to see this thread float back to the top! Another thought or three about CAD: --Every CAD program has a steep learning curve--so a lot of early time is devoted to understanding the user interface; --When/as that curve is mastered, a consumer still doesn't know about building code requirements; doesn't know about minimal and desired shapes and spaces; probably doesn't understand stair design; etc--so many of the owner created spaces are often inadequate and/or unworkable; --Finally, most consumers don't have a spatial sense and don't understand the spatial implications of linking one room to another room in various ways--so the interior spaces and the exterior massing of the design almost always suffer, or are rudimentary at best. Reno's sketches (the old analog approach to design) have all of these issues inherently considered, as with the sketches and studies of all experienced and talented architects. Each of these sketches represents a strategy to address the various issues required for designing and building a house or other structure. These seemingly freehand, random sketches are akin to the thumb-nail sketches that artists do in their sketch books, exploring design, composition and later, as the design progresses, studying options for values and color. Design is an iterative process and in archtiecture the process involves a number of simultaneously considered issues: site conditions, code requirements, life style, budget, climate and energy options, etc. The list of issues is usually extensive. For an architect, those sketches represent thinking on many levels and synthesizing opportunities and constraints from all of those levels into what may look like a simple droodle (but is not). This is one of the primary reasons most architects understand that owner-derived floor plans (working by themselves) may actually do more harm than good, setting pre-conceived but narrowly formed expectations. Just some thoughts.

Thank you guys for your feedback. I am scratching my head, staring at these drawings, re-measuring things on a daily basis. Just can not come up with the right layout. Few comments: 1. If I move the entry to incorporate the chase in the peninsula then on a daily basis I would be coming in straight into the family room. Also, the side entry is not full heigh because at one point there was a second staircase going upstairs from the bathroom area on the first floor. So by closing in the entry I can not get a good L shape corner there. 2. I am considering moving the chase. I am also estimating the cost to be $2-3k so it is not a problem. The bigger problem is if the chase is also a support column to two load bearing walls that intersect at that point. In the current layout, which you can not see form these drawings, there is a hallway from the side entry (wall is paralle to the wall of the door on the bathroom. 3. Assuming the chase can not be moved then moving the fridge to the alcove makes sence. I like that idea. Few questions. If it is where GreenDesign put it then how would the doors open? The side wall is 40 inches deep. Would I have to pull the fridge up forward in order to be able to open it (it is french door style). Maybe keep it in the alcove, but next to the fireplace (that is where it is today) since that recess is 21 inches. So if I keep design 1 layout of the island, then I would switch the DW to to be on the right side of the sink and then the sitting of the chairs would be paralle to the alcove and to the family room. More than 4 people can sit in that area. May have to redesign this layout and post if it is had to follow. In this layout the range will be closer to the pantry. Yey!

I started with the free 7 day free trial of Smart Draw. That was a great starting point to teach you the basic gist of using kitchen software, but so very limited. To save a copy of your work you have to use alt + prtsc to copy the screen shot and paste somewhere else. Anything you save in Smart Draw will go away with the ending of the free trial. Once that expired, I spent $84 on the Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer software, and I definately got my money out of it and then some. While it is limited, I have been able to find a sufficient workaround to every limitation and was able to create my kitchen perfectly. (For intance, they don't offer wood hoods, so I built my own using the "shelf", the "wood valance", and a cabinet.) I built a banquette seat using cabinets. I put the microwave and sink in by just placing them right "through" the cabinets, even though technically I have 2 objects sitting in the same space, etc). The biggest frustration was with backsplash. It's most limited there - it likes to the do the whole kitchen or nothing in some instances. Not very intuitive, but again, workable. I spent hours on the backsplash parts. Here is one of the drawings to show you the visualization.