Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I really appreciate the feedback (and the nice comments). First, let me correct one little thing. The family is actually more like 17' wide even though the label says 13' (that's one of the drawbacks of posting plans before they are final -- we are still tweaking). The 13' label is left over from when our basement stairs were directly beneath the other stairs and kind of jutted out into the room, and the room is measured from the narrowest width. Now the space under the stairs is open except where the TV and storage area are back level with the rest of the walls, so the entire room is at least over 17' wide and about 22' long. (You can use the coffered ceiling grid as a measurement, they are a little over 5' each.) As far as furniture placement, that is a bit tricky. We plan to put two sofas facing one another perpendicular to both the TV and the view with maybe a coffee table between and a chair or two on the sides. Of course, there is always the window seat for extra seating as well and bar stools at the island. But mostly we do plan to leave it open for traffic as wonbyherwits mentioned between the front door and back door and to the dining room and to the inglenook. My husband doesn't like a lot of furniture or clutter. My hope is that it will have enough seating and also open space for entertaining and also be cozy and comfortable for just the family. Pinktoes, when you suggest half-timbering the top of the barn, do you mean the one exposed end of the gable where the hay loft door is? We could do that. It would be about the same cost. Although folks would rarely see that side. The front and back elevation's are the most visible. Thanks, Cork2win, mikeyvon and wonbyherwits, for the nice comments. As for when kids are older, they may not get a kick out of the secret passageway or the playhouse under the stairs (both of which cost almost nothing). But I think they'll still enjoy some of the other features like the inglenook (my husband said when he was in college at Berkeley and would go home with a group of fratnerity brothers, they would always fight about who got to sleep in a similar little nook in the family room). And personally, I still adore a loft. Lindybarts, I'm sorry you're having trouble downloading the files. I'm open to other ideas. Is there a way to post pdfs as photos?

mechanical failure could be identified by means of videotaping the line. This method is less expensive and less intrusive. And as pinoke said, since the sink does drain there is no failure at least of your main. There is likely a problem with piping for the sink. A good guess might be grease buildup, but cant say for sure. I would definitelly get a second opinion from a reputable plumber...a tip might be looking in the yellow pages for someone who puts their license number right in the ad DO NOT CALL A DRAIN CLEANING SERVICE.

I have been without a kitchen for 5 months already, and we have been lucky because it really has not been bad at all. I live in a very old house, and we had a small sitting room at the top of our stairs on the second floor, where we had built in bookcases. It is not really a separate room, per se. It is almost like a very wide hallway between all the bedrooms, and it has a fireplace and two bright windows, and built in floor to ceiling bookcases. So we moved the loveseat out from that small area, and it was just big enough for a kitchen table. We rearranged the books to clear up a couple of shelves for paper plates, cereal, etc. We also used the fireplace mantel for storage. We cleared an area at the top of the stairs for a small refrigerator, and a small cabinet that had been in the basement. We still have our full size fridge/freezer downstairs, but wanted a small fridge nearby for essentials. We put a microwave and a two burner unit on the top of the cabinet. The toaster is on the bookcase. The only thing we really miss a LOT is the sink. So we mostly use paper everything, and wash what we must in our bathroom sinks, which are too small. It is a pain. I highly recommend finding a place to set up your kitchen table somewhere in the house, even if it is in the basement. I think we would be going crazy if we had to eat on coffee tables, etc. And if you can set up far away from where the work is being done, as we did, that is even better. We stored our kitchen stuff mostly in brown boxes in our dining room and in another small parlour on the first floor. We shoved a lot of stuff into our china cabinet, too. We can access things if we need to. And we can still eat at our dining room table if we have a lot of people over. It has not been that big a deal at all. My house looks like hell, but we can cook almost anything we need to between the burners, microwave and toaster oven. We can still sit at the table in a civilized way. In fact, I'm going to miss having my kitchen on the same floor as my bedroom. It is so much easier getting ready for work in the morning, not running up and down the stairs all the time. Don't forget to keep plastic containers handy, and real knives, and a few large bowls. Aluminum foil and plastic bags also. I never dreamed it would be five months later with no kitchen, and I'm very glad we went through the trouble of moving furniture around to accommodate an almost real kitchen.

In case anybody is still following, lol: I've been thinking of Sena's fridge placement concern. The fridge I ordered has a door that can be reversed and is actually 26" deep with door. So I think we'll try it for awhile where the current fridge has been, on the end of the short L. We can inset it into the wall with the door reversed so it swings left and, thus, won't crowd the person at the sink. I'm wondering if we do this if it will be back far enough to now crowd the line-of-vision to the window? We should be able to get an idea of that without actually before we tear out the wall to see if it will be worth it to inset it. Although i do hate to lose that long baking counter. But we can also take out the side wall to the broom closet and play with the fridge there. If we don't like that, I figure we can get cabinets to fill that spot. They could uppers and lowers with counter and a better landing spot/command center than I currently have. Or just a pantry. Might also make a good place to put a small microwave a bit closer to cooking area. Anyway, just mulling options. It will be fun to play with all this. Went to a big home show in the Big City a 90-minute drive away. Hoping to see some unique and interesting ideas. Well, that was a waste. Didn't really see anything any different or better than what I see at our HD. Bummer. But had a nice visit with my friend that came with me so that's good. Won't waste my time on home shows again if this is all they have. My next venture out-of-town will be to some of the bigger Habitat Re-Stores. I've been told that a couple have amazing selections due to being in areas more flush with cash and a lot of high-end remodels. After looking at photos online, I kinda wish I'd thought to check them out sooner for my fridge. Hoping to find some nice cabinet boxes in the sizes I need so I only have to order door/drawer fronts from Barker. I don't mind multiple trips for the right cabinets as this will save hundreds over buying new cabinet boxes. Wow, I can't imagine building a whole house. A kitchen is enough work for me!