saypoint: You make a very valid point for not designing on the fly and I'm making a note of all of those variables to work in our plan upfront. When I worked with an architect for our home remodel, my DH and I did much of the "design" ourselves--just by knowing our existing home and lifestyle and looking at similar homes in the neighborhood and open houses. I literally spent hours driving around the neighborhood taking pictures of houses with architectural features that I liked,poured over magazine and tore out photos and tweaked my designs on graph paper and design software. The outside leaves me stumped how to graph it out as I can't divide it up like I did the house: i.e. kitchen, master bath, etc. I do have a set of plans with property dimensions which is a place to start. I'd even be willing to get some landscape design software (as long as it's not too complex) so I could create elevations--something the designer wouldn't even do. I'm probably most challenged with the backyard--which could be another option to have someone design that and not the front--as the front yard I get lots of ideas from the neighborhood and it's more of a public space. It's pretty much dominated by a huge Sycamore tree and we know we want the pathway to arch from the driveway to the entry and then over to the opposite side yard where we plan to add a gate and bike shed behind the gate. The softscape has always been a challenge between having a northern exposure and the shade from the Sycamore tree--but that is phase 2 in my mind. It's in the backyard, we have the retaining wall and are planning a more complex/$$ patio, possible arbor, rear back area for a patio swing, side yard to have a raised vegetable bed, plus bike/garden shed. Lots going on--without even getting into the softscape. Many of the architects we met with did not impress me with their creativity and though we worked closely with two, they were more in terms of specifying the construction details for our design. Same was true of our kitchen and I did lots of reseach on the kitchen forum and gots lots of valuable feedback in the process. Right now, I'm in the fact gathering stage; though we're also on a time schedule since our patio is so chopped up right now and the kids are tracking in dust and dirt on my new floors. Most pressing is that I have to finalize our exterior paint choice--which is why we've been focusing on hardscape materials to get a feeling for the overall hardscape color scheme.

I have bought tons of books, so many that I can't even finish them all. I am going to act as my own GC and the house will be 12,000 finished square feet (includes basement). What I do before buying a book is this: Check the ratings on Amazon and see some pages if available. Then I go to Dealoz.com which is an amazing website that will search in less than one minute hundreds of websites to find you the book at the cheapest price. I will then buy the book, usually used. I end up paying just a fraction of the cost of a new book and have never had a problem with the quality of any books. They usually have no highlighting or anything. Paying $5 or $10 for a book this way is well worth it. I can then highlight through the book the important stuff that I need to remember and keep the book as a reference. The home we are building will cost a million dollars if I am lucky so to spend a couple of hundred on books is well worth it if they can help me avoid costly mistakes or help me learn the tricks of the trade. The owner builder book is excellent although it at first seems a little biased against contractors and also somewhat lengthy. Still, it really does give you real advice about the real work and does not minimize the investment in time you will need to make. Even if you find an older version of a book in the library, once you see that it is good, you can purchase the updated version and you will know it is worthwhile. Let me know if you need specific recommendations although at this point all the books seem to have melded together in my head and it is hard to keep them separate in my brain!

A third vote for the Not so Big books. A friend couldn't seem to get organized, but after reading a couple of the books, finally realized that her living spaces were actually arranged for some mythical person rather than herself. I can't say she's truly neat now, but at least now she has an idea of what is where. The two/three best ideas I've ever seen: A) Have the washer and dryer near the bedrooms, not down in the basement [that cuts down carrying clean/dirty clothes all around the house]. B/C) All cabinets [especially in the kitchen] should have adjustable pull-out shelves and easy-open doors. Open bookcases are dustcatchers; if you *have* to see where-is what you want, use transparent plastic or glass doors. And the last idea is not about organizing: use the most of the best insulation you can put onto your house, the upfront cost pays back in a reasonable time and the personal comfort is priceless.

I just returned after spending several days up at the family cottage. Having finished "House Thinking" recently, I had a look around the room with those ideas in mind. I had always considered this room cozy. It originally had two twin size beds and two toy chests. The bed covers and window coverings were printed with a pattern that resembles a quilt, with small squares of brown, green and gold. The walls are white and the boards on the ceiling are painted with a white stain that still shows the wood grain. The carpet is the speckled brown sort that hides sand. That is where I stay with my husband, sleeping in the beds of his childhood. One still has the sticker he put on it when he was knee-high. When the mattresses started to give us backaches, due to the "hammock effect" of worn bed springs, I asked his parents at the breakfast table if we could put some boards beneath the mattresses. That was my huge mistake. I should have just run out to the hardware story myself for some boards. Instead, we got something we never asked for. My MIL, who is getting more and more manic in her increasing age, decided to get a new, queen-size bed. And for some reason I cannot comprehend, other than the compulsion to have bigger and bigger parties by fitting more and more people into her cottage, she kept the two twin-size beds. So now it is wall-to-wall beds in that room. Hardly comfortable and welcoming. Oh, and there never has been a time when all the beds in that room have been occupied. So it is also useless to have so many beds in there. I now refer to that room as the "bunk house." I used to open my suitcase on the floor, and use the top of a toy chest for the clothes I'd be using that day. With the current arrangement, there is nowhere to put your suitcase, except on top of one of the unused beds. If my MIL ever does get her wish and fill the room with four adult guests, suitcases will have to be stored in the hallway, and opened in the hallway. Don't even think about the snoring situation. The dresser in there has always been stuffed full of MIL and FIL's clothes. I used to use the closet, but since this room seems to be a dumping ground, the shelves became full of old, abandoned toys that the grandkids have worn out. The hangers in the closet hold the extra life jackets that never get used, and old, dusty army jackets and rain jackets that you would never want rubbing against clean clothes. Hardly a restful place to occupy. If you get up in the middle of the night, best bring a flashlight, because you're bound to run your toe into something. Oh, and the worst was that MIL got new curtains to match the new bedspread, and they allow even more light, which makes it impossible to sleep past 5:30 am, when you're supposed to be sleeping in on vacation. After I tried to explain to her that I need darkness for sleep, she brought back one of the old curtains. I put it back up. But the two smaller ones appear to be lost. All we have are the new ones -- white and flimsy. The remaining original curtain is brown and green. A mismatch. And now that I see the white ones and the brown ones side by side, I prefer the brown ones. Why did she have to change it? We were there for nearly a week this time. I was sick of the clutter. So I did what I could. I crammed the broken toys into one of the toy chests, and played musical chairs with the blankets that had been piled on the chest. They went onto the shelves in the closet. The life jackets went into another junk closet. It will be a while before the older generation discovers them there, and insists on putting them back into the "bunk room." which also seems to serve as a "junk room." The next guests who will stay in that room will at least be a bit more comfortable. They'll have a place to hang their clothes, instead of draping them on the bed frames. So, by doing a bit of moving around, I have increased the spaciousness and utility of the room as well as I could manage. I think this is a very important aesthetic consideration. Add that to the list. "Room to maneuver." Is that one considered to be in the realm of the sense of touch? Or sight? Next time I go there, I will not have a vacation because I am going to do something about the light coming in through the curtains. I have a roll of sun block drapery liner. Instead of swimming or reading, I will be sewing, which is an OK thing, since I love to sew, and can look forward to some sleep. Oh, I have a sleep mask, but those things always slip off in the night.