I use Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 - I am trying to learn Adobe Elements 5.0, but Digital Image Suite is SO much easier, and does just about everything that Photoshop Elements does. Microsoft is no longer making the program, but you can still find it. It is really easy to find on eBay, and inexpensive also - I have seen it for $35 or less. There are also free ones out there like Irfanview and others....but I find that Digital Image Suite (DIS) offers a little more than those. DIS has tutorial videos built into the program - those really help. And there are a few sites that have great tutorials available.

Talley Sue, When I redid the studio I got Ikea's 84" high glass front cabinets. The wall of cabinets made a world of difference in how that space functions and feels. I don't have pictures of it now, but will try to get some uploaded later. I swear by these cabinets. I didn't think they could hold the weight of five-gallon pails filled with gesso. They do & more. There's a tall pull-out which holds the variety of oil paints, pigments and other stuff. I use another tall, thin cabinet for my longer lengths of canvas & butcher paper. The only regret I have is that I bought glass shelves in an upper cabinet. The 30" run is too long to hold my books without sagging. I shoulda stuck to the white melamine shelves for those. It makes working in the room pleasant. When I first redid the closet with the slatboard and the upstairs bedroom was finished, that's when I realized that space could "work". That is, the space itself could do the work of organizing a room for you. I moved on to the studio. It's weird, but I've never gotten the office to do its work. I thought it was how I was treating my paperwork and because of the volume of paper. The closets, the studio and most of the rest of the house "do" the work of organizing. My laptop is 11" front to back. Unfortunately, I leave it open all the time while I'm working on a poem. Words are always on the tip of my tongue. I use it for my thesaurus, my rhyming dictionary, for grammar lookups. It's pretty intense. Yes, there are long jags where it's off to the side, but then I go back to playing with words. The point you made about having to stand up to look in drawers is a very good point. I'd spend time rummaging around and that would irritate me. I've eyballed some slim desktops with small drawers below them. However, they always have the pull out for the laptop or keyboard in the center, so they won't work for the way I think I want to operate. This is going to be a low budget / no budget "redo" anyways b/c we start our kitchen remodel in two, three weeks. The computer has to be to the left of the writing space. I can buy table legs, but those desktops are going to be challenging. Lazy-Susan maybe? heh. My Ivar shelving - I think I can find some white melamine or MDF to close out the sides. Ikea doesn't make door fronts which fit the Ivar system. If I put up doors, then I don't have to worry about replacing my mis-matched binders & file holders which add visual "chaos". Artists' stretcher bars can be covered with fabric for a lightweight door panel. If the canvas is gessoed & painted, dust won't be a problem. Another option would be a very light-weight coddled hardboard. The 1x2 supports would probably be better support for a hinge, but the hardboard would be heavier than the canvas. I'll have to think about that. Filing cabinets - That's where I think any more I spend will go. I've done the garage sale route. I've got the leftovers. They're flimsy & they've fallen apart. They're hard to pull out. I've said 8 would be optimal, but I can obviously do with less as I'm working off of a total of five at the moment & those are "less than filled" - just junked up & files falling all over the place in there. The 2nd place the money will go will be to chairs. Very comfortable chairs with casters already built in. My final frustration was when my over-sized Queen's Chair broke a leg when the home-implanted caster popped out. It was too big for the space anyways, but it was comfortable. I'm tearing up my pine flooring by moving it around without the casters.

Yes, we plan to have a closet/utilize the space under the stairs leading up to the 2nd floor (this closet accessible via the study). No closet under the stairs that lead down into the basement currently. Can you fit a closet in this one? Only concern is this is the only real wall in the great room. Unfortunately we need all 3 spaces - formal dining (now serving as main eating area), study, and guest bedroom. I don't want books/computers/laptops/electronics in the dining room. I play the cello - need separate music space/area, so I'm combining music area (place store music books, cello, music stand) with a small desk/books located in the study. Both in-laws live out of state (as do most siblings) and for various reasons, we've had family stay with us for extended periods of time (i.e. months), so don't want to go into guest bedroom to access my computer, electronics, pay bills, etc. Live in northeast OH, so mudroom area/place for coats is essential. benjesbride - That floor plan you sent is almost identical to ours! Only difference is the right side of the house continues to come forward, ours doesn't - ours has to recede due to lot restrictions. If it helps, here's the topo (house on the pie shaped lot)

People are giving me a lot to think about. And I did broach the idea of a lift to DH. The lot is just over half an acre--150x160. For what it's worth, I've been watching the expanded northwest/west Chicago suburban area for homes with extra large garages (or both an attached and detached garage). There aren't many and they disappear fast. They will only appeal to a certain market, but to that market, they're in high demand. (Car collectors, people who have a hobby that requires a large workshop) As for garages in the neighborhood, the few existing homes have 2--several with an additional detached garage. The new homes mostly have 3--and a few have 4. I know it's not what everyone would do but that's one of the reasons to build instead of buy--because we can plan for the things that are important to us, even, or especially, if they're not commonly available. But when it comes right down to it, few of us only have as much house as we "need". I *need* a place to sit with a computer. I want it to be comfortable (desk with pullout keyboard tray), and I want a window to look out of, and I want to have nice furniture in it. I don't need any of those things (although my chiropractor might make an argument for the keyboard tray). But I want them and can't think of any reason why I shouldn't make them happen. We're all different--there are those on this board who prefer jack&jill bathrooms. I hate them. There are those who think a 2nd sink for a hall bathroom shared by kids is a waste of money. I disagree (and so would my kids)--but that's okay. We want a house with a large double shower and don't care at all about a soaking tub. Someone else wants that tub enough to devote 36 sq ft to it. That's all okay. Looking at houses on-line, I saw zillions of "newly remodeled kitchens" that I hated. Some were objectively bad designs. But most of them weren't--they were just finishes that I didn't like at all--and knew we'd pay a premium for that 'newly remodeled kitchen' even though I'd want to rip it all out. It's all part of why people build instead of buy. We want what we want--and some of us are fortunate enough to be able to make that happen.