Ok, lots of stuff to respond to here, I’ll just start one part at a time. Regarding the screen porch; lavender_lass, we think you are right about moving its location. We had gone back and forth about its location before, but located it off the living room for various reasons. My parents have a house with a similar arrangement with an open deck off that location, and we love it. Also, we wanted to sit out there in the best spot with views on 3 sides. However, a screen porch is not an open deck. In the pic below, you can see the wall of windows on what will be the north wall in our house (this is from the video at the link above that shows a house with a very similar floorplan. We modified the design of this house for our site). Those windows make that room, and will show our best views. A screen porch would limit the windows (the second row would not be there), and block some of the view. More than one person (not just on gw) has said we should move it, and we agree, so it’s getting moved. (Don’t have drawings yet). On fireplaces vs woodstoves: Yeah, I do really seem to like the big stone fireplaces (they are also very typical in “cabin”, log, and timberframe houses, so there aren’t a lot of pics showing something different). However, we are both function over form people. We intend for this house to be extremely energy efficient. We will have a woodstove, but that does not mean it has to sit on its own like the bottom picture you used to compare (although I still think that looks cozy). I would like to have some sort of stone hearth. I really need to find the right inspiration pictures as I’m not sure about the design, but I do know I want a stone hearth with a fair amount of “presence”. I agree that our particular room really calls for it. (Again, see the existing living room pic in this post). As far as location, I think I still disagree with you. I like the woodstove in the middle of the house, its better if we actually needed to use it as a heat source if the power went out in the winter (again, rural area). I’m also still stuck on sitting facing west, and being able to see the fireplace, tv, and views from the couch.

I would design with a wheelchair in mind. An accessible doorway, 60" of turn-around space and a pair of FL machines with low controls on the front, perhaps sitting on a slight pedestal to make them the right height for a sitting user, wouldn't be inconvenient in the meantime. Control location would be tricky to find; not sure what mfg has considered that. Hopefully, the chair won't ever be needed, but all retirement homes should consider that as a possibility. I think it would be better to lose some space somewhere in order to make the home accessible. You don't want to come back and retro-fit it for a chair occupant later; do it now. Speak to your architect about this possibility to be prepared for the future.

We have two 24” dishwashers. We often have our family here with our many grandchildren and our dishwashers are in constant use. Two kids still at home. we put one next to our clean up sink and one in our beverage center. All mugs and most of our glasses are stored in Bev center. It took me awhile to train everyone to use the Bev center DW for mugs and glasses. But once done it works out well. the single dishdrawer would have worked well in Bev center but glad we used full size. We often just run top load cycle on that one. But then if we need the space for pans the bottom gives us the extra room.

storage area will just be shelves all around. Seasonal Decor, crap we don't know where to put, etc. All areas are framed at this point. Don't have 'dimensions' I can estimate...the whole space is about 1400 sf I think? I took pictures...it's a mess. lol. storage room is almost 8 feet wide. MAIN AREA [right side of floorplan] close up of storage door [this will be where tables will be and opening to bar/kitchenette. Trying to mainly figure out where to put a door that can be open most of the time but when son or future guests want more quiet can be used... @fnmroberts love your basement great room. Thanks.