We went with a national franchise company, and the franchisee here near where we live gave a wonderful presentation. The machine we decided on is the Frigidaire iQ. It is fully eco-friendly, has a rotary inverter in the compressor, is a 22 SEER. Comes with a special programmable thermostat with bells and whistles, better quality UV lite (bulb replacement every 2 yrs instead of the usual 12 months), controls the indoor temp with sliding Hz instead of 2 stage, etc. There's also a mfr's rebate of $1000, plus $1510 FPL rebate, and of course the tax credit. Price before tax credit is: approx. $5200. I was very impressed with this guy's knowledge after we had others coming into the house. The SEER is much more than we originally thought we should get, but when faced with a much larger energy saving by doing this as well as the higher FPL rebate (the energy saving was the greater incentive), we went for it. A neighbor went with a Trane 14 SEER (can't understand that - it doesn't qualify for tax credit), and already has had 3 service calls for the great condensation buildup!! I took into consideration the foregoing about Trane not being able to handle the great heat and humidity we have here in So. Fla. Thanks to all for your input. I will update after installation which should take place on Oct. 12th.

First your questions: - You'll use the front door for your daily entrance? Do you have anything under the "up" stairs? Could you do a small-but-expensive-to-build bench under the staircase? Something with hooks instead of a real closet? And then you could make the linen closet, which is around the corner, a small coat closet. I think this is one of the main problems in this house -- it's going to be a daily hassle, and it's going to be in plain sight -- but the real answer is that you need more space by the door. - No, I don't think the front door to the kitchen is too far for unloading groceries. But I do think the pantry inadequate for a family, and with the sink on that end of the island, you don't really have a spot to set down your grocery bags while you sort and put away. In fact, I don't like the whole kitchen. Oh, It'll LOOK great -- angled island overlooking the main living space -- but you have little storage (the angles in the island are space hogs) and the layout isn't functional (too much empty space in the middle, which means empty steps). The real issue is that kitchens work best when they're rectangular (more wall space, which equals more counterspace ... and this one's a square). Lavender Lass' layout with a square island is a big improvement. I wonder if it wouldn't be even better if it were "flip flopped" with the dining area. That would place the dining room, which is usually neater than the kitchen, dead-ahead of the front door, and the kitchen seems better in that more tucked-away spot. While I'm mentioning Lavender's plan, I think her master bath /closet layout is top-notch. I was thinking that space was too small, but she nailed it. If you want a tub, you could lose the sink against the left-hand wall and put one in that spot. - Before you declare the dining room bigger than necessary, keep in mind that your only back-door access is through the dining room, and those bar stools that back up to the table eat up more space than you might imagine. And as your kids grow, they'll require more space. I think it's fine, but not oversized. - Piano -- no clue. - I'd put the TV above a fireplace. If you plan for this, you can make the fireplace on the short side (no lovely hearth the right height for seating), the angle won't be a problem, and if you go with gas you'll have more control over the heat. - Sewing machine -- I'd put it in the guest room. Maybe a craft /sewing table inside the guest closet? That way it could be hidden by doors. Of course, you should plan ahead for good lighting, if you go into the closet. And my own thoughts: - How is this plan roughly 52x52? It appears to be about 1.5Xs as long as it is deep. - I would bring the master bath, dining room, and hall bath "out" 2' to meet the kitchen's bump-out. Bump-outs are expensive to build, and simplifying the footprint would give you a bit more space ... for about the same price. Using the same thought process, I would bring the front door forward to meet the edge of the staircase ... and I would make the great room's bump out ONE bump instead of two staggered bumps. - Since the great room is on the cozy side, I'd make the space in the "indent" a built-in windowseat with bookshelves or drawers or baskets underneath. It would look fantastic, and it would provide the space for toys that you want. - I'm a bit concerned about the entrance to the master bedroom. Can you get big furniture through that turn? And will the dining room furniture block the doorway? My kids (and my husband) are bad about leaving their dining room chairs pulled out from the table. - I assume the baby will eventually move upstairs, and the downstairs room will become the guest room. That's a good plan, though I see that you're struggling for space in other areas -- you need more pantry space, you need a closet by the front door. I don't know that I'd be willing to devote so much space to occasional guests when the family needs it for everyday life. I like the above suggestion to build in a Murphy bed. I'd consider making the baby's room into more of a den ... make it 2/3 of the size of the current room, allowing for a closet at the front door (though the staircase is still a problem), and this can be a place for your piano as well as the murphy bed. Plus, with an open floor plan like this, it's nice to have a small away-room somewhere. I think a den or a flex-space like this would serve your family better than four full-fledged bedrooms. You could use it as a baby's room now, but I personally wouldn't have any problem putting the baby upstairs as early as six months or so. And realistically, since you don't yet own the lot, if the baby's already here, he or she will be at least a year old before this house exists. Upstairs isn't far away. Another thought: If your main purpose in doing the guest-room-downstairs is to have a baby's room for the next couple years, I'd ask whether this is the right time to build. If you wait a couple years 'til the baby is no longer a baby-baby, would you be more able to let go of that downstairs room /let that space go towards a larger family space instead of a temporary nursery? - If you go with more of a den, consider whether you need the full bath in this position. I just had a shower replaced in my girls' hall bath, and it was not quite 3K. We're not talking about pocket change. - The four-year old's closet is SMALL. Good-sized closets mean the kids' rooms stay clean. I'd look at moving the closet to the other wall; it could be larger, and it would provide a sound barrier between the two rooms. - I'd lose the double sinks in the kids' upstairs bedroom. They'll never use them at the same time anyway, and two sinks means you give up drawer space underneath. - The laundry room looks okay, but if you could make it a scant 1' wider, you could have floor-to-ceiling shelves across from the washer/dryer -- what wonderful storage that would be. It might also give you some folding space. I'd give up the sink next to the washer/dryer (I have never had a sink in the laundry room and don't really know what I'd do with it) in favor of a place to stack baskets of dirties waiting for the machine.

Chispa, Thank you very much for responding to my "plea". Your idea of figuring allowances prior to is spot on. I recently found a great interior designer to work with and that's one of her mantras. We have planned two to three days of appointments with kitchen, bath, lighting & flooring vendors over 3 days the week of Monday, Nov 9 which is the first full day I'll be in town. The plans have already been sent out for bids with a side note about the likelihood of allowance "upgrades". I wanted to wait until we had those numbers to send out with our request for bids but my husband told me to push thru due to the fact we're "locked" in on a construction mortgage loan. Locked in unless and until interest rates rise which is what my husband thinks is going to happen soon.

My husband just pointed me to this story from Port Perry Ontario (he had siblings in Port Perry several years ago). The Golden Girls of Port Perry Lifted from that article: The national median monthly cost of a private room in a nursing home in the U.S. is $8,365, according to Genworth Financial, which means it costs more than $100,000 annually to live in a retirement home, and the price tag is only going up. Even if you have to "hire in" cleaning help, etc., aging-in-place is a whole lot cheaper than a nursing home. Of course, that's a nursing home -- not assisted living. Some communities here have gotten so far as declaring that first cousins aren't close enough family members to live together. That particular case was a household of grandmother and her two granddaughters. After grandma's death, the two cousins inherited the home and continued to live there but the local government was trying to force them to leave. I've never heard of this, but I don't see ... - How it's enforceable. If I let you come live in my house, who's going to say no? Assuming, of course, we're both law abiding citizens, who can say what happens inside my house? And if "they" do say no, how are they going to make you leave my house? - How it's possible, given society's widespread acceptance of unmarried couples living together as if married /though not married? I mean, if you can live with a guy you just met last week, why is it not okay to live with your cousin? - How it's possible, given that young people have always looked for roommates as a way of keeping their rent low? If this isn't okay, then college dorms are just plain wrong.