So.... You're saying you don't like it? hah No seriously, that's exactly the kind of input that I need. You've given me a lot to consider right off the bat. The idea with the guest rooms downstairs is that one will also function as my home office. The unfinished basement space will function as storage that would otherwise go in the garage. Agree on all of your points.

Don't take a sandwich to a banquet. It ruins the future meal enjoyment and boxes in your vision of what could be.

Glad you have a sense of humor because with building, you will need it.

(I emailed my builder a couple of months ago, what type of elevator he is putting into our home. This was in the middle of a list of about 20 questions in the email which he had been answering with detailed specs for me. At that point he must have been punchy and he said, "well we cut a hole in the elevator and you use your arms to pull the cords on the pulley up. Your arms will get tired at first. If you want to upgrade, we have a model that has mice, string and cheese.)

Seriously Christopher, if your background is not design leave it to the expert with the training. A good architect will come up with ideas you'd never even think of because good architects think outside the box. Gather together the styles of homes you like (from your picture it looks like you like craftsman), interior photos, etc. If you must have a room next to another room, then yes, let your architect know. For example, I knew right from the start, I wanted a courtyard layout for my house. I wanted my master bedroom, living room and DH's study looking out on the backyard/pool area and creating an almost private retreat within our city lot. Keep a very open mind.

I have a design background (I was even an interior design major for 4 days before realizing I'd have to work with people) and I did design my home working with the builder's draftsman. If you don't have a design background, don't work with just a draftsman. If it wasn't for my background AND the expert architects here on this forum, plus a few others who have good design eyes, I shutter to think what my house would look like, because at every turn, the draftsman tried to impart his lack of good design on the house. I'd even draw it out to scale in my computer program, send it to the builder and the draftsman would still change it.

If you'd like to see what I started with and wound up with, look Here.

Additionally, since you're interested in a smaller home, I highly recommend Sarah Susanka's book, The Not So Big House. I found it excellent and it has wonderful ideas. In fact, I've since read all her other house books.

Don't take a sandwich to a banquet. It ruins the future meal enjoyment and boxes in your vision of what could be.

LOL. Leave it to Sophie to say it better than I could have. LOL. Love that Sophie!

Hey Chris - glad to see you made it here! Get ready for the good the bad and the ugly with input - a wealth of information is going to come your way.

I agree with pretty much every point cpartist gave you and hope you'll think long and hard about putting off the garage. You're going to need that far more than you realize in your location - you were listening to the experienced voices at City Data weren't you ;-)

Other than our interview, our first appointment with our architect was to walk the land and talk about general ideas, bubble diagramming various placement options. The NEXT meeting was the long one where we went in with our lists just as cpartist said - needs, wants and deal breakers - the architect took notes and asked questions - it's a process to keep refining and makes you think about how you live now and how you might live in the future. I find keeping boards on Pinterest to be easier than Houzz but do whatever works for you - our architect wanted access to my boards and pulled common threads from things to incorporate in our design. If you can, let go of how you think things should be laid out and let the process unfold with an architect.

Of all the value added by an architect/designer in the design process, in my opinion, the greatest value is added in the conceptual design portion of the process. The remainder of the design process is mostly technician work. I encourage you to enlist the help of a good architect or designer before you've fallen in love with your own graph paper home design. They have a wealth of training and it's their day job, after all.

OK, no kids, but...no parents -- or other visitors who can't 'do' stairs? I'd only put into a basement what you can't put above ground. I'd view the basement as a 'bonus room' -- and home for the mechanicals.

Build a Garage, not just for cars, but for yard equipment and all the 'stuff' you want *at grade level*.

I understand that you want a small home for two adults, but you will want to sell this house someday. (Maybe there's a big market there for singles and couples, but give it some thought.)

If it's possible to swap the kitchen and laundry/powder room, I'd think about it. Our designer pointed out that powder rooms which are in direct view of the dining/lounging area go unused, due to the fear of being heard, or worse, smelled. :( This may also allow you to make the entrance to the master suite more private, vs being directly off the kitchen/LR wall.

An architect will want to know how you live, how you want to live, a site survey, visit the site, what type of statement you want to make with your proposed home, and how much money you want to spend. They will ask you questions to get a specific answer and they will ask you questions to gather information. They want to know what your problem is, not how you plan to solve it. They will come up with solutions to your architectural problems.

Thanks for the thoughtful responses. I think we will go to a designer with a list of things that we want to make this home and let them do their job. I just always thought that you should go to them with an idea of what you want, but from what you are saying that doesn't necessarily mean a full floorplan. Any advice from people who have used architects/designers as far as the selection process? What do you look for in these professionals and what has turned you on (or off) to them in your experience?

Look for experience in solving problems similar to yours in an end result you like. Education and being licensed is most of the time helpful but not alway the rule.

Chris - we used an architect, one of 3 that we interviewed. If you do a search on this forum for questions to ask an architect you'll pull up a number of posts with lots of info. We made up a list of questions from that and took it with us. Some of the questions were answered before we asked as the architects explained what they do, how they charge etc. We felt it was important that we not be the biggest or smallest project for them but in truth that probably makes little or no difference and was just a comfort level for us. We got references from people in various stages of their projects and questioned them about their experience, and were invited to visit with one couple at their completed home which helped tremendously because we got to see first hand some interesting design/structure/site problem solving skills. In the end, we had 2 of the 3 that we felt confident about but one just stood out as a good fit for us. Turns out it was a great decision, he's been wonderful to work with. I know we are getting a house that we would not have come up with on our own even though we had mapped out some of the layout basics in our heads beforehand - it's a simple design but his expertise and our ongoing group brainstorming made it special.

And please post when you do get the plans so we can see. We're all house junkies on this forum. (For example, one of my favorite things to do is go on Sunday's to look at open houses and I bet I'm not the only one!)

I can't speak for how to interview or questions to ask, but can suggest some things once you've narrowed it down to the "one".

Start putting together pictures of homes you like, rooms you like, etc. The more research you do like that, and you'll start to see patterns in what you like. Put a list together of MUST HAVES for your home. Put together a second list of wish to haves and a third list of I'm dreaming but wouldn't it be nice because you never know when a good architect or designer can add in your dream wishes too.

If you must have certain rooms near one another, spell that out roughly. As I said, I wanted the view from my great room/master/dining room/DH's study to be my pool and back yard and I wanted my rooms to create a backyard courtyard feel. I also wanted my laundry near my bedroom but didn't need a laundry room.

Have your budget in mind. Know your priorities. It's obvious that you're not looking for a large house. Do you want to be able to have more details like crown moldings, wainscoting, etc?

One thing though is DO put that garage in now. The cost really is minimal. :)

Best of luck. Keep an open mind and don't rush the process. I started in March and thought I'd have it worked out by the summer. HAH! Getting it right on paper is a lot cheaper than having to make changes once you start building.