Thanks so much for taking the time to offer your thoughts, insights and suggestions. It's amazing how generous people on this board are with their time and talent. It's always tough to get out all of my thoughts at once without boring everyone to tears. Lavander - I can see where the plan falls short based on the things of importance to me. I meant for the screened in porch to be a continuation of the living area. I would like it to be highly accessible from the kitchen for when we eat outside and from the great room. I envision the doors being open whenever possible, especially when we are entertaining. We have also considered a double-side fireplace where the french doors are located. I also should have mentioned that the views on the sides of the house aren't too shabby either! The creek curves around in a semi-circle so we can also see it from the side of our house. And there is pasture to the right of the house and the back left and I'm excited to see the horses and cows there. To enhance the natural light, I was hoping the windows on the non-porch side of the great room (which will be facing southwest when we reverse the plan) along with the skylights in the porch would provide plenty of light. As for the kitchen, my hope was that the window and the bright dining room would help there. Perhaps I should have more windows in the kitchen, I just don't want to lose too much upper cabinet space. One thing I've given a lot of thought over the past year is having the Dining, kitchen and great room all in a row. I feel that it wouldn't be right for us and it inhibits the flow that I'm going for. It's funny you call the DS bath utilitarian because that's exactly how I envisioned it since I'm pretty practical (about a lot of things - obviously not my master shower!) It gets the job done when needed. I was just going to have a half bath but i thought it would be helpful to add in the shower even if it's just to "hose off" after coming from outside. I wanted to have it directly accessible from the mud area but I also wanted the mud area to be closed off from guests so this location was a compromise. Although making it a bit bigger and moving it around could afford me a better layout, a bigger shower, and a useful vanity. I'll have to play with that. Duly noted on the garage layout, I want it be be 2 + cars so we have room for storage - I just haven't really tried to measure and lay it out accurately yet. It's funny no one gets where I was going with the upstairs bath arrangement. I thought having the extra half bath and vanity would help if two kids are trying to get ready at the same time or if one is in the bath and another needs to use the toilet. Good idea though about creating another bath in the front bedroom. I'm going to play with that too. mydreamhome - I've received some very helpful comments on the kitchens forum so far. You're not the only one to suggest turning the island 90 degrees which is the way I originally had it. Is there a specific reason you are suggesting that - perhaps something I'm not thinking of? My goal was to have the long side parallel with the cooktop as this is how I like to work. I'm hoping the prep sink will eliminate the need to use the regular sink a ton while prepping and cooking. The other reason it's oriented this way is that one of my husband's few requests was to be able to see the TV from seats at the island. :) I haven't figured out a good way to create pictures of my floorplan that can be easy to read. I increased the size of the dimensions so I hope you can read it now. Any and all help would be wonderful! One of the hardest parts about the upstairs is getting back to the bedroom all the way in the back where I wanted to have a cathedral ceiling. Another thought I had was not building out over the dining room, putting the master where the master bath/ closets are now, and then using space over the mudroom and downstairs bath for the master bath and closets... Perhaps making that section of the house 1 1/2 stories. Also, here is another plan that I played with - same footprint but the stairs have been moved. I haven't detailed everything out yet and don't have an upstairs, but this would help your idea Lavender - the front room could potentially be used as a guest room or dining room down the road. Again, thanks so much to both of you for your time and help!

@Cindy Bolen we are using Windsors here in Salt Lake. they are VERY popular and used widely in the hot dry valleu and the harsher canyons (park city). why? im guessing the climate here is better suited, not as humid. they came highly recommended and we also considered marvins and vinyl kolbes. if i lived in a more humid environment i may have considered the kolbes… but with the local distributor being one of windsors top/largest markets, and having a great relationship with them and our builder, we felt wise in our decision.

Shannon - Since you mentioned that Legend is popular in your area, can I venture a guess that you on the East Coast? Many have found that Windsor Legend windows are an excellent choice for coastal areas as well as traditional homes and historical renovations. In an attempt to balance this forum conversation, let me tell you a little bit more about Windsor Windows & Doors. Contrary to the comments from others here, there are many architects, builders and professionals throughout the country who like and repeatedly recommend our products. Windsor windows and doors have been installed in some of the most magnificent homes throughout North America, including the Bighorn Ski Chalet at Revelstoke, British Columbia (Windsor Pinnacle wood/clad), which was named the Best Ski Chalet in the World in 2014. Windsor started as a small, custom window company in Des Moines, Iowa in 1946, and has been a part of Woodgrain Millwork -- a family-owned company and one of the largest millwork operations today -- since 1987. Our relationship with Woodgrain is one of the reasons we are able to offer one of the best values in the industry. Through the years Windsor has continually evaluated and improved our products. We strive to be easy to do business with through open, honest communication with our customers, accountability for our actions, and by conducting business in a respectable manner. Our mission is to deliver exceptional value through the relentless improvement of our people, processes, and products. For more information, I invite you to check out our Houzz Ideabooks and Projects that feature work from builders, architects, and designers across North America. If you have any questions, I encourage you to contact your nearest Windsor distributor by using the Dealer Locator on our website.

@millworkman So I'm not sure exactly how to explain it better, but I'll try again. This was verified by multiple companies that are certified Marvin installers, as well as a Marvin rep themselves. We have a home built in 1986 with 69 windows. Some of those windows are in rooms that have 5 to 6 windows across in a row. The original windows are made of wood, and have rotted out over the past 31 years. We are not candidates for inserts since the frames we have are made of wood and they are damaged to the point where they are not structurally sound enough to support a new insert, so we need full frame tear outs and installs. Does this make sense? Due to having so many windows in a row, and needing new full frame installs for these areas, we need to go with a company that makes a full frame product large enough to fit the space. If it was just a matter of fitting the frames with a new window insert we could use Marvin, but since the frames need replacing as well it is far more cost effective to go with a window that allows for a full frame tear out and install. Marvin does not make a full frame replacement that is 5 or 6 windows in a row (integrity/ultrex/etc). As a result, their product is not a fit for our particular house since they don't make a full frame product large enough for some of the applications. Everyone we spoke to said Marvin makes a great product, but it's better suited to traditional and more modern homes that tend to not have the large window arrangements (not floor to ceiling, just regular windows) that were common in the 80s. Whether or not they have good reason to make it or not I can't speak to... this is the house we have and we need a product that can accommodate it accordingly. Most people have said this is where Jeld-Wen shines, since their Auralast Siteline full frame wood replacements are high quality, have the same exact warranty as Marvin, and look great as well. After reviewing this site we called Kolbe as well and they are coming to the house in the next couple of days to look at our house as well. Just wondering if anyone has thoughts on these two products bc they're the ones that keep popping up as good applications for our particular house due to the number of windows as well as size of the some of the spaces.