Good luck with getting some rain. We have had a lot lately. Came close to having snow, but it just missed us. Everything here is wet, muddy and soggy. A couple of days of sun and we'll be back to normal. Good luck with your garden. Post pictures so we can see your work. Brenda South LA Here is a link that might be useful: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/575578430PXcgMP

Some responses to the items I pointed out earlier... 2 - Foyer closet--I personally prefer hooks + a bench BUT now notice that you don't have a coat closet in the mudroom area. As it is, you will probably hang your 'current season' coat on a hook in the mudroom and store your 'off season' coats in the front closet. Since your foyer closet is so close to the mudroom, I think this will work! :) The foyer does have a spot for a bench which I think is ABSOLUTELY essential (unless you want your guests to wear their shoes indoors at all times.) 3 - Depending on your lifestyle, having space to have guests over to watch TV is nice when you have small kids. It's hard to get out to see a movie and/or friends, so inviting friends over for a movie kills two birds with one stone. We were never 'TV people' before our son was born. It is amazing all of the small ways a person's lifestyle changes when a baby arrives! I'd suggest talking to other parents in your lives (your own parents and your friends who are parents) to try to get an idea of what your life will be like once children enter the picture. 6 - Is there seating room at the island? I know guests can get a little uncomfortable (both physically and socially) standing around while someone is working in the kitchen. I think seating makes their presence seem more comfortable for everyone. :) 7 - As an voracious reader, I find it unlikely those chairs in the study will be your favorite reading nooks, since the natural light will be coming in at your face instead of at your back. Think about where you gravitate toward for reading in your current home. For me, anyway, during the daytime I like to have natural light from behind or next to me. If it's evening, I like a LOT of BRIGHT light above me (can lights galore!) 8 - I also work on the computer. (I work from home full time as a web developer and stay-at-home mom.) Side-by-side is different from back-to-back. If you both spend a lot of time at the computer at the same time, you'll just want to make 100% sure your computer nook is comfortable for everyone. Don't just think about once you're settled in---thinking about coming/going for trips to the kitchen, bathroom, and nursery. (If anyone plans on working at the computer while caring for the baby, I'd recommend a computer set-up near the nursery, at least for the first year of each baby's life.) 9 - If the stair layout is the most economical way, I'm sure you'll get used to it. I just know it would drive ME crazy to have to make a U-turn when I'm SPRINTING to the baby's room to take calm him down before his 'sleep fussing' turns into real crying. :) 10 - Our builder's opinion on the pocket door to the water closet is mostly that they're a pain to use if they are frequently closed. At the risk of over-sharing, our master bath door only gets shut when one spouse worries the aroma will offend the other spouse's senses. So, for us, the inconvenience of sometimes operating a pocket door is worth the aesthetic of having it out of the way 99% of the time. Again, it just totally depends on your lifestyle. I think our builder charges about $150 more for a pocket door vs. a normal door--it's worth finding out what your builder charges before going crazy adding them all willy nilly, of course. :D 11 - If you're not bothered by it, I think skipping a closet door in the bedroom would be fine. For aesthetic reasons, I'd recommend having any closet areas that are visible from the bedroom be anything but shelving. My husband and I are neat freaks and we both worked retail so we know how to fold and stack clothes neatly...and our shelving still never looks tidy. Hanging looks better by far. (I'd personally have a closet door that swings into the room, but that's just a personal preference, not a game changer.) Hope that helps! It's all just my personal opinions. We're only in the planning stages too, so I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. :) (Hope you'll go comment on my floorplan since it sounds like we have similar lifestyles.) Here is a link that might be useful: Floorplan of my 4BR 2-story Minnesota home

I post most on my local area forum (New England) which is quite active. I also sometimes post on perennials, shrubs and here. Mostly I am posting what I already have planted, not asking for input on plans. I don't draw planting plans, however, but I do plan in my head, and usually lay out everything in a new or refurbished bed before planting anything. I think we have fewer issues with regular water here in New England than you do (my memory is that you are further west, though your profile doesn't say), though this spring we have gone 3 weeks, much of it windy with temperatures in the 70's and 80's (unseasonably warm) without a drop. I would welcome rain about now as our fire danger is high. Usually we get regular rain, and I don't worry about watering other than the veggie garden. But I do plant in zones where the plants that may need water if we go for longer than a month without rain are within range of hoses. Along the edge of the woods, I haul water in jugs for the first year after planting if needed, and then after that the plants are on their own to survive or not. Like you, I plant natives in areas farther from the house which for me is along the woodland and wetland edges.

Looks like a good plan! Sounds like it will work fine. The size of the basin should be 20% of the roof area flowing to the rain garden. Or if you want to be conservative and you have clay soils, you could go 30%.