Weighing in a little late in the game here, but cutting those 40sq ft out will not drop the price of the house $8K. To reduce by a true $200sqft, you'd have to look at cutting out things like entire bathrooms or cutting the kitchen & laundry cabinetry/countertops in the plan in 1/2 to save a nice chunk of change more in line with $200 sqft. Could you pull the kitchen in a little and delete/modify the peninsula? The large hallway there at the end of the kitchen is wasted square footage that could be used more efficiently possibly alowing for a reduction in square footage. Even changing the roofline on the left to a straight line vs a curved line would save a good chunk of change (although I admit that would be a no go for me). Bathrooms & kitchens make up a huge part of that $200sqft price because of all the extra things that go in them that is not included in bedrooms, family rooms, etc--rough & finish plumbing, electrical (additional outlets, lighting fixtures & GFCIs), cabinetry, countertops. tile, waterproofing, appliances. Because of this, 'price per square foot' is not an exact representation of the cost to build a house--its just the average when you figure in all the components of the plan, specced building materials, specced finishes and site prep. Depending on what finishes you spec, you may be able to reduce the cost of the house such that you don't need to cut square footage. Additionally, by the time you pay the architect to make the changes to the plan, you may have forked out a good portion of the funds you'll save on square footage to him. Just some things to consider. Overall, I really like what you've posted of your plan. I love the front elevation! Looking at it, I think you could easily pull the front of the two story wing back so its even with the front edge of the porch, leave the other 2 wings as is and not lose too much architecturally. That would save you ~26 sqft. I like your thoughts on the exterior materials. Those changes from what is specced by the architect will help save some $$. Stucco is quite expensive so reducing it as much as possible will be a good thing money wise. Painting the brick adds an additional expense. One thought is to not paint the brick right now to reduce the initial cost to build. After you're in the house and you've saved up for it, have the brick painted then. Just my $0.02. Hope this helps! This post was edited by mydreamhome on Tue, Jun 18, 13 at 21:40

In re my points about no TV in the MBR 1. I've read that for maximum restfulness, the BR should be used only for sleeping and, not sleeping. I think that makes sense and try to adhere to it. 2. We have a no-TV-no-tech lakehouse and we found that when we stayed there we talked more, read more, and slept more. All things I value 3. Human nature is "path of least resistance". I try to configure my house to encourage behaviors I value most. 4. I personally have a very high sloth quotient. I could easily while away much of a sunny spring day watching really bad TV, like "The Learning Channel". When I am away, my DH has been known to stay up till odd hours watching old PBS documentaries. 5. That said, I forgot about news in the morning. I am now in the habit of going into my office to check the web for news and weather. I miss all of the morning news nonsense and popular culture though! 6. We need the Daily Show, daily, and it's followup. I really miss that at the lake. In re seating areas 1. In this home and the last, we never sat in the MBR. I still don't get that (though I love the lunch date someone described!). If our kids are up, I would want to be near them. If they are asleep, I would probably want to enjoy my house in solitude! 2. That said, right now there are 2 chairs and a settee in my MBR. Frankly more as storage than anything else.

Exactly, although I really appreciate your critique of my bedroom space. DH would not allow me to switch chest of drawers. That's his "side" of the room, bed, bench, lol. Y'all don't know what it took to talk him into curtains! Although, he has been pretty good throughout this decorating process. I did previously try to put the basket under the side table, but it is too tall with the pillows and would be a pain to get under to retrieve them. As for the air return, I cannot block it with anything that large and solid. You should have seen the dust on the solid painted screen. The heating and air guys were not thrilled with that, either. One of these days, I'll see the perfect console table to put there, but in the meantime, that's what I feel comfortable with and it's staying. I can't believe y'all have not seen these decorative screens as just that...decorative! Must be a southern thing. Anyhow, all I wanted to do is show you my newly revamped space because it is such a big improvement over what it was. Thank you for the kind words, tryingtodecorate. The color is Decatur Buff in the bedroom, and my fireplace wall is as well. I have considered painting that entire wall like the trim color, a paneled look like my previous home (seen below) and may do so when we replace the fireplace box (another story.) yayagal - We may sell, so come on!

MrsPete, you are exactly right! As long as I was just THINKING about things, I could consider lots of different ideas. But when the "rubber hits the road" or when the time comes to think about paying for all these great ideas, I'd rather have it paid for with a REALITY CHECK. I can afford more of that. One thing I had on my idea list was an emergency natural gas generator, like the brand Generac. However, with all the other things we need now, that is going to have to be postponed. We will have natural gas range and water heater, and maybe a small gasoline generator to carry the fridge and the a/c. It will be mostly hot weather when our emergencies occur. In the house plan we just recently worked out, the original bedroom is staying the same size. But where the exterior wall once was, we will take out a single window and widen that into about 5 foot wide opening, same as the passageway from living to dining room. Then that allows us a sitting area for us, with an 8' wide closet at one end, I wear a lot of long caftans or muumuus whatever, and then I can keep my sewing in on end of the space too. Future residents can have the option of adding another doorway to the wider opening, I've made it possible to have a kingsize bed on two walls of the bedroom (we only like a queen). Present plans though are for a surface mounted door using barn door hardware. Haven't bought the hardware yet, but we are using an old heavy cypress door salvaged from our house destroyed by Katrina. My DH likes things finished nicely, while I like OLD look, with some of the paint left on it, sanded of course, and then sealed. I have a pocket bathroom door, and they are fine in the right spot, but for sheer character, nothing beats an old door with its hardware visible.