My whole kitchen is 11x19, so very similar. We do have an eat in area that takes up not quite 7' of that, so the actual kitchen is roughly 11'x12". I think lots of the size is in how the kitchen feels. The original kitchen seemed tiny and narrow, now that we are basically done, it doesn't seem huge, but it seems like a nice size, at least a good solid medium! On a totally hokey note, I replied to this thread because every time I glanced at it I would start singing, How big is your kitchen? (to how deep is your love, by the bee gees), is your kitchen big is it real real small, I really need to learn- now maybe I can have some other singers out there :)

edlakin...sink looks really great, so is it a 36 wide sink in a 36 wide base cab? it is, but it's a 36" base that's made especially for the farm sink. not sure what the difference is, but it fits well. edlakin -- looking at my 36 in sink I have often thought it was perfect for bathing babies. Although our youngest is now 4, it sure would have saved me from those back breaking, leaning over the tub, baby baths. Enjoy it for me, please. exactly, acountryfarm. in our last house, we were doing baby baths in the tub for a while and it would just kill my knees and back. the shaw's sinks are so bathtub-like already, it's really a perfect fit. you just have to be careful not to turn on the garbage disposal!

My folks had hurricane shutters on their house in S. Fla. Some were motorized, others were hand-crank and a few others were raised and lowered by a belt (think public bathroom roller towels but much, much narrower). The hand-crank and belt shutters were only installed on small windows, otherwise they were too heavy to operate easily. My folks kept the shutters up the majority of the time but if we wanted to lower them - to block the sun coming in at a fierce angle late in the day - we did. And they were closed whenever my folks traveled and the house was empty or during several threatened hurricanes (which thankfully never became more than a threat). When they moved to OR, they installed hurricane shutters on all the windows and doors facing the backyard, not for hurricane purposes but for sun/heat control (because they block the sun's heat before it reaches the window, the house stayed cooler) and burglary deterrent. When my brother and I sold the house last year, the shutters were 20 years old and still working just fine, even though they had seen regular use. We had to replace the plastic box around one of the hand crank mechanisms but that was an easy fix. One of the belts was getting a bit frayed around the edges but it still worked and our realtor said it wasn't enough of an issue to replace for sale. I should add that for those 20 years, my folks traveled for several months each year so the shutters had the equivalent of about 15 years of use. But my folks didn't - and I wouldn't - rely on the shutters for daily shade and privacy control. They had window shades for that purpose. The shades between window panes would be ideal for your purposes, IMO. And yes, hurricane shutters are rather spendy but if you live in hurricane country, worth it IMO.

You're going to hear advice from two groups of people on this forum. One group feels that if you're going to buy a new house, you should be able to customize it to your exact liking and get the most for your money. These are very hands on people who pay attention to every detail and plan to live in the house they're building for as long as possible, if not forever. The other group are people who are building spec houses with a high volume builder and may not care about the same level of detail but still want aesthetic value and aren't planning to go feet first out of the house they're building. It's your choice which group you want to be in. I tend to be in the former group and a lot of things (or lack of things) on this check list sound warning bells to me. The presence of many of the items on the list are bare minimum code and marketed as premium. Without listing exact materials or brands, they will probably be bare minimum contractor grade installations. Example: "Exterior House wrap" is required, but there are different qualities. "Plush wall to wall carpeting with 4lb. padding" What brand carpet? What pile height? 8lb padding is considered more premium at a minimal cost. "Maple wood cabinets" What kind of slides? How thick is the plywood carcass? What veneer on the plywood? Is it even wood veneer plywood or just particle board? MDF panels or plywood panels on the doors? Like others have said, get the manufacture name and line. Things that set off alarm bells: 3.5" R-13 insulation on exterior walls? This either implies a 2x4 stud exterior wall or a partially empty 2x6 exterior wall. You will have cold walls during the winter. R-30 insulation at 9" in the ceiling probably means roll out batt with craft paper. You would at least want blow in on top of that, but it probably meets bare minimum code. "Standard light fixtures where required by code" means one surface mounted light in each room that might contain two incandescent bulbs at 60W each, which also means you'll want to upgrade/renovate in the future. "No credit for plumbing or electrical fixtures" You get what the builder can buy for the least price in the biggest bulk. I prefaced my reply the way I did because these questions are probably expecting too much from Toll Brothers and their ilk. If the house suits your purpose, then build it and love it. If you're a "low maintenance" kind of person, you don't need to get wrapped up in all the details the "high maintenance" people like to obsess over. If you've had thoughts like "dream home" or "forever house" then you might want to find a higher quality, lower volume builder. I'm sorry if it sounds snobby, but high volume builders get away with building glorified cardboard houses that seem to leak and fall apart (slight hyperbole) within 10 years and it makes me upset that they can get people to mortgage their lives on them.