So if we were to do a 1.5 story with the master on the main level, where would you put that, behind the garage then? My thought process would be to first determine priority of room placement in the most ideal location for the use of the room and then if conflicts between room placement develop then rank by how much time is spent and how time is used for each room as well as the importance of that use compared to the importance of the uses for the other rooms. If watching the sunrise from your bed pays off with more enjoyment than having the sunrise and morning sun striking your kitchen, then plan accordingly. For instance, do you plan on using your master suite as a parental get-away from the kids, using it during the day or will your non-sleeping uses be restricted to evenings only, meaning that any views from the rooms would be lost to the darkness of the night? If the views are not important, I'd bury the master suite near the garage in the above sketch. If however, views and day time use are important, then I'd move the master to the east/south/west walls, perhaps right off the entry or in the back off of the kitchen. I'm not necessarily saying to put the master off the entry or off the kitchen, though you could, I'm just using these as examples that reference the above sketch. The way I'm designing my own home is to use a very self-reflective process which tries to understand how I actually live my life rather than trying to contort my lifestyle into architectural trends which presuppose how people SHOULD live their lives. So, to continue on the questioning, why exactly do you appreciate a main-floor master? Is it so that you can avoid stairs? Is it so that you can hear the comings and goings of the kids at night as they try to leave the house, is it because you don't want the kids too near your bedroom, is it because you don't want noise transmission from the master to be easily heard by the kids, and so on? Once you can articulate to yourself why you want something then you can find the best solution for your plan, rather than adopting a cookie-cutter approach. For instance, what I found amusing in some plans was a main floor master with a child's bedroom directly over it on the 2nd. Now, to me, if the goal was to reduce noise transmission from either the child's room to the parent's room or vice versa, the separation by floor, while having intuitive appeal, would fail to achieve the mission. The example I used in an earlier comment was to have a master suite separated by a stairway corridor AND a children's hallway which together create a 7'-8' dead zone, possibly with some walls other than the master and child's bedroom walls also added in between. There are no common walls shared, there is a huge dead zone in between and the goal of reducing noise transmission is, I believe, better served than a downstairs master with an upstairs child's bedroom directly over top, sharing common ceiling/floor as well as sound transmission paths down the walls. Of course, if sound transmission has nothing to do with the appeal of a downstairs master suite, then what I've sketched out is a solution to a problem which doesn't exist, or doesn't matter. I was thinking the master/office space on one side and then the kitchen, dining, great room on the other. That makes sense to me. Would you move the great room from the center of the house below to the front where the dining study is and move the study to where the great room is? Lots of configurations can make sense, but they must make sense in relation to how you envision yourself using the space and the particulars of your lifestyle and preferences. I'd say grab some graph paper, or even blank paper, and just block out the rooms and see how they interplay with each other, note how you foresee traffic patterns within and throughout the space, imagine daily routines taking place within the space. Once you have an idea of how you live, or how you want to live in the new space, then get the graph paper and try to get a better handle on size and furniture placement, and traffic patterns and by the end of this process you should have a very good understanding of how you want the space to be configured. I did the same for my house and this has resulted in me doing away with a formal living room from the now traditional LR/FR combo pack and reallocating the space elsewhere in the home, such as combining the entry with the LR space in order to create a larger sense of space/volume, has led me to create a larger kitchen than would be warranted in relation to the size of the informal living room, has led me to other design changes that likely violate what trained architects use as benchmarks for how homes should be designed. Thank you for the garage tip also - I thought 24x24 was rather large? We will be getting an oversize door for sure. I'd say measure your cars, block out a 24 x 24 space on your lawn, use cardboard boxes or something else to fill the space of your cars, then throw in the other junk you're likely to store alongside the walls of the garage, and see how much space you actually need. Try to get out of your car and see if the door bangs the wall or the other car. A 24 x 24 garage is actually pretty good considering that many designed give a 20 x 23 or something similarly ridiculous.

Providing interesting items will focus the attention from rising to the ceiling. Consider using recessed medicine cabinets for medications. Running your top material up the wall behind the sinks is a much better solution than adding tile. Adding a narrow shelf to the continuous backsplash provides a surface for placing items out of the way of users.

Hi, Colo, I'm sorry that your builder hasn't been more accommodating. The fact that the salesperson is being overridden by his/her boss makes clear it's not a well-oiled machine. That said, I'd like to share an alternative perspective before this escalates into an expensive attorney cage-fighting match. Your builder has an obligation to construct your home substantially as per the approved construction documents. You're requesting a significant change after approving those same documents. Your builder may not be set up to make changes during construction. Whether they are or not, I'm not sure they have any obligation to do so. You are represented by a Realtor. They have certain obligations to you depending on the particular laws in your state. Your Realtor should not be sitting on the sidelines, but rather, advocating for you (you're paying them a fee as part of your contract.) If you are not satisfied with their ability to serve as your advocate throughout the process, I suggest you contact the broker at the Realtor's agency and get them involved. The broker should be able to get you an answer (it may be one that you don't like) and advise you of your options without you having to spend a nickel on an attorney. Best wishes for a successful outcome.

In my previous 1950s home that we remodeled everything was oil rubbed bronze. I was tired of that by the time we built 7 years later and I like to think of the new house as an eclectic mix of different finishes. I spent 18 months picking out our new ones so here is my detailed list :) The entry has a copper Chandler with a central light shining down and 6 arms that can be turned on different ways. It's from the 50-60s and i found it in an "antique" store in town. The dining is a shiny pewter crystal chandler that was in our previous home (my husband had picked it out and was the only thing that wasn't ORB). Kitchen has cans and then two large shiny copper pendants over my sink and prep area. They are solid copper and were a steal from an English seller on Etsy. We did have to Dremel the hole larger so our american pendant fixtures would fit. Our mud room, or "the Owners Entrance", has a muted brass lantern with wavy glass from the Amazon Warehouse. I had to replace one of the glass pains but was still only $30 all in. Laundry, pantry and 2 walk in closets have smaller school house light fixtures. I also detest boob lights. Front room has a fan with 4 lights. I really want to replace the lighting kit on it to something with covered lights. I do not like the harsh light coming down from it. But we mainly use 3 lamps that are on a switch. The Electrician was surprised when I asked him to wire for them since he hadn't done that in 15-20 years. No can lights in there. The power bath has a brushed nickle wall light with 3 bulbs from Hudson Valley. Also picked up cheap from Amazon Warehouse. The spare room is a large and thick crystal type ceiling shade that is very sparkly also from Amazon Warehouse. Was discounted for some chips along the edge that you only see if you are on the ceiling. My Bedroom has a large central vintage brass/crystal chandelier and a second small one in the seating area. Another matching small one is in the bathroom. I bought them second hand from a private seller. Then flanking the mirror are 2 Hudson Valley shiny pewter sconces with large frosted glass shades. I like the mix of different finishes. Has more of an evolved-over-time look to me. If you haven't noticed I love the Amazon Warehouse. Kind of a pain to search but I bought quite a few things from it for our build to save money since I had plenty of time. Edit to add: my home isn't an open floor plan but a ranch. Each light is in its own room.