Allison, I wasn't bothered by walking through a small foyer. I've always had a large foyer out of necessity to accomodate stairs. In that built home, the master bedroom was separated from the guest room by a study/sitting area. It was done in such a way that it felt private. (We have our master downstairs and all other bedrooms upstairs, so we like privacy/quiet, too). That house seemed to be built as an empty-nester house. It is within walking distance of the campus and the botanical gardens. Walking from the living room to the kitchen, the dining room is defined by the corner post, so there is the "path" looking through the French doors as you walk behind the dining room into the kitchen. The traffic patterns follow the courtyard, but on the inside so it's like walking down my gallery 3 times, if that makes sense? The color scheme was something I'd never have considered. It was a gentle transition from light taupe to teal, but the teal didn't jump out at you. Reminded me of colors from many years back, but much easier. It was calming. The view of the courtyard, which had crepe myrtles, perennials and a water feature was very soothing. The deep loggia all along the kitchen/family space was perfect for outdoor living. I don't usually like frontload garages, but this house carried it off by the way they landscaped it. It doesn't photo as well as it looks IRL. I guess because between DH and I, we've (together or separately) built 6 houses, we both like to look. Remember, he likes to look at real estate ads in France, Italy and New Zealand, too! Entertainment! We saw even more interesting homes this weekend. I'll write that blog in a day or so. Tell your DD2 that she can come visit. Although, DS1 is living here right now. He starts an adjunct professor job next spring. Cameron Here is a link that might be useful: that house

I'm not sure I'll be much help on this subject since I'm just now decluttering and reorganizing my home. Here's a few little things I'm doing: Since I don't have a regular pantry (I'm going to make one somewhere, someday--lol) I keep all breakfast items in one drawer, like instant oatmeal, grits, hot chocolate, etc. So, I know in a glance what I need and don't buy extras. I just tear off the top of the pkg. and set the whole thing in the drawer. I also keep my ironing supplies on one drawer---irons, spray starch, etc. I actually had to buy a second iron because I couldn't find the first one---before I organized! I took all on my junky paper and cut it into note size, put it in my desk drawer. If I have pretty junky mail, or envelopes, I cut them up to use as gift tags or small note cards. I hate frying bacon, so I bake it now on a rack. It's healthier and I don't have to spend so much time at the stove. I actually baked a pkg. this morning, used it all at once---now, we have bacon for tomorrow. I don't have very many closets, so I'm using decorative tins and hatboxes (I went thru a hatbox-making phase a few years back) for storage of sewing and craft supplies, and anything else that I can't find a place for!!! LOL These things hold a lot, so I may not have to buy any shelves. In my foyer area, I have a narrow table with a mirrow above it. I just cleaned out that drawer in the table----I have a place for car keys (his & hers), gloves, hairbrush, and glasses. Since I wash my hands a zillion times a day, I keep either an old dish detergent bottle or shampoo bottle with soap, water (*and now hand lotion or baby oil mixed in) under the sink to wash hands with. I just saw a Dr. on Tv say that if you wash your hands too much and they're dried out, germs can enter your body thru the cracked dry skin EASIER!! They were talking about the flu viruses. He actually said that rubbing your hands back and forth, creating friction, would kill germs on your hands!! Rub your hands, rub your hands!!!!!!

If you are building new, I highly recommend studying the different methods of wall framing and construction as they relate to insulation. There is far more to this subject than just putting insulation into the walls. Building Science.com is a great resource for this kind of research. Here is a link to a research paper they did in 2010 on 17 different wall assemblies and their insulating properties: Here As you will discover, straight foam is not always the most effective and how the wall is framed makes a big difference. As for my personal experience remodeling a 100 year old house and using DIY polyISO foam in the walls, I'm only half done, having completed the attic and upstairs, but last winter I cut an adjusted 36% off my heating bill from the prior two winters. My goal when completed is 50% savings. That will pay for the cost of the insulation in about four years.

Honestly before you look to save money with this plan, I think you need to look to fix the plan so it will work better because now it will feel dark and closed in. I agree; this first floor just doesn't work. You have to wander through the sunroom AND the dining room to enter the house, and then the master bedroom eats up the whole back wall. You can find LOADS of plans similar to this one with better flow. Here are two examples -- the first one's not quite 1900 sf, the second is just under 1600:Both of these houses' exteriors are very similar to the one you're presenting -- -- but imagine yourself walking in from the garage (as you'll do every single day). Isn't the path better? Imagine your boys coming in from the back yard. Isn't it better? Note the front door entrance too; you want a bit of a transition from outside to inside. Mainly this is about good flow. Okay, neither of those have the two-story great room (that's what you're asking for -- a two story great room; an open floor plan would mean the living-kitchen-dining run together without walls between), so here's another similar plan with good flow AND the two-story great room -- it's about 1850 sf: Note that in these plans the rooms are more proportional to one another, and the traffic patterns are better -- and the master bedrooms aren't hogging the prime backyard access. Bbq'ing will be something we do, but the walkway to the back deck doesn't bother me as much as taking away or rearranging the back of the house would. Wait, wait, you'd rather walk all the way around the house (or through your bedroom) every time you want to use the back yard or barbeque for years and years and years ... instead of altering a drawing now? I mean this in the nicest possible way: Are you perhaps burned out on this process? If you need to take a break, do so! Doing it right is better than doing it fast, and complete lack of public room backyard access is very much not doing it right. You could save money by having only one sink in the bathrooms. A good idea; the master vanity especially just doesn't have enough space to support two sinks, and by using the space for sinks, you give up drawers for storage. I'd also remove the door that divides the boys' bathroom; doors like that are always in the way and aren't really helpful -- two kids can easily share a bathroom without being able to close off part of it. How do you plan to use the den upstairs? Will it overlook the downstairs? Do you live in an area where basements work? If so, would that provide the space you want for your boys' area? In the right areas, basements are super cheap, and you could plan to finish it off later -- like when your boys are in middle school and want some space away from you. If you're really counting pennies, lop off the kids' space -- it falls into the area of "nice but not necessary". Get rid of the fireplace. They are expensive. I personally wouldn't lose the fireplace, but I would consider a woodstove, which can be less expensive. Keep in mind too that fireplaces don't all cost the same amount. High-end fireplaces take the brick or stone to the ceiling inside and have masonry chimneys outside. Lower-priced fireplaces utilize inserts and have little inside brick/stone ... and vent with only a small flue /no chimney or a wooden stack that houses the flue. Use carpeting instead of hardwood or laminate. I'd go with laminate instead of carpet. Laminate has a longer lifespan and is more forgiving with kids. Eliminate the sink in the laundry. Good call. We had a sink in our laundry room when I was growing up; it was a place for junk to collect. As an adult, I've never had one and have never once said, "I wish..." We could build larger, but the most important thing to us is that I am able to stay at home with the boys if I wanted/needed to and also that we can support them when they begin to drive and go off to college. Building below your means is always wise. Also, if we made the sunroom have a long hallway rather than an outdoor walkway would this help cut down cost? I wouldn't mind a long hallway to hang pictures etc on the way out the back door. Like a breezeway? Perhaps with a sliding glass door on each end? That's a practical choice. Cpartist, where else would we put it? We want an open floor plan with Windows across the front and a loft at the top for our boys. Anywhere except where it is -- the bedroom is really what's throwing off your whole plan. At 1/3 of your first floor, it's as large as your living room, and it's oversized for this plan -- worst, it's preventing you from having backyard access. You can have an open floorplan with windows across the front and a space for your boys without this problem. Google "3 bedroom cape cod" or "3 bedroom Southern House with Porch". You'll find loads and loads of plans with just what you're wanting. Note too that if you bring the stairs to a more conventional center-of-the-house location (essentially flipping the stairs and the kitchen), you will have those windows in the kitchen. About the stairs: Switchback stairs are sf hogs. You could trim your square footage by going with a straight set of stairs. Or you could make the stairs do double-duty by placing a half-height closet underneath. On the subject of the bedroom, if you steal 2" from the bedroom (which you can easily afford to give up), you can enlarge your master closet enough to add 1/3 more storage space. I'm no clotheshorse, but I can't image not wanting this. I agree no access to the deck from the kitchen is a LITTLE inconvenient, but to be honest we had a deck right off of the kitchen in our last home and we never used it...ever. I think everyone else here disagrees with the qualifier "little", and the person who pointed out it'd make your house impossible to resell is right. Bpathome, we would like to cut off about $10-15,000. We are almost at our target budget so I am curious as to how much removing the third door to the garage would cut back (without downsizing.) Building always comes with surprises. If you want to stick to your target budget, you need to begin fairly well under it (at least 10%). Removing the garage door without downsizing will save a few hundred for the door ... but you're talking pennies in the grand scheme of things, and then you'd have a garage with reduced function. I agree with you: No point in this cut. We've a two story foyer in our past 2 houses and our next house will have no 2 story anything because the sound transmission is really annoying, imo. I used to think lofts were great -- until we rented a lake house with a loft. A person watching TV in the living room disturbed a person reading or napping in the loft -- and vice-versa. This was made worse in the house we rented because everything in the house was "hard" -- wooden floors, shutters on the windows, no drapes, the only soft thing was the sofa /chairs. This is not something you want in your everyday house. This isn't about your family being close or not -- as your kids grow older, you'll want some separate space. You're not going to want to listen to their music or them play video games with their friends. Our family's very close too, but that doesn't mean we don't need a space where a couple people can watch TV while someone else is doing homework. You're going to want to make a phone call without hearing the boys playing upstairs; they're going to want to call girls without you in earshot. However, this is only a 1900 sq ft home. We aren't trying to make the powder room it's own wing. If you have suggestions on moving it somewhere that is cost efficient be my guest at letting me know where. If you go with the breezeway idea, the powder room would work great in that area. It'd also be convenient to the backyard. I absolutely loved this plan before posting it on this forum. You guys have picked it apart and not had any positive feedback...except a few of you. I still love it, but I am concerned guest will come over and instead of seeing its charm and open-ness will see the same things you guys have see Honestly, I don't mean to be harsh, but I see no redeeming features on the first floor -- I like the exterior very much, and the upstairs is nice. Other things I can see that'd save money: Look at this circled spot on your plan:Exterior walls are quite expensive compared to interior walls; thus, this walkway is extremely expensive. It'd be cheaper to "bring the house over to meet the garage". Porches aren't as expensive as interior space, but they also aren't cheap. Consider downsizing the porch from full-width ... to partial width ... or even just a stoop over the door -- this could probably be a difference of 6-8K just on the front of the house -- and you could go with a deck out back instead of a porch: