We've spent at least 6-7 months trying to figure out the whole house plan thing. We had one builder who had his own draftsman, so I took a floor plan from the internet and made some changes, but kept the square footage where he said it needed to be to get the price range we needed. Then he gave it to his draftsman who took FOREVER drawing up plans. Then our builder took the plans and priced them and they were WAY over budget, so we simplified things, had them changed, our builder priced it and it was still over budget. We spend 7 months of this, waiting until the builder and draftsman had time to get to our project and it never worked. We finally gave up and I emailed a ton of builders in the area with our desired floor plan and budget and asked if any of them could get us what we were looking for. I got a few responses and we followed up. Some wanted us to go to pay for a draftsman and get the plans drawn up so they could price it and we said no way were we going down that road again. (I think if we hadn't just gone through what we had gone through then we probably would have done this. You just want your builder to have a LOT of experience so they can tell you what will get you in your budget as you are drawing the plans up...but we were burnt out and about to give up) I finally was talking to my sons 1st grade teacher one day and we happened to get on the topic and she had had her house built by a builder and highly recommended him. So we went to him with our house plan and desired elevation (it was just the 1st floor b/c I didn't care how the 2nd floor was arranged) He took 2 weeks, came back with a 1st floor plan that had everything we wanted but in a much more efficient layout and even the room sizes we wanted (I still don't know how he did that). He walked us through the layout, told us what was included, took us to a house he was building to give us an example, took us to another completed house to give us an idea how the outside would look and even though the cost was a little over budget we decided to do it b/c it gave us everything we wanted and after being through what we had been through we knew it was a fair deal. He also has a great reputation around here. So now we have our land under contract. He he's had a month to draw and finalize plans so we can submit it to the bank. (we are in the final week and a half, we haven't seen the finalized plans but he said he can do it and b/c of his reputation in the area we believe him) I haven't needed too much time to nail down all the details b/c I've been thinking about doing this for years and I've been pinning (love pinterest) everything I like. I think I have almost everything picked out even though it's not all needed now but I want to let him know everything so there aren't any surprises. I'll definitely be posting more updates as we go along :)

. If you really wanna be OFF grid . . then you'll need to supply / generate your own electricity. That means either PV ( solar panels / batteries ), wind ( "windmill" and batteries ), or fossil fuel generator. Fossil fuel generator will also mean you must store a fair amount of fuel; lest you have a generator and cannot obtain fuel if the power is out. Being in the "Sunshine state" would make the choice of PV the no-brainer. Wind is usually not constant enough to be the ONLY source. Generators make noise and need maintenance / replacement; especially if run constantly. Plans are wide open except for their energy consumption consequences. You will want to pay GREAT attention to efficiencies of EVERYTHING you have . . every light bulb ( DON'T use ANY incandescents ), appliance, etc. I read that every dollar spent in reducing your needs; saves $20 off the cost of whatever system you choose to produce your electricity with. A/C is a BIG user, if that's even on your radar. I have a PV ( grid-tied ) system; and I went through each and every load one by one. Biggest load in the whole house is . . . the hairdryer. The other biggies are well pump, the vacuum, the microwave, the toaster . . . . the fridge ended up being fairly low; while a large size it was bought by it's efficiency; NOT by doo-dads and ice makers . . . . As far as supplying your own water; you will need a well . . and choose the pump carefully . . don't just put in whatever size everyone "usually" does . . it may be oversized. Water is heavy, and is pumped under pressure. Depending upon how deep you've got to pump it from; it can be a sizeable load. Also know that reducing your water usage will help greatly. Get a washer that uses less water / electricity . . such as the front-loader types. I guess what I'm driving at is that building a place to achieve what you want to achieve; leaves a good bit of room for style / layout etc . . . but that you'll need to include energy considerations as part of ANY plan you end up choosing. Use large eave overhangs, face/size windows appropriately, use trees freely as they can greatly reduce cooling needs. Insulate well; this help with both cooling and heating needs. And of course; smaller is better . . . a smaller amount of sqare footage, WELL thought out / planned; is more efficient and cheaper to build. Bob

I like round tables. To me, they are more friendly, seem to encourage conversation and its easier to squish in one more person. There are also wine tables - they are a little more oval in shape. === these are just comments on the design, not fatal errors You might want to know the effective size of the aisle between the island and the south wall (as drawn) containing your pantry cabinets. It's lookin' kinda 36" when the counter is included. This aisle will be a very active hallway in your kitchen - people will go in and out of the pantry cabinets. People also to/fro the refrigerator from the table seating and the stools. It's a short distance but could gum up the works in another way. Because the cabinet/ref arrangement can congest that corner (imagine the pantry open, the ref open and someone comes through the side entrance on their way to the stools), there is a pretty decent chance that the aisle in front of the range will become a hallway also. This chance is increased because dish storage in on the other side of the room - not bad in and of itself, but kids swinging through to microwave something may need to go back and forth to the dishes/water. It's hard to tell because I can't see where the microwave is located. Remedies are as simple as exchanging a cabinet in the island for one with 3-6" less width. Another would be to push back the mudroom wall 3-6". Will you have cleaning stuff in the mudroom? Do you need a mop sink there? Depending on your climate, consider cutting down the pass through to the butler's pantry in exchange for a hanging rail with hooks for outdoor wear. I'd also suggest looking yet again at the dining room/old butlers/new butlers/new exterior entries bunch of stuff. Lots of little spaces there with lotta doors and unusable space. Could it be made simpler with less doors/hall way and space devoted to transitions? The answer may be no, but that's where I'd push the designer of the entire project to reconsider. The link is to some interesting kitchens from a spanish design team called Deulonder. They pack an amazing amount of practical stuff tucked into "small" spaces. It's not so you would re-evaluate your entire project but you might see something that appeals to you for how to treat that area. The photographs are so clear that I think being able to read Spanish is optional. Here is a link that might be useful: Deulonder

Carolina Kitchen and Bath - the trash is not next to the range. There is a cabinet between the range and the window. The trash is under the sink. The distance between the wall and island is supposedly 30 inches. As there are other doorways in our home that are this wide (and some smaller) this seemed OK to us. I think the distance from the front of the range to the kitchen island was 36 inches, but I will check.