yin49, i didn't realize i could click on the photo and see more!!! live and learn. i like all of the designs u made. what program do you use? rather than repost the photo, here is the message from above (5 messages ago ... my first note to you)... the photo was taken on the patio, looking out at the pergola (as opposed to looking from the pergola back at the house). the house is on the west side of the lot, so the pergola area gets much shade ... not dense, but dappled due to the 4 pecan and 1 ash trees. i'm attaching another view of the area, as you can see ... we have much yard and open green to 'play' with. where to put medium height shrubs. there are additional photos (taken during the construction etc) on photobucket. thanks again. you are very talented! ============== first post : "Posted by letsharmonize 9 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 8, 08 at 6:35 landscapedesignchina, i'm curious what you would do with this? when you have time. we like simple designs. thank you! Here is a link that might be useful: pergola view from patio" Here is a link that might be useful:

Congrats on the new baby! Where is your kitchen now? Where will Baby sleep, until he/she is old enough to sleep alone in an upstairs bedroom? What is happening to the existing entry? Will guests enter from the end of the covered porch, into the dining room? That seems a little awkward to me. If you're turning the existing entry into a nursery, I think the new entry should be where you show "lower cabinets". Master bedroom: what's the enclosed space between bath and closet? It doesn't look big enough for walk-in closet. The little hallway to the MB is wasted space. I would flip the bath and closets so you could have a window in the bath, and the door could be closer to the kitchen. Now, about the kitchen. There are two huge issues: first, the island blocks the flow between range, sink, and fridge. Second, the range is so far from the sink. Imagine lugging a pot of boiling water and pasta from the stove to the sink, with a 4-yr-old running from the living room to the bathroom! I would flip the kitchen, so the range is on the outside wall, and put windows on each side of it. Sink/DW on the peninsula. I would put the fridge on the other side (backed against the office), along with pantry storage. The down side is that I can't figure out where you'll put your dishes, unless you can squeeze the island back in and have dish drawers.

Garages are a love-hate thing, in part because they block off natural light. By dividing your garage in this way, you're allowing this major drawback to occur on TWO sides of your house. I would consider making the boat's garage a detached unit. I share your idea of keeping the bedroom clutter-free by planning a large closet that can eliminate dressers in the bedroom, BUT this closet is oversized. I do not like the master bath. When you walk in (assuming the toilet closet door isn't open, blocking your way), you're going to have a view of . . . the closet door. The tub seems squished into a small spot, and the shower looks too narrow for comfort. Nothing about this bathroom looks inviting or comfortable. You have plenty of space between the bath and the closet, and you absolutely can lay out something better without changing the footprint. Your stairs look pretty much dead-on to me. The fold-back design is a space-hog, but it doesn't appear to be over-sized or under-sized. I like the idea of ditching the closet that backs up to the stairs and replacing it with a drop zone -- it'll be a nice size. However, I would want to harness the space under those stairs somehow. I think the kitchen is a good size -- not too big, not too small, good flow throughout -- but the pantry is too small. For this kitchen to work, you need more space, and the pantry is the best option. I'm tempted to say use the closet that backs up to the stairs as a second pantry . . . but then you don't have your drop space. I'm not in the camp of "My laundry room must be massive with all the bells and whistles", but this one is overly cramped. If a parent will eventually live in this bedroom, I don't think it's adequate. I mean, the room is fine, but the bathroom will be a problem if the parent needs a walker or wheelchair, and the sink is just plain too small regardless. I would consider a walk-in shower instead of a tub; it's easier for an elderly person to access, and you have space here to make it nice and big -- big enough for a shower chair. Also, the closet probably isn't enough for an adult. Overall, I think your functional spaces on the guest room /kitchen /casual entry area side are just too small. I think you need a couple more feet to make this all comfortable. Love the dining area and the arrangement of the kitchen and living room. Everything's connected in a comfortable way. The front porch is too narrow for real use, but it will be a nice look and will allow you to decorate for holidays (that's pretty important in my book). Concerns about this 2142 sq ft new plan that I can see, I really want to hear all the good and bad. : 1) Laundry room too small 2) No drop zone 3) Kitchen and kitchen pantry too small 4) Is the master closet too big? I have know idea how big it should be to hold all our clothes and things 5) Is the hole for the stairs too big 6) Worried we have simplified the foundation so much we will loose all character. Hoping to be able to add gables, interior ceiling features to boost up the character. 7) Master shower too little Here is the new plan offered to us from the architect:

If you give up the wall oven and use a range, you can easily move the fridge into the new section. Then make the area where the fridge was drawn into a snack/coffee center with the MW, and a small sink. It would be perfect for making a quick breakfast or a sandwich. If you don't want to look at the MW from the DR, you could hide it with doors, which is what I did in my vintage style kitchen. Deep drawers below could store small appliances. You could also put a wall oven beside the fridge in the following drawing (as in sena's illustration), with dish drawers below. You would have landing space for both the oven and fridge. I realized that the sink in your inspiration pic is off-center, so I increased the sink to 33", and decreased the trash pull-out to 12". The faucet can be centered with the window, to help disguise the fact that the sink is a few inches off. I have a 33" apron sink and 12" trash. Love both! The sink hides a lot of dirty dishes, and the trash pull-out is sufficient for our family of 5. I keep a large metal trash can in the mudroom, where I empty the kitchen trash as needed, and we compost, so YMMV. The corner by the DW could be voided, or you could have one of the pull-out storage units. You can check deedles' and arlosmom's kitchens for their corner cabinet solutions. Both are vintage style kitchens in older homes, and are two of my favorites. arlosmom's kitchen reveal and link--still makes my heart skip a beat :) deedles' kitchen reveal images--hidden MWs images--corner cabinet pull-outs