Here's a ventilation trick for an OLD IT person. When you want to stack components and the idiot manufacturers put their ventilation holes on the tops or bottoms? Or you have very little space? Take a dry sponge and cut it into sections. (It's easier to cut when wet, though.) Use the pieces of sponge as "footers" for stacking your pieces. The nice thing is that sponge also absorbs black felt marker... Twist ties or they make a black plastic tubing thing that controls cords, too. Catalogs such as Harriet Carter sell them for very little, so don't pay much. But of course, I'd wait until you get the correct piece! ROTFL! That's something I'd do. But I'll bet they're both beautiful. :) Christine

The pieces are basically drawn to scale - I used AutoCad, then Illustrator, then Photoshop. Plus I measured most of the pieces. The wing chairs are probably slightly different in size. I just made them 3' square. The round table may be 2" bigger. The glass table may look goofy there too. The entry door is just below left corner of drawing. The right lower corner of living room is closer to hall to bedrooms and arched entry to dining room and kitchen. That's why I was trying to have stepdown entrance closest to lower right because it would be a shorter walking distance to rest of house. I wanted leather sofa centered directly across from entertainment center. It might be the architect in me that likes to create a line of sight. All this stuff may fit in drawing but once in the room it may not work. I will try what you suggest if this layout does not work.

Blame it on the contractor, not the pipes themselves. In a cold climate, the exhaust vent pipes of any vent like the bath vent or kitchen vent should ALWAYS be insulated. Otherwise, when the moist warm air hits the smooth cool metal (and it should be rigid metal, not flex duct)you will get condensation, just like your iced tea glass in summer. You also need to check for moisture issues in and around the ducts since he didn't insulate. Running the vent may aggravate any moisture issues. It might be better to just let the taps run a bit to keep them from freezing. Believe it or not, we're having to do that down here well below the Mason Dixon. 9° this morning down in the holler.

Your drawing is on the right track. Mullions in the windows, longer windows, and changes of color and material will make a huge difference. But you are also on a tight budget. Work on getting the one or two upgrades that will give you the most bang for the buck now, and leave the rest as projects that you can do after you move in. Landscaping, shutters, premium fixtures, etc. can be bought later with cash, so they are not part of the mortgage, and that's cheaper in the long run. Also you are not under quite as much pressure-- fewer decisions up front. Just tell yourself it's "good enough for now." One thing that has not been mentioned is architectural roof shingles. These are thicker, with a much heavier texture, than the basic grades. They read as quality, and you have a lot of roof there, so cheap will not look good.