As requested earlier from Davidro who wanted to understand traffic flow, below is a whole house "sketch" which shows our first floor layout (upstairs is only a loft) and second diagram is where I'm at with regard to kitchen design after input from you guys and after Ikea consultant/designer who was at my home today gave as far as cabinets fitting. Also, from the earlier discussion, I had some confusion about whether I could relocate the washer/dryer to the hall. The contractor who visited today didn't have any problems with the relocation. It helps a lot that our foundation is "pier and beam". Moving plumbing around is a whole lot easier. New location of washer/dryer may be a bit claustrophobic in the hall way outside the bathroom but I only do laundry a couple times a week for short spurts. I'm in the kitchen a whole lot longer and since the relocation of washer/dryer is the only thing keeping me from having the kitchen layout I REALLY wanted from the beginning (barring the fact the pantry has gotten quite a bit smaller), I am a happy camper. I'm going to lie low a while and get our bathroom done and maybe a roof before I come back with any updates on the kitchen. And for anyone who is in doubt, the Ikea prices for all cabinets is half of what price was quoted for Innermost cabinets by Home Depot. And the Ikea quote includes several of the appliances though I'm not sure yet if that is how I will really go. But cabinets -yes - their prices are too good to pass up. The money we save can go for the bathroom we're getting that has a curbless shower, and several other expensive details which Ikea can't help us out on. I'll still be listening but hopefully everyone can see the aisles around the island are considerably wider (maybe even too wide with my feet problems). If I need more pantry space, I'm fairly sure that several of the drawers in the main part of the kitchen will not all be used so I can use them for pantry space spill over if there is any. THANKS AGAIN (though I will definitely be back - still need to pick out countertop/backsplash/flooring/hoodOverCooktop and make decisions about appliances..) And since I haven't marked it well, let me explain that there are upper cabinets on either side of the cooktop and also to the left of the fridge. No uppercabinets on the sides of the "cleanup sink" with the large 6 foot wide window. Think I may wait until kitchen is done and probably install some open floating shelves on either side of cleanup sink - more for esthetics than function but I think I can wait until the last minute for that. (Maybe even some art work...)

Our only experience is with plumbers. The first was a friend recommendation. We actually had them come out twice. First for a water leak where our primary wate pipe had siding nailed into it. They fixed the 3" pipe that had. Racked all the way down into the slab. Then told us our 1 1/2" pipe from the kitchen sink wasn't to code and put in 2" pipe outside the wall, inside the cabinet. Called them again when we had a gas leak where the PO had copper run under the patio slab then into the house. Settling happened and the joint completely separated. They came out and ran new copper pipe strapped to the foundation. Fast forward to our kitchen remodel. Called one that was recommended on the Next Door app. They were stunned at the length of copper run outside and said there's no way that will pass inspection. The sink drain pipe that was supposedly not to code would have been fine. The new plumbers did a reasonable job with running the new gas line in the ceiling. I'm not happy with where they drilled the holes through the ceiling joists, but that seems to be fairly common with plumbers.

His response... “I know I made your day yesterday but... you just made mine! Very thoughtful of you guys but definitely not necessary. I really do love helping people and your kind words make it all worth it. BTW, Morton’s happens to be one of my Favs! I also feel as lucky to have you guys have the trust and faith in me to build your dreams! Thank you again!” ...and then we had a 2.5 hour conversation about my kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I’m sure things will come up during the finishing stage we’ve entered, and I’m ready and willing to forgive him for mistakes that happen. At least I know the foundation and guts of this house are 100%. He’s slightly OCD so things are pretty meticulous on the job itself. As he said in the beginning, he’s likes things more perfect than most homeowners he works with, so not too worried!

Have you considered getting rid of most of those pocket doors? In the secondary bath upstairs I would eliminate the second door entirely. (First thing we do on renovation is remove that door, maybe leaving privacy wall only.) Closet doors with regular doors are more likely to be shut. They are extremely easy to screwup on install. If you really dislike clutter, use as few pockets as possible. You’ll be glad you did. With living space below the master suite- make sure you use top of the line sound proofing insulation. This is not the regular insulation. (I don’t recall brand names at the moment.) You might consider doing it everywhere. With kids rooms above living space you will want them to sleep at times when you entertain. What’s the finished height in the garage? What cars do you drive? A twenty foot garage will not hold much. (Definitely no full size truck or SUV ever.) Compact cars might not be what you drive with kids. Do you have bikes, holiday decor, gardening tools? Strollers, camping gear, hobby stuff? An additional two feet of width can make a huge difference. If a powder room was under the stairs and that mud area eliminated, you could add two feet of width in garage. I would put shoe racks in the garage-eventually pretty large racks for the kids outdoor shoes. If you can in the ADU area- frame all door openings at 36”. Consider a curb-less shower area. If you want it accessible those items are what the 70 year olds are putting in their house to age in place. Good luck. Building is always a huge journey.