An out of the box idea came to me about your house: there are amazing wonderful inexpensive solid wood furniture that are sold in these stores that sell Asian (usually from Thailand, China, and Indonesia). These are usually made of teak or Asian oak that are very light in color. They are really durable tropical wood. I actually have a bench by my front door made from reclaimed wood from a torn down building in China. The scale of these furniture is amazing. My bench is made of 6 inch thick pieces of wood. What about using some of these pieces of furniture to make unfitted unique kitchen in your house. Crate and Barrel is selling alot of furniture with this wood. The colors would be absolutely stunning with your light stone floor. (They look like unpolished slate) The texture would also look great since the grains in these wood are slightly rougher and you leave it as is. This will bring in the tropical theme since they are truly the Asian tropical origin. I am not a fan of palm frond, teal and coral tropical decor that you see in rental condos.

I do have an architect, a full set of plans with everything you mentioned - of course I needed all of this before I went through the planning and building process which is very intense/extensive here. Basically, what it boils down too, is that I can't pay other 'experts' for fixing mistakes that should have never been made and this was what was happening. I did try this strategy initially. The changes I am doing are rather small (except for the one above- that did change quite a bit- and I worked with both the structural engineer and the GC when we made that change). If I explained in full what I have changed, fixed, made to code etc- I think you would understand the situation. My main problem is that I didn't look at these drawings (especially the interior flow) soon enough. This was such a dumb mistake on my part and I'm kicking myself again and again for it. Overall I find the feedback here is helpful- I often ask architects direct questions on houzz and am amazed that some of the most highly respected firms reach out and answer them promptly and in detail. Crisp Architects and Heydt Architects are great examples. And with a good GC- you can go very far if you have some design experience. I realize my experience could have been completely different but we've had a lot of mistakes (that I attribute to the crazy work environmental, new inexperienced hires, sloppiness, and subcontracting out our project) and a bit of greed mixed in. That is how it turned out and I am dealing with it. I believe my involvement in my house will make it all the more special, even if it's not perfect.

(Edited) Klara: Really nice terrace. Like your paver choice. You'll enjoy your new / newly enhanced outdoor living area more if it is both attractive and low maintenance. For decoration, you might consider short pillars made of the same stone as plant stands. Pillars could also be used for seating. If there is an area where you don't want people or pets to walk down the embankment either for safety sake or to protect the lawn from traffic that could cause erosion, you could create two (or more) pillars with treated boards between them as seating to "block" that path -- directing traffic to your new steps with a pillar on each side and, perhaps, a metal bird bath on one and a sun dial on the other. If the power goes out and the pump fails? If you're still putting outdoor steps in, you could have the steps/walkway fork at curb or knee wall height. A curb or knee wall to block that water would be a worthwhile investment to protect your new room -- or two new rooms. Another idea would be to enclose the area beneath that overhang and floor it a (waterproofed) step (or two) higher than the driveway to create a new downstairs entry -- large enough for a coat closet as well. You'd have a "sunken" living room downstairs -- step down from the new entry into the new family room. Another budget friendly idea or two: Consider making your new upstairs build (at least initially) a carport with a storage room on the far side of it and a covered breezeway between the parking space(s) and your home. You get the storage of the garage, shelter for your vehicle(s) -- at a lower cost so you may be able to shelter two vehicles) and shelter for you to walk from your vehicle(s) to your home -- without the expense of finishing the four side of a garage until your budget enables you to enclose it the way you want to do so As long as you have another living room upstairs: Since the downstairs has plumbing, the downstairs room could become an efficiency apartment you rent to seniors so you can increase your budget for other things quicker..

I think you could simply drop the height of the skirt board to eliminate the interference; it's height doesn't have to match anything. I'm assuming the finished skirt board would be constructed as a lamination of multiple layers of the material shown in the photo (a single ply would look silly.) If you're planning to stain it, the skirt board should be the same wood species as the treads. Another alternative is to eliminate the skirt and install a small piece of cove moulding at the intersection of the stair treads and risers and continue it around against the wall at the tread/wall intersection. It should be the same species as the treads and stained to match. A trim carpenter capable of building curved stairs is no slouch. As them for their ideas and ask them to do a mock up or two to help you visualize the ideas they come up with.