Bathroom drawer outlets, in my opinion, are not safe and are one of several apogees of sacrificing safety for style. If you are separating lighting and receptacle circuits, save yourself some space in your panel and put more than one room's lighting on a single circuit. One circuit dedicated to one room's lighting is unnecessary unless you're dealing with a huge amount of lighting (like one room I'm dealing with soon, not in my house, which needs 4 to 5 circuits for lighting, two just for one chandelier!). Think about running 12/3 (for 20 amp circuits) or 14/3 (for 15 amp circuits) from a switch box to receptacles in living areas. That way, you have the choice of a switched receptacle at any location in your room in the future, even if you don't need it at the time. Three conductor cable has black, white and red conductors plus a grounding conductor. Consider also running 12/3 or 14/3 (again, depending on the circuit size) between your switches and light fixtures in the event that you may install a ceiling fan later on and want to control and fan and light independently. Think about your home entertainment system and also computer and TV locations throughout the house. Consider also running conduit or the appropriate pipe between floors to pull through cables if needed in the future.

Your question is a common one and an important one: what advice before meeting with an architect. As a retired architect, my suggestion is to prepare a written list, for which you and your spouse fully agree, that includes: 1) your Needs; 2) your Wants. Needs are very different from wants, so be sure you understand and agree on the two categories. If you have important furniture, fixtures or equipment that you want to include in the new design, identify them and their dimensions as part of your written list. After that, there's really nothing else that a consumer can usefully do. Your photo above, for example, is just a common builder's house, which resembles every other builder's house across the U.S. It doesn't help an experienced and creative architect, except to forewarn them that they have a creative challenge ahead. You must communicate your interests and aesthetic tastes to your architect, but after that allow her/him to use their own experience and ability to explore early, schematic designs with you and your spouse to arrive at an agreeable design to pursue and finalize. Many consumers make a major mistake by taking photographs (like yours) to the architect and, from the beginning, limit the architect's ability to create something responsive and unique to your needs, site and budget. I hope you (and others reading this) are interested in maximizing what your architect can provide for you. Good luck on your project.

We seem to have 2 threads going. This is what part of what i posted on the other thread in ans to SanddNY's ? There is a dunkin donut shop at 15 W Main Street aka Montauk Highway. I will post this information on the other thread and see who responds how about 10:30 meeting time? Please answer if ytou will be able to make it. Marci

Just some additional thoughts: - You have a large pantry, open it to the kitchen (not the laundry room). Based on the size of the pantry, can you save cost by removing some of the cabinets? - Close off the wall between the laundry room and the pantry, move the washer/dryer to that wall. That way you can use all the space closest to the door for a drop zone. - I'm thinking the kitchen still needs work, but there is enough space there to re-work as needed. That seems to be a long run between the fridge and sink (over the usual span that the "kitchen triangle" theory specifies. - I am a fan of having the fridge in an easy-to-access location from where the table/living area is. In this case you are creating a bottleneck if people are preparing food and getting drinks. - Sorry for not being specific in my last comment. The power room is not bad against the front window, it is the master bath I was specifying. People are in/out of the powder room. You are going to be walking around in the master bath after a shower (thus needing to keep the blinds shut all the time). The smaller powder room would create an opportunity to add a front closet near the stairs. - I'm not a big fan of benches around tables. Major hassle when someone wants to get in or out. It would seem you have extra room in that area, why not make it larger so a full table will fit? Now would be the time (at design time). - Why not flip the closet in the upstairs room where the bonus room connects. At least if you flipped the closet you could be prepared to create an entry to that space from the hallway.