Scrapbookheaven- I like the red, too! That's Andi's kitchen, but the red is so cheerful :) Pay it forward- Thank you. I really love the plan, it has everything we could possibly want. That being said, I finally talked to my contractor today and while we could probably do the bigger plan, it is going to be much more difficult to add on the bedroom wing to the exisiting house. So, I'm rethinking my slightly smaller plan, which is also very cute, but a little more compact. That being said, if anyone can use any ideas from this bigger plan, please feel free to do so! It's a lovely plan, but I've been rethinking the size...and the upkeep. Plus, a smaller/less expensive home would mean more money and energy for my gardens! LOL Summerfield- You are amazing and I NEVER would have gotten this far, without all your help. You are a wonderful person and I want you to know how much I appreciate your patience, ideas and talent. My contractor is completely smitten with your software and wants to know when/if it will be available, to the public :)

I think I wrote in an earlier post to you that you need to be careful about the costs of additions -- they are expensive! That was about the construction cost, not the architect's fee. I cannot say how much it should or might be but I can say that we paid $5,000 for just a structural engineer's work and towards the upper end of the range you set out for the architect -- for a 2-story addition. I'm sure there is more than one way to accomplish all of this but here's one way. First, you shop around for an architect, the same way you would for anybody else: interview, check references, look at portfolios. While I personally would not recommend design/build firms you do want to make sure that the architect you hire really has a firm grasp on construction costs. You seek to have something that could be called "phase I" drawings or "conceptual drawings" or something similar to that. These are just the ideas -- more than one but probably less than four -- and that costs you maybe 1-3 thousand. (I'm sure that if my range is wrong someone will correct me.) Once you have that, then you can obtain an estimate on the cost of construction. This is just an estimate, it's not based on what actual ppliances, flooring, etc. you will have. It is not a firm bid. Nobody is promising that this estimate is accurate. This is where things can also go very wrong. The estimate may be way lower than the actual costs will be. This is where you have to throw away your desire to hear Low Numbers and Demand that your architect give you the really bad news. If you read mightyanvil's comments it appears that he is suggesting that you have a GC involved during this whole process whose job it is to keep an eye on the costs on a consulting basis. (I think this is the idea of hiring an expert on costs to be involved which costs you more up front but keeps you out of trouble later. I have no experience with this.) If your architect doesn't know enough about construction costs he or she will be useless to you at this critical stage because this is where you decide whether you want to plunge in and hire the architect to enter the really expensive part and you need to know what the construction costs are going to be before you make this investment. Now, perhaps your addition isn't at all complicated and you just need drawings, not really anything that's the least bit of design work...I have no experience here either but perhaps someone else can advise you.

It looks like this is a split level plan. The master bedroom and the study are up 1/2 flight of stairs and the 1/2 flight of down stairs go to the basement. It looks like maybe where is says "built-ins" at the top of the "up" stairs would be a half height cabinet/partition and you can look down into the living room. There is also a pocket door at the top of the stairs that closes off the "master suite." What is odd is that you have to walk out of your master bedroom, around a corner, down a hall and through a cased opening to reach the closet. The linen closet is way over there too. Also, looking at the elevations, the study only has windows way up high - like basement windows. I would assume the secondary bedrooms are in the partial basement. It's just a little hard to tell exactly how this plan works.

Okay, I tried to be a bit more accurate in scaling, using the orange line to help (it's the same as the hallway line, 9'9"). Furniture in blue again; lamps are orange stars (I put a floor lamp between the chairs and table lamps behind the sofa, just to toss the idea out there). This arrangement could be flipped so that the chairs are in front of window and the sofa is in line with hallway (but still serving as a divider to create a bit of a foyer), if you want -- but -- the chairs won't be centered on the window. Don't know how much that would bug you. There's only about 10' between the front edge of the sofa and the TV wall, by this rendering. Any way you could verify measurements? The floor plan labels the living space as 27' wide, but if my math is correct, it's only about 20' wide (added the kitchen and dining together, and subtracted the laundry). 20' minus 5'-6' for a "foyer" pathway leaves 14'-15' for furniture. Sofa tables are, say, 1'-1.5' wide, sofas 3' wide, and yeah, that leaves 10'-11' between sofa and wall. Roughly the same distance between the window and the backs of the chairs. To make it feel more open, the chairs definitely need to be in front of the window, but it pushes the sofa into the "foyer," if the chairs are centered. I dunno.... I'd prioritize creating an entry space, so I would definitely not rotate the arrangement, putting chairs across from the TV. But that is 100% my untrained self, lol. Edited to add:Not sure how I feel about that one.... :-/