Well it is often a preference thing but 99% of people probably prefer 9 foot ceilings at least in the open areas. I am a bit of a real estate junky and I also rent vacation homes - many of which are old and have 8 foot ceilings. I am 6'1" so that jades me a bit. We have 11 ft in great room/kitchen, 10 in other downstairs areas and 9 for bedrooms. It is a large house so those proportions work. We have a vacation home with 8 foot bedrooms and that works well - and they are small rooms. That house has 10 ft open great room - and that works well. Higher ceilings allow a much better view and better sun light into a room. Even tall windows can't compensate. The larger the room with 8 foot ceilings, the darker it will be. Some people like dark but most don't. I personally like darker bedrooms so the 8 ft ceilings can work there. We were just at a rental house with 8 foot ceilings in a large room and we couldn't get over how dark it was. Lights on during the day is just a shame. You mention heating. You have a design with a very deep overhang on the south side of the house. That decision will cost far more in heating than an extra foot in wall height. An extra foot in wall height means an extra 12% in wall losses. In my house wall losses are about 20% of heating losses so the extra foot is roughly 2% extra heating. A good southern wall of glass can easily save 50% on heating costs. You have a design of a dark house with that overhang also. You only allow northern light into the open area. Northern windows only hurt in regards to heating. They also give the least sunlight into the house. Add in 8 foot ceilings and it is going to be dark. And for some more completely unsolicited advice - 30 inch deep counters make overhead space harder to reach. And windows at 1 foot above the floor have to be tempered by code and that is roughly double the cost. Code (everywhere?) requires that windows need to be 18 inch above the floor or they must be tempered. Building on a slab yet you are concerned about heating? I am wondering where you are building. Generally, slabs are used in the South where heat is in excess. Where I live in mixed climate, slabs are used in the most basic of construction - typically townhomes. In a colder area, locating ductwork for HVAC is harder to do with a slab. You can do it of course but it is harder. I could ramble on and on about this but that is a different topic.

We have 10' ceilings in our living room, 11' in the entry and formal dining, and then 8' everywhere else (except for a 9' tray in the master). We are planning a new build, and I most definitely want 10' in the living room again. I would like to have 9' ceilings in the kids' rooms so that my boys have a little more headroom above their bunkbed. I'm thinking about framing down some areas to 8' (like the laundry and powder room), but if that adds too much cost, I may not worry about it. Though, it would possibly give a little extra room for the HVAC to run between floors as we will build on a slab (we're in the south). A friend of mine has a 2-story house with 9' ceilings everywhere on the lower level. It feels good in her kitchen and dining room, but it feels too high in the laundry room and too low in the living room. One of the plans I'm considering is the Stone Creek by Mitch Ginn, and it has 9' ceilings throughout (I will look into getting them changed to 10' if we go with it). There's a good thread here for people building that plan. I believe most have kept the 9' ceilings, and I know for sure that at least one has put transoms over the interior doors. Here's a link to that thread: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/has-anyone-built-the-mitch-ginn-southern-living-stone-creek-dsvw-vd~3183196

jimandanne_mi & all, They say pictures are worth 1,000 words so I have posted a whole bunch of pics to help answer questions, like what is outside the windows, what are the current views, etc. Also, all of the furniture will be replaced so no need to work that into any plan. Most of this stuff came from my apt 10 years ago. Its mostly modern & we have gone more the other direction. The DR pics also show the other pieces of furniture that will be eliminated but house stuff. If you need any other pics let me know but I tried to capture all of the other rooms. DISCLAIMER: The house is a mess :). Link to Album - Containing House Pics To answer some of your other questions: FIREPLACE: If we were talking woodburning, then I can possibly see an inside wall to keep the flue warm, etc. This will be a direct vent gas fireplace and thus is highly efficient regardless. If I put it in the location you proposed, I would have to vent straight up through the attic and roof. More costs and if I ever decide to tear the roof off and build up (hopefully one day), then the chimney will be difficult to work around. I have also posted a pic of what the view would be if I flanked the fireplace on the outside wall with windows, incorporating maybe window seats on either side. I was thinking of windows because you will see the wall is entirely mirrored now and they create the illusion of a bigger room. Putting windows there would help keep this illusion. It did wonders in my master bedroom (i.e. pic of the rear house and the large triple DH windows on the outside wall - upper left). TABLE: The architect came up with that on his own. probably to fit what he created. My existing DR table is 42" wide but will not be used in the new kitchen. DORR TO DECK/WINDOWS: I will be willing to put windows/doors wherever they will work best. BMOREPANIC: With what you said, regarding space, I am then back to either one of your original suggestions OR reversing of the kitchen (U layout), which then closes you off from the LR. Would have been better if the opening to the LR could be farther down on that plan more towards the FP so then you are more in the middle on the LR and not so secluded. But that can't work because of the fridge/DO & Table. The only other things I have seen other do in my type of house/kitchen was like Plan D, with a peninsula which gives you that extra space and place to place serving dishes, etc but is a bottleneck with fridge or ovens, etc. On your original plans you elaborated on the second one more of the first. What goodness am I giving up on your plan A vs B? What are the benefits of A vs B? Does it make sense to sort of combine Plan A & B and put the counter run along the outside wall, giving more counter & cabinet space and having the island w/ nothing on the wall between the kitchen/ LR? Then any traffic that enters the room, from the hall goes down that side of the island and stays away entirely from the cooking area to get to the table. In plan A you had to walk through and then around the island to get to the table. Maybe put the fridge on the end of the run closest to the table. Well I am supposed to be working today but again getting nothing done ;).

Keep existing structure, complete gut the space, new footer(s) inside existing structure, load bearing structure above those, floor joists above that, subfloor and refinishing. Have engineered plans/permits before starting. Basically an insulated and interior crawlspace below the new floor when done. Have access to down there, you could use it for storage also. Not impossible. Plenty of work but not impossible. Sounds like it would need a big reno anyhow from description. Just more work than a standard DIY gut and redo due to structure work involved. This is something a GC and crew normally does. This does give you a chance to make it how you want it. Hopefully selling price reflects the need for a large reno. what unexpected or nasty surprises did you encounter? I have found a lot of things in my current house where I ask myself, what were they thinking? So you will probably find a fair amount of stupid behind the walls. When I redid the drain system, there was an old 1-1/2" drain line from the kitchen that had so much gunk built up there was maybe 1/2" left for actual draining. Also the electrical was mix of grounded and ungrounded wire, and tons of junction boxes in the basement, I redid all that mess. Found a lot of the wire nuts where the wires were loose or arcing was happening and it welded the wires and nuts together, at least they used junction boxes or the house probably would have burned down... In laundry area, an ungrounded range receptacle was used instead of a grounded dryer receptacle even though the wire they used did have a ground. At the panel the fuse was rated at 30A so it was safe, just annoying I had to get a different cord to plug it in when I moved in. I eventually changed out the outlet for future owners... Oh yea that old fuse box the main fuse connection started arcing! Talk about fire hazard! So that was replaced with a breaker panel. Also in the laundry room the washer standpipe was a 2 inch that went into that same 1-1/2" from the kitchen with a vent tee instead of a sanitary tee... (so much fail). It now has its own vent and drain to the soil stack. Higher radon level than wanted, had to add active mitigation. Kinked gas line multiple places... Bath vent in attic went to above a soffit grate so 'some' moisture went outside but some got in attic. Not enough attic ventilation. Lots of other stuff, but cant remember it all lol.