Sorry for the hiatus. Moving and working and kids - well it's a bit inconvenient. Hahaha! Appraisal today. Now the only thing left is the health department to check the drain field and water. I hope we have a closing date soon. momtoblondie-*LOVE* my doodle. :) She by the way is having the hardest time out of everyone with all of the house showing/packing/routine changing upheaval. ;) We are not fans of that funny little angle by the front door either. We will be addressing that and the windows when we meet again on Monday. I am still trying to figure out the front laundry closet area with the windows pushed together-it is a struggle. I am also pondering the kitchen layout. The mudroom however, we like. I asked for a place for lockers, a separate closet, a small 'pocket' office and to be able to close the dog in. This is what we got and I do like it: The doorway off to the right by the closet goes outside where we will have a covered porch for grilling and also where we will let the dog in and out. The doorway by the 1/2 bath leads into the kitchen area. The square footage - hmmm. It is about 300 sq foot over what we were hoping for. So we need to look at that. Likely the mudroom is a little big because I don't feel like the actual rooms are too large. But we don't have any 'extra' rooms that I feel we could ditch. We are not including the screened porch (to be finished later) and the basement (also to be finished way later) in our sq. footage 'wants'. It's about 1700 on the main floor and 550 in the upstairs. I also need to having things figured out - this has been driving me nuts. I wouldn't say you are starting to soon but yes I concur it is overwhelming and sanity breaks are needed (chocolate also helps). We didn't think our house would sell so early. Happy it did so we can start this fall BUT the plans aren't ready and so now I feel rushed which is not what I wanted at this stage. :/ I too like watching every size build. It sometimes causes my eyes (dreams) to be larger than our budget but it is exciting to watch nonetheless! I can't wait to watch your build progress as well. When are you hoping to list your home? It kind of sneaks up on you so hang on to your hat! Thank you for your kind words and blessings - right back at you. There are a few kindred police/fire spirits on here. :)

Here are some pics. Painting work is still on, so please pardon the mess and dirty floor :) We plan to put Granite Counter Tops as well and would appreciate some advice on that as well. This is the Dinning area where we have carpet now. This is the Living area right behind the dinning aread where we have carpet now. This is the oak flooring in the landing and on the stairs.

Lindsy - just saw these posts since Mark's sketch, just wanted to pop in and say I would not be worried about the garage in his sketch, I know any sort of garage out front is hated by many on this forum but apparently I am difference as I place more importance on function in the backyard than street appeal of my garage. However, I would not at all 'flip' the drive to open on the back side of the garage as you mentioned in the image where you flipped the plan. Flipping the driveway would make it a massive and awkward snout.

Thanks. Jessica C. I have to agree with Sina that the grey-white wash wood floors are still selling, but not nearly as popular as they were a couple of years ago. Here is a grey floor with natural white oak under tone for your reference.