Just a little eye rolling left! Second floor is important should guide your decision. Some units vibrate less than others due to the type of suspension - someone help me out here, but I believe a washer with a "hanging" type suspension will vibrate less. Also, with a second floor you have to worry about leaks destroying your house. Two things will help you never have to deal with this. Have your plumber install "Burstbuster" valves and use Floodchek hoses (google both to find them). Do not use hoses that come with the machine or that you can buy at the home center. They are inferior. Burst washing machine hoses can release hundreds of gallons of water and are the second top reason for home insurance claims (first - leaking fridge ice maker plumbing). You don't want to turn your stairs into a water fall. Please whatever washer you buy, be smart with a few ounces of prevention. The Floodchek hoses are superior and the likelihood of them leaking or bursting is far less than standard hoses. If they ever do leak, the Burstbuster will detect the water and shut off the valves thereby saving your house and thousands and thousands in damage.

We agree about the workroom being in the south area and the bedroom in the north area. Plus, it makes since to have the bedroom and clothes closets close to each other. Hopefully, Ill have room for a window seat with storage underneath in the south area. This could also be used when company come over. Ill just have to remember to keep my table cleared off! There is no sink in the laundry area. We had thought about adding one where door #1 would go, but cant remember why we gave up on the idea. Probably so we could put door there instead of in south area. We had thought of a murphy bed, but felt it still wouldnt give us any extra space. You have to leave the area clear that the bed opens into. Wish there was some way to lift the bed high, like a loft, for space underneath. There is the unused attic in the current workroom, but dont know if it can be made into a loft. Plus, my health is not that great for climbing stairs. However, will discuss with husband about the possibilities. Im not sure if the workroom/living area wall is a load-bearing wall. Before the garage was added on, it was just a large one car lean-to, with a dirt floor. The only room with cement was the workroom. Garage isnt even a year old. This shows that this whole situation came about rather suddenly. Otherwise, my sister would have planned on accommodating all of this. She didnt even have heating ducts run into the garage, which we now have to do. The north wall between the possible bathroom and workroom is the current outside wall. If we can make use of that, instead of tearing it down to expand the workroom, Im sure it would be cheaper. It was mentioned that we add on going east from the workroom, to the edge of the patio, and then south to the house. That would be an 8 x about 20 room, encompassing the outer walls of the kitchen and current bathroom. However, as nice and as much as I would like that, Im sure its going to be well over $10,000 and unaffordable. What ever were going to do, it needs to be completed by Sept. for us to move in. Im getting so discouraged over this, that Im about ready to hang two hammocks and put everything else in storage! Sorry about that burst! You have all been so great and I appreciate the suggestions. OK, back to the questions!! The 5 bump out is only proposed. Nothing has been done to the garage for us to move in. Right now, its just one large room with a cement floor, the existing workroom at its north end, and the laundry area. All of the walls and ceiling are dry walled and painted white. One window on west wall, one window on north wall in workroom (both have to be replaced), and an automatic garage door. Because the cement flooring is about 8-10 inches thick, we were told it would be too expensive to rip it up to put in pipes, etc. Id rather not sell the fireplace as it was a Christmas present, so still new. Dont know if mounting TV on wall will work, as its really heavy. I agree with you about the cabinets. I dont think there can be too many! I looked at the sites you sent on HGTV and it gave me some ideas. No, were not set on laminate flooring; just something that would be cheaper but not look or "be" cheaper. Yes, we have a craigs list in our area and I check it daily. We also have a habitat resale store and a large salvage yard full of doors, cabinets, etc. Weve already picked out a few things, but dont want to start buying blindly before we have a confirmed floor plan. Ill try to get a before picture so you have some idea of what Im working with. Thank you all so much! You are helping me to hang on to what little sanity I have left!! lol :)

hollysprings- The entire perimeter is stained. Fridge cabinets are stained. My question is whether or not all of the stained cabinetry on that wall along with the stained door will look good. The island is paneled. Right now we have a peninsula which is a huge bottleneck when my husband and I are in the kitchen together. I find it to block traffic completely. With an island we can both work in the kitchen with each of us having an end to "escape" instead of run into each other every time we move. I don't have a problem with seeing the island from the front door. No way around seeing some of my kitchen from the front door anyways. No backpacks at my house any more as the kids are grown. Never any briefcases. My purse hangs on the basement door in question. The laundry room/mudroom/garage entry is the first door off the hallway next to the kitchen and that's the dumping ground.

Why are you showing your architect how to change the house? I did that with my guy but my guy was nothing more than a CAD draftsman so I had no choice but to be quite clear what I wanted. As for your changes? Your kitchen will be VERY DARK. There is no natural light. Same with the living room. Pantries don't belong on outside walls. Closets don't belong on outside walls, especially not corners where you couild have natural light from two directions. Clothes get ruined from light. What is the wasted empty space behind the shower? Your useable space in the living room will be the width of the fireplace and bookcases and 5' from the edge of the island. The rest is pathways. Again, walk in closets can't be 4' wide because you need 2' for hanging clothes and then you need 3' for walking into and turning around in the closet. How large is your lot? Which direction does the front of the house face? Why do you think you're limited to this layout?