I'm so glad you are wrong Sophie. The expert came today and man I'm now so relieved and can be excited again. He explained in detail to us all that he will be doing. Only thing he wants is the door off and will be put back on later. He showed the last ten he did just last month alone. In his 27 years has had only one he had to come back and fix that he did about 17 years ago, but he said the products now are so much better. He said it's a fantastic plan (and view

What is the full size of the living room as I can't read the measurements? I am still thinking on ARG's suggestion for the screen porch but if I were to add it to the south side of the family room, would you still suggest moving the fireplace? I think adding the screened porch to the south side of the house would lose you more than you'd gain. I think you really need to bring that light in. I wouldn't put the screened porch on the south side at all. I think it would completely darken your house. If you want to do anything, one thing I'd consider is to wrap the deck around to the south side and then maybe add a pergola. This way the light still gets through but it helps protect a bit during the summers. BTW: I love the idea you have for the screened porch and I think ARGs idea fits your vision perfectly. It almost becomes an extension of your living room and dining room the way he's designed it. More space that when opened becomes indoor/outdoor space. Plus since the back of the house faces east, you're not going to lose any light by placing the screened porch there except in the early morning. Would it not need to stay where it currently is to provide a focal point or an anchor to the design of those 2 rooms. Does that make sense? In reality, how often will you use the fireplace? (And I ask that question knowing that I put a fireplace in my SW Florida home. LOL) I think if done right the windows and/or doors out to the south of the house could become just as much of a focal point from the kitchen and dining room. Maybe even more so because people are naturally drawn towards light. If you anchor your furniture in an L shape facing the outside and the fireplace on the west wall, I think you'll be fine. How about beautiful french doors? Or sliders? Or?

Remove the shutters which don't fit the double window. Hang a pergola over the garage door at the same height as the top of the window frame on the opposite side for balance. Beef up the trim around the garage door to match that on the windows. Repaint your dormer white, or you might match it to the roof color. Hang new shutters on those dormer windows, but not louvered style. Black ones if you paint it white, and white ones if you match the roof color. Remove the block border of the bed on the left and curve the bed around in front of the porch and along the drive. Move the evergreen shrubs around to the left side of the house. Proven Winners has some dwarf flowering shrubs you should consider for under the double window, and right of the porch. Increase your porch lantern size to 1/3 of the door's height. It and the mail box should be black. You might paint door and its trim and the garage door black too, but wait until the other things are complete to decide.

We are currently remodeling our bathroom and thinking through the design of our next one (this is a temporary home, we already own land to build on but a mortgage was cheaper than rent here ;) ). Features I am installing here that I have used in other bathrooms - LIT MEDICINE CABINETS! Oh my these are wonderful. Great ring of light for makeup and smart storage of toiletries, easily accessible. BOTTOM OF LINEN CLOSET IN BATHROOM SIZED TO HOLD A LAUNDRY BASKET. Keeping it tucked away inside the storage cabinet by the sink streamlines the flow. PLUGS IN THE CABINET AND A DRAWER OR TWO. I know we aren’t the only people with electric toothbrushes, curling irons, electric razors, etc. I had my husband install a plug on the middle shelf of the aforementioned linen cabinet and a bank of plugs inside a drawer on each side of the vanity for charging these things safely and keeping the countertop uncluttered. Remember that bathroom plugs need to be arc fault protected GFCI, and that goes for the ones in furniture, too. TIMER ON THE BATHROOM FAN. I love love love having the timer option on my fans so I can set them for awhile, leave the room, and let them exhaust without running for hours on end. Simple and convenient. **** Now as you can see none of these is particularly costly. They just make the bathrooms live well, and smartly, without requiring excess space or even fancy materials. I used several of these features in the kids bath of this house already and they add so much custom home convenience without some weird premium. And since this house is small and has a ton of people (we have seven kids), every inch of space needs to work hard for us. These upgrades are ones worthwhile. Sure, at the next place we’ll also have radiant heat throughout, a bathroom that is fully accessible and easily cleaned, bigger closets, etc. But it is these little things that make the most difference between a drywall palace mass produced tract home and a true custom job. The thoughtfulness and usefulness.