We built off Cool House plan chp-31382. Not a 'farm house plan' and has an attached oversize garage. The nice thing about an attached garage is with any luck, you can orient it on the west side of the house to 'hide' a sustantial part of the house behind it to minimize solar heat gain. One reason we picked this plan was the all hip roof that is stronger and gets an insurance discount here in hurricane country. Also, I wanted to go with a single level home as it's easier to manage heat gain. A 2 story is difficult to manage window and wall heat gain like you can do with a single story with oversize eaves. A metal roof or radiant barrier in the attic can compensate for the extra roof area with the single story. We've ended up with a 2000 sq ft home with an average $130 power bill (includes pumping from well). 10 foot ceilings and heat recovery unit on A/C also helps. I'd suggest you spend some extra time researching all the little things that can add up to substantial energy bill savings as you narrow your plan search. Good luck, Gary

Kelleg,I'm not too familiar with the show, so Im not sure and Ive found hgtv's web site to be pretty user "unfriendly" so Im having a hard time finding it for you. I saw the show in November of 2007. There is a slideshow on her website (linked above in my original post) and the pic of the kitchen is about the 17th picture. I have the episode taped. There must be a way to view the episode online, Im just not that internet savvy, I guess to find it. LOL It was funny when she called me because I felt like a movie star was calling me LOL, since I have so much respect for what she did to that amazing home. You've got to check it out.

Houseful-thanks for all the detailed pictures! So cool how you have transformed that space! This house is in Arcadia, we are currently in the East Valley. So...one thing we are playing with is the idea of keeping the original flooring. That requires moving as few walls as possible to keep repairs/replacements to a minimum. So that is informing the following ideas: I am currently toying with the idea of having a doorway from the library to the kitchen that lines up with the doorway to the dining room. With both the kitchen/library and kitchen/dining walls being half walls opened up above the lower cabs, if that makes sense. So I could see out the dining room windows at a sink and the library window at a cooktop possibly. Lining up the doorways would direct traffic through the kitchen but maybe that would be okay since my work area would be all on one side of the doorways? If we did this you would be able to see the backyard from the library and view out the front from the dining room... Rosie-the garden room was not built according to the plans and is just a room with a huge skylight...I was thinking of keeping it, but with half walls so when you enter the house you can see through it to the back windows...I was thinking of making it a small play room with a couch under the skylight. (Skylight is quite long and narrow along the wall opposite the door). A friend of mine has a reading couch under a skylight and it is magical to stretch out and read there during rainstorms... I like the idea of the kitchen in the middle, I think...Now, it is desirable to do less for the flooring reason, but I want to think big and I would love ideas that grab space from anywhere, really. We are mere days into months of planning so my initial thoughts may change dramatically. I would love to tear out as little as possible but I am open to considering it nonetheless!

Check out these modern dining room photos on houzz and see if anything catches your eye. https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2105 Here is a google search for modern industrial dining rooms. https://www.google.com/search?q=modern+industrial+dining+rooms&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi68MK5_ZDYAhXF4yYKHV9DCF4QsAQI3wE&biw=1440&bih=712