We are still discussing the vent. Interestingly the appliance guy at Lowe's (who surprisingly knew at least a few things) said dryer vent runs of greater than 8 feet were "illegal" - I assume he meant against code - and they wre not "allowed to sell them" - although he assumed lots of things might go on after the fact! We discussed our options and DH said we could just vent to the attic and build a small bow with a mesh screen to catch the lint - I said pantyhose, that would screen perfectly - both he and the appliance looked at me as if I had lost my mind, then both slowly said, yeah pantyhose would work great. I wouldn't HAVE to dry the comforter in the ventless dryer, I have a large Hettie dryer in the laundry room, I just have to lug it over there. Thanks for the sizes, the Lowe's guy said about the same thing. Course, he had neer heard of a heater in a washer!

Hi cj47 We really like our EL wahser/dryer and have had zero problems. On the washer we usually add extra water to the cycles just to get a better wash and rinse. To tell the truth we haven't tried it without the extra water but we've heard people complain about other front loaders and that they wish they had the option to add more water. We leave the washer door open when we're not using it so the door gasket dries out. Also we'll occasionally wipe the gasket and glass in the door with used towels as we put them in the washer and we haven't had any strange smells from the door gasket. The washer uses very little detergent. I suggest you use less than recommended by Electrolux. The dryer has been great too. I've used the steam freshen cycle to take the wrinkles out of clothes I want to wear but are not yet dirty (or not too dirty to wear!). This worked well. Our contractor and plumber scratched their heads at why we needed a water supply for the dryer... The programming is super easy. My wife usually doesn't like programmable controls but after the first couple of tries she has not had any problem with them, or with the electronic wave touch controls on the Electrolux Icon double ovens. Good luck! Billy

We went from a King to a Queen. We downsized houses and our Master bedroom is smaller. The King just ate up the room and I also HATED putting sheets on the King. To make it easier to figure out which side was the top/bottom or side/side of the fitted sheet, I got sheets that had an up and down pattern. I decided to get the Queen and we personally like it so much better! We got a flanged bed from Wayfair-it is a platform-upholstered headboard and all the way around-so no sharp corners and is very sturdy. Hubby is 5'10 and I'm 5'4" so we fit in the Queen really well.

If the house isn't centered on the lot, how much room do you have and on which side? Can you draw the entire lot with the house and add dimensions? Which direction does the porch face? South? North? Are you removing the roof to make vaulted ceilings? You said you are from the south, but have you ever lived with vaulted ceilings? I live in Oklahoma, and I hate my high ceilings. So hot in the summer and cold in the winter. I also have an open floor plan with kitchen, dining room, and great room that was made out of two different porches, a living room, and a kitchen. I don't know what the previous owners were thinking. They had to put two manufactured beams and one steel I-beam in the open area. The old porches had different kinds of ceilings and different heights of ceilings. We spent $20,000 on a new 35 ft beam to get rid of the choppiness that people have been mentioning. Putting the new beam in caused other issues that had to be fixed, so more money was spent just on structure! I would not get rid of the porch. It makes the house look inviting. It keeps the house from looking like a box. Your contractor said he could add a shower only and demo the porch, dig foundations, add walls, concrete footings, match the siding, paint the entire exterior of the house, install drywall, doors, moldings, paint all of the living room, dining room, and kitchen, and run new electrical wiring for the front add on, lights, shower stall, plumbing, and whatever else I did not mention. Add a new front porch enclosure, raise the roof for vaulted ceilings, remove the kitchen wall which you really need to keep in place.....it is going to snowball. And...you need $10k in new windows because the old ones are shot. He will do this for $20,000? Every time we started a project in our current house, it always cost us more than the estimate. A lot more. Our new siding was $9200 more. The upstairs remodel went from $3200 to $12,000. They don't know what is under what they are taking out, so the estimate is their best guess if nothing goes wrong like a rotting porch. Are all the other homes around you larger than yours? Have they all been enlarged or updated? You need to think about the area and whether or not your home will have a comparative value. If your home becomes the Taj Mahal in the neighborhood, you may never get your money out of it once you sell. How old are your kids? Will they be leaving home within the next five years? 10? 15? Kids can deal with sharing a bathroom with you. I think the king sized bed may have to go because you don't have a place for storing things like holiday decorations, etc. I didn't see a garage, anyway. When you start removing walls like the dining room wall, you start losing places to put furniture and end tables with lamps. Your kitchen will have less wall space if you remove the wall. You could probably fit a small table and chairs on that wall. Since you bought it, I assume you will want to move in soon. I would start with necessary things like new windows. Everything else is just "wish-I-could-have". You really must live in it for a while to know where best to spend your money. Once you live in it, you may find that the heat/ac need replaced, or the hot water tank, or the plumbing needs repaired, or the roof leaks..... Don't hire a contractor until you know for sure that nothing else needs repaired or replaced. Live in the house for a while. I live in a fairly cheap state for building costs, and all of your plans would cost $80,000-100,000 here. My 15 windows cost $18,000. Ask your contractor if you could "go up". I don't know if your walls and foundations could support a second floor or not, but I have always heard that is much cheaper to go up since you don't do any ground work. Maybe that has changed though... Congratulations on your new home! When you start remodeling, post the pictures so we can all celebrate with you! Your kids will love having their own bedrooms and love the front porch, too! That is my favorite! I love the detailed woodwork!