Our house is in the planning phases. I have my idea/inspiration binder and wish list, and have just started to interview architects. Are you building smaller to compensate? Yes, 2500 sq ft (max), which is small in my area for a nicer home. It is for me, DH and 3 active boys. Current house is a 3100 sq ft walk out ranch, but I'd say 90% of our time is spent on the main level which is maybe 1750 sq ft. So one could argue that we're not building smaller. This will be all on one level except for an "away" or reading loft above the main living area. Are you building with high-efficiency materials (ICFs? SIPs? Other super-insulation techniques)? Yes, depending on what can be delivered on our budget. Looking for the most bang for the buck. ICF or SIPs, geothermal heat/cool, passive solar features, concrete floors, highly insulated windows are all on our wish list. Also the ability to add features later like a wind turbine are important if they eventually would have a reasonable ROI. Want to reuse/repurpose and minimize construction waste whenever possible. Are you building closer to jobs than you otherwise might have, to reduce commuting distances? We are moving to 5 acres just outside of town. It reduces my husband's commute by 5 mins and adds 6 mins to mine. It would be a wash except it adds about 5 minutes to the time it takes to get to the grocery store and to any other in-town errands. I know one family living on five acres conspicuously contributing to suburban sprawl is not green. But there were houses already built (long ago) on either side of our parcel, and the land was not being farmed or anything before we bought it. It's been sitting there waiting for someone to build on it for years (previous owners held onto it but never built) -- so if we don't someone else will. How's that for rationalization! If you are doing any of the things I mentioned, or more / other (and please elaborate!), are you aware of so-called "Peak Oil"? Or are you doing it simply as a good investment (spend money now in the build, to reduce recurring costs)? Never heard of peak oil. We are doing this because it's the right thing to do, and certainly energy costs are not going down. Basically I don't feel a need to heat and cool space that is rarely used. We live a very informal life.

"If the path to the back door and the basement is a busy one, this isn't ideal.â It isnâÂÂt a busy one at all. People are not actively going inside/outside while I am cooking a big meal â¦or going to the basement all the time. The cooks are in there ..the others are out and socializing over the peninsula. "The sink is closer to the cook top, no walking across an aisle with pots of hot water.â How often do you really do that? We cook pasta twice a week and we have a contraption to drain the noodles by raising it up (From the pot). There maybe other times â¦.but its very seldom. "We are forever bumping into each other when we are prepping meals or when I'm cooking and the rest of the family wants snacks, drinks, or goes to set the table.â I thought about this a lot â¦donâÂÂt really see that for us. No kids. The snacks will be on the east wall with the original design. With this first layout two people can be around the stove, if necessary. I mapped out 18 inches by 27 inches to see how it would feel for a landing zone and quick light peeping â¦.felt totally fine to me. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=616269125088999&set=a.126969400685643.21359.126743994041517&type=1&theater ItâÂÂs still a toss up ⦠every photo I see its the prep space needing water source more importantly than the cook space. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=572472522801993&set=a.126969400685643.21359.126743994041517&type=1&theater I prep and just push down the dirty dishes for cleanup â¦move the prep ingredients over to the cook zone (3 steps) and cook away. For quick improvs like chopping chives etc â¦. I just do it to the left of the stove.

Given that you stated, "I have no idea what the codes are and no idea if we are even close to compliance", and you did much of the work yourselves, I am going to go out on a very SHORT limb here, and assume that you are out of compliance in lots of areas. My DH who was looking over my shoulder, said to tell you that building/electrical/plumbing, etc. codes are just the MINIMUM standard you should follow. MINIMUM!!! Did I mention that those standards are the MINIMUM? We are renovating our whole home, two kitchens, three bathrooms, five bedrooms, etc. etc.... We are doing most of the work ourselves, and I am the GC. Luckily, my DH is an electrical engineer and perhaps the most capable and educated person I know. I went to our local library and took out the Electrical code book for our province (I would assume each US State also has one). That information is invaluable and there for your protection. It is NOT Them against US. As happened to Venkatbo, we needed to get a building permit several years ago just to extend our deck. (At the time, we were pissed, cuz one of our neighbours 'turned us in', that really annoyed us) IN this case, we were ignorant, we really didn't know that we needed a permit- but the municipality was great- the inspector came to our door, told us what we had to do, and so we did it. (No penalty) In the process, we had to get our septic tank inspected (what has that got to do with our deck- we wondered?) It was a HUGE deal for DH to dig down several feet and expose the entire tank- but thank God he did! The concrete holding up the manhole had cracked and was in the process of falling into the tank- there had been some sort of lackadaisical repair job attempted with a wooden plank??? Anyhow, turns out there is a reason the municipality wants an older home inspected when a building permit is applied for- it is their way to help ensure that updated building codes get applied. It may seem like a nuisance and an unnecessary expense, but as stated before, if God forbid, you should ever have a fire, your insurance will not cover you, if they discover you have done electrical work without an inspection. I would suggest, at the very minimum, that you get ahold of your state's electrical code book (you should be able to find it at a library), and go over the work you have done. If you feel you have done everything up to code (once you have educated yourselves as to what code is), then it's up to you whether or not you decide to apply for the proper permits. Wouldn't you be able to sleep better knowing that you were safe?

Thank you all for your thoughts and ideas. Lots to consider. I think the 1/2 bath is necessary, my husband does not. We are building on a slab and the house is a one story, approx 2200 square feet when we finalize. You'd think a half bath would be easy to squeeze in, but in the plans we are looking at, it is not! Just doesn't go with the flow or requires extra square footage, or pushing the garage out. I am not fond of that option as the garage has to face forward due to the width of our building pad and having it sticking out even further does not appeal at all. We are building in California, so any extra square footage is quite expensive! Anyway I just wanted to get opinions from others to see if I was off base and I can see the consensus is about equal either way or "it depends". Thank you!