@D.L. Thanks for the advice. I did add windows to the left side of the house. I will do what can be done to stagger them from the neighbor's windows. I will use obfuscating glass for the bathrooms, but clear glass for Bedroom B. I had thought about clerestory windows, skylights and solar tubes for adding light but did not incorporate any of those ideas. Now that you bring it up I will look at where I can add clerestory windows. However, I have concerns regarding leakage from and cleaning of skylights. And I have heard that solar tube lighting can be harsh?? I am still thinking about how best to address the kitchen storage issue. I will look into your suggestions and play around with moving walls and the refrigerator. Maybe I am focused on the wrong thing but I am used to seeing kitchens with upper cabinets. I think it would look odd to have a kitchen that size with 9' ceilings and no upper cabinets. Once I have the rooms in the right place and about the right size I will post in the room specific forums to nail down the details. I was going to go a different route with the drop zone and buy or build 4 cabinets that would line up perpendicular to the garage door wall. That would provide a little separation/definition of the Cafe and Sun room areas. I would like to have a formal entrance but I don't think there is enough space if the doors are centered. That is why I pushed it to a corner. Later we could add a half wall and a column or two [or whatever] to create a small vestibule, if we felt like we just had to have a formal entrance. With respect to centering the dining room doors, I was trying to achieve what @yellowducky is proposing without having to add more hall space. By having the doors offset to the right and the table pushed left I was hoping to create an implied aisle way. Obviously, I need to rethink it. Finally, I agree with you. If I had unlimited amounts of money to spend I would hire an architect, and a Girl Friday, and a Body Guard, and a Personal Trainer, etc. :) @lori_inthenw_gw Point taken. @yellowducky I totally agree with you about the stairs. I originally had them orientated that way but I was concerned about the head room at the top of the stairs due to the slope of the roof. Also having them orientated the way you suggest requires a hallway running from the end of the top of the stairs back to the Master Bedroom wall. I will do the calculations to see if there is enough headroom. I will also work on the other items you point out. My square footage goal is more than 3000 but less than 4100, excluding garage. Maximum of 3000 on the first level.

HI, I ended moving it 36 inches and I now have 54 inches between the wall and the counter/stools. The island counter is 51 inches and the space between the counter and the cooktop is 40 5/8 inches To note, the counters next to the concrete wall are 25 1/4 inches

Rachel please do yourself a favor and ignore DE. She really is someone who is here just to stir the pot. Plus she acts like she knows all about design and architecture but anything she has learned is just from one or two books. In fact each time she opens her mouth she more than proves her lack of knowledge and understanding of architecture and design. Better off listening to our excellent architects, Virgil, Mark, architectrunnerguy, RES as well as some of our contractors, Worthy, Millworkman, Jeffrey Grenz to name a few. In fact my house is as good as it is because I listened to Mark, architectrunnerguy and RES. Additionally are some very talented designers who regularly post.

The guy at the tile shop played around with the tiles to show other possibilities for backsplashes Random: A variety of patterns (like a quilt?) His opinion is that having all random on the backsplash might be too much. He was recommending using this white as the upper and lower border. When I asked about using the blue, he said it would make it darker but if I have a lot of natural light it could work. What do you think? I'm in love with these tiles. Right now I'm thinking I'll likely do the backsplash as the all-Adagio or all-Armonia. But I love these other tiles and the randomness, so I'm been wondering if I can bring them in at all--maybe as coasters or a trivet (ha). Or...here's the brain fart du jour....I need a bistro table for the nook. I could make it 32x24 and cover the top with a random pattern of these tiles. (and maybe make it counter-height, so it can be pulled over to use as extra seating at the island. But that feels like a whole other topic...)