Wow, you made out like a bandit! Karol's plants do very well here and you got some great ones. I have a few of those and love the clear colors on all of them, plus their vigorous plant habits. FEAR NOT was new last year, and has already made a small clump this year. So you should be even happier a year from now!

Overall I like it a lot! Other than the door conflict issues, my only concern is that you might find it difficult to get large pieces of furniture down the rather twisty hallway to the bedrooms. You also need a bit more space at the bottom of the staircase. I understand that the bumpout and closet are there to help define the Great Room space but I think you might do better to make the bumpout only half as deep and get rid of the little closet entirely. If you did that, you could hang a large mirror hung on the wall where the closet door is now that would reflect the stairs and you could put a small bookcase or a narrow table with a vase of flowers below the mirror to create a lovely "focal point" at the bottom of the stairs. Then, on the hallwayside instead of a tight corner, you would have a nice wide space to move furniture around. And, when you're not moving furniture down the hall, you'd have a niche where you could put a family bulletin board or the house telephone, or a wall of pegs for family jackets and bookbags. Just an idea. As for door conflicts and other door issues, here's what I would do to address them. (This thread had gotten pretty long so I admit I didn't read thru all of the comments so others may already have made some of these suggestions) 1) Masterbathroom/closet conflict. Lose that conflicting closet door entirely and instead put an opening between the two closets so one door serves them both. You wouldn't lose any useful space and the change would probably actually make the smaller closet MORE useful because you wouldn't have to walk around the closet door to get to clothing hanging on the east wall. 2) Your masterbath toilet room really isn't large enough for the door to open inward. I'd either open that door outward or consider using a pocket door there. Or you could use a bifold door there. It could probably open either inward or outward. (BTW, this isn't a door issue but while I'm talking about the masterbath, I'd also suggest moving the sink that is closest to the bathroom door about 4 inches closer to the other sink and then cutting about 3 inches off the corner of the bathroom vanity (so the vanity a 45 degree angle)...especially if you're planning on granite countertops! Don't know about you but I am a born klutz, especially in the early mornings when I'm only half awake - and I would bruise my hip on that 90 degree corner on a DAILY basis. You will never miss the lost couple of inches of space between the two sinks - but if you or your spouse are at all klutzy, your hips will thank you for easing off that corner. 3)Southwest bedroom/closet door. Incorporate about 18 to 20 inches of the hallway (right up to the bathroom door opening) INTO the southwest bedroom to create an entry alcove for the bedroom door. I think you can steal just enough hallway space for the alcove so that when the bedroom door is open it will clear the opened bifold closet door. 4) Bathroom/bathcloset. Instead of a closet, consider using open shelving or cabinetry such as one would put in a kitchen. You might actually get more useable storage in the space if you didn't have 4" taken up with the front wall of the closet. And, if someone left a cabinet door open, it would just bump closed when you opened the bathroom door instead of blocking the door the way a bifold closet door might. 5) Pantry/laundryroom doors. Shift the pantry closet to the southwest corner of the area (where the door to the garage is now) and bump about four feet of just that westermost section of garage wall out into the garage about one foot. You'll actually have more useable garage space because the wall won't come out as far into the garage as the door does now. Then, move the door to the garage the so that it sits between the pantry and closet in an alcove that is BUMPED INWARD so that it is even with the edge of the panty. That way the garage door will no longer jut out into the garage. Okay, I'm struggling to describe what I mean and realize that my description isn't at all clear.... Guess I'd better just take the time to sketch it out for you. Without seeing the second floor plan, it is impossible to tell whether your great room has a vaulted ceiling (and thus the possibility of having some clerestory windows over the roof of the covered porch. If you don't have clerestory windows, I think you may find your great room a bit dark - surrounded as it is by the deep covered porch. You might want to look into putting some sky lights or a couple of those "light tubes" (solatubes?) into the covered porch roof. I personally don't like skylights because where I live (central Texas) they admit WAY too much heat along with the light. I understand that light tubes don't admit so much heat and if you could position about three of them so that they throw light right over your patio doors, that would definitely help brighten your great room. Hope some of this is helpful and best wishes with your building project!

I felt it up here in Allentown, PA. I thought the cats were just being extra crazy, because they were running around. Okay, and I might have taken a percoset for my knee and been a little dizzy anyway. I didn't even KNOW about the earthquake until my brother texted me and said "Hey. Heard about the earthquake. You okay?" Apparently, my mom (in MN) was freaking out because she tried to call me a million and a half times but I had my phone on silent because I took a nap, so he texted me. One of my friends is from CA and was like "Huh. There's an earthquake. Hmm. Thought I'd escaped that." ~ Kit

ML, I have had no experience whatsoever with subways. I read about them being traditional, but have never seen them in anything but a modern setting in person, unless they were in an actual subway. That may be because I have only ever been in 1950s and newer houses with tile! To me they feel modern and very "in" and overused. I figured they have to go "out" sooner or later! However, I do respect your opinion. I thank you for your insight. I had not thought of whether the 6x6 effect looked MCM or not. The sink definitely has a pre-MCM vibe, as do the med cabinets. I suppose the lights do, too. And the dresser is definitely older. So square tiles came along in the MCM era, huh? Bummer. I avoided 4x4 tiles because that is what my 1978 home already has, I thought that by going bigger, I would avoid the era. Phooey. So I need to do subways to be in a 1940s and earlier vibe? Okay. Is the 4 x 6 you suggested more period than the 3 x 6 that are so easy to find everywhere now? BTW, as time passes, I am more and more inclined to go with the Carrara-looking trim, rather than the black. Then there is a part of me that says that I like color too much and that it is just hanging out on-line that has gotten me loving the Carrara look (because it is so loved on the kitchen forum and bath forum). I also am drooling over a mother-of-pearl tile to use as a listello between two rows of Carrara. Then again, if a beauteous tile becomes available for a great price on Craigslist, all bets are off on color! I am considering heating the floor. It will also help it to dry if it gets wet splash-over from the shower. Things like Carrara-looking tile and heated floors became more of an option when my SSDI came through. The Swanstone ADA floor with the trench drain is so new that I have not found a picture of a real consumer using it. The link below will take you to a PDF that shows the new shower floor and wall system. The shower floor is on the cover, but it does not show the whole shower. I will be getting the New Construction floor because we have to pull up the subfloor due to rot. I will get the 96" walls seen on the right on page 8/9, but in the color "Ice" or "Glacier". "Ice" is shown below, it is the closest they have to Carrara. "Glacier" is just white, but the surface looks like snowflakes, sort of. The shower looks way too skinny, but I keep telling myself that the shower looks skinny because of the drain taking some of the floorspace. It will be the same size as the bathtub, without the bathtub sides getting in the way of my feet. I keep saying that, but it sure looks skinny! That is why the floor outside the shower will be as water-proof as a shower would be. Here is a link that might be useful: Swan Shower PDF see Page 8/9