Wow. Nicke360, you did a great job of pulling everything together in this plan. I like it a lot, but wonder about changing a few things. I really really like the covered porch and study and courtyard effect, the grocery door, and I love what you did with the dining room/hall area. Love the window seat in the stairs! I agree with Annie - I would like to keep the turret in the breakfast room (knowing we may have to square it off if costs don't permit - but I've kinda fallen in love with the turret idea). The only other two things I wonder about are: 1) The stairs (type and location). That is the south-facing view wall. Does it make sense to keep the stairs there or will they block light? I guess if there's a clerestory effect with windows on every landing maybe not, but I can't picture it well. Will sound travel up the stairs from the TV/Living room? There's really no privacy from the front entrance or hall window when walking down the stairs from the bedrooms (say in the morning in PJs) to the kitchen. Granted, we're not on the street, so it's less of a concern, but... I had thought I was married to the switchback stairs, but I'm not opposed to other stair designs if they might work better. 2) The angled foyer leading directly into the Living Room. I've always liked houses where the sightline from the front door goes directly through, uncluttered, to a window or other focal point (like a fireplace). I'm not sure about having the LR with the furniture etc to be the first main view from the entry. DH really likes the angle, but I'm having a hard time visualizing it. Does it continue to the second story? Anyone have any photos of an angled front entry? I can't seem to find any. And finally, it was not my intention to offend or alienate anyone with all my previous posts, so I apologize if I did. I'm so thankful for everyone here who contributes. I've just been so frustrated with this whole process, spinning my wheels over and over. I know my tastes have always been a little off-kilter from the norm, and didn't mean to imply that other people's open plans or kitchens or whatever are "boring." What I was trying to say is that I don't want to spend all this money and end up with a plain-jane ordinary tract-type house. And Mrs. Pete, I obviously do have a hard time communicating my wishes, but you and Annie and nicke360 seemed to be able to hear and decipher my thoughts just fine! And I really appreciate that. Thank you. Nicke360, can I email you? Or would you mind emailing me? My email is on MyPage.

OMG, metal brackets on a craftsman fireplace? Really? I would clean up the fireplace. Also I would join this group on FB and ask them for advice. Also post on The Old House forum here

CP-My comment was in no means to upset you. Even if your plan isn't working for me, I am amazed by the amount of help you offer on the forum. My attack on the other comments is frustration that I see this all the time on so many posts. 5 years ago when gardenweb was so active, I was excited that such a forum would be around when I built. Then HOUZZ took over it...I think most of us stopped logging in because we had to set up new IDs. I don't think there are moderators anymore. Maybe you need to take a better look at what I drew. No one walks through anyone's closet. That is why there is a hallway there so you don't have to. This comment was not directed at your plan..The draftsman missed the boat on that. He had the W/D right off the main hallway so a quick in and out...but I'm not sure it works overall with 2 closets. I don't want my DH in my closet and I don't want to walk through his to get to mine...I was trying to say that in order to get 2 separate closet entrances and lead into the bathroom PLUS have the hallway, lends itself to a long hallway between the laundry and the bathroom. I'm calling it quits now too. Honestly I have no clue anymore what you want or don't want and I'm sorry but I don't have the time to devote to this anymore. First you are ok with it being 300 square feet for the bath/closets, and then you want to shave off 100 square feet. First you insist on 2 toilets and then it's ok if you only have one as long as it's your plan that only has the one. Then you decide again that you need 2 toilets. I never wanted to go down to 1 toilet. I couldn't squeeze it into my drawing while getting rid of the stuff I didn't like about his plan. Now you're insisting that the sinks have to be on either side of the tub because you're afraid of seeing your husbands stuff on his vanity. Never mind when you're in the tub, you'd be looking towards the shower or your vanity, but in your mind you'd be sitting sideways to look at his vanity. We gave you a straight run vanity with seating and then you insisted it had to be around a corner because you didn't want it a straight run. Then you insisted you didn't want to walk into the bathroom and see the tub. You wanted to see the vanity. The fireplace that one of you will never see from the bed with it in the corner, you decided can only be in the corner. I guess I'm not really sure why neither of us will see it in the corner. But I'm not sure that has impeded the plan layout. I think it was getting changed more because nobody liked it. First you needed the dresser to put the tv above, and then it would be ok if you didn't have the dresser as long as you had a console under the tv to put stuff on. Then you change your mind again and insisted the dresser had to be where the tv is. It wasn't ok with the dresser in an alcove to the side of the bed. Only in front of the bed. Oh and first it didn't need to be in an alcove and then it had to be in an alcove again. I want something under the TV. If the dresser doesn't look right sticking out into the room but the rest of the plan gives me everything else that I want, I may have to do a smaller piece instead. But I wouldn't just put the dresser somewhere else in the room. Yes, I would rather have a large piece like that in front of the bed. And I think it might work better if it is recessed so that the fireplace isn't sticking out in front of it. BUT I realize that I may save up to 200 square feet if I give up one or 2 things to get a fantastic bathroom. Like everyone else, that doesn't mean that I want to loose my whole wish list, and there are things in my mind that I am not willing to give up at this point. But for the design flaws of the draftsmans plan, he did give me everything on my list. He just went a bit overboard on square footage and the bathroom is uncomfortably huge. The bed could only be on the garage wall even if that impeded your entry into and out of the bedroom or around the bed. When the doors were moved to make it flow better, then there were other things you didn't like. I wanted a wall of door/windows in the master with the deck on the side. Yes, the master could've moved to the corner. BUT I would not have put windows on the other wall. The bed could've gone on the opposite wall, and everything else flipped. But I still wouldn't have put windows behind the bed wall. I do think it is important to point out to posters what is ideal design. But someone wanting a different look does not make them wrong, just maybe harder to arrange furniture and harder to sell the house. If moving the bedroom in the corner, made the rest flow better, I could have done it. But I would still only have the one wall door/window. And due to the slope, that would've been on the North wall, which would've changed the arrangement that I Ideally wanted my furniture....and moved the laundry or closets further from the bathroom. Plus, since I would then be taking up that wall, I would have less possibility for windows in the other closet bathroom areas. Yes, I get I'm not suppose to have a window in my closet----but the sun is not going to fade my clothes when I have a forest of trees that stick up 20+ feet above my roofline. Originally the coffee station had to be in the bedroom, and then it had to be in the bathroom and finally maybe it could be in the other hallway. I actually never wanted the coffee station in the bathroom. I realize it is a location a lot of them are put, but it would be a last resort. There were about 14 other locations to put it thrown out. Lots of options, which is great as that may trigger a thought that MAKES the rest of the wish list work! I'm sorry but at this point I'm too confused. I wish you luck and hope you figure it out. Thank you for your help. You know I get confused keeping track of a thread too. With the amount of people chiming in with their reasons that peoples wants suck, it can be super hard to figure out what is really going on. If you are out of ideas on it, that is fine. Virgil deciding the thread is done is not right. For an architect that contributes a lot, I don't think Virgil had any great ideas to share. I do occasionally see redraws from the architects on the board....but more often I see newer OPs leaving because when they come back to check their thread, it is an architect comment to hire an architect, or a poster leaving why their ideas are crap bad ones that aren't accepted here. And you know it is too bad. The people here this last year are the ones determining the new posters that will be here sharing their new builds with me next year....except they won't be here to share in the excitement...because they got ran off. Yeah, someone can read this and say that I am a bad person for saying this and she must be sensitive, or she isn't willing to listen to new ideas. But honestly, this is the board that the active posters have created. A few giving ideas. The other "non-professionals" honestly too scared to comment their ideas, or maybe even say that something is okay. Until someone draws their own version trying to get their ideas across, but they can't get one of their wants/needs in, then people say that it may be okay. I've yet to see a post where the OP wanted a tub in the master and didn't get comments that they don't that. Again-I am just saying how other posters feel towards comments that are made on the forums. Most people are just too scared to say such things because they might not get help later...or they just leave feeling stupid and build whatever they started with to begin with...that could've been made drastically better with a few simple changes. But that got mixed up in all the other things that got changed that OP wanted.

Flo, I like that last idea most. I want to try to keep the cabinetry there, and it will be that traditional style if it is. But maybe I'll have to change it up. I'll need somewhere to store equipment, but I think I can get clever and have storage above the fireplace itself. I found this photo yesterday I quite liked that seems like it could fit my homes aesthetic. Brian/Springtime Builders, yes, our company is labeled 'home performance services', so we better know our stuff! This will be a 100% electric home, and the fireplace for backup was my fathers idea for that power outage anxiety which I just don't feel is justified where we are, or with a super efficient house. I submitted my plans yesterday calling for a propane FP, and the building dept. would've needed a permit for it. That extra bit of paperwork was all I needed to say forget the whole thing, we'll put an electric one in and buy a backup generator for the house with the savings.