Okay, so positives first...I do like the elevations. And, I second the comment above that states that you should have things the way you want. With that being said, I would strongly advise that you enlist the help of an architect, or even a designer, because this house is very awkward at present. Here are a few of my concerns: 2nd bath- I wouldn't add the door that you mentioned. The space will become almost claustrophobic. The only time that it makes sense to put the toilet/tub in a room is when you have sinks on BOTH sides of this area. What advantage do you gain by closing it off with the current setup? Bedroom 2/3 (I think it says 3 but you mean 2)- Why is there the 2nd door? It seems redundant, and it affects potential furniture placement...again, what do you gain by having it there? Bedroom 3- this is tiny. Is it strictly a guest room that will hardly ever be used? Or, is it planned to be a home office? Bedroom 4- Again, it is small, but I am more concerned about the furniture placement as the room is very choppy. Dining Area- Do you anticipate all of your guests entering through the garage? If not, it is a little odd to not have a dedicated greeting area. There is no coat closet, and you have a powder room opening into the formal dining area. I'd do some reworking here. Living Area- goes back to my bedroom comment, what is that door there for behind the TV area? Laundry/Garage Area- WAY TOO MANY DOORS. I'd find a way to incorporate the closet into the laundry area, at the very least, to eliminate one door. Master Bath- I would not like having a door into my master bath that is accessible from the hallway. I can understand the wish for easy access to the room rather than walking around, but you are opening it up to becoming the "guest" bath rather than the other hall bath. (guests would rather use the private one than the one in the middle of the dining room.) If you are certain you want this door to the hallway, at least add a sink to the toilet room so that the guest who WILL use this bathroom will not have to walk into the full master bathroom to wash their hands. Master bedroom- Pretty choppy. Play around with furniture placement. Oh yeah- with every secondary bedroom, I'd consider using sliding closet doors over real doors. The rooms are so small that the regular doors will affect furniture placement. I like the loft area. I think that the catwalk will be nice and dramatic. Good luck. I think you still need to spend some time on the design.

A good designer should be able to take what you have and make it better without changing everything. You should also not have to pay if you are not 100% happy with what they give you, or they should work on it until you are. They should be able to adapt to your desing style. If they are only good at one style, they better be the best at it to stay in business. I don't always love the houses I desing, but at the end of the day, I just love desiging houses, and it's what my clients want, not me. I have a hard time giving feedback because there isn't just one thing I would change. I think the overall flow just needs some work. Changing one thing, may change another, and another, and so forth. Just be very sure of your room sizes, door locations, flow, natural light, and think ahead about where you would put things like light switches, plugs, towel bars, etc. These seem like llittle things, but they can make the all the difference in the end. I think it is great that you are designing your own home. Nobody knows what you want, more than you. All I am saying is you may want to have somebody take what you have when you are happy with it, and check it over to make sure you didn't forget or miss anything. I would hate to see you invest this much time and money to have something happen later down the line. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

Renov8r, if getting an island is one of your top goals, do not proceed without getting it! Moving the load bearing wall may not be the only way, consider posting your plans here for more ideas. And please consider getting opinions/bids from another KD and GC - these folks let you down after pumping you up, that isn't a great beginning. It occurs to me that an important corollary to "don't accept someone's word that you can't/shouldn't do something just because THEY can't/won't get paid for doing it" is this: "don't accept someone's word that the only way to do something is the way that just so happens to make them, or cost you, money."

Plumbing are outside the building so plumbing can be changed. The front door cannot be moved. The maid usually stay with me. Your question is a good idea that I think it can arrange she to go home at night so she needn't to sleep here (or she can sleep in living sometime if needed). @partim, Your idea is really good that part of the kitchen wall can be removed so this is a 2nd idea. Annotation added: