I needed to mount a TV above the fireplace because it was really the only place in the room it could be viewed by everyone and not in the way. The mantel of our fireplace is rather high (almost 6 feet) which would put the center of the TV well above a comfortable viewing angle. I spent months searching for a TV mount that could lower the TV to a decent height. I quickly discovered that anything motorized would cost several times what I paid for the TV. Beyond that, there were 2 options: Omnimount or Down and Out by Dynamic Mounting (http://www.dynamicmounting.com/index.php). The Omnimount is cheaper ($200-$300 vs. $400-$500) but an inferior product for my purposes. The Down and Out mount is much thinner (protrudes ~4 inches from the wall) and can lower the TV much farther (~30 inches!). I should also say that I have engineering degrees and tend to do all my own work. I thought about making my own mount but was a bit surprised at both the cost and level of difficulty. The Down and Out was fairly simple to mount on the wall and works VERY well.

Also...now that each bedroom has a bathroom...are you putting son in front bedroom? Just thought it might give younger girls more privacy and they could each have window seats, if they like. And it makes their rooms almost identical, except for bathroom window :) I'm guessing older son might want a desk or chair, but that's based on my nephew at that age...or maybe drums. LOL

Here's a rendering our architect had done for us early in the redesign phase. However, the patio on the upstairs was missing and the supporting columns etc. Aside from those differences and obviously the stair case, the overall look is quite close. With the stairway relocated, the windows on the ground floor to the bottom right in the garage are now visible. The area directly above that is the master bath and so on. Per my previous post, the double front doors were changed out after I'd posted this up. On the ground floor, the two windows in the center are history. And although it's hard to visualize it in the conceptual, the ceilings are 10' from the ground floor on up. It's a tall house. In the end we made the final revisions and submitted those for drawings based upon the conceptual we had done as it fit our need with a few tweaks mostly on the interior. What my bride didn't care for was that we'd walk up the stairs facing a wall, then turn to the left to walk 20' give or take to the front door. Based on this rendering and maintaining the same general design from day one from the same architect, we moved forward and ended up where we are. We just didn't "toss this together" so to speak. Our architect put a fair amount of thought into the process the end results in our opinion we are pleased with. We differed somewhat on the interior layout of a couple of rooms but that's all good. The vast majority of the interior of the house replicates what was done from day one which was perfect and we love it. Thus the reason we kept it just like it was. He did an amazing job! When the day is done, we're writing the check to the mortgage company so we'll build accordingly. Like I said back at the start of the thread, everyone has their own opinions and I respect that. Some folks may think what they've designed and are building is the absolute best design in the world and I'm happy for them. On the flip side, I wouldn't give them a dime for it. Again, my opinion and while it doesn't suit me we all have varied tastes. Thank goodness or we'd be in a real mess!

what do people think of something like this (but not quite as heavy/large in appearance) across the top of the windows on the side of the house...either in white or stained wood to give that side some dimension. Also considering hiding the trash cans under the front deck in an accessible area where a door can be made and they can be slid out. Would like to bump out that deck a ways and expand it, maybe have a couple chairs and a small table sitting to the right of the door with some black metal art above it in that empty space by the front door.