Thanks for all of the reviews. I will make sure to change the swing of the bathroom doors and will most likely make the pantry door a single outward swinging door. As for the family room, it's 18 x 18'2 including fireplace and built-ins. I'd like it a little bigger but we're tweaking an original plan and trying to only make minor changes to keep the costs down. I think since it's an open plan, I'm ok with the size. I've measured the size against our current family room and I've seen pictures of the family room in a built house and it seems large enough. lyfia, I hear what you're saying about the location of the laundry room but it doesn't really bother me. As for the front porch, I think it's 7' but that is the one last thing I have to confirm. I agree that 7' should be the minimum. Yes, we'll change the french doors to sliders. That works much better. gobruno, I hear what you're saying about the bedroom with the small dormer as the only source of natural light. Unfortunately, in order to keep the elevation the same, I don't think there's much we can do. I'm going to look at pictures of larger dormers to see if we want to make them larger. There are skylights in the playroom but I think we're going to add a large dormer instead. Thank you all for the reviews!

We have site-finished hickory floors. We used 3/4" solid hardwood in 5" planks. We are not having any issues with gaps, cupping or anything else and it's been down and finished for over a year. But, we live in a climate where the humidity doesn't fluctuate much. I will say that hickory is difficult to sand (it's very hard) and it's difficult to stain (doesn't take up stain very easily). If you go with hickory and you do not want orange/yellow tones or undertones, you're going to have to go dark with the floor and it's going to be difficult to get it to stain dark. So, you will need someone who is familiar/comfortable with working with hickory or you are going to have to be prepared for difficulties in getting the wood to do what you want. We do like our floors, but, lol, I would go with oak next time because it just seems like it would have been less trouble. Plus, for whatever reason, most everyone thinks that our floors are oak, anyway. I think your Amish fellow is giving you good advice.

Chrissi, I chose Naturally Aged Hardwood flooring. We went with Countryside stain Medallion Collection. We LOVE them. They are a much better quality than I thought. And we had no issues with installation because these were glue down. This is what ours looks like but keep in mind I am in the middle of our Reno. There is dust everywhere. The floors are installed but they are coming back to finish the door jams etc.. the blue tape is some spots we need them to look at We love the variation and color. It is dark but a cool dark wood so it can go with our balboa mist Ben Moore paint (to be painted in the kitchen family room) and our very bright Super White BM trim and walls. Our other walls are Glass Slipper BM and they look great with these floors We really love the look of our floors. It is a rustic yet elegant feel. The floors have a variation that shows much more in the photos. I would 100% go with NAF again. I am really happy with the cost and quality of the them. ~boxer

When it comes to Saltbox collection - the style called Berkshire - we are waiting on our flooring company to come back to our home because one plank is literally warping. This is a brand new install that happen 4 months ago. We regret not going with solid wood - and in fact- when we went shopping we were told that the technology with this flooring was extremely advanced. We have nothing but problems. Please do your research and know your budget- if you can afford solid wood- I would strongly recommend it otherwise make sure to get the tinted wax crayons they have available to fill in every little scratch and dent- because the flooring is terrible. PS they do not have tinted wax filler for all of their floors either - like the Berkshire - which is the style we purchased.......so make sure to ask upfront. Again- I do NOT recommend this product at all.