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Thanks, Cyn. I'll try that. I have a couple days left on my trial. Re Google Sketchup: I've just begun using it. There are some appliances and such like available. You can also pull them out of other kitchens people have uploaded. Not 100% conventient but not dire either. Also, it's really easy to make something that's pretty much box shaped. Here's a picture of my first model, of the 30" Sharp Microwave Drawer. First I saved the image from the web and cropped it to just the drawer using PaintShopPro (any image software will work). Then I drew a box the right size in sketchup, using lines and the Entity Info tool to get the size right. I'm still learning and I accidentally cut the back open, but that doesn't really matter. Last step, import the picture as a texture and fit it to the face of the box. It doesn't have the slight protrusion of the handle, but then even though I'm doing this to scale, it's not plan perfect, so it doesn't matter. The strengths of this program, once one really absorbs how to make boxes, make up for it. [IMG]http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/rummylands/30inchSharpMicroDrawerMODEL.jpg[/IMG] Does anyone know if you can make operable hinges? :D

I am very new to CAD programs, but since you are, too, I'll tell you a little bit about my experiences with Chief Architect Home Designer Interiors. It's only $80 but once I figured it out, it seems to just what I needed, which is play with a design until I have one I will pay a pro to produce properly. First, I started off with graph paper and a ruler, and measured everything and made a sketch. I used an electronic measurer with a laser pointer so my dimensions were exact. This also allowed me to not have to get my husband to help me with all the measurements, because he complained mightily when he did have to help me. Not that's he's a jerk, just that for the measurements I couldn't get he had to move things or stand on the step stool. After that, I downloaded the software and started trying to draw. Watched tutorial videos. Downloaded the user manual and the reference guide. Sometimes I had tutorial and manual open at the same time, one on iPad, one on PC. A couple of dumb mistakes I still haven't learned to fix, like somehow putting exterior doors in interior walls. One thing I still haven't figured out, the best way to start is on the lowest left part of the screen. Hard to get the mouse exactly in the right place. Zooming in helps with placement. The ideal spot should read 0,0,0 for (read this on bottom right of screen) x, y, and z, but that doesn't work in Interiors, which assumes both an exterior and interior wall, so you have to add that measurement to all your measurements, which you specify as inches when you are looking at the x,y,z when you draw, but turns into feet and inches on the plan. its not going to be perfect, but I wasn't looking for perfection, just good enough. It wasn't until I displayed as 3-d that I realized about the external doors. Doh. I drew the rest of the house and that let me turn them into interiors. Don't know if there is another way. About me. Using a computer since 1983. On the Internet when one used Edline and could program your own Autoexecbat, was a graphic designer for years but before computers, when you did it all by hand. Which is to say, I knew what I wanted to produce even though I didn't know the software, and knew I could teach myself a new skill if I really tried. There was much cursing, screaming and hair tearing. If you decide to go that route, I will share what little I have learned. Oh, and the program exports plans as jpegs, which you can easily upload here.

I sometimes wonder why anyone posts his plans on this site. We come from SO many perspectives! Most people posting are building a house in a subdivision, not people buying property and then designing a house for their needs that suits the property. If someone is even considering a subdivision-type house, or is looking to adapt "stock" plans, then that is exactly how that person wants his house to look and be arranged. That's the kind of house they like and most likely the kind their friends have, too. Then there is an outlier such as me. My "subdivision house" was built in 1948, and in fact, all the houses were custom built in this subdivision. Some of the ones built just before WWII were two story colonials that were identical inside, but slightly different on the outside. Over the years, various owners have added on and done so in different ways, so unless one knows the history of the neighborhood, it is not apparent. If one is determined to have an "open concept" floor plan, and a first floor master suite, the floor plan is pretty much predetermined. I have LOTS of problems with such plans as I think that ultimately, they don't work very well. The space always appears quite large on the floor plan, but when furniture is floated and not mostly against walls, one loses a LOT of space. Add lots of large family entertaining, and even at 3500 sq feet, it will feel cramped/crowded. "Open concept" works best in tiny houses where separate rooms would feel like a rabbit warren, or in very large ones, with tons of room to float furniture (think McMansion). People today want lots of garages as many families have lots of cars. For decades, a ONE car garage was standard, and then a 2 car became the standard about 70 years ago. Now, it is not unusual to see 4-5 car garages. The problem, of course, is how to site them - they are an imposing presence! And then there is the cost. Even though it is never included in the square footage of a house for sale, it does factor in the square footage cost of building and it can be a LOT! A friend of my daughter lives on a horse farm and built a house on the family farm. She wanted a beautiful, gracious home with lots of millwork details. It was custom designed and the bids to construct it came in a 4 times their budget. So, they did without the first floor MBR suite for 5-7 years and then added it, living in a 2nd flr smaller bedroom in the meantime. It was tight up there with three girls and their stuff! Ten years later, they finally added the garages. I think they have 4 at least. Sometimes a longterm plan is the best. One figures out how to get what one wants in the public rooms in a house, especially if one has large groups often. Then one saves to add onto the house and the design is already done and ready to go when the money is there. Believe me, I LOVE my garage - I'm far too old to be scrapping windshields! But perhaps you need to chose between that and the sport's court and make sure you have made your public rooms big enough for a crowd...or just your own very large family! Do speak to a roofer about your roof design. A roofer friend said that most houses today, with their multiple gables etc, cost a fortune when a new roof is needed ($30,000 to 40,000)!. They are very labor intensive, whereas a traditional single peaked roof (front and back both the same with no gables), is far less expensive. You don't mention if you have trees nearby; if you do, the leaves will gather in the valleys and are a huge nuisance. Good luck!