Buying Another House

[Diamondog]

My wife and I are selling our house and buying another through the same builder....construction will begin in May '09. It is a single on a 40ft lot...my wife and I learned a lot after buying our first house, what we didn't like in the selections we made etc...We have 1 week to submit structural changes to the builder....I will be finishing the basement (not through builder). I am just looking for others experiences/suggestions/ideas on possible structural changes as I would like to get as many ideas as possible we will be in this house for a long time, thanks.

Main Floor

http://xs138.xs.to/xs138/09183/main_floor_plan283.jpg.xs.jpg (http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs138&d=09183&f=main_floor_plan283.jpg)

Upstairs

http://xs138.xs.to/xs138/09183/upstairs_floor_plan955.jpg.xs.jpg (http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs138&d=09183&f=upstairs_floor_plan955.jpg)

Basement

http://xs138.xs.to/xs138/09183/basement_floor_plan501.jpg.xs.jpg (http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs138&d=09183&f=basement_floor_plan501.jpg)

[felix2000]

Scans of the floor plans might give us a better idea of what could be changed.

[booblehead]

1) higher ceilings, if possible (especially for basement, if you plan to use it as a living space).
2) Coffered ceilings are very nice for the kitchen & living room & dining room, if possible
3) Double entry doors & upgrade windows (ususally the builder's windows are the cheapest in quality)

[coolspot]

I don't know if it's possible, but perhaps you can move the furnace / laundry, etc to the encove besides the stairwell (lower left hand corner). This will give you a big basement area to build into a future rec room?