I only really feel "cramped" in the FR - don't even notice it in other rooms. I think it's b/c our old house had cathedral ceiling in the FR (that I hated to heat!). How high are ceilings in your current house? I think it's all in what you're used to. All the rooms on ground floor (except PR which is 3x7) are 13ft wide.

Here are some pics - sorry the trim isn't finished yet, some of these pics are recent but some are during/right after construction.

I have 30" cabinets in most of the kitchen, but 36" in corner, with the 8' ceiling. I have decided to run crown molding to the ceiling in that one spot (plus over the fridge where they put cabinet higher than I wanted but I decided to leave it - moved the cabinet down 3" with a filler above, but left the end panels the 84" they cut to). Think very carefully about the cabinets (you're doing your own, not ordering from them, right?) - in retrospect I think I should have paid the extra to go all 36" even though I can't reach the top shelf (I can't reach top shelf in 30" anyway).

Sorry I don't know how to link to a slideshow. Here are all the pics I had in Photobucket that showed some ceiling.

DR (sorry no lights)

Looking from DR across foyer to LR

FR looking from kitchen (the marriage wall of these 2 rooms is one 37ft long wall, continuous ceiling. The only break is the 30" waste wall in the breakfast area)

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Breakfast area

Messy kitchen - so you can see cabinet distances from ceiling:

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I really need a new pic of the exterior! This is the day of set, finishing the roof. We added a front porch - but I don't have pics of that, just the half-finished (a year ago - it's finished now, all but the top course) stone wall I built under it.

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thanks so much. the ceilings in old house were 9' which was nice and we loved how open it was but since we are going for cozy feel we thought 8' would be better. with the 9' we had wider crown molding and longer windows so it made it more formal.

I thought the post I read mentioned you had wood beams in living room, was that your old house? I'm wondering if we do them on 8' ceiling that they'll be too low but when we looked at existing homes for sale some of the capes did have them.

what color and brand siding do you have? very pretty color and I like the pendants over the island. not sure if I want recessed or pendants over peninsula.

for cabinets I'm doing 42" to ceiling, I didn't want any space for dust to collect.

thanks for pics and info. :0)

I think the siding was Certainteed in Light Maple. Too yellow for me IRL, but beats the other choices we had. I also ordered prefinished Thermatru door but it came unfinished, now I have to finish sidelights in place but will take the door off its hinges to finish it.

I don't remember mentioning wood beams, but yeas, the loft over the garage in our old house (shared cathedral with FR, but the peak was in the loft) had steel cables pulling the sides of the ceiling together, covered with wood. I think wood beam with 8ft ceiling would be too low (I feel like my FR ceiling is too low now just with flushmount ceiling fan!) but it might be what you'r looking for in informal areas.

The pendants are Hampton Bay track lighting from HD. I think they've been discontinued, but I'm sure you can find similar. If you knew exactly where you wanted them, you could just have them put in boxes and you could buy mini-pendants and install yourself. The good thing about the track was that we were able to position the pendants exactly where we wanted without worrying about if the box was centered over the island. We built the island onsire and I shifted it more towards the fridge than originally planned b/c I didn't want to walk into a barstool as soon as I cam in from the foyer. I didn't think much about sightlines and such in the rush to get the order in.

The modular companies had pretty limited choices for lighting and fixtures (though I was told I could order any Lasco tub or shower I wanted).

thanks. you did your modular in CT right? who did you use for your foundation?

Sorry so long to get back to you. I'm not on this board all the time. We used someone who my uncle (who dug foundation, did utilities and septic) knows. I don't know if he'd travel - he's in Canton. Arnold Pelletier - I assume you're looking for concrete, not excavation.

I don't know anybody other side of the state - is RICON GC'ing it? If so, let him choose so it's his responsibility. If not, can't he give you some names (and then you'd have to call for references)?