Owned a Ross Chapin design in Vancouver. Loved it!

I get aggravated by a lot of house designs out on the web, whether they be for small or large houses, because the vast majority of them have the dining area in between the kitchen and family room/great room whatever they want to call it. Having to walk around a big dining room table to get to the kitchen from the living room and vice versa to me is a deal breaker.

Yet it's almost always like that. Is there something I'm missing? Is this appealing in some way?

Krycek- Would you prefer the dining room in the front, with a kitchen/family room in the back? This would keep the table out of the way. Put a little parlor/library in the front, opposite the dining room, and you have a nice, traditional style.

I like a separate living room and a big country kitchen, but that fits my farmhouse. I can only move so many walls. LOL

rafor- How lovely! I like his Songbird plan. I'd love to see his homes in person.

Krycek- I understand your frustration. DH and I have been looking at plans for 2 years now. I've noticed that there are really only a few basic designs available online. Everything else is a variation on the theme.

Lavender- I've always been smitten with the idea of a country kitchen. I bet yours is lovely!

Young- Thank you, but it's all in my head. I've been working on this remodel for a long time, but I'm going to need more money before I can actually start. While we've put some money into the old farmhouse, it's going to take a lot more, before I'd actually move in. I'm hoping if I get the plan just right in my head, the money will magically appear :)

My grandfather always said, if you can really picture something in your mind, you're much more likely to achieve it...so here's hoping! I also entered Publisher's Clearing House, just in case. (LOL)

lavender-- I'll cross my fingers for you. I know the frustration of having a dream all set and not stumbling into the cash quite yet. We've been in our fixer upper for just shy of four years. If we could, there's so much more we'd opt to do.

I had a terrible time finding a suitable design, and eventually went to my own design, which is still a work-in-progress. I wanted a house about 1000-1200 sq ft, but not a 3 bedroom. I wanted a luxurious 1 or 2 bedroom home instead. We also have a beautiful view out the back, and it's hard to find designs that address that. I had some luck looking at waterfront homes, since the view is usually in the back when you live on the water. If nothing else, I know that our house will be unique!

krycek, I got around the table problem by not having a table as we never use one. I really like this set up..

Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: No Table in dinning room

krycek: in my small (900 sq ft) cottage the kitchen had an island and the living room was on the other side of the island. There was a dining alcove at one end of the kitchen. Basically it was a great room if you can call it that in such a small house! See pics 4, 5 and 6 in the link and that should give you some idea of the look.

Here is a link that might be useful: my cottage

I really like robinson house plans.

Here is a link that might be useful: robinson house plans

fl- I think the plan you came up with is lovely. I love cross gable homes and can't wait to see it completed.

Thanks for sharing RHP, traybob. I'm going to check it out.

rafor- What a lovely home you had! Thanks for letting us take a look.

Rafor...love your little cottage and the things you have done to it. Amazing how small can be so wonderful. Thanks for posting pics.

Oh I almost forgot, I really like the bungalow company house plans, there are a few of there houses here on Whidbey island (where I live). They have all the character that I think a cottage should have. http://www.thebungalowcompany.com/ I also stumbled upon this site the other day, http://www.homepatterns.com/. Hope that helps.