Thanks! I read through that and 1-4 are all yeses for us. #5 was ruled out years ago for various cost and structural reasons. Still plugging away though.

Goes hand in hand with another great thread CP started a while back:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3285825/what-makes-a-house-have-good-design?n=39

We certainly checked all of the boxes, although #5 is irrelevant, as we started with raw land.

In general, seems a nice read.

Author needs to retake geometry. Or he/she can talk about simple rectangles and the associated roofs generally being less complicated to construct.

"Keep it sketchy" is probably the rule that trips up most people who come to this forum for help! We come in with an almost finished DIY or stock plan, which paints us into a corner.

Here are more threads from the blog I found to be good advice:

What is Quality Construction?

9 Unconventional Ways to Improve Your House

Things to Know to Control Your Construction Budget

10 Principles of Good Home Design

Does Your Home Have Green DNA?

Saving Money in Design Fees-A Good Idea?

The Secret To Creating a House That's Easy to Sell

Why Do Houses Have Front Loading Garages?

Good, common-sense tips based on experience! Good post cpartist!

Great blog! I enjoyed those articles and look forward to poking through it again later. Thanks for pointing it out.

I read through the various other posts last night until I went to bed. Good stuff, but the point of taking your time and doing your research is one where the excitement seems to take hold of people and they lose their minds. We've been 'designing our dream/forever home' for over a dozen years. I would have hated some of those first plans we sketched out. But we'd had to time read books, live on our site and change our minds a dozen times.

Yeah, good blog. I read through most of the articles too!

I'm still reading through them. We took a break to go to our favorite nature preserve and walk around. Saw all the birds including a bald eagle.

I read through almost all his threads yesterday and some excellent advice there.

Thanks everyone, glad you found this article useful!

Thanks for these very informative articles!!!