I just take a screeenshot (ALT+Print Screen) and then paste it into a new paint window. (Start, run, pbrush). Select what I want, and then paste it into a new paintbrush window. Here you go!

One place we are saving money is the hardware. I love Emtek knobs but can't justify the price (door knobs are something I can change easily down the road, not so much for plumbing fixtures, the doors themselves, and flooring). So we're going with Kwikset in matte black - they feel better than Schlage (less jiggly) and are pretty inexpensive.

My logic is to splurge on items I can't easily replace & for items I can swap out later (in a couple years) I'm choosing things I like so I can afford to LOVE the other things.

If you want any form of zone linking, or if you're eventually going to expand to a whole-house music system (shill alert!) I'll recommend the Sonos music system.

Be it background music, or in the forefront for active listening, I enjoy having music on. A few years ago I spent quite some time trying to figure out what would fit my needs. I eventually settled on Sonos. I started with a couple of zones and expanded. You can start with a single zone.

Sonos can access your iTunes library, your iPod music, and music you have stored on your computer or a NAS. You can access internet radio, Pandora, Rhapsody...if there's something you want to listen to, you can easily access it through Sonos.

There are others out there with similar capabilities, but Sonos has a ridiculously easy interface. Guests in my house can figure out the remote with no assistance. You can also use an iPod, iTouch, iPad, a laptop, or a smart phone as a Sonos remote. You can also access it through a desktop computer. The interface is quite simple.

For a bathroom, if you want a stand-alone setup, Sonos has a couple of self-contained "boom box" types of players. They have other zone amplifiers that can be hardwired to speakers. The actual components themselves are wireless, which makes setting up a system quite simple.

I've gone on too long about Sonos. If you have any Sonos questions ask and I'll do my best to answer. One other nice thing about Sonos though...if you ever move, you can take the system with you.

Back to your basic question, if you're not sure what you want to do but think you want to do something some day, sure, run speaker wire to where you think you might want speakers. If in the ceiling, run speaker wire up into the ceiling bay, coil up a few extra feet of wire, lightly tape it in place and drywall over it. If a wall, staple it to a stud. Later you can cut into the drywall, access the wire and use it to add speakers...or leave it forever unused should you go another route. The other end of the speaker can be home run (if you have access) to where your main music amplifier is, or the wire can be terminated in an accessible spot in the bathroom should you think you'll connect it to some sort of amplifier in the bathroom. In a closet, a cabinet, under the tub apron, etc. It depends on how you think you might proceed in the future.

People add music in the bathroom all the time. Just decide if you want a stand-alone system, or if you think you might want to incorporate it into a whole-house system.

The easiest and least expensive would be a stand-alone alone iPod dock. decent docks can be had for $100-$150. For a couple hundred dollars more you can start a whole-house Sonos system where you can have the same music playing everywhere in your house, or different music in each room. With access to pretty much any song or any type of music you could ever imagine.

Best of luck with your decision.

Also, the boiler can be high efficiency (especially if it is gas-fired) and heat the domestic hot water. Some units also contain a ventilation system with heat exchanger.

I don't know why the air-handler systems would be considered new; they've been pretty common for new and renovated homes in New England for 25 years. These systems work well in cold climates and heat pump systems work well in warmer climates. The only advantage of a hot-air furnace is that it is cheaper assuming AC is not desired.

- 2nd floor laundry
I have been SO excited about this prospect. We have 5 kids with another one the way, so our family generates a TON of laundry. In our current house it is on the main floor and we have a laundry chute, so getting the laundry there isn't a problem, but I hate carting it all back upstairs. In the new plans, the laundry room (which, BTW, has room for 4 top loading w/d) is right outside of the girls "dorm" walk-in closet. We have 4 girls already, so they have a large dorm style bed and bathroom. I suspect they will be generating the majority of laundry, so I am excited about the w/d being right outside of their closet. I may even adopt the "Duggers Laundry" (family with 19 kids) where they hang most of the clothes, and assign a basket for each child's socks and underwear. Anyways...several people on another message board raised concerns about 2nd floor laundry rooms stating that the entire house shakes when the washer spins. Is there any way to prevent this? More floor support? Sound proofing? Our builder did suggest a tile floor with an in floor drain, and DH has looked into a water alarm. The plan clearly has teh 2 sets of w/d spelled out, but should I bring it up again with the builder to make sure the area is properly supported to prevent/minimize shaking? Any other suggestions?

And entirely unrelated -
Have any of you heard about in floor vents that are connected to a canister or vacuum of sorts, that is not necessarily a whole house vac? DH is completely opposed to a central vac, which is fine. But some others mentioned a vent in the floor (one was against a wall, one was under an island) that they can sweep all the kitchen floor mess into and it is sucked away, presumably to some central location for disposing. Any ideas? My kids are MESSY and I broom under the kitchen table after EVERY.SINGLE.MEAL. I would LOVE something like this for the kitchen and maybe even the dining room. Suggestions?

Thanks!

You would type in what is in red. The black is the direct link you would paste in and finish with the red tags.

1) If you have the Adobe version that allows you to create a file you can export it to a JPEG file.
A) Open the document
B) Click on 'File' in the top left corner
C) Hover your mouse over 'Export' (another menu will open)
D) Hover over 'Image' (another menu will open)
E) Select 'JPEG'

2) If you have just the Reader version of Adobe, you can still create the JPEG file:
A) Open the PDF & size it so all of the image fits on your monitor screen
B) Push your 'PrtSc' button on your keyboard (usually located on the top row right of center)
C)Open your Paint program
D) Click 'File' and select 'New'
E) Hover over the "canvas" & right click your mouse and select 'Paste'. (You can edit/crop at this point if desired)
F) Save the file as a JPEG file.

If you don't know how to get to your Paint program, an easy way is to double click on any photo you have saved on your computer. When the Windows Picture & Fax viewer comes up, icons will appear under the photo. Click on the icon of a painting on the far right. You can then follow the above instructions.

3) The Old School Way:
A) Print the PDF version
B) Scan the printed copy in to your computer
C) Save the file as a JPEG.

Once you've saved your image as a JPEG file you'll be able to upload it to photobucket.

As far as copyright, I'm not sure of the legal ins and outs, so I can't comment either way on that, but I know it's been done.

Setup:
1) Go to photobucket.com and open a free account.
2) Follow their instructions for uploading your pics to their site.

Now your pics are ready for posting on sites like GW!

Posting pics in a GW message:
1) Begin the written portion of your posting on GW.
2) When you are ready to add your pics, simply open a new browser window and log into your photobucket account.
3) Go to 'My Album' & copy the 'HTML Code' underneath the photo you wish to add to your GW post.
4) Toggle back to the browser window with your GW posting, place the cursor where you want to pic to appear, right click and select 'paste'.

Your pics will appear in the preview so you can ensure they appear properly before the final submission.(I know, this looks like a lot of potentially confusing steps, but trust me, once you copy the pics into your posts once or twice it's a piece of cake!)

Hope this helps!

My wife and I plan on building a custom home in the next couple of years. I have bought home plan books and looked at many of the online home plan sites. They all seem to be "open" floor plans. We'd prefer plans where the kitchen and dining and living are not all one big room. We have antiques and they just don't seem to fit into the open floor plans - at least in my mind. Are there any sources of "closed" floor plans, if that is what they're even called?