Here is the kitchen. The island is in the front (will house sink) with the range and refrigerator along the back wall.

The sink base in the island with drawers to the right and a bookcase on the end.

Wine cubbies next to the wine fridge for "overflow" ;)

Banks of cabinets to the right and left of the range

To the right of the island is the cabinet for our Advantium and our small reach in pantry. I had two doors custom made to match the cabinet doors for the pantry.

This is the secretary in the nook

Across the great room is the fireplace. The two windows on the side of the fireplace will have leaded glass inserts which were salvaged from an old Craftsman home and the fireplace surround and hearth will have handpainted tile to match the kitchen backsplash.

Here are the medicine cabinets in our master bathroom

and the linen cabinet.

The dining room corner cabinets

Laundry room cubbies, W/D pedestals and cabinets

Powder room vanity

Desk in the boy's computer nook

Window seats in the TV room

Thanks for looking and for all the inspiration your pictures have provided me!

I vote that you paint your ceiling, and perhaps with those green counters, go with a goldish color on the walls and ceiling.

Below are a painted ceiling in my house, and my unpainted ceiling room. I don't want to hijack your thread, but if anyone is into Photoshop, I'd love to see a lighter wall color view on my ceiling...to show DH. :)

Bedroom

Foyer

Dining Room (I think the ceiling is too dark - why I recommend cutting the color on the ceiling)

My kitchen/Family Room

wet bar

master bedroom

master bath

his side of master bath

dining room

living room

breakfast room

jack and jill bath

That is a beautiful house. Our trim is very simple, but we did do quite a bit of it on our house, especially around the windows. Here are a few pictures of things "in progress".

In my hot humid climate energy costs are low to me, but higher to others who are not so lucky with their utility company. (I call us 'captive ratepayers'..LOL!)
I think the biggest mistake we make here is oversizing of hvac systems. Just hard to shop for hvac when your bids range 2 to 4 ton difference on bids. Consumers need an apple to apples comparism in bids.
That aside..
Build it tight ventilate it right. A tight house is more energy efficient, cost less to heat and cool.

From the slab up air sealing should be a part of the plan.
Sill seal under sole plates..at minimum a double bead of caulking.
We use solid sheeted corners with a 1/2" foil sheathing board..and 1" foil sheating board over the rest of the studs. Once this is attached, seams are taped and holes are foamed & sealed as they are made. This is our first defense for water management, and it also improves the air barrier and provides a thermal barrier.
If tyvek is used ( not necessary behind sealed foam sheathing) it is located on the studs..before the foil/foam sheathing.
A lot of people here solid sheet the houses with plywood
which is a great idea. many solid sheet to the interior..I like it, and strength is the same.

Windows ..any brand... Ufactor of .35, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) of .35 these are the minimum numbers and hold true for all climates. In northern climates a low e coating will refelct heat back into the home, in southern climates it will reflect the heat out. Location determines the location of this low e coating.
If the window has low e..but the frame is aluminum..the shgc goes up to .69 these are windows that will condensate.

Insulation...again in my climate an R15 in a 2x4 is fine.
I never tell my clients what type of insulation to buy. I don't like the cost & in many cases the application of foam insulation..and frankly haven't really seen that foam houses test better than well sealed homes with conventional insulations.
Install of insulation is the key.
(I'm sure you home owners will be sick of hearing that soon!)
Flashing of windows, doors, roof valleys..all of that stuff is critical to good water management. Setting up your wall's lines of defense now is reasonable cost & worthwhile the time to educate to get it done correctly.

Recessed lights...ICAT insulation contact air tight ONLY!
There should be a law about those IC cans somewhere..each IC (non airtight) recessed can is equal to 1' of uninsulated attic. And the crap that enters homes with these cans is unreal!
think about the insulation you install in the attic around these cans (and any opening from the attic into the conditioned space). The air is sucked from the attic when the hvac system is running and the air from the attic is filtered through the insulation around the hole...

Bath fans should be sealed at the cut in the sheetrock..this is often another big humidity issue here.

All fans & vent hoods should be vented to exterior.

Wire penetrations, stove vents, all penetrations into the conditioned space should be sealed.

hvac..what do I say here??
load calculation. pay for it. make sure that everyone bids it the same. buy the most efficient system you can comfortably afford.
Make sure that ducts are mastic sealed.
if you locate ducts in the attic they should be suspended with a 3" duct strap.
Return air chases should be sheetrocked and sealed air tight.
Supply boxes mastic sealed to sheetrock ceilings.
Duct take offs on the plenum should be mastic sealed.

Oversized systems cost more to operate, wear out sooner, and do not remove humidity. Bigger is not better!

Heat pumps are more efficient than elec strip & a/c.
Gas units are effieicnt..up from 80% to 96+%. A/C or HP should be at LEAST 14 seer.

If you can put your heating system in the living space you are a step ahead of the game..but if you can locate the ductwork in the conditioned space..you are miles ahead!
This is a planning stage step. But in the long run..its worth it. Mostly I see these in homes of commercial hvac contractors..they understand!

Put the marble countertops in next year & invest in the things that will last that you will not as easily upgrade later.

I'm a firm believer in testing the home & the ductwork for leakage. Having a ton and a half of ductleakage to the attic is not efficient! Also testing the home allows you to find leakage sites that may have been missed. Most can be addressed, and should be by the builder.
If the house falls/tests that the air changes are less than
,25 (ach per air hour) fresh air should be introduced into the house. HRV ERV barometric damper...
Many new homes are consitered 'tight' but are not. You don't know until you test. Everything else is a guess.

I really think that performance based contracting and energystar are where we are headed. We are going to have to do something!

Remember Codes exist for good reasons, but they are still the legal minimim safety allowed by law.

best of luck to everyone!

Oh and buy Joe Lstrburik's (sp?) builder's guide for your climate. I'm on my second copy of hot humid climates!
www.buildingscience.com

1. Choose the most energy efficient windows allowed by your budget.
2. Choose an insulation company that is willing to get you Energy Star certified, not because you care about the cert, but because they'll do the proper sealing of gaps and cracks regardless of foam, fiberglass or cellulose insulation. Choose those based on your budget. But if you don't use foam, consider 2x6 framing to increase your R value. Also consider using a 1/2 inch layer of Foam board over your sheathing as the vapor barrier (before the brick, stone, stucco or siding) to minimize thermal bridging, most codes allow it to replace housewrap if taped properly.
3. Choose an HVAC contractor that wants to know how you use rooms and possibly zone your HVAC (not just 2 units, but really zone the house). If they don't mastic the connections or use programmable thermostats as a standard, then you should probably keep looking. Geothermal is great if you have a pond or large field, if you have to drill the price sky rockets. Check with folks on the HVAC section about the quotes you get, not for price, but for how the hardware works together for efficiency - the guys over there know way too much.
4. Consider solar panels, including solar roof tiles (that match a concrete roof tile) and solar water heating. Some of this is expensive, but spend a little in your mortgage to keep you utility bills low over time.

This all assumes that you're past the stage where you could look into ICF or SIP construction techniques.