Senseless - I'm in the Northeastern US (NH), so there isn't much call for windload, but there definitely is for snowload. That's a really cool layout as is, and to know you can sleep safely through almost anything has to be a great feeling. Does it do pretty well with keeping noise out too?

ZolaClaire - Thank you for sharing, and thank you for the ideas. We wanted to put an island in the kitchen (and have it open), but hadn't thought about something as big... we like having people over (family and friends) and it would be a nice thing to have enough space to do everything we want. Our other big "needs" are storage (like you mentioned) and relatively kid-safe, meaning that it wouldn't be too tough to make safe for kids (or planning way ahead, grandkids).

Coincidentally, I was doing this very same thing last night... Even when you get your 'perfect' house, you will find that you continue to dream as you evolve.  We now know that we don't need or care for a formal dining room, and we are pretty sure that we could do without our office.  My family would rather have a more open floor plan where social spaces blend together.  My dream is to have a grand island that is 14-16 feet in length located between the kitchen and family room.  It would have reclaimed wood on top and cabinets below.  The islands surface would overhang enough to accommodate seating for 16-18... When entertaining family and friends (4 sibs), you want/need the seating space and the storage for extra dishes, serving stuff, and small appliances that you use, but not everyday and board games!  I also know that I long for a mudroom that has seating and storage for things like shoes, coats, hats & mittens.  I would also make our laundry room a little bigger so that you have space to iron.  One thing that is a must is storage... you can never have too much when you consider things like boxes of holiday decor, camping stuff, baby stuff that you are saving for whatever reason and other stuff you refuse to give away...  If you haven’t done so already, look at some of those homebuilding plan magazines then use the dimensions to sketch and dream on top of your favorite home plans... also, if you have some time go check out a few custom homes that are in the process of being built.  It can be fun to walk-through the house and get a better sense for what you like/dislike.  Pickup their fliers and use their layouts to help you dream some more.

I live near the Gulf so I was as interested in windload as I was in living spaces.  It's nice to sleep through a tropical storm and not even hear it.