One thing I would advise against, if you are going two-storey, is 18 foot areas, or as you'll see them on the plans, "open to below". We do a lot of this and it's a lot of wasted space just for something that looks fancy. It looks nice to have that huge open room with the high ceiling, but you'll find it's a pain in the ass later on. They aren't the easiest areas to clean, particularly windows in those areas, and it sucks up an enormous amount of extra heating. You can gain yourself upwards of 200 sq ft (or more in bigger houses) of floorspace by saying no to "open to below" plans.
Also with two-stories, go with a stairway in the middle of the house preferably and if you are having children, break it up with multiple landings for the sake of safety. Hopefully no child ever falls, but if it occurs, I'd rather see them go 6 stairs instead of 24.
I should ask you if you are doing this privately or through a builder? If you are looking to hire a few trades yourself and need some help, I can't guarantee anything but I can try.
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