Layout Suggestions, Thanks in advance!

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Hi Everyone,

Please note that I am not an architect, designer, or builder. I have come up with this plan using the most complicated technology known to man, paint. I have been bringing the drawing into AutoCAD to confirm measurements trying to ensure the spacing and dimensions are somewhat realistic. I am looking for any advice or suggestions that may be out there.

We are new at this and would like to iron out the details before we send our plan to the designer in the upcoming weeks. We are hopeful that getting some of the changes out on the table ahead of time may save some costs and frustrations in the future.

We are located in Canada and this will be a walkout. The lot is 200' wide x 200' deep and is oriented true north-south with south facing the rear of the lot. Thank you in advance for anyone who takes the time to provide some constructive feedback.

I have included our plan and a front elevation of what we hope to achieve. The space above the garage will be for storage only.

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Mark Bischak, Architect

4 years ago

Put together a list of your needs and wants. Take the list and a copy of your site survey and meet with a few architects. You are wasting your time trying to come up with a layout. You are taking a sandwich to a banquet. You are buying a chevy to get a Porsche. You are inhibiting the architect's creativity by showing them a preconceived plan. And seek out an architect not a draftsman, it is an investment in your future.

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Comments (10)

cd7733
4 years ago
Your current plan is a lot wider than the front elevation you envision:
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hi there--i just wanted to say that we are about to put in a bigger window and eliminate the corner cabinet, and have an off-center sink. I really want the light and also the coutner space, as you said. It should be done in a week or so--I will try to post pix! Our stove/sink/window layout is the same as yours. also, I don't want to muddy the waters...but just wanted to throw in the idea that maybe no one ever uses your kitchen table in the current setup because of the peninsula, which blocks it off and makes it seem far away. The peninsula seems closer to the action and homier. But I think in your new setup you will have plenty of room for a table, if you want to consider going that route. A nice big table would fit on the wall where your hutch setup is going...if necessary you could make the french door one wider door, maybe with sidelights, to increase the usable space there. You could make up the lost storage from the hutch by having an island with more cabs, and maybe even have some hutch type cabs still on the wall behind the table, with a built-in seat in between. (sorry I am not drawing this like all these software whizzes!) keep in mind that the new island will be more in the middle of things than the current peninsula...and so will the people sitting there. Depending on your cooking style that may or may not be a problem. You could still have a spot for a couple of people to perch at the island, and actually eat at the table (and save your knees!). Just a thought.
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cpartist, thanks for taking the time to do this! Yes, I definitely considered putting it under the window as that's a nice big stretch of space and it would leave the island clean for prep/buffet/homework. Because I have to save some money for potential construction surprises, I'm trying not to add a 2nd sink in the kitchen (strictly for $$ reasons - I love the function of a 2nd sink). The reason I kept it in the island was that the drawer at the far left of the island contains the plates/silverware and the coffee bar contains the cups/glasses (I wanted them there as it's an easy path to the dining room and for someone to set the table or grab a snack without disturbing the cook/prep). And it makes sense for those areas to be adjacent to the dishwasher for easy unloading. I could put dishware/cups storage along the west wall, under the window, but you'd have to go around the island to reach that stuff (which is fine as long as no one is sitting at the island or prepping in that space, but still a longer distance). I also like the pivot factor of being able to access water from the long dry prep area as well as from the cooking area. The Kohler Stages sink is 45" long, so it takes up a good stretch of the island (and allows me to place dirty dishes inside the sink). I'd make sure I got a faucet with a long stretch so I can easily twist from prep or cooking to add water. Besides the DW/dish storage, I kept the sink to the right of the island as I'd often use the long prep wall to make a mess (several people could prep there, where it's out of the way, and we've been known to make several types of cookies at a time so it's good to be able to have space to lay it all out) and then serve the food atop the island's eastern/southern half, where it's an easy path through the French doors to pick up plates and food, or pass plates through to the outside ledge for wet kids who you don't want inside the house. Great ideas! Thanks for making me revisit this and please feel free to poke holes if my logic or flow is faulty.
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It will work well for one cook, but I'm with you on the prep sink in the island. If you orient the kitchen toward the great room, you can have separate prep and clean-up zones, which will be better for entertaining, and when you have help. You'd prep facing the great room, and the fridge would be on the shorter wall, but closer to the pantry, dining, and BRs, but still easy to access from the great room. I drew a standard depth 36" fridge, and pulled the cabinets on that wall out to the depth of the fridge box. Uppers can be 15"--18" deep. If you need a MW, it could go in a drawer next to the fridge, or in the island, between the prep sink and trash pull-out, which is central to all three work zones. I put a hutch where the fridge had been drawn, so that it would be easy for a helper to unload the DW or set the table, without interfering with prep or cooking. Every day dishes could be kept in the drawers, with the pretty dishes for entertaining displayed in the top, or small appliances could be kept in the upper section, and a coffee station included in the hutch set-up, for easy access when entertaining. With the separate clean-up zone, it would also be easier for a helper to load the DW, without zone crossing, and the space between the sink and hutch also provides an extra prep space, when you have multiple helpers. There is a 36" super susan for pots and pans. The 20' and 22' measurements don't seem to match the # of squares, but I made some changes to the SF and moved the front door over so that it's centered, with 14' on each side. I made the patio door a double, and added an optional 1'-2', if you think the dining area might be too small. New to Kitchens? Read me first.
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Thank you jay 6a Chicago, especially after looking back at all the time I spent looking. I actually came across that plant in researching and dismissed it. I think because of the photo's showing the red color in the fall. I am not sure if the red one is a different sub-species from this one but most likely I have pulled it in the past before it could get to that point. I did not got around to pulling it as it was irrigation night so I will wait to see if it turns red this fall. There are some small tender ones that have come up, maybe I'll drum up the nerve to give them a taste test. I took photo's of other plants last night that still elude me and I will post those soon in new threads. Thanks again for your help it is much appreciated.
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hemina
4 years ago
Mark gives good advice. The money you’ll save in the long run hiring an architect is what you need to consider when a designer seems like a more affordable alternative, if that’s what you’re considering. They can also give you a pretty good idea on costs and where you can make changes to save money.
cpartist
4 years ago
In CA architects are way more expensive. However designers are licensed. Do as Mark suggested but find a designer who is creative and thinks like an architect.

I don’t care how much a cad program costs, you still need someone who thinks creatively. In fact the best architects and designers think best with a pencil and paper and not a fancy CAD program.
thinkdesignlive
4 years ago
If you do move forward with this plan I’d add more windows to bedrooms 2 and 3. Seems to be lacking a good utility closet for a vacuum, brooms, etc. really the best test for a plan once all site considerations are addressed is laying out actual furniture in the plan. This test will show if windows / aisles / overall spaces are actually working and also helps plan for final electrical plan.
Christopher Dunn thanked thinkdesignlive
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years ago
I live in Canada and I will say architects maybe are a bit more expensive here but if you go with a stock plan every tiny little change you make costs money and IMO an arcitect is still the way to go BTW anywhere in Canada with our snow loads are going to be an issue with all those gables most of which are completely useless.I never like going through the bathroom to the closet, never like a master next to a FR .Corner pantries are a huge waste of space , a laundry off the DR is not ideal. I agree go to the ARCHITECT with a list of wants and needs . A site inspection is the first step in designing a house and I will tell you no designer I know can do that properly. By the time you get this plan tweaked you could have designed an amazing home with an architect. Many things need to be tweaked in this plan and if you really have to go with a stock plan at least get one from Canada since we have many different codes than the US.
Jazz Easy
4 years ago
Yes, you really do want to hire an architect. Why? Probably a 'Designer" did the design on the inspiration photo you provided. How can I tell? The faux stone on the porch and entry and the base of the columns are probable, i.e. if it were real stone, it could be considered the structural support for the columns and porch. But the continued faux stone on the walls of the house and the garage shriek "semi-tract home McMansion!", because if you were using real stone as structural elements, you wouldn't have used it there. Plus the stone veneer does not extend around corners but ends just short of the edges of the walls revealing a thin white line on each end of the house. And roll up garage doors that are made to look like period correct carriage doors add to the aura of un-authenticity when looking at the over-all design. Finally, the dreadfully overused Joanna Gaines put a large sign of obvious functionality (i.e. "Eat" in a kitchen, or "Read" in a study, or "Play" in a child's room, or "Welcome" 4' high by the front door) definitely says "Designer", not architect did that home. Yep, get an architect.
damiarain
4 years ago
In addition to the comments above, a few other things that aren’t great about the plan as is:

- that a private space (the master toilet) can be easily viewed from a communal space (mudroom) is not good

- you need more mock up furniture - then you’d see how much a dining table is going to ruin the flow of the house as the family arrives via the garage; also what wall would you put the mast bed? Is that how you’d lay out your living room furniture? And are matching patio doors on either side of the fireplace what you want or does it just look symmetrical?

- given the Canadian weather is going to include snowy shoes - is work hard to make a mudroom that is separate from the laundry room - why have your clean clothes in the same space as your dirty shoes
tryingtounderstand
4 years ago
In Canada, you may also consult an architectural technologist. Bear in mind, this pro. classification is not available in USA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_technologist
cpartist
4 years ago
^^^ this is what I was meaning when I said designer in CA.

Layout Suggestions, Thanks in advance!

Mark Bischak, Architect

Comments (10)

cd7733

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cpartist

thinkdesignlive

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