Are you designing this on your own?

with just a quick look... I would move some of the cabinetry into great space and use that outside corner between the sink and stove for a breakfast nook. just my 2 cents worth

Mark, it was my initial idea, that a designer has now drawn for me.

Congrats on building a new house!

There are alot of things that seem off to me at first glance.

- The master bedroom seems small, especially compared to the master bath / laundry set up which is huge.

- The 2 powder rooms are in odd places ( considering they will be used when guests are over ) - one you have to walk through the pantry to get to it.

- When you come in from the garage you have to walk through the pantry to get into the house.

- the great room @ 14 ft across may seem tight once furniture goes in ( Fireplace 2ft, sofa depth 3ft, about 7 ft from sofa leaves 2 ft from the back of the sofa to the walls/opening of the kitchen ).

- Where are the stairs going? Again, only way to get to them is through the pantry or the garage

- Dining area? Would you do that closer to the front door? Offset it for easier flow?

Those are some of the first things that strike me. I can't read the dimensions so it is hard to tell what the real sizes are of things.

There are some architects on here and very smart designers.... lets hope they chime in and give you some guidance.

Don't rush. Listen to everyone's opinions , then apply what is important to you.

Good luck!

Thank you for your comments! I appreciate it!

You may want to grab some graph paper and take the time to draw each room to scale. Then cut out papers to represent you sofa, tables chairs, beds, dressers etc and try laying out the rooms. Then try to picture yourself walking through these areas and what that entails.

The primary bathroom toilet is kind of in the laundry room, that seems odd. It is no further of a walk from the closet and bed to the laundry room via the hall.

At the risk of sounding like I’m playing with Legos, what if you shift the bedroom wing forward, so that its hall is connected to the foyer. The living room can also move forward, into the empty space. Then, I’d move the mechanicals closet and have the garage entry go straight into the foyer. You will find that very convenient, and less clutter and traffic in the kitchen. You can still have a door to the pantry from that service hall.

Is the second bedroom for a resident of the house, or for occasional overnight guests and resale? I have an idea for its ensuite and the powder, both purposes could be served by one space, that could also serve the office if it ever has to be a bedroom.

The primary toilet being in the laundry room is odd. My husband hates the location of it. The second bedroom is for my 16 year old, and she is MESSY so I am looking forward to her having her own bathroom!

I can't envision what you're suggesting in the second paragraph.

-I would swap the second bedroom location with the bath/closet location, so the bedroom will be on an exterior wall for more windows and privacy.

-All the traffic from the garage will have to funnel through the kitchen. I would remove the closet (utility closet?) so there is access through the living space.

-14 feet wide for the living room will not seem so big with furniture.

-The toilet in laundry is odd.

-What are the island dimensions?

-Where will the dining table go?

-Where do the stairs go?

How does it relate to the site? Solar orientation? Views? Other structures within view? Trees and other vegetation? Vehicular traffic? Etc?

The closet in between the office and the pantry is for the furnace/water softener, etc. We're building a slab on grade.

The stairs go to the bonus space above the garage.

I'm not sure yet where we're putting a dining table, but we do not want a dining room. We're thinking of more of a kitchen nook...a built in bench with a small table.

Mark, we have five wooded acres. Very private. No other structures in view. Dead end road.

If your daughter will be living at home/returning home for a few years after you move in, then never mind about my idea. (But basically, it turns it into kind of a jack-and-jill with one door from the hall to a powder room, then a door from the powder room to a shower room, and from the shower room to her bedroom. That way. if you have company over, her stuff can be stored in the vanity and her towels and other stuff moved to the shower room. But, that works better for a guest room/den, not a teen’s suite!)

However, you might consider giving her bathroom hall access, again because it might help with resale or having guests later.

With five wooded acres, can you run the kitchen more lengthwise along the back of the garage, so it can be more large windows? The kitchen can be an L rectangle instead of a U square, I don’t think the square footage will be more.

The house will be facing south-ish. We're in Wisconsin. No dining room, but one of my initial questions was where to put a kitchen nook for a small table/chairs. We will have stools at the island.

Having the garage with a smaller connection to the house is good .... but this huge flat wall is not the way to do it. You need an architect to improve your ideas and not a designer who just draws out your ideas, even when they aren't the best.

This circled section needs a total redesign ...

The house will be facing south-ish

Then I'd really rethink things, placing kitchen and living spaces on the south side to take advantage of the winter sun.

Chispa, I questioned the designer about that 'flat wall' between the house and garage, and he said that the 6:12 pitch comes up until it hits the fascia on the back of the garage causing a dropped ridge. I don't know what that means. I just figured that I'm not familiar with how to read a plan, and that if I see it in 3-D I'll understand it better.

Have you considered an L shaped plan? It could be positioned on the lot and laid out to allow you to take advantage of the sun in more rooms, and protect spaces from the wind and snow.

Consider engaging a local competent residential architect that can design a home with you that meets your needs and fits your site, not just does what the owner says.

Give them a list of spaces you want to have with a description and approximate size of every space. Let them know what the home would say if it could speak. Give them a picture and verbal description of flavor of style you want it to be. Give them the opportunity to be creative and express who you are through architecture.

My initial glance at the Entry, bedroom closets, Laundry, and M.Bath being so large and open was this is being designed for accessiblity. I suspect it is not. The rooms (including exterior porch areas) are all very disproportionate in relation to each other, not following a typical heirarchy of space sizes. And the Entry is actually as large as a 1.5 car garage.

I am guessing a strong point you desired was a large open gable for the Entry porch. And that led to the centered door and such wasteful space inside. If you want that gable porch, then carry it through to the inside and the Great Room - let it be what it wants to be.

The back wall of the Garage is not successful. It can be improved by a roof change, but should follow other changes the entire plan needs first where it may be naturally solved. The convoluted explanation by your CAD drafter is just a distraction, and you have a 3D already included in the drawings you attached.

Regarding the back wall.....simply bring the roof of what looks like the mudroom back down to eave level. Here's a simple 3D of what I'm talking about......

And that foyer looks HUGE. It's probably the culprit that's not permitting you to reduce the square footage.

Foyers don't have to be large. Here's one that's about 20SF (in the red circle), yet still provides all that's needed to give a sense of entry.

The value of experience.

It appears as if there are no bathtubs, only two showers. Am I reading the plans correctly?

That is correct.

Also, those front porches. The porch at the front door looks huge. It's the size one would normally find at a high school. And the side porches look purely decorative. Too narrow to be of any real use.

I don't know what that means. I just figured that I'm not familiar with how to read a plan, and that if I see it in 3-D I'll understand it better.

You just described why YOU NEED AN ARCHITECT!

You need a professional who will help you design the best house possible. This is not it.

And yes in Wisconsin, you want all the main rooms facing south. NOT north.