I think I'm liking it, except for one room...The kitchen. You'll want to take it to the kitchen forum for the best collective advice. I think the path right past your stove may become a major traffic area, and that's probably not where you want it. Are you going to have a prep sink? The route around the island between stove and sink will get old, I'm afraid. An island sink could help. The fridge is a long way from the dining area...It's often recommended to have it as close to that area and the pantry as you can, otherwise you are gathering supplies from opposing distances, and anyone setting the table has to run back and forth through the length of the kitchen interrupting other workers (if there are any) during the 'dinner rush.' It is handy to the breakfast bar, though, so if you use that for meals, it may be better for you where it is.

It's hard to answer a lot of things without knowing more about the family who will live here...Number of people, ages, amount of time spent at home, hobbies, etc. The kitchen forum will want to know if kids help, do homework, or are otherwise in the kitchen, if you bake a lot, entertain a lot, have multiple cooks or just one in your house, etc.

Best wishes!

rhome410,

Thanks for the input. I think you are right on. The Kitchen is the Achilles heel. We adapted that layout from a couple of plans we found online. We do like the overall feel, but as you point out, there are some functional issues to address.

There may be a prep sink in the smaller island. I have the same concerns. The smaller island was sort of an attempt at creating additional storage space, since there is not an abundance of cabinets.

I share your other concerns as well, and I'm not sure if there is a great solution to them or not.

As to the family situation... Active family of 4. Two adults, 2 little ones 1.5 and 3.5.

We both used to have hobbies. Now we have kids. :)

Though not enthusiastic chefs, we do entertain from time to time, and due to our location, seem to have a number of guests spend the night/weekend. My wife and I both cook, though seldom at the same time.

I'll post on the kitchen forum as well.

I should also mention that the stairway leads to a bonus room/bathroom above the garage.

"We both used to have hobbies. Now we have kids. :)" I know that situation! But THEY will have hobbies. Baking? Sewing? Arts and Crafts? Woodworking? Lots of sports requiring equipment storage? Is this your 'forever house?' I can tell you from experience that life will change a lot and quickly over the next several years. Try to think of them being 5 and 7, 10 and 12, then 15 and 17. Will they have more siblings to add to the mix? There are many different demands on time and home space at each stage/age. What is the 'resource room' for? If it's for construction paper, markers, school supplies, games, puzzles, etc. I applaud you and am jealous! Or is it a computer room/office? Also, a good idea.

Is that cabinetry next to the fridge? I'm hoping so, because it looks like you'll need dish storage somewhere close to the dishwasher. The pantry will help a lot with your storage needs.

Yes, the kitchen needs work. Work areas are too far apart from each other and too far way from the dining area.

The kitchen area is huge, can you draw out a few ideas using a single large L-shaped island, incorporating both the cooktop and the sink? The long end of the "L" could still have a raised area for barstools and casual eating. Then the fridge could go along the wall where the cooktop is now. I can kinda picture it but I'm not very good at drawing it. Maybe someone here or in the Kitches Forum could help.

Also, this is a very small point, but in the powder room to the right of the front entry, I would swap the position of the vanity and the toilet. It just gives the illusion that it's more roomy if the toilet is not in front of the door.

The second vanity in the Master Bath appears to have a section of the wall blocked off for either plumbing or the HVAC duct chases. If this is a blocked out section of wall, then I think the vanity counter is way too small, with no "elbow" room. Or mabye that X'd out section represents an under-counter cut-out for a chair? I can't really tell. If that's what it is, then nevermind, lol.

The rest aren't "defects" so much as "choices". You have your master closet off of the bath, with some like and some don't. Also, you enter the master bedroom from the family room. Again, that's a choice, not a defect. My house has the master bedroom off of the family room with a little nook that obscures the bedroom door, like your's) and I love it, though some do not.

It's certainly a good start, it looks very close to a "finished product". A bit of work on the kitchen and I think you should build it.

I warn you, I'm no where near an expert, (esp. since your kitchen looked pretty good to me! LOL!) One thing that I would suggest is that you place an entry from the backyard, (although I don't know what type of backyard you have if any), to the garage and/or laundry/mudroom. That is a must for us. My boys are always outside and are too lazy to go all the way around the front or side, nor did I want them coming through the front door or enter into the family room, all muddy or snowy. For me, I would add a back door to both, but that is just our lifestyle, which like yours, is geared towards growing, busy children, including the DH! LOL!

Make sure you have enough closet space in the other bedrooms and overall storage space. One thing that kind of bothers me is the entry to the masterbedroom. I personally would switch the niche and the entrance.

Good luck!

There is no powder room near the garage entry. Not sure what 'Resource' room is, but I'd put the pantry stuff in there and use the pantry for a powder room. Skip the powder room off the entry; guests can use the secondary bathroom. IMO, few houses have enough 'Back Hall' room. Laundry needs a laundry sink.

The Kitchen is awkward, but you're working on that.

Will you like walking through the master bath to access the closet? I use my closet more frequently than I do the master bath.

Feels like a long, winding corridor from entry to bonus room stairs.

Rhome410: Good points all. The resource room is sort of an informal study/office. We both acknowledged the need for such an area, but didn't want to waste the sq footage on a full size study. Similarly, we didn't want to waste the space on a formal dining room, and opted for 1 larger than average dining area.

The single car garage could easily be renamed shop area. That's my hobby, woodworking. The DW is into cropping, and will have an area for that in the bonus room upstairs.

Yes there are cabinets next to the RF. This is not the dream house, but we do plan on being in it for the next 5 years or so.

Chapnc: Thanks for your comments! The island setup is really the point of struggle for us. We see lots of ideas we like, but the dims are not exactly the same, and as you know that makes all the difference. The "L" is one idea we are kicking around.

I totally agree on the powder bath, that's a change we're making. The "X" in the master bath is in fact a knee space for a chair.

Eventhecatisaboy: Backdoor entry to garage is a great idea. I'd thought about it before, but somehow it had slipped my mind. Thanks for bringing that up. Actually, your input brought about a discussion about the laundry room, and we are now going to make that about 2' wider, and incorporate a wall of cubbies/sitting space, making it more of a mudroom. And possibly put a door there as well. We've kicked around the entry into the master, but the DW doesn't want everyone walking in the front door to be able to see into the room right off the bat. I think it would work either way.

Chisue, the front powder came about as a compromise. There was no way to make it fit without losing the cubbies, and the DW really wanted the cubbies. we're still kicking that front powder room around, and it may migrate back to the back hall area. The resource room is a poor man's study. :) Due to the way we live, and work, the closet/bath set up works for us best. You nailed the winding corridor, another design compromise. In the original drafts, we didn't have it. It just got added in this draft. We felt that not having a hallway there *forced* all the traffic to go through the kitchen 100% of the time. The hallway is supposed to provide an option, as unlikely as it is it will get used... :)

Thanks everyone, please keep the ideas coming!!

I like the plan! I'm no expert at this, though, so ymmv. The only other thing I noticed (aside from the powder room toilet and sink switch - like chapnc said) is that your 'great room' encompasses all your 'public space'. I'm all for the great room concept, but that means that when the kids are teens, there won't be a place for them to congregate while the adults have some quiet conversation/poker games.

I see that your entertainment center is at the opposite end from the dining room, so maybe it would work. You may have to soundproof that wall, so you don't hear it from the master br. I love the cubbies...trying to incorporate that into my own plans. Best of luck!

I really like your plan a lot!! I am not an expert AT ALL but I do remember folks telling me "prep sink" and I thought nope I do not need one. I am not even moved in yet and I am wishing I had put in a prep sink! LOL!

Good luck and again, I really really like your plan!

Kel

juniork: I agree totally. I didn't post the plan for the bonus space yet, as we haven't got that far. The rough idea is it will be a part craft room, and part playroom for the kids. That's the primary reason the stairs are on the bedroom side of the house, is that the kids can come and go up there as they please during slumber parties etc, and also have access to the kitchen, without bugging us.

I'm planning on having a bathroom up there, and one of those fold out closet beds so it can also double as a guest room. It's going to be about 20x20, maybe a bit larger, so there's lots of room to work with.

Kel,

As the budget minded DH, I'm resisting the prep sink. But SWMBO wants one. Any guess on who will win? :)

Ahhh..I get it...very nice! I'm jealous of your bonus room. Kel, I'm with ya! I would definitely do a prep sink...I saw one house recently that had 2 full double sinks with disposals and dishwashers...one with a regular one, and one with 2 FP dish drawers...pure heaven!