Looks great to me. I would put the W/D on the short wall in the laundry room, that way the space will feel more open/less constricted. You have quite a bit of room, I think you could put a table with a bar over it in the corner (closest to where the laundry tub is now) and be able to fold over there and still move around.

Good luck :)

I'd suggest:
(1) putting a window in the laundry room wall, the natural light is always nice, can't beat it, plus you'll be more cheered up in there doing laundry.
(2) if you are in a cold climate with actual winters, I'd suggest keeping the W/D and utility sink on the interior wall, since having plumbing on an exterior wall can be risky...
(3) I'd consider moving the three over to the right, so that the sink is closer to the (stairs) wall, that way, your folding table can go on the short wall (hopefully under your "new" window:) and you can have a pleasant view and good lighting while you fold, and you can use that table for crafts, wrapping presents, etc, as it can be fairly large...

I bought a two tiered stainless steel table from a commercial kitchen supply store for I think $200, and it's big, and I'll be using it for my folding table, with storage underneath on the shelf.

Just my thoughts! HTH

I would also vote for a window in the utility room. Are you planning to use the space under the steps for storage? Have you ever had a door to the outside in your MB? We had an outside door in two of our houses and never used them.
Our son also added doors to their BR and what ended up being DD's BR and neither were ever used. I would opt for a window instead matching the other window. It would be easier to do window treatments for two windows than a window and a door. Just my thoughts...
Dorothy also in AR

I'm worried about some things, so I might sound negative, but I really am trying to help.

Many of your doorways are less than the standard 30". You have over 250 sq ft in hallway...which may not be the way you want to use your space. I don't know your budget, but you have lots of jogs in and out on the exterior wall, which will add expense to the foundation, framing, and siding labor.

Do you not need an entry closet, or one for family coats by a back door? I'd like more closets for linens, vacuum and cleaning supplies, etc.

Where/how will the kids go out to play? Or are they past that?

When you have the cars in the garage will you be able to exit them and walk around them into the house? Our pickup is 19' long, so if it was in a garage that size, you wouldn't be able to walk around either end.

You have only short expanses of work counter in the kitchen. It's pretty much a 'one-woman kitchen,' so if the boys like to participate, there will be traffic jams. If you like to do baking projects I'm not sure you have room to roll out dough, etc. The doorway into the pantry is about 18"? --But you have room to change that. What is planned for the window end? It seems to big to leave empty, but maybe not large enough for seating. Have you posted the plan on the kitchen forum?

Be sure you map out how hanging rods (including hanger width) will work in each closet. With the sizes they are in the kids' rooms, you'll only have room for rods along the back wall...Which is OK, if that's what you were planning. I know that boys don't really hang much. ;-) But do the same for your closet and make sure with the size and shape you'll get the storage you want.

Do you know that the little alcove into the front-center bedroom will just be wasted space? You won't be able to put anything of any depth on any of the walls and still be able to walk through. Again, I guess that's OK as long as you weren't hoping to have room for something there. Any large furniture might be a challenge to get into that room.

Did you start from scratch or find a plan you like and worked to adapt it to your family? The latter often works better for people to get a specialized plan, but also have some architectural finesse. Who will be doing your complete set of plans? It will help to have a knowledgeable person help you work out some of the awkward areas.

Again, I don't want to upset you, but I also felt it wouldn't be a favor for you to keep problems I see to myself. Best wishes on building a great house!

Thanks for the feedback!

Ok, I'll try and answer some things. The plan is one we found and have been tweaking it to work better for us.

Laundry---I'd like to have a window in the laundry, but it may not look right from the outside, so it's something I'm willing to give up. Right now I have a laundry closet and the dryer is in the garage (b/c whoever built this house made it too small to fit both), so this laundry room will be heavenly even without a window! lol We don't have really hard winters, so I'm not super concerned about plumbing on the outside walls.

Hallways and doorways---the doorways will all be the standard size, thanks for pointing out that I haven't fixed them. The software always puts in a small door for some reason. The hallways are a little big, but I wanted to make sure they are large enough for any future wheelchair or crutches needs. They can be adjusted some but not much.

We love the jogs in and out on the exterior wall, it's the style of home we love, it's a French Country with gables over those jogs. It's already part of the budget. :)

Garage---it's larger than the one we have now and our cars fit. We have a Mid sized SUV and small car. Our neighbors have the same sized garage and they drive a large SUV and a full sized pick up. I will make sure dh measures again to be sure.

Coats---I have dh's grandma's antique hall tree for the front entrance area and there will be a cubby area by the garage entrance (beside the boys' bathroom). There will also be storage under the stairs. Since we don't have hard winters, there's not a huge need for a closet at the entrance.

Kitchen---the short wall of cabs is my baking center, so there is 3ft of lowered counter there. Also, there is the counter over the dishwasher to the left of the sink. There will be a couple of ft on either side of the range, also. (like I said, I'm still learning how to get everything right on this software, it takes concentration and I don't get very many windows of opportunity! :) ) I do plan on posting it to the kitchen forum. The pantry door will be a 2'6" I think.

I'm going to have a little pub table on the window end with chairs that can be used at the counter also. (counter over hang not drawn)

that middle bedroom--yes, that closet is giving me fits! I'm trying to find the best place for it. Do you think it could work along the stair wall?

Kids will go out the back, french doors or the garage.

Masterbedroom door---I haven't had a door before, but we plan to build a large patio out back and wanted to be able to access it from the br.

Closets---they may need some tweaking, but they will all have organizers in them so there will be two levels of rods and shelving. Again, they are bigger than what we have now! Everything is bigger than what we have now, lol.

Thanks again, it's great to have fresh eyes to point out things I need to fix.

This is sort of an odd thought, but I'm wondering if this would prove to be such a good layout when the kids are teenagers. I'm just thinking that with the kids so close to the garage and the master bedroom so much farther away, it may be easier for them to go in and out without your hearing it.

Well, we'll live way out in the sticks, so it would have to be a big effort to get anywhwere besides just outside! lol Seriously though, I'm not worried about that. We'll deal with discipline problems as they come.

Some if these things have already been mentioned, but:

The foyer is pretty large considering that some rooms are a little skimpy. Doesn't seem like the best use of space.

The master bedroom is small - I think it's unusual to see a dimension less than 12'.

Add a linen closest in the kids' bath.

I'd try to figure out a way to get the powder room to be a full bath so you could conceivably sell the house as a four bedroom/three bath.

As already mentioned, it seems like there may be something wrong with the dimensions of the closets (but I'm not sure). I'd plan that very, very carefully.

I would make the foyer narrower by making the study and master bath wider and I would keep the foyer from feeling too tight by opening up the dining room completely and just defining the space with columns.

I would also recess the entry (making the interior square footage a tiny bit smaller) so the foyer isn't so long - this will keep it from feeling tight.

Personally, I'd give up the master bath tub in favor of more closets.

Oops...meant to say five bedroom/three bath.

I think it could be great to tuck that bedroom's closet under the stairs, if it leaves you enough under-stair storage for what you'd already planned. Then that little alcove could be desk space or some other cool spot.

I am familiar with this software and it makes small doors in walls where there's not room for any larger ones, like the toilet rooms, the closets, and the angled wall on the pantry. Also, it probably is set to default to 30" (when there's room), so if you prefer 3' doorways, you'll want to change that setting.

Personally, I would also nix the tub in the master and replace it with an elegant shower...Maybe even smaller than you have drawn, but not necessary, I suppose. This would take the jog out of your closet, and give you space for a linen cupboard across from your toilet. It looks like you have room for linens next to the sinks in the boys' bath, but your toilet space is minimal, and not large enough, I don't think to be walled off and have a doorway.

Some quick thoughts from not an expert, but a Mom of 4 boys:

Increase the garage size. Someday those 3 boys will be driving too. Our current garage is soooo small. Barely can fit my SUV, lawn equipment, bikes, outdoor toys and forget my DH's truck. No room.

Maybe add some sort of catchall from the garage. Is there anyway you could make the laundry room over there and move that back bedroom somewhere else? Maybe switching it with the dining room and using that closet and vestbule space from the other bedroom as laundry, mudroom space? Just a thought.

Maybe put a door from the backyard into the garage? I hate when my boys come in muddy, wet or just in general into the living areas from the outside and now they mostly don't do it. Our door from the garage to backyard gets a lot of use. Hose hook up there, easy access to toys and tools, etc.

Sovra does make a good point about the rooms by the garage. I guess it would be tempting for teen boys by the garage! LOL! You could switch your masterbed. and study to that end, w/ laundryroom. But regardless, if kids are going to sneak out, they are going to find a way, no matter where their rooms are. Something I never did, but my friends did all the time. I hope my boys won't but I won't say never, esp. with all of their different personalities. But another worry would be others access to the garage too. Hmm...something to think about. I would definitely want my room over there then.

Maybe add another sink in the masterbedroom.

Keep working and looking at stock plans. Sometimes when you look at those you get new ideas all over again. You know what best fits your family lifestyle. Good luck!

Thanks! I will definately work on the closets with the builder.

I'll try to address your other concerns, too.

Foyer---I know it seems big, but once that hall tree is there on the study wall, I think it'll be fine. As for the dining room, I don't care for columns and I want the openings to be arched in keeping with the style of the house. Also, it would be difficult to move that wall in b/c that would affect the mbr hall and doorway. I could make the dining room wider, though.

Mbr---it should be 16x12. Do you think 12 is still too narrow?

As for linen closets in the bathrooms, I really didn't want a built in closet, I will use furniture cabinets. Plus there will be the laundry room in which to store extras.

powder room--- I like it the way it is. My vision is for it be a little jewel box. I don't ever plan on selling, but if we have to in the future, I think it'll be fine the way it is.

Master tub---give it up?? What are you trying to do to me? That's my escape!! LOL! Really, I love a long soak in the tub.

As for the master sink, we've gone back and forth. We have two now and we never use one of them (been in this house 4 yrs). So I figured why put two in if we'll never use them both?

Toilets--- yeah, I may have to give up having a door there and just go with the dividing wall. It's something I was going to address with the builder.

Closet under the stairs---I was wondering if it would be feasable! Sure would help solve that problem.

LOVE the idea for the door to the backyard from the garage! I will certainly be adding that!

We'll also have a storage building in the back for lawn mowers and such.

The plan started off with the laundry room and boys bath switched. But I didn't want their bathroom right off the kitchen and dining room. ewww!

We'll have lots of storage upstairs in the bonus room area. We are building a large storage closet up there along the back wall. The rest of the bonus room space will be a "man room/playroom" so most of the toys will be up there also.

I'm not one to have a lot of clutter and "stuff" anyway.

Thanks again! I'm so happy I stumbled on to this site a few weeks ago!

I'd want more 'back hall' area and I'd want the laundry there, too. I see the bath access there (good!), but there's not enough 'mess/transition' room back there near the garage entry. I'd skip the kitchen 'pantry' and put a big closet in the back hallway for bulk storage. And add more upper and lower cabinets in the kitchen.

There's not enough eating space in the kitchen; I count only five feet between counters and double doorway. Even if you eat most meals in the DR, I'd want more space right in the kitchen.

I'd never waste an outside wall on a closet (BR left/front). You could have windows on that BR wall and back the closet against the bath. (Who cares if it's walk-in or reach-in?)

I have problems with your master bath setup. There you are, soaking in peace, and someone wants to use the toilet or get to the closet. Not only an interruption, but a breeze! I also prefer an outside toilet room with a window.

You do have a lot of 'waste' in foyer and hallway. Seems overkill when the BRs are rather tight.

Think about when your boys are B-I-G and their friends are, too!

Will the bonus room have a toilet and sink?