This is the loft. The bonus room is just an unfinished area over the garage for storage.

The living/dining/kitchen area is way too open and informal for me, but maybe that's just what you want. It has a cabin-y feel to it.

Where's the laundry going to be?

When you have guests over for a meal or just to visit, and they have to use the bathroom, which will they use? The one in the mudroom seems a LONG way out of the way. Maybe you could move it to the opposite side of the mudroom, closer to the kitchen. The mudroom seems enormous, compared to the rest of the house, but then again, you've got lots and lots of doors going in and out of it. Lots of traffic.

I like a lot of your plans. Right off hand...I would suggest moving the master shower plumbing into another wall besides the one adjoining your master bedroom. Nothing like waking to someone showering. You also have to reach thru your shower spray to turn the water on. It's these little things that make a big difference.
Why pocket doors? Have you ever owned a house with pocket doors?
Love the mud room!
Be sure to put in a much larger breaker box then the house needs. It does not cost much at all. You'll be glad you did.
In your master bath, with the two sinks on the small vanity, is that enough counter top for everything. We have learned that we need more countertop space in the bathroom.
Consider hot water circulator. By the way, where are the utilities going?

You asked for a critique so here's mine:

The loft stair needs several additional risers and treads (your builder should know how to design a stair).

There should never be a freestanding post near a stairway or another passageway.

The kitchen island is awkwardly located and shaped as a work counter, storage space and room divider.

The master bathroom has a large open space but the lavatories are squeezed together in one counter. It is necessary to cross the bathroom to get clothing when it is occupied. It doesn't look like a bathroom two people could comfortably use at the same time.

Pocket doors are expensive, function poorly, provide little privacy and no security.

The view from the kitchen and dining area will be of cars or at least asphalt paving.

There is no space zoning; you could stand at the base of the stairway and see into all spaces except the bathrooms. It would be a good vacation house.

If the climate is cold you should have fewer doors into the living space. If the climate is warm you should have greater access to the outside with porches, etc.

Is the storage space under the stair the only entry/hall closet?

In my opinion, the cost of hiring a professional designer to redraft these plans would be money extremely well spent.

Thank you all so much for your comments... input is just what we needed. Like I said, we've never done this.
Littlebug.... the laundry is in the master closet. He has a full size washer/dryer there but we will just have a stackable one. Cabin-y is really what we want. We have a very wooded lot and want that kind of feel.
Mudflap..... I had thought about the shower issue. We could move the entrance to the other side and put the controls on the entrance side. We want a large, walk-in shower (no glass!). Why pocket doors? Don't know.... have always liked them. Never had them though. What's a hot water circulator? The utilities are going in the basement.
Renovator.... the stairs in the plan aren't right. He already told us that he is working on that. The storage space under the stairs won't be there because that's where the steps will go to the basement. The kitchen is not worked on yet, just there for space. We actually don't want the doors that he put in the front. We didn't talk about that. There is a porch that goes all the way around the front and sides that isn't on there yet too.
The plans are just a beginning. We are getting together soon to talk about them and make changes.
Thank you all for your comments. Anything else?

The disadvantage of computer drawings is that what is drawn looks finished and what is not fully decided is often left out. It makes the drawing virtually useless for communicating with others.

At this stage of a design I would not show a client a computer plan; I would draw a sketch on tracing paper over the initial computer layout and add notes explaining what is not final and what outside spaces might be developed later.

What else? Aside from the stair and kitchen the house is not organized well; there is no apparent central idea or "parti" (see below) that make the spaces feel well organized in a functional and aesthetic way.

IMO you should avoid asking a builder to design your house. In 40 years I've only met one contractor who had any understanding of home design and he had spent 2 years in the architecture school at Yale but he always hired me to do design work for him.

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[A Parti or Parti pris/ from the French Prendre parti meaning " to make a decision ", often referred to as the big idea, is the chief organizing thought or decision behind an architect's design presented in the form of a basic diagram and / or a simple statement.]

We made a few changes. Moved the laundry area to the back of the mud room and put a door from it into the master closet. Moved the half bath closer to the living area. Changed the sinks in the master bath. We haven't looked at all at the kitchen yet. That'll be a whole ordeal! Any thoughts?

Good comments above. My thoughts:

--There is no entry or transition from outdoors to indoors; one just opens a door and steps into the "great" room;
--How will the great room and dining room be furnished? What is the seating area and what will you look at from the seating area? Is there an external view, and if so, where is it?
--The mud room and laundry are as big as the master bedroom. Is there some reason for this? Will you be spending as much time in the laundry and mud room as the master bedroom?
--The master bathroom and closet are not well organized and accessed;
--Do you need all that open space on the second floor and will you be able to economically heat and cool it?
--Is the "L-shaped" balcony on the second level needed; is it furnishable?
--A "bonus" room over the garage means the garage must be fully insulated and finished (air tight) in order to economically heat and cool occupable space above. Is this your plan?

This plan really raises more questions than it answers. Are you satisfied with this plan? My advice is to find an architect or experienced residential designer for help. Your plan needs more design experience than your builder can provide.

Good luck on your project.

Thank you Virgil for your input! Let me try to answer some of your questions...
The main door will be into the "mud room", not the great room. The door in the great room is just one that will go out to the wrap around porch. We want our entry to be through the "mud room/foyer".
The spot we picked is the highest point with wonderful views from all sides of 33 acres of hills and woods.
The master bath and closet does need work. Any suggestions? This is the kind of help I was looking for.
I don't know that the balcony is necessarily needed, just as a landing for the stairs and entrance into the bedroom. I thought it would be a nice place to just sit and enjoy the view. We had thought we'd put a futon there for when the grandchildren come to visit.
I think "bonus room" is the wrong term. That area is just sort of an attic over the garage for storage...... Christmas decorations, sleeping bags, etc. It will not be finished or heated/cooled.

Am I satisfied with the plan? Parts of it, yes. The kitchen we have not even thought about yet. I know the master bath and closet need help. We know for sure that we want a large walk in shower and that's about all we are settled on for that area. Ideas.... please?

Your explanation helps to understand your intent and design goals. Some comments:

--In both plans the masterbath is really too large, with wasted circulation space. You could easily compartmentalize it with so much area, putting lavatories in one space and WC and shower in the other, as a means of allowing both areas to be used simultaneously with privacy;
--No bathtub? Not for you or for resale (I usually don't pay much attention to resale, but no tub could be a deal breaker);
--I think you should do some more design studies of the combined mud room, powder, laundry and master bath to see what options may be appealing. There's a lot of space available in these areas;
--Is it necessary to walk through the master bath into the laundry room, when you also have a corridor to the mud room and laundry? You're duplicating your circulation space without any increase in the usable areas of the master bath or laundry.
--The long unbroken wall of the garage, laundry, master bath, master bedroom will make that elevation of the house look very long, bulky and unattractive. Why not pust the garage back so that the front of the garage and entry align, giving some variation to the back wall, at no increase in area or perimeter?
--Have you sat/worked in lofts adjacent to large volume open spaces? More often than not the air stratifies there, making the loft hot and the lower space cool as the air changes temperature and moves. It looks good in a drawing, but may be uncomfortable in reality. Consider it carefully.
--Why so many sliding doors? I've never seen a design with this many. Is there a special reason for them?

Good luck on your project?

Thank you again Virgil!

No bathtub. There is one in the loft bedroom but I really don't want one in my master bath.

"Is it necessary to walk through the master bath into the laundry room, when you also have a corridor to the mud room and laundry? You're duplicating your circulation space without any increase in the usable areas of the master bath or laundry. " - I guess I don't really understand what you mean. I want to be able to access the laundry from both the mud room and the master closet.

I am fairly happy with the laundry area at the back of the entry. What is the best way to reconfigure the closet and bath to make the best use of the space?

We originally had the garage and the entry room aligned but pushed the entry back for that same purpose... to give it some variation and emphasis.

Why so many pocket door? Don't know. We just like them. We think that we will change to one entering the bedroom from the hallway to a regular door.

Many many thank yous for your input.

I'd encourage you to consider changing the door between the master bedroom and master bath to a hinged door too. Pocket doors are noisy, and it would be annoying to get woken up any time your spouse went to the bathroom at night.

When you're ready to think about the kitchen, I'd recommend going to the kitchen forum.

Carol

A hot water circulator system is a way to have hot water at all your faucets all the time. You will need to plan for the circulation. You have to create a loop with your hot water line back to the water heater. A low volume circulation pump to constantly move hot water thru the line. PEX is excellent for this.

By the way, where is your water heater and HVAC gonna be.

Oh,
Personal opinion...my wife and I have a laundry room drawn similar to yours. But...we don't have the wall dividing the laundry. I know your's is also going to act as the entryway as well. We have plans for a large, rolling stainless steel fold table to be in the mud/laundry room.

Also, with the laundry so close to your closet, you may be inclined to hang up damp clothes in the closet. If so, make sure you have plenty of air circulation so your clothes don't get stale.