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Floor Plan Review Revised Plan

11 years ago

Here is the second revision to our floor plan. So far I like most of the plan, but would like opinions or suggestions on how to layout the kitchen? I want to have a space to walk into the kitchen without passing through the living room. I would move the refrigerator to the other wall and leave that space open, but am worried about losing too much counter space. Any help is appreciated.

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Comments (5)

EACX2
Original Author
11 years ago
Here is the second floor. Is the master bedroom closet wide enough?
jakabedy
11 years ago
I'm not an expert on dimensions, but here are a few things that caught my eye:

- Maybe move the MBR closet door a bit toward the front of the house, and use a pocket door. That would allow you to have a hanging rod or shelves on the other short wall in the closet and you wouldn't have to work around the open door when you're in the closet.

- If you're planning a masonry fireplace/chimney, you're not going to be able to have the window where you've placed it in the Master Bath.

- You might want two windows on the long wall in the MBR, so there is one on either side of the bed (assuming the bed goes on that wall).

- if the Bonus Room is meant to be a media room, you could stub in plumbing for a bar sink in the corner behind the main bath.

- if the main floor office is meant to serve as a guest room at some point, you might consider making the powder room at least a 3/4 bath. I'm not sure how to do that in the space you have, but it's a consideration. (Maybe cede the coat closet space back to the powder room and rob some space from the office closet for a new hall closet?)

- You don't have a way to close off the laundry room from the rest of the house. Maybe there is enough distance and drywall between the laundry room and the LR to make the noise not an issue, but maybe not.

- You're definitely going to be floating furniture in the LR, so consider ample floor outlets in your electrical plan.
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Your plan has evolved nicely! I don't think I'd bother with the door by the dining room table. I think it'd be too crowded to get out that door, and you have a door in the great room, only steps away. Multiple doors onto the patio will mean more difficulty placing furniture on the patio. Multiple doors also mean more doors to accidentally leave open, and if you ever do a security system, more doors = more cost. I like the increased size of your dining room table. I prefer the great room furniture placement in the second image. Why? When you walk in, you'll have "space" between the two chairs, which gives you a better view into the great room and feels more inviting. However, with a large family, the sofa is probably more practical. If you go with the sofa, I'd place a table behind it - just feels right to me. Since you don't have unlimited space in the great room, I'd go with the sliding door. Having lived with both, sliding glass doors are more functional than French doors. French doors open up into the house and take up space, whereas the sliding glass door "disappears" when you open it up -- thus, you get better air flow. I know, French doors are so pretty . . . so it's a question of function or looks. In either floorplan, I'd consider skipping the mid-room door and going with a bank of windows in its place . . . and then having a single door just at the spot where the great room meets the kitchen. A door in that place would serve both rooms and would free up your furniture placement choices. I prefer the mudroom arrangement in the first plan. Seems to be a better use of the space. I like the placement of the powder room better, and I think its laundry room is "right sized", whereas the other one is a bit bloated.
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My inlaws' pool/golf house in Florida has four bedrooms + an upstairs office they use as a bedroom and I just don't think it has it has much more common living space than this. When there's a real houseful everyone's at the beach, in the lanai, on the golf course, or happy to hang out en famille. The living room has a big sectional and two recliners. It's rare everyone would be watching tv at the same time. The kids are often in their room on their iPods if they're not in the pool or playing games at the table. In your house they'd use the upstairs den. There's no separate rec room (that's the lanai). Since my inlaws bought it primarily for themselves, it has a large master suite with big bathroom and WIC. Seems sensible to me as they are down there six months a year compared to my one. The one thing they do have is a den on the main floor for an adult away room...it can be used as a bedroom if need be but is set up as a grown up room 90% of the time. My FIL uses it as his office and his fave tv is in there. This post was edited by robotropolis on Mon, Nov 3, 14 at 22:23
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Forget the brick or you will destroy the simple timeless elegance you are looking for. The photo is much simpler and nicer than the elevation drawing. The buildings that inspired this design are even simpler (no front facing gables, that's an English tradition) and unit masonry would only be seen where the stucco surface coating had been damaged and not repaired. It would never be used as a feature. Stick with the French inspiration and don't mess it up with modern builder/developer accents. Alternatively, study English Cotswold cottages if you like front facing gables.
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Comments (7)
For aging in place, consider making your bathroom accessible - with a little more elbow room. Agree. - Note, too, that you're giving all your bathroom vanity space to duplicate sinks, leaving only one small stack of drawers for the two spouses to share. Storage is always better than a second sink, so consider a single sink /a bank of drawers for each spouse. - Where do you see towels hanging for this shower? - I assume you intend to have a window in the master bathroom /it just didn't show up in the picture. And here's the one thing that is harder to solve - as you get older, or if you have a dog - getting to the GROUND from the ,main living area of the house - isn't easy. Agree, and I have no great love of the walk-out basement concept. I like being able to go outside from my main living areas. pocket doors are great for when you are saving space, or leave the door open (or closed) much of the time. Again, agree. Pocket doors are great -- in the right space -- but bathroom doors that are opened /closed multiple times a day isn't that place. A pocket door between the kitchen and laundry would be ideal. A couple small thoughts: - I'd flip-flop the washer/dryer to the other side of the laundry room. This will mean you only need water in one wall (because you'll have water for the refrigerator's ice maker in that shared wall). - The master bedroom is fairly far from any exterior door, so I'd add a slider to the back yard. This will be good for fire safety, and it will mean you can bring larger furniture in easily. - Consider the dimensions of your dining room. It's 20' long but less than 10' wide. What shape/size table do you see in this room? - I agree with the poster above who asks, Do you need a small home office? Most of us need a little bit of space for mail, a printer, etc. Perhaps you could put a built-in desk at the end of the dining room /on the wall shared with the garage. You could even make a room identical to the laundry. You could have a great hobby closet space as well as a small office. - Consider that the aisle between the table and the kitchen will be a heavily-traveled path; a bit more width would be welcome. - Note that, once in place, your table will block your slider to the deck. - I like a U-shaped kitchen, but consider that this layout has THREE corners. Corners are always tricky, so think through what you'll use -- super susans? a cabinet that opens towards the dining room? angled drawers? dead corners?
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virgilcarter
11 years ago
The problem with your kitchen is that it is bisected by too manyt circulation paths. It would be far more efficient and useful if you turned it 90--degrees an made it a galley kitchen with only one circulation path in between the two counter lines.

Good luck on your project.
dpusa
11 years ago
Ok having had multiple versions of our plan (26 to be exact) here are some thoughts:

1. Kitchen - make sure your fridge has AT LEAST 3 or 4 inches from the wall clearance to be able to open it properly - we found out we only had 3 inches. Also consider if it will be counter depth etc.

2. I like the kitchen... where will the oven go? Underneath the stove or somewhere else?

3. Second the closing off of the laundry room - I would not want to hear my washer.

4. Fireplace is not in the right place to allow a window in the upstairs bath.

5. I would agree the powder room being converted to add a shower or bath would be invaluable if you are going to ever use the office as a bedroom

6. Master Bed - I would add a window on the long wall as already mentioned.

7. Do you have kids? If so, and if the budget allows I would turn the bonus room into an ensuite bedroom unless you have plans for the bonus room.

again all IMHO
renovator8
11 years ago
The half bath is hogging the center of the circulation path and hiding the stairway. I would pull the office away from the living room and put a full bath between those spaces. The stair would then be fully open to the foyer and the bathroom would be close to the office for guest use.

I would also move the door at the top of the basement stair and the small closet toward the front of the house in order to straighten out the twisted back hall allowing storage along the kitchen side of it and the pantry could be reduced in size.

Hopefully this would allow the diagonal entry to the living room to be straightened out.

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