I'm curious about the foyer with two sets of doors. Won't it seem like a closet, and be dark? Guests walk right in and are in a kitchen? Do you even need a formal foyer?

Where will you sit down and eat?

Where will you place your LR furniture -- few walls.

I'd prefer the kitchen up front, with windows. A pantry can be interior; it's just a closet. I feel the same about your MBR. It could have light from three sides. Closets on exterior walls? A bathroom only needs one exposure.

I wouldn't want my BR so 'public', right off the LR.

The foyer has two sets of glass doors. Here is a photo of the front door. The doors going into the livng area will be french doors. They are not installed as yet.

When you enter the living room, the kitchen is to the left. The area that is along the wall of Bedroom #2 is where the dinette will go.

Sofa and chairs will be in center of floor. Fireplace will go between two rear french doors to back porch and TV will go on wall between 2 windows on left. Sofa will face the TV and there will be chairs and/or settee's by fireplace and on other end of sofa behind stools that will be at bar.

We had limited space to build on and wanted certain features so the design was to give us those features, i.e, the great room opening to the back. This design is a typical Acadian style home.

I wanted a door leading to the porch from the master bedroom. Gave up the windows to achieve this. Because the bath wraps around the back of the bedroom (due to our footprint constraints), a window on that wall would have been in the corner by itself and looked awful. There was no room for a window on the wall with the door and besides, it would have looked stupid. Don't need a lot of outside light in the bedroom anyway since that's the room we sleep in, not entertain in. LOL

We have a window on the kitchen wall where the sink will be. It's not noted on this floor plan.

Our house if for me, my husband and some pets. We don't care that the Master bedroom is off of the living area. It's going to be a beautiful room so no reason to hide it from view.

Here are some photo's that might help you visualize how things will look.

Front door

Back of great room leading to back porch

Back porch

Your house is coming right along, Brutuses. How long have you been building? I haven't kept up with the progress threads.

allison0704, it's only been 4 years. LOL We'll be in by the end of the year.

LOL I didn't realize it had been THAT long - I was thinking about 18 months.

Allison

We bought the land about 4 1/2 years ago and it set for a spell, then we cleared the land and put in the pilings and the base of the house and then it sat another spell. Then Katrina came and that pushed things back. Then we had it framed and that is when things starting moving a little faster. DH is building 95% of the house by himself so that's why it's taking so long. Most of the time he can only work on it weekends. It took him 6 weeks just to paint all the porch boards for the porches. Each had to be painted on all sides, twice, before installation. Along with the fact everything has almost doubled in price since we started.

I would never have been so 'blunt' if I'd known these were not merely preliminary plans. Your user name is familiar, but it didn't 'click' that you've been creating this for some time.

After I posted I realized that your windows are the heavy lines and your walls are the light ones. That's why the LR confused me. (Funny, I read the BRs correctly!)

Glad to know there is a window in the kitchen.

DH and I walked through a similar construction in February while we were in Hawaii. It's a new development on a golf course. I liked the 'new' part, but didn't like the Foyer, Walk-Past Interior Kitchen, MBR opening off the living area. I'd just seen it and knew it wasn't for me. But that was *me*, not you.

BTW, I don't consider this to be a *small* home, and from the photos it is going to be one with lovely details. We sought that, too: Less money in bland square footage and more in detail. (Of course most plans on this forum have both!)

Brutuses, I like the foyer in the front and am anxious to see finished pictures. We live in an older (1920s) neighborhood and the nicer homes in the neighborhood have this. I've always been jealous of my friends who did because it made just a nice cozy room to hang coats on hooks and drop your shoes. I realize it is an "older" concept, but I sure do love it.

The rest of your home is coming along beautifully. I can't wait to see more pictures when you have them.

Tell me a little more about bath 2. I know you have planned to use a dresser for your washstand. Will that go in the leftmost room? Is the divider a pocket door?

BTW, on your recommendation, I purchased our front door from e-doors.com and it worked out great! I've very grateful to you for the tip.

Looking lovely. Thanks for sharing. Jaymie

I ADORE your front door! I know it's been a long haul Brutuses but it's going to be worth the wait!

Jamie, so glad you were able to find a door you liked from e-doors. Which model did you order?

About the guest bath. As you enter, the dresser/vanity is to the left, the half wall you see is where the tub will go. That is the wall to seperate the tub from the front of the bath as it will include a shower. All the way to the back is the toiti. It's a small space so that dresser was needed for some wow factor. LOL I'm so anxious for DH to get it transformed into a vanity. I'm going to take step by step photo's as so many people have asked how it will be transformed.

We are glad we decided on the foyer. Our initial thought was we could close the doors to the foyer when we go to answer the front door without Brutus or the cats trying to beat us to the front door. Brutus wants to smell every inch of a visitor before we have a chance to say hello. He's half lab so that explains that behavior. His Akita side wants to overpower them. HA! Leaving him behind the foyer doors will give our company time to prepare for his hello. LOL

I've already bought a table for the foyer that (JC Penney) had on sale. I have a beautiful bench/settee in mind and am waiting for the on-line store Tuscany, to put it on sale again. When I first spotted this piece over a year ago, it was on sale. I didn't get it and now it's regular price and would be $50 more. I'm going to hold out till the last moment and see if I can get it on sale again.

Chisue, I kind of thought you were thinking my floor plan was posted for comments and that's why you commented on so many things. We definitely designed spaces that will be used everyday and not have rooms just sitting and waiting for a special occasion or company. That's just more for me to clean and extra energy to make the utility companies richer!! HA! It's our retirement home. We aren't thinking about resale or any other owner. That's for the beneficiaries to worry about. We wanted a space that was comfortable for us and the pets and I think we've achieved that goal.

There is a lot of detail and finish work and that's making the finishing process painstakingly slow!! DH wants to build certain things himself rather than buy so that's also taking extra time, but it will be worth the effort.

I can't wait for everyone to see the finished product. So many people on this forum have watched us struggle each step of the way trying to get the house finally finished. I think they'll also be breathing a sigh of relief when we are finally moved in.

so many closets!! and i like your front doors. i appreciate the new smaller home plans like yours because i am trying to renovate and improve my old smaller home. yours gives me some ideas of where to add a deck, where to put closets, etc. i also like foyers, especially with doors like those. kren

I must be missing something - where will you eat? You say there is now no center island, but that you have an l-shaped curved counter. What happens when you have guests?? Will you have a dining room table somewhere in the living room?

Thanks for the additional info brutuses. I look forward to additional pictures as you take them. Jaymie

jmaf, the area that is next to the wall of Bedroom 2 (indented a bit), is where the table w/chairs will go. We also will have 3 bar stools at the counter.

Brutuses, I really like your back porch (weird, of all the things to pick up on!!) - can you tell me how wide the porch is, and what material (it looks like wood) you used for the porch deck? The whole thing looks comfortable and lovely!

gerberdaisy, I'll have to get back to you with that information. One thing I do know off the top of my head is that the porch boards are made with a special treatment by a guy here in Louisiana. I'm not sure they are even sold elsewhere. They are inexpensive, but require a lot of work. DH had to paint 2 coats of paint on all sides of the boards before he could install them. However, they are impervious to termites (big problem down here) and will not warp. I'll get the specific information and let you know.

Just curious how many square feet are in this plan? I ask because we're presently building a 1700 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in Arizona with a similar open living/dining/kitchen arrangement, plus pantry, laundry room and entrance foyer. Pretty much the same deal as yours, but with a different room arrangement. Unlike yours, our garage is attached.

You've done a good job of maximizing the usability of the space you have. There's almost no space wasted on hallways, for example

feedingfrenzy, it's roughly 1900 sq. ft. I'd love to see your plans, can you post them?

brutuses - I love your plan! I LOVE your front door. The foyer sounds wonderful!!! I secretly wish I had a foyer now that we are moved in. sshhhh don't let DH know I said that! I can't wait to see pictures. It looks like you are coming along. Hang there :-)

Kel

Sorry, I don't have it on an internet site. If someone knows how to post on here from a file, I'd sure like to know.

gerberdaisy, sorry for the delay in getting back to you about the back porch information.

The boards are a dry treated T & G 5/4 thickness. A guy in LA makes them, but DH thinks you could find them in your area also.

The back porch measures 9 feet by 25 feet.

9' is a nice width for a porch - roomy enough for some seating.

i'll have to google those dry treated boards to see what that's all about - thank you for all the info!