and second floor,
Thanks!

Actually, I love it. It's set up for entertaining. I adore the large dining room. If I were building a house, I'd "go large or not at all" in the dining room. I would rather have one huge dining area than two small ones, but that's me. :)

I find 8 burner stoves to be real overkill, but they are impressive looking and if you can afford it... why not? :)

I dislike the distance from the master bedroom to the water closet, but then it is a real personal pet peeve of mine. I actually use the bath in the hall at night, because it is closer to my bed than my master wc. :(

I would imagine that you don't plan on storing all of your linens in that cabinet in the laundry room, because it's tiny. Our comforters, blankets, throws, sheets, etc. would never fit in there.

These are my quick thoughts!

Good luck!

I just wanted to add that I love your floor plan! You've given a lot of thought to the outdoor spaces, and your large dining spaces are wonderful. Do you have any pictures of the exterior?

The only little tweak I can think of is that counter outside the mudroom. In my house, that would fill up quickly with mail, keys, etc. and I'd rather have that clutter hidden away instead of visible from the living room. Can you move the mudroom door so it hides the counter?

Other than that, I think it looks like a wonderful place to live.

Drooling over it again, I saw one other little tweak. If you're having a large dinner party in the dining room, I think your guests might be self-conscious about using the toilet right on the other side of the wall. Can you switch the location of the powder room and coat closet? It would interfere with the door out onto the porch, but I'm not sure if you need that door since you have the french doors in the dining room, and that porch is only steps from the front door anyway.

Where will your kids eat? The breakfast nook?
I dislike that to get to the fridge from the breakfast nook, you have to walk past your (huge) cooktop... I don't really see a good work-around though, unless you swap pantry and butler's pantry, and make big changes... So, I think you'll just have to assume that the kids will be walking through your space during breakfast...

That said, if that breakfast area will be your MAIN eating area, with only occasional eating in the dining room, then you might want to consider a different arrangement of stove and fridge. Also, if the brkfst area is your main eating area, your clean up sink is on the wrong side of the room. I'd prefer to have the sink/DW and dish storage closer to the table than the opposite side and around the island from the table.

Also, I think it weird/expensive to have 2 large dining areas so close together and so close to the kitchen, and that is all you really see when you come into the foyer. Strikes me as a bit "restauranty". I think decor will be very important to keep that from being an overwhelming feeling for any of your guests.

Jr's suite bathroom door is really in the way to get to the toilet. You might need to consider a different arrangement there, or a different door style (barn door/sliding door, pocket door, or even an outswing door instead). Or, if you switched the location of the shower and toilets, it might work okay (less "nice" of a view from within the room, but more practical for regular use of the facilities.) Junior also has a tiny closet, but being a "boy", that may not be any concern.

Given the shape of the laundry room upstairs, I'd flip the location of the machines and the sink counter. I would find the machines and everything about their protrusion into a room to be less obtrusive "behind" the door, than what you walk into when entering that room.

Your master WC needs an outswing or other style door for safety, and as mentioned, it is a long way away from your master bedroom...

Okay, one more thing (I have an itchy trigger finger on the "post" button!). From the family room, you have a long way to travel to find a bathroom. Imagine having to run the whole length of the house during a commercial break! If you switched the orientation of the stairs (made the up side go down, and the down side go up), you might be able to squeeze a tiny powder room under the stairs. It would also be useful to have a powder room close to the mudroom for kids who are dashing in from playing outside, DH taking a break from mowing the lawn, etc.

Not too much to say. This is very well thought out, and well-drawn. The spaces for the most part seem nicely sized.

-Big range! Can I come over for dinner? Seriously, though: don't forget makeup air for what is sure to be a large hood.
-I like the fresh air, daylight, and views that the openings flanking the fireplace will bring to the family room. But what are you going to do with four french doors? I usually think only a assembly hall or performance space would need to accommodate that many people passing though at once. Maybe full height windows would be more appropriate? Likely less expensive, and fixed screens are less expensive than retractable. Or just have the operable leaves be the ones closest to the fireplace.
-I'm happy to see a mudroom that isn't cavernous. But you're asking a lot from the limited space you're currently giving the mudroom, if you ever see this room being used by more than one person at a time. Regardless, it requires a very precise sequence of movements by the user, because of how much of the open floor area all of those door swings take up. Without moving walls, using sliding closet doors could help. You might consider mirroring the whole thing (include the exterior door swing) if you agree it would be better to look from the kitchen and stairs at the closet doors rather than locker/bench clutter.
-I think a little covering over the side entry would be nice.
-I wish the powder room and coat closet could come after the vestibule and foyer.
-Second floor looks good. Nice work!

This post was edited by dadereni on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 13:49

This is a beautiful plan!

That being said, I know everyone has a different lifestyle and needs...but you have three tables next to each other. Breakfast room, dining room, front porch.

If you want all those tables, then that's great and this plan is perfect for you. If it were me, I'd probably take out the desk (maybe put that in the entry) and put a window seat and a couple of comfy chairs on that end of the dining room. Instant conversation/seating area! When you need more dining seating, make sure the chairs (wing backs maybe?) would fit at the table for host/hostess chairs :)

I too like the majority of you plan. It is going to great for entertaining.
The main concern I have is the same as Kirkhall. The kitchen layout especially the location of the range and fridge.

Thanks everyone for your well thought out responses. In answer to some of your questions/comments:

* The dining room is meant to be "flex space". We entertain a lot for business and the entertaining is mostly dinner parties so we really like the big dining room. Others look at the plan and ask why so many eating spaces in one house? So the dining room can be easily changed to a sitting room for future owners. We are going to hang a high light fixture so it doesn't have to be defined only as a dining room.

*kitchen is biggest issue, I agree with all the comments about location of range, fridge, clean-up sink, but don't know how to set it up better. We originally had the island oriented towards the breakfast area but that didn't feel "right" so we turned it 1/4 turn to present location. Does it make more sense to swap location of clean up sink/dishwasher with range? And where does that leave the fridge? The kitchen definitely needs more tweaking. Sometimes we'll eat at the island, sometimes at the table and sometimes in the dining room, I guess I need the most flexible plan.

*linen closet is too small -thinking we could use the cabinets over the washer/dryer for additional storage but that needs some work. Will tuck washer/ dryer "behind" the door, like that much better.

*Unfortunately powder room is part of the original house and it can't be flipped with the coat closet. One of the items we had wanted was a back powder room to service the rear of the house. Compromise is that its an open stairway down to the basement and there will be a bath at the foot of the stairs. I know its not ideal but had to stop the bath additions at some point.

* Like the sliding door idea for the mudroom, which is very tight with all the door openings

* Kirkhall why does the WC room need an outswing door? someone else mentioned that regarding this plan. Is that a code issue?

*Jr Suite bath is working with existing bathroom footprint for toliet & shower- its a tight fit but we are kind of stuck with it.

*Love the idea of the wing chairs in the dining room, thanks

Our kids are all off to college so while they are not at the house on a daily basis they tend to descend all at once. We are lucky to be working with the same builder who did our previous reno and he is great at working out (on the fly) some of the issues that come when the plans don't translate to reality. If anyone has any suggestions for fixing the kitchen I am all ears!
Helene

I really like the fireplace in the dining room. What are you planning to do for the surround? I'm guessing something traditional and white/cream, but for some reason I keep thinking stone...something rustic/romantic, maybe like a french country?

This might not work (depending on roof slopes, etc.) but would it be possible to turn the bed 90 degrees in the master bedroom and add a deck or porch off the master bedroom? Maybe a two story outdoor fireplace? :)

To be slightly graphic...

In a medical emergency in a small room (like a WC), a body will fall to the only floor space available to it--where the door must swing to open. An inswing door also has its hinges on the interior of said little room. EMTs or anybody trying to help in a medical emergency cannot access the sick/very sick person without literally tearing down the door. This takes away time, the most valuable thing in any medical emergency... For these reasons, you want a door with hinges out, or that opens without being impeded by "dead weight" against the door...

It is not code, yet. However, it is code for a shower door--it must swing out (if not both directions) for the same reasons as stated above. It was put into place for a shower because of the slip hazard... Toilets/toilet use is actually a pretty common place for bathroom medical emergencies...

On the question of the kitchen...

I feel like to solve your problem, you need to put the pantry against the outside wall, and put the butler's pantry closer to the foyer--thereby altering the traffic patterns. When you do that, you'll be able to find a spot that isn't in a walking area for your stovetop.

Which entrance will you use the most?

What do you intend to use the butlers pantry for? It seems quite small and most of the space is being used for door space. I would want a second sink or fridge, or both and I'm not sure there is room for either.

Do you have exterior elevation pics?

Is there a purpose for the counter by the stairs? It's seems like wasted space but I thought there might be a specific reason for its placement.

Jen