To help you better with critiques of the floor plan. What do you like about the plan, what do you wish could be better?

One thing I notice, do you really want your mudroom and pantry to be one in the same? I would put a wall between them and then have access to pantry from the kitchen. Therefore having a corner pantry - but your kitchen layout would be dependant on that.

Is the garage front entry? Or side entry? On 5 acres, it would be a shame if it is front entry.

Thanks for the input.

We like the plan, we have been working on it for a little while now. This is our first house and we currently live in a single wide trailer so I was looking for any flow critiques or "I wouldn't do that" looking for the been there done that advice :)

We will probably do a side load garage. Actually the existing driveway lends itself to this configuration and since we live in area that gets a lot of snow this will help by coming in under the peak of the roof.

I put the pantry and mud room together because I thought it would give me a bigger pantry. I was so excited to get the laundry out of the mudroom. Do you have any suggestions on how to arrange the kitchen to be able to separate. We had planned on having the sink on the outside wall the fridge on the pantry wall the oven on the foyer wall and a peninsula between the kitchen and living/dining area.

Thanks again

One thing and I realize everyone is different but I have two little ones and I'd try and get their rooms to be the same size so you have less fights down the road.

First thing I notice is that I don't see any linen closets or a front entry closet (get rid of the pesky kitchen corner and put the front entry closet there- doesn't take up any foyer space and then you don't have hard-to-use kitchen corner storage).

I would also consider putting your master bath and closet closer together since you usually use those two places in conjunction with each other.

Ok, now I'm really getting picky. We bought our first house after it was already framed and the stairs were in. There were many things we could change about the floorplan, but the stairs were not one of them. It drove me crazy! Why, you ask? because I had to go to the front of the house every time I went up and down the stairs. The house I'm designing now has a very central start to the stairs.

Sounds like you're planning on putting the sink so you'll be facing the front porch- I would put it on the peninsula- as well as your dishwasher. Closer to your dining area, fewer steps to carry dirty dishes. Plus, I know I like to face the action when I'm at the sink (I seem to be there A LOT)- and it looks like your action will be in the DR and FR, not on the front porch. I know it's traditional to look out the window while you're doing dishes, but really, it just makes the window harder to keep clean because of all the water mess that the sink makes.

I would separate the mudroom and pantry. Make the pantry accessible from the kitchen- it'll still be big enough to be a walk-in. Put the opening next to the fridge. Mud rooms can get so cluttered with backpacks and shoes, it's nice to have a separate space for those. (I would recommend getting a locker type cabinet (without a door) for each of your children so they have a specific space for their belongings. No more hunting for shoes and backpacks and such!)

I'm not sure where you're putting the access to your deck, but make sure it doesn't get in the way of your dining room table. I've seen so many houses that the back entry/exit is smack dab in the middle of their table! So annoying to have to go around all the pesky chairs!

That's all I can think of for now. Hope it was helpful! You've done a great job- looks like a well thought out plan.

Thanks for all the feedback. We met with the designer this week and I am super excited to see what he comes up with. We talked to him about fixing the stairs so you don't have to go clear to the front door to go up them. He is also going to see what he can come up with for the pantry/mudroom. We will put the coat closet under the stairs and there are two linen closets in the hall. I plan to buy super susans so I need to keep my kitchen corner.

Thanks again for all the suggestions I'll be back when we have the first draft from the designer :)