I love it, it will be stunning. The only things I noticed was the lack of a close coat closet by the front foyer, and I would take out the powder room or the storage closet off the garage to make a mudroom.

From the garage entry path, you see almost directly into Bath 1--I don't think I'd like that.

The big issue I would have is with the kitchen. The refrigerator is so far from the sink and stove that it'd be a trek to get things in and out. There is no 'landing area' near the fridge.

A kitchen this size should actually have two sinks, and my preference would be to have the main sink on the wall area and the prep sink in the island, although there are those who would disagree :-).

The front elevation looks as if it's a 3-story house--the center part is so high--but it isn't. The single dormer looks lonely there--is it possible to adjust the elevation?

hi there!

Nice house, I personally would prefer that the study bed 2 have the bathroom entrance into the room versus opening to hallway.

I would make a larger mudroom verus having the storage opening into the garage.

I would not like my kids in the basement without adequate windows. That may be a little dark during daylight hours...

Thanks everyone for the feedback so far.

bethohio3: Yes we will be moving the kitchen appliance setup around. We were thinking of putting the fridge and ovens next to the stove so so its close to the pantry as well. Do you have any specifics on why you like the sink not on the island? We struggle with that one a bit as well. The only thought is we could put the sink where the stove is and put a window behind it which might be nice. As far as the elevation goes it mainly has to do with the vaulted great room I suppose. We wanted the great room really opened up high. The dormer was meant to break up the roof line there in front. I don't think we would have room to 2 small dormers there? Maybe just increase the size of that dormer?

peytonroad: We went back and forth concerning that bedroom 2 bath. Perhaps a pocket door to the bedroom + the hall door would work? The only reason we had it open to the hall is an extra bath for guests if we are entertaining but I definitely see the benefit of a private bath off of the bedroom. The light in the basement was also another concern. Any suggestions on getting more? The only thought was moving the bedroom hall bath somewhere and putting another large window next to the door.

xc60: I agree there is no front door accessible closet. Any suggestions? I went round and round but could not really see anywhere to stick one easily.

Lastly it seems there is an agreement on changing up the garage entry area. I will draw something out and post it.

Are you building in a hot climate? There are not enough windows on the side elevations to suit me, and I wouldn't want windowless bedrooms underground. The whole lower level will get almost no light with the deck blocking the sole light source.

Are building costs low where you are building? You have a LOT of wasted space -- not always a bad thing, but there's a lot here, including a monster roof with no obvious purpose. I dislike that dormer; maybe a half-eye with curved 'lid' -- can't think of the proper French term, but it would work with this style house. I'd skip any light there and lowwer the roof line and degree. Is this 12/12? How about 10/12?

Odd to waste potential window space by placing closets and the pantry on exterior walls.

I always want a toilet and sink near the family entrance; keep it.

Kitchen is too dark. Move the work sink (and dishwasher) to a wall and give it a window. (After-dinner clutter surrounds work sinks. I'd want it removed from the great room view.) I like my ovens and microwave near my cooktop when assembling meals.

How will you use the deck? (West-facing?) If you'll eat out there, consider a door nearer the kitchen. I don't like the deck stairs passing the MBR window. I don't like the public deck area with private access -- into the MBR. Is there any purpose for the shallow deck on the DR?

Will you mind accessing the MBR closets via the bathroom? I'm in and out of my closet several times a day -- not always using the bathroom at all.

Don't worry about having no guest coat closet. They get little use. If you have a crowd, they're too small anyway and coats to to the guest room.

I'd open the guest bathroom to its' room. It's easy to duck around the corner for family use and handy for the person using the study or guest room -- and for guests to freshen up after dumping their coats! LOL

I wonder if you have spent enough time 'walking around inside' this plan, 'living' in it?

Got floor plugs in the great room? Where will you float your furniture within the space? How will you heat and light it?

chisue:

Thank you!

The back of the house with face south but a little slant to the east. We are building in Missouri.

The light issue is a concern but we are not really sure how to remedy it without drastic changes. We plan to add a window in one of the master closets and also possibly in the kitchen like you mention.

Can you elaborate on the wasted space? I assume you might mean the corners of the great room/family room? The roof pitch is 12/12. The pitch is standard for the subdivision we are building in but I assume we could simply lower that point and make the top roof angle longer?

Do you have a suggestion on where to move the pantry? It was placed there to mainly get the downstairs bedroom a walk-in closet and we wanted a walk-in pantry.

The deck faces south, slightly slanted to the east. As far as eating out there, would you recommend a door off of the dining room? The DR check will be removed. Sorry forgot to mention that.

Floor plugs will be added to both family areas.

If you have any suggestions to remedy the problems you mention let me know. Thank you for the feedback!

Usually plans are drawn with North to the top. (Guess you rotated it to fit the space here.) I'm glad the rear faces south as that should provide more light into the lower level -- but also make the top deck hotter. Win some/lose some.

Look at your exterior walls and see where you can add windows. Every room benefits by having natural light from at least two walls. (You do not want windows in closets, ever!) I hate to see you waste money on elaborate front windows...to a garage! You need more windows on the sides of the house, especially on the east, where you can brighten the kitchen and some daylight will seep into the interior great room. I'd like side windows in the MBR too, (unless you are hiding from the western sun). Any shade trees?

Very high ceilings can make just a few people gathered there feel 'exposed' -- not cozy; they work better in public space. Consider wall sconces; no recessed fixtures unless they 'wash' ceilings or are pendant.

The 'wasted' space, IMO, is in that ceiling and the (6 X 20?) walkthrough at the north end of the greatroom, connecting BRs with back hallway. The corridor to your MBR succeeds in making that part of the house private, but it also means you'll need to shuttle up and down a long, unbroken interior hallway. The lower level family room is nearly square -- how will you furnish it?

You are building a LOT of 'basement'. Do you need all that, or could some be just foundation/crawl.

I like a large back hall, but you have no storage there. I'd put pantry storage there, with access from both kitchn and back hallway. You have a lot of wall cabinet space in the kitchen itself; what will go in the pantry?

The kitchen needs a lot more thought. Think about your work trangle (fridge/freezer to sink to cooktop/oven/microwave) and cleanup steps -- getting dishes to sink and dishwasher, then on to dish storage.

In summer we eat on our screened porch a lot. Ours has access from the breakfast room and the dining room. (DR in your plan.)

In the lower level I spy what must be a pool bathroom. Good idea!

I'd probably be better versed if I knew more about the family that will live here. I'm assuming there are some children. Maybe teens?

I'll try to keep most of this short or else it may be 3 pages long :)

Images were rotated, sorry for the confusion.

We are a young couple that will be starting a family soon (reason for the larger house). We plan on being in this house for quite some time.

Overall plan was for something open, no formal living, eat-in kitchen instead of breakfast nook. The exercise and exterior storage will not be finished spaces.

I've taken note of all of your suggestions and will post a new sketch of the plans soon but a few more questions.

Any suggestions on how to actually fix the wasted space without drastically redrawing plans?

We considered making it so we could finish out a bonus room above the garage if we ever wanted to but not sure where the stairs would go.

Also why no recessed lighting? Do you mean in the great room or where? Recessed lighting seems fairly common and curious why you are against it?

Any suggestions for the MBR long hallway comment?

If we cut out the pantry near the DR what about the walk-in closet in the bedroom below? I assume this will take more shuffling.

Why not build up? I don't see this plan working for someone with young kids. For someone with 2 teenagers it's ideal. Does bedroom # 3 have an egress?

Can you rotate the dining room, extend it to the full length of the kitchen. Shift the kitchen/dining space south and move the pantry to somewhere near the laundry room? Put a few windows in the ktichen- I would do one on either side of the range.

pps7:
Thanks for the feedback!

Is there a reason you don't see it working for someone with young kids? Bedroom #3 will have a window there as the elevation will allow it fine.

Thank you for the idea of rotating the dining room that may work out well.

As far as the children issue, we only plan to have 2.

Parenting point of view (mine are 18, and 15 plus a 21 year old step daughter)

Through the family room, up the stairs, through the great room, down the master bedroom hallway is a LONG middle-of-the-night trek for a scared or sick 3 year old. (Imagine this in the dark)

Other parents will have different point of views, but I didn't like split bedroom plans as a parent of young kids. I wanted to be able to hear them. I wanted them to be able to come find me easily if they needed me.

My first two houses were ranches with the bedrooms all down the same hall--and that worked great for the young ones.

The one we built has a first floor master, 3 bedrooms upstairs, and 1 in the daylight basement. The kids are much older and I don't worry about them needing me in the middle of the night.

I'd re-think this floor plan, if it were me--it's hard to build a 'for years' house when children change so much.

Just one more word of advice:

You asked: Any suggestions on how to actually fix the wasted space without drastically redrawing plans?

A drastic re-draw of your plans at this point would *not* be a problem. What would be a problem is if you build this house and learn that it doesn't work for your young family.

We plan on having the younger kids in Bedroom #2 which is right down the hall from the master. When they get older they would move downstairs. Is there a reason you feel Bedroom #2 should not be used as a kids room?

I am really not sure how to fit another bedroom on the main level without increasing the square footage by another 250 sqft.

We should have asked about family earlier. I had assumed you were 'stowing' teenagers in the lower level. LOL

IMO this plan would only work for young children if you employ a nanny; she and the kids would live on the lower level. Is that your lifestyle? In that case I'd have the laundry on the lower level.

I wouldn't build this plan for a family with small children. You may plan on children, on two children, but...life is full of surprises. I wouldn't build a house this large before I needed it. If my DH and I moved into this plan as a couple we would never use the lower level. I wouldn't want to clean it and I wouldn't want to pay someone to clean it.

Let's say the two kids do come along, one at a time. You'd have a big unused space (lower level) and be cramped on the main floor for some years. At what age does Child #1 go live alone on the lower level while Child #2 remains upstairs? How many years before both children are using the lower bedrooms?

Maybe this works for you. It wouldn't for me, and I have a house with a lot of unused space -- an entire unfinished full height attic under a 10/12 roof. DH and I live on one level in 2900 sq ft; a future owner can add dormers and have 6000 sq ft. WE don't need it; THEY might. (Our basement is just a basement -- home to HVAC and WH.)

I like the idea of rotating the DR and placing a walk-through pantry/storage between kitchen and back hall.

I think if you worked on reconfiguring the Study/Bedroom, Bath, Walk-in Closet complex you could probably get a closet right in the entryway, a smaller closet in that room, and a bath that was still publicly accessible withouth seeing right into it.

What is the ideal floor plans for children when dealing with a walk-out home? When you say you wouldn't build this for small children, what specifically would you change about it? I assume you would add a second bedroom upstairs?

As far as the size of the house goes. I work at home and one bedroom is going to be used as an office. My wife and I work out at home instead of a Gym (the reason for the exercise room). We have dogs and wanted a place for them to go in and out without tearing up hardwood flooring (the exterior storage room). We watch a ton of movies (the media room). We entertain and plan on a pool (the family/wet bar room downstairs).

We could probably shift things dealing with the great/family room to gain back some space for other things but I am curious as to specifics on what specifically you would change to make it better for children. At this point I think you are simply hinting towards another bedroom upstairs but am unsure.

Congratulations on receiving our comments as they are intended: To help you build a home that works for you over the years you are raising a young family.

*I* would wait to have at least one child before getting this ambitious with space. You will have a better understanding of how life changes when it's not just you two and your pets -- working, exercising, entertaining.

Let's assume that life procedes as planned. You have two children over the next five years.

I don't see children sleeping very far from Mom and Dad until they are at least eight years old. Voila! You need a house with three BR's in close proximity to one another. You want an office? THAT can be elsewhere in the house. Ah, but will you will be a SAHF, minding the kids? Hmmm, can you work AND tend kids?

Children need a place to play that's in sight of a parent. This usually means somewhere near the kitchen. Will you be happy if the great room is strewn with toys? If you will be SAHF and your office is on the lower level, the kids could use the family room -- means some up and down stairs for meals and when kids nap unless they nap down there.

You may still work out, use a media room and entertain after parenthood, but believe me, your priorities (and time available for these things) will change.

You have designed a house that works for a couple and their dogs, and for entertaining -- your life as it is now. It doesn't work well for a young family.

I'd start over. (Sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear.)

I think that chisue has a lot of very good advice. I'm sure it's hard to hear after you've gone through the trouble of drawing up these plans, but I agree that it's a lot easier to change and redraw plans than to build this house and renovate once you find out that certain things don't work with a growing family. It's great that you found this forum bc there is so much good advice on it, and many people offer perspectives that you may not have thought about and that may offer you a preview/glimpse into your future needs.

When I saw this plan, I instantly thought that it was for a retired couple whose kids had all left the house. I know that we all are different in our habits and personal preferences, but having 4 kids, there are a few things I learned over the years about what makes an efficient space with kids. Many of those things chisue already mentioned, but I'll lend my perspective on some of them: (1) a generous mud room/family entry from the garage with lots of storage and places to dump things. Kids come with a lot of things (strollers, sports equipment, toys, backpacks, etc.), and they tend to dump things and I tend to dump things bc I usually have my hands full. I'd want generous space for cubbies and storage in the mudroom so that I could not only dump all the stuff, but get around it all without tripping all over it. (2) bedrooms--what chisue said. My kids are still little, and they all want to be near us. Surprisingly, our 8 year old is the most attached, and when I suggested that may be one day we could move his bedroom into the basement, he was mortified by the suggestion. He wants to be near us and not by himself. Of course that may change, but at least it doesn't have to. I also, am not a fan of basement bedrooms in general, and even less so if the kids are really young. Something about it seems dreary and scary to me.
This process is a very long one, but the more time you spend really taking a hard look at your plans on the front end, the happier you will be with the end result. You don't want to have regrets when it's built after all the time you will spend on it. A couple of red flags stuck out about your long term plan--it sounds like you need a dedicated home office, but at the same time, you said you would use Bedroom 2 as a kids' bedroom. Does that mean that your office will be in the basement? Do you want that? Also, it sounds like there are certain aspects of the plan that you'd like to be different (e.g. you want a entry closet, you want to eliminate wasted hall space, etc. There are ways to address these things, but you should be open to the idea that may be you need to just come up with a different plan. If you are married to this plan and only want to work with it except for a few minor alterations, you will be limited in what you can do. The whole point of building a custom home is that you can make it completely custom to you and address all the things you want. It's one thing if you buy a house that is already designed and built. You have to live with the quirks of that house and adapt your behavior to the house. The beauty of designing and building your home, especially a long term home, is that you can design the home around the way you live and what you want, not the other way around. I have a friend who was building a house, and I noticed that she didn't have anywhere to hang her coat when she came home. She said that she was just used to hanging her coat on the back of her kitchen stools bc she had always lived in city apartments that didn't have front closets. Then she realized that she didn't have to live like this anymore and could actually design a space for her to hang her coat when she came home.
Anyway, I'd just give the plan some more serious thought. There are some really nice aspects of it. For example, I love how the great room, dining room, and kitchen all relate to one another. I just think that it would be a great space for empty nesters, and I would just think about making it more family friendly.

Look, you've gotten a ton of information here and you have a lot to think about. But the bottom line is this - parents have been raising families in every variety of home for millions of years. Some can raise large families in single-room tents. Some have done it in castles. I do think that you want a baby near you to make it easier for those late-night feedings where you're up and down a million times. Our 2-year old son's room is right beside ours. But it doesn't need to be - if he's sick, we hear him crying over the monitor and go to him. And there's nothing that says that siblings can't share a room beside you for awhile too, leaving you with a guest room and office downstairs. And when they're both comfortable, they could move downstairs together and you could redo the room beside yours as an office. The bedrooms in our 3-bedroom house have changed a lot in the 6 years we've been here. We started with a master, a guest room and an office. The office was needed as a nursery, so the desk went into the guest room. Now we're building an addition with a new master, so our soon is getting our room and we're turning the nursery into a walk-in closet. So I guess what I'm saying is that if you love it and it makes sense for you, it can be reasonably changed in the future.

I will say that you will be shocked at how little time and energy you will be able to devote to entertaining and to watching movies. So maybe the media room won't be as necessary and you find that you need it to be a play room for awhile. And the family room and great room are places to go with lower-grade flooring and furniture at this point, until you get through the spit-up, red juice and marker stages of children.

Just my thoughts, as a mom of a toddler.

Thanks for the feedback.

Do you any of you happen to know of any online plans that demonstrate what you are suggesting?

A walk-out house with an open floor plan good for young children? I would like to get an idea about the layout before trying to describe it to the drafting company and bring back another set of plans that have a whole different set of flaws :)

I agree with the others also; this link is a sample of what a younger family might need.

Here is a link that might be useful: family home

I don't know what your parameters are, but here is a plan that is similar to yours with bedrooms on the 1st floor. You could tweak it to add stairs to a walk out. Not at all saying this is perfect or ideal in anyway, just trying to show you that there are lots and lots of other options out there for configuring your space. Also, please keep in mind that not all square footage costs the same. So adding a little bit of square footage to your initial plan won't necessarily increase your costs by the overall average square footage for your build. Another thing to keep in mind is that it's worth it to spend the money to get your layout right and skimp on some other finishes that can be easily updated later.

I agree that families can live in lots of different types of homes and under lots of different circumstances. That's not the point of building a custom home though. If you are so fortunate enough to have the opportunity to configure your house any way you want, why not put a ton of thought into the way you live and tailor your home to fit your lifestyle from the get go. You don't need to be stuck with anything. It doesn't matter how we'd all design our spaces. It's all about how you want to use your space. If you want your kids to share a room on the 1st floor great. What if they are opposite genders? Is that ok with you? May be it is. Is this your forever home? Do you need to be concerned with resale? If so, there are many other considerations to keep in mind.

I also like the idea of rooms having multiple functions over the life of the home, but there are some rooms that you know that you will need, and for me personally, while I wouldn't mind changing a rooms purpose years down the line, I wouldn't purposely design a home so that I would have to reconfigure a space every 2 years, and I certainly wouldn't want to design a space so that I would need to put on an addition within the first 10 years of living there. It is much more expensive and a huge headache to put on an addition, then to just get your space right in the first place. Also, just having survived a build, you are so drained from the experience, that the thought of rejiggering would drive me insane. Just my 2 cents. Anyway, lots of luck to you. At times, it can actually be a fun process! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Ranch plan

I LIKE the ranch that GoBruno sent you.

Do you have friends or family with at least two kids? You'll get more help if their children are already past the baby/toddler stages. What do they like/dislike about their homes? I bet you have an untapped wealth of information right there. Hope it doesn't scare you away from becoming parents! LOL

Don't be discouraged. Save this plan. It's a rare house that is *best* for all stages of our lives: Young couples; young families; families with kids going out the door to HS and college; retired folks.

And we haven't even talked about the importance of 'the' lot, in 'the' neighborhood, in 'the' town with the good schools and other value-holding qualities.

Thanks again for the continued feedback it is very much appreciated.

Yes we are concerned with resale. Because we are younger I can't say we will be in it forever.

Here is a cumulative list of what we are going to look into based on the feedback provided. If there is anything to add or we missed something please feel free to let us know.
- Windows, windows, windows
- Adding a bedroom to the first level.
- Improving the mudroom area making it larger with more storage/space and possibly moving pantry there.
- Re-arrange appliances/sink in kitchen for better working space
- Building built in stairs to a framed attic (unfinished, can optionally finish it later)
- Possibly doing something different with the dormer

Why such a large house for two adults and two future children? It would feel very odd for me, if I was a parent, to have my children on the other end of the house on a whole separate floor, with a separate family room to use, etc. Seems almost as if there are two floors of the house, one for the parents, and one for the kids.

I thought I would chime in and give you some of our experience in different homes, regarding kids, etc. We have 5 boys (now) ages 2-11. We have lived in 2 different ranch style homes, a two-story with all bedrooms upstairs and now a 6000+ two story, including a basement. We never planned to stay in the ranch homes long term. They were both four bedroom homes, with the bedrooms all located "together." It worked well and was nice for the kids to be close to us. We absolutely hated the home with the Master upstairs, even though the kids were little and close by. Moving on to our current home and the goods and bads.

We moved into this house with the youngest 18 months and me 7 months pregnant with number 5. So, we had/have little ones in this home with bedrooms on different levels. What worked for us was to just have a crib in our room for the first year and then move him up with a monitor. Our master closet is large enough that we considered using that as well. I put a changing table in our closet and all works well. All 5 of the boys stay up stairs and we all love it. My 3 year old has always made frequent trips down to our room at 2am. One small night light and he has never had a problem finding us. As far as sick kids, I hope and pray they aren't sick that often that they need to be next to us (longterm). I can always stay upstairs or bring one down for a few nights if needed.

So, part of the point I'm getting to is that things work out even if this is your forever home. We could not have afforded a house 11 years ago to accomodate our wants and needs currently. However, we have friends that have been in their forever home prior to having babies and still love it the same. There are ways to make things accomodating for a baby as well as teens. I do feel like planning ahead on some areas and listening to the advice here may help you have a home for now, baby years, teens and retirement if you so decide to stay in your home forever.

Thare are things I have found now that I absolutley love now that some of the boys are a little older and our family has grown. Listen to everyone about the importance of a mud room with cubbies for everyone. It is amazing all the stuff they need. I hate having clutter or anything out, in my home, everything has a place. Each boy and us parents have a mudroom locker/cubby. It holds everything....coats, hats, boots, tennis shoes, flip-flops, back packs, cell phones, etc. Wonderful, amazing use of space. I can't imagine having a laundry room without a door that closes, absolutely no "through" traffic. The kids toys need a place, even if they bring them out to the great room all day long (they will---kids will play where Mom is even if they have a grand toy room). We use our office/den on the main floor as a toddler toy room. They have all their toys there. They will not play in the basement when I'm on the main floor. I can toss the toys in there, close the doors and instant clean, tidy house. Someday the room can be turned into an office or music room or whatever. We put a small desk in the kitchen so I have a place for the computer, phone, paperwork etc for that reason.

I also, can't imagine the kids' rooms in the basement, even with the nicest, largest egress windows. I guess just a personal preference. Windows too---are so imporatnt to me---would hate a "dark" home.

Spend lots of time on the kitchen plans and put as much space as you possibly can there. It is the most used room in our home by our family and while entertaining. We have a 12 foot long island and use every inch of it every day.

Best wishes to you while you make your plans for your home. Ponder over all the advice, both solicited and not and then do what feels good for you and your future family. You have some great ideas:)

Have you bought the lot?
Are you obligated to a builder?
Do you have a limited time frame to build this house?
How constrained is your budget?
Where are your good views/bad views?
Do you work for someone else with relatively fixed hours that you must be at your computer, or are you self-employed and can set your own hours, or . . .?
Will your wife work outside of the house once you have children, or will she take care of them at home?

I think you could find some square footage for a 3rd BR from the MBR, Master Bath, Study, Kitchen, and Great Room, all of which seem larger than necessary since with their layout, it looks like there will be unused space in each of them. The garage is also quite large--will there be a workshop in there? If not, you could put the Laundry (best on a slab anyway) and/or Mudroom under that roof, freeing up some space on the first floor for a 3rd BR.

I think you could combine your stairs and dormer situation. The logical place to have the up stairs is over the present down stairs. The front roof line would have to be modified to allow space for the stairs to the 2nd floor, so that would change the dormer.

I had a south-facing deck, and it was usually so hot during the summer that I could only have breakfast on it before the boards started heating up by 9-10 a.m., and I think Missouri has hotter summers than Michigan!

I agree with most of what the others have said. But let me just say that I raised my 2 children from the ages of 3 and 8 in a condo with all of the main rooms in the same location that your plan has, and with a southern rear orientation. I designed our present 1-1/2 story home with full finished walkout lower level, and have had 3 grandchildren (3,5, & 7) living with us for the past 2 years. I often have responsibility for them when my daughter is gone, so I have some other thoughts, depending on your answers to the questions above, and whether you keep this plan or something similar.

Anne

I'm with gobruno--I'd be considering starting over.

However, people have had different experiences with having their young kids further away from the master bedroom than I'd be comfortable having them.

As for basement rooms, there are basements and there are basements. The original drawing here is a lower level than the main floor, but it is at *ground* level in the back of the house. It's not just an egress window--it's above ground with the light that implies.

We have a basement bedroom (at the request of my then-teenaged stepdaughter). It has a 3x6 window in it, which is full daylight (no well) and gets quite a bit of light. (She chose the basement bedroom--there is a guest room upstairs and she could have had that room if she wanted)

Lower level bedrooms can have just as much light as main/upper level rooms--it's a matter of how the windows are placed with respect to the ground level. Obviously, if the bedroom has "well" windows, that isn't going to let in a lot of light.

This may be the plan of your dreams and if it is, you can make that work--but it isn't what I'd picture for the ideal home for young kids.

Wow - I guess on really opens up themselves to these comments. Start over? My goodness...

Everyone is an "expert" in their own minds on here. I know you all mean well, but if I had people telling me to start over, no matter how thick my skin, it would eat at me.

^^^
If that is truly the case, you should NEVER ask for opinions on a website!

Oh-ho! How nice to get your feedback on ours. Not everyone can 'listen and learn' without pouting. (Me, for instance.)

I didn't answer your question about recessed lighting in a two-story room. There's just no point; light doesn't reach the floor. You can hide light fixtures that 'wash' a cathedral ceiling. You can hang pendant lighting so that light does reach the floor. You may need floor plugs for lamps.

However...if you are building an attic, you won't HAVE all that ceiling, right? (I didn't know you'd picked up on that idea.) The stairs on your plan are ideal for future living space that's 'just attic' for now.

Our attic has a formal staircase out of the foyer with a door at the top. Because our attic is unfinished, it's not taxed as living space. We wanted 2900 sq ft of one-floor living, but our lot is zoned for a 6000 sq. ft. house -- more the norm in our neighborhood.

To add to your list: I'd scale down the amount of lower level on your plan that's full-height. See what could be just crawl. Also, do you need exterior stairs from the upper deck to the ground? (If so, I'd swing them from the DR side of the house.)

Here are some answers to the recent feedback if it helps...

Have you bought the lot?
-- Yes

Are you obligated to a builder?
-- No contract yet

Do you have a limited time frame to build this house?
-- Not necessarily but if we are going to build hopefully get it dried in before winter.

How constrained is your budget?
-- Not sure what you mean here. We've budgeted around the sqft and materials we plan to use in the house.

Where are your good views/bad views?
-- South is a good view, west/east face other houses. Standard subdivision with semi-close lots.

Do you work for someone else with relatively fixed hours that you must be at your computer, or are you self-employed and can set your own hours, or . . .?
-- I work for myself. Hours can be whenever.

Will your wife work outside of the house once you have children, or will she take care of them at home?
-- Undecided, most likely stay home for a couple years and then maybe go back to work.

Some other notes from the other comments:
- The egress window is probably going to be well above ground and maybe even a double window. The well probably wont be needed.
- We are keeping the vaulted ceiling in the great room but the room layout may get shuffled. We had this in our old house and loved it. We will probably add stairs in a way so that the space over the kitchen/dining/garage can be accessed as attic space for now.

Some of my questions were to clarify what kind of wiggle room you have as people are suggesting many possibly time and money consuming changes.

The budget question was because if you have the designer redraw this plan too extensively or choose another plan to be redrawn, you might be incurring major expenses. Many people have such a tight budget that they can afford very few changes. Others may not have budgeted for major changes, but have the funds available if they decide the changes are worth it. That, of course, assumes that you've allowed 20% for unexpected expenses, and X% for the "While we're at it" items!

The questions about work are because I'm thinking of where the kids will be, and where you or your wife might be at various times of the day with them relative to the rooms you presently have planned. When you don't have kids yet, this can be hard to do! Kids take LOTS of time and attention!

If the kitchen and dining room stay in their present locations, and the great room is vaulted, I don't see how you'd have enough space upstairs that would be useful for much other than storage with the existing roof.

Some more things to maybe think about based on my experiences:

--My kids in ranch condo with similar layout to your house plan--Boy 8 and girl 3 shared BR2 until boy was 10 and ready to move to lower level BR. Their toys and the TV were in the downstairs family room. Kids get into arguments about both TV programs and toys. That means one parent needs to be down with them a lot of the time--almost all of the time when they're younger than mine were. That means spouse gets to prep meals alone upstairs, miss out on being with the rest of the family, etc. I had work that I had to do at home in the evening, and I couldn't concentrate with the TV on. That means I had to do it upstairs, thus missing out on being with my family. If the office is on the same floor as where the kids will be, you could be in there with the door shut, but be close by if you hear problems developing. But don't plan on being able to get a lot of work done when kids, especially young ones are around.

One difference with your plan and ours--we had a breakfast nook where your laundry/powder room/etc. are, and the garage/mudroom/laundry were where the entry/study are in your plan. If you made that one change, you could have what was our breakfast room be an upstairs play area during the time meals are being prepared while your children are young--make it with kid proof materials, with toy storage for when you have company.

--3 grandkids and daughter in 1-1/2 story with walkout lower level. When I designed our retirement home, I tried to plan for every eventuality. It was meant to be a 3-generation home, since my husband has a medical condition and both children said they'd come back and live with us if we needed help. It never occurred to me that my daughter would get divorced with 3 young children (1, 3, & 5-1/2 at the time) and ask to live with us.

So, here we are! The office that presently has our computer is on the 2nd floor, as are the kids' BR and my daughter's. This comes in handy if she has a night class, or goes out for groceries, or is in the lower level, etc. If one of us is using the computer, and one of the kids wakes up (which can happen a lot when they're young), we can hear them right away and comfort them. I purposely located the stairs so that they come down near the master BR on the 1st floor. Occasionally, if DD is out of town for a conference, across the street at a friend's, out on a date, etc. and DH and I are reading in the MBR before we go to sleep, or are sleeping, if one of the kids wakes up and comes looking for Mommy, we hear them before they are halfway down the stairs.

We have a full galley kitchen in our lower level and an eating area, so DD fixes their meals down there. You could do the same by adding to your wet bar and prepping some meals down there. The TV, their computer, and most of their toys are down there also, so she is with them almost all of the time. The guest room/my office is down there also, but she puts their clothes there to make getting ready in the morning easier, so I'm presently using the DR/library on "our" floor. DH has his workshop in the lower level, and we also have an exercise room down there.

So, just some more food for thought.

Knowing what I know now, if I had your plan and was wedded to the style and roof design and could make some changes to the floor plan, I'd definitely put at least 2 BRs and a bath on the second floor. I'd flip the stairs and the front entry, and move the garage/laundry/mudroom to the study side (if possible), and use some of the square footage that seems like it is superfluous (in the rooms I mentioned in my previous post) to put a nook/playroom next to the kitchen.

BTW, the hall between the MBR and BR2 was not a problem for me. Fit a SunTunnel or Solatube over the hall and some pictures on the wall between the bath and closet, and it will be fine!

Anne

. . .I would not want children, either young ones or teenagers, sleeping in a walkout basement where they could open the doors and wander or leave (on purpose, or not!) during the night! Our previous condo had 3' high windows at grade that were hard to open, so I didn't have to worry about them leaving the house unnoticed.

Anne