Can you help one more person w/floor plan? Two story for fam of 5

13 years ago

Here are the plans for our two story that we are thinking of building. This was a home that was built for a family of 5 and the builder put it in the Parade of Homes(a home tour) which is where we fell in love with it.

Some side notes...we are in Minnesota, our lot is 1.2 wooded acres, we have two boys(11 and 13) and one girl(8), and a big dog. :-)

Right now, the only changes we would like to make is the family room bumped out two feet. And the smallest bedroom somehow made a bit bigger.

I guess I'm just looking for functionality issues.

Thanks!!! And sorry for the crooked pics.

Main floor:

[IMG]http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/stephpi4/Independence%20floor%20plan/2ndmainfloor001-1.jpg[/IMG]

Upper level:

[IMG]http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/stephpi4/Independence%20floor%20plan/Upstairsfloorplan001.jpg[/IMG]

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Comments (11)

stephpi
Original Author
13 years ago
Will this work better?

[URL=http://s903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/stephpi4/Independence%20floor%20plan/?action=view&current=2ndmainfloor001-1.jpg][IMG]http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/stephpi4/Independence%20floor%20plan/th_2ndmainfloor001-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/stephpi4/Independence%20floor%20plan/?action=view&current=Upstairsfloorplan001.jpg][IMG]http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/stephpi4/Independence%20floor%20plan/th_Upstairsfloorplan001.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
stephpi
Original Author
13 years ago
Sorry--I think I got it now:
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So if we were to do a 1.5 story with the master on the main level, where would you put that, behind the garage then? My thought process would be to first determine priority of room placement in the most ideal location for the use of the room and then if conflicts between room placement develop then rank by how much time is spent and how time is used for each room as well as the importance of that use compared to the importance of the uses for the other rooms. If watching the sunrise from your bed pays off with more enjoyment than having the sunrise and morning sun striking your kitchen, then plan accordingly. For instance, do you plan on using your master suite as a parental get-away from the kids, using it during the day or will your non-sleeping uses be restricted to evenings only, meaning that any views from the rooms would be lost to the darkness of the night? If the views are not important, I'd bury the master suite near the garage in the above sketch. 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gobruno
13 years ago
This looks like a nice overall plan. A home is so personal to the people who live in it; so, some of these comments are probably based on my own preferences. Garage: since you have 1.2 acres, can you turn the garage and make it a sideloader? I'm just not a big fan of having garage doors comprise a huge part of the facade of the house. I like that you have a powder room by your garage entry, but do you really want people to have to walk through your mudroom to use the bathroom? Since you have a formal dining room, I'm guessing you entertain. May be a 2d powder room or moving it out of the mudroom but still keeping it near the garage? But then you'd likely lose the window in the powder room, which I like. I'd want the window in the mudroom to be a french door so that I could go out to the screened in porch from the mudroom. I'd want the toilet in the master bath enclosed. Is there anyway to put a window in the J&J bath?

Good luck!
chisue
13 years ago
First Floor --

You pass my *essential* test! You have a powder room that's near the family entrance and the kitchen. I'd think about replacing the window from the back hall to the screen porch with a half-glass door.

I'd put the pantry in the back corner of the kitchen -- push into the garage area where the steps are. Give yourselves a 36" door there (and *everywhere* in the house that you can possibly do it).

I can't read the garage door sizes, but hope the single door is nine feet wide (not eight).

The width of the Dinette is fine, but it's too shallow.

Upstairs --

The MBR is larger than I'd want for just a bed. Do you want more furniture there? (I presume all your dressing needs will be in your closets.) Do you have plans for the long wall across from the bed? (If not, reduce the MBR.)

I'd tire of crossing the MBR between bath and closets. I prefer to have closets *between* the BR and bath. (That also frees another exterior wall for windows.) The rear BR has the same back and forth.

The master bath shower is ginormous. Do you have cleaning help? It and the tub would be warmer placed on interior walls. Is privacy no issue? Can you leave the windows around the tub uncovered? I prefer an airjet tub to a whirlpool. I'd reverse shower/tub and vanities/toilet. You could then have a separate toilet room w/window too. There seems to be excess space in the middle of this bathroom.

I'm assuming the larger (rear) BR is for your DD and the boys will share the walk-through bathroom. That should work fine for boys. Otherwise I'd want the bath divided with a toilet and sink for each child with the shower/tub separated. There's no window in this bathroom.

There are several exterior walls in this plan where I would want windows. Builders' plans often have this shortcoming.

Do your children do their own laundry? If not, I'd prefer a laundry chute to machines where *I* am during 'laundry hours'.

I see 'carpet' listed many places. Can you stretch to wood flooring? Carpet is kaput shortly in any household, let alone one with three young kids and a dog. LOL It's cheap, but it's yards of waste, long-term.

We'd love to see the outside elevations!
juniork
13 years ago
Agree with Bruno re the 1/2 bath...the guests will be walking through the mudroom to use the powder room, which means you'd want a reasonably neat looking mudroom.
I'm not sure I'd want a desk right at the top of the stairs...maybe in a little nook, but this looks too much to me like it's just sitting there in between two doorways. I'd rather move the bathroom up to take that space, and maybe carve out a closet from the extra bathroom space, freeing up space in the bedroom for a desk. Honestly, why not just make it a hall bathroom, so you'll have more wall space in the bathroom, by removing one of the doors. A window in that bathroom would also be nice, for direct ventilation.

Overall, a very nice plan!
chisue
13 years ago
I would have no problem with guests using this powder room. They won't be 'walking through the mudroom'. They'll cross one end of the back hallway. At the garage end are cubbies and a separate closet.

How many times will guests use this facility, compared to family use? I suppose you *could* put a sliding door between the two ends of the hall to close when you entertain. (I wouldn't bother.)

Our back hall is a long rectangle with laundry at one end and powder room and large closet at the other. Doors to kitchen and garage are opposite one another in the middle. This facility is the most-used in our house, by family and guests alike -- although there IS another 'fancy' powder room off the foyer. (I guess we don't entertain enough 'fancy' people. LOL)
stephpi
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for all the replies----I just love this forum! I learn something new every time I'm on here.

As far as some of your comments....I definitely have thought about that mudroom bath. We usually have a pretty cluttery mudroom. That idea of the pocket door in the mudroom is genious!! I am going to see if that will work.

The desk at the top of the stairs is probably not going to be there. I never thought of moving things around up there. That hallway did seem a little too 'spacious' when we walked through it.

The dinette...how big do you think it should be? I'm just not sure about the size of that spot.

The single garage is 9 ft.

I would love a window in the J&J bath, not sure if it is possible?? I will get the outside pics uploaded to show everyone.

Thanks again!!!!
stephpi
Original Author
13 years ago
Here are the outside plans:

This one got cut off a little. We will have a walkout basement.
gobruno
13 years ago
Nice looking exterior. So, a couple of more thoughts....
As chisue pointed out, it's kind of a shame to waste exterior wall space in your master bedroom for your closets. May be you could move your master bath to where your master closets are, and move your laundry room to fill in part of that space where your master bath is. That way, you can get some windows into your laundry room, and you can then put your master closets where your windowless laundry room is. I think that if you reconfigure it that way, you could even carve out a more spacious loft/hallway area to put in bookshelves, desks, etc. for a common area to hang out upstairs.

Also, I would carry your window in your stairway all the way up to the second floor and make them fill up that stairwell. That way you can bring natural light into that upstairs hallway/loft area.

Your exterior looks like it lends itself perfectly to putting a small window in your J&J bath between the shower and the toilet.

Also, if you aren't going to have windows in your garage doors, I'd put a window in your garage.

Good luck!

Finally, with your 1st floor powder room--I would flip flop the layout. That is, I would switch the toilet and vanity and then put the door closer to that exterior wall (so that it opens in front of the vanity still). I would then carry the hardwood floor all the way to the door of the powder room to make the powder room feel more like the main part of the house. I would then put an arch or pocket door between the mudroom and the powder room so that you could separate the mudroom from the powder room and have it feel more like it's in the main part of the house instead of inside the mudroom. Essentially, all you did was flip flop the door on the powder room, but if you carry the hardwood through, it will visually make a big difference. The mudroom can then be tile. Does that all make sense?
chisue
13 years ago
Seems to me the roofline is needlessly complicated. There's a lot of 'attic'.

I think the front elevation is a bit cluttered. The entry seems outsize. It is also 'craftsman', but only the divided top/clear bottom pane windows and the returns repeat that style. I don't like the combination of siding, board and batten and then this little bit of stone. There's no continuity between the front and sides. Can you do shingles instead of siding? If you want a craftsman look, you'd want a different style entry door and garage doors.
cntrydsgn
13 years ago
I have attached my dream house to this post. I would definitely change the exterior color and some of the interior, but I am in love with the floorplan. I have also posted an URL for review. Please note that the website provides real pictures as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Craftsman House Plan

Can you help one more person w/floor plan? Two story for fam of 5

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Can you help one more person w/floor plan? Two story for fam of 5

Comments (11)

stephpiOriginal Author

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stephpi
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