skip to main content

Building a Home

Another house plan for review!

9 years ago

We are getting closer to beginning our build, and I think this will be the final plan. It will be on 33 acres, full side walkout, two adults, two preteen girls, three dogs. I'd love to hear comments and suggestions.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

User
Original Author
9 years ago
The lower level.
Raqqasa
9 years ago
I would extend out the porch and make it longer so you can entertain outside of the home as well :)
Related Discussions
House Plan(s) Review (revised!)
Q
Comments (12)
Your plan has evolved nicely! I don't think I'd bother with the door by the dining room table. I think it'd be too crowded to get out that door, and you have a door in the great room, only steps away. Multiple doors onto the patio will mean more difficulty placing furniture on the patio. Multiple doors also mean more doors to accidentally leave open, and if you ever do a security system, more doors = more cost. I like the increased size of your dining room table. I prefer the great room furniture placement in the second image. Why? When you walk in, you'll have "space" between the two chairs, which gives you a better view into the great room and feels more inviting. However, with a large family, the sofa is probably more practical. If you go with the sofa, I'd place a table behind it - just feels right to me. Since you don't have unlimited space in the great room, I'd go with the sliding door. Having lived with both, sliding glass doors are more functional than French doors. French doors open up into the house and take up space, whereas the sliding glass door "disappears" when you open it up -- thus, you get better air flow. I know, French doors are so pretty . . . so it's a question of function or looks. In either floorplan, I'd consider skipping the mid-room door and going with a bank of windows in its place . . . and then having a single door just at the spot where the great room meets the kitchen. A door in that place would serve both rooms and would free up your furniture placement choices. I prefer the mudroom arrangement in the first plan. Seems to be a better use of the space. I like the placement of the powder room better, and I think its laundry room is "right sized", whereas the other one is a bit bloated.
...See More
Another Plan to Review
Q
Comments (11)
So far so good! We had a problem with how far the stairs were intruding into the foyer, but with a little head scratching, it has been worked out. Actually, we figured out the solution! Most of the framing is done; they are framing the roof this week and starting on the electrical. All of the decisions are coming fast and furious. Bryan and I are working on the landscaping plan now. We ARE having a two story great room. The room would feel tiny without a higher ceiling and the windows are fabulous! A fireplace should help with the heating and the room faces north for easier cooling. We are putting in additional sound insulation and will have LED canister lights so we don't have to change the bulbs for a couple of decades. LOL-especially with Bryan's problem!) Not trying to convince you, but we are happy with our choices! House should be done in only a couple of months. The way they are going, I believe it too.
...See More
Yet another kitchen lighting plan review request
Q
Comments (19)
I never even thought of an up-light fixture. That could certainly add a nice ambiance when task lights aren't needed. I will play with that idea. Thanks! Yeah, I figured you didn't notice the window issue, lol. I was thinking about mid-point between wall and edge of counter and tried to center my little circles to show that. 10" from counter makes sense, too. I've never heard an exact placement so I was guessing. It seems that so many lighting plans I look at have the light fixture half on the counter and half off into the aisle and this makes no sense to me as your head would be blocking the light. We are going with the flush mounts as we have a weird ceiling issue. We have a false ceiling of of 1/4" plywood, then 4" gap, then another ceiling of 3/4" plywood. Directly above that is the attic which has about 15" of loose insulation in it that has never been disturbed. We don't wish to disturb it now. My DH says it will be a lot easier to cut holes in the false ceiling and then pull/fish the wires up the wall (breaker box is in the garage below) than to have to cut through the 3/4" plywood and line up both holes correctly in both ceilings. Makes sense to me. I think the flush mounts look fine and really don't drop down much more than the decorative edge for the can lights. I have also read that they tend to have greater coverage as the light is lower than the ceiling and shines out from the rounded edge of the light, where it meets up with the rim, instead of being more recessed and, thus, a bit shaded on the edge. Not sure if that's accurate or not but it makes sense to me, too. Do you know anything about the flush-mount LEDs that I should be concerned about? Thanks again for your help.
...See More
Another "please review my plan" post, mainly the public area.
Q
Comments (10)
Your rv area is 20' wide. Wonderful, but could you make it 2 or 3 feet narrower? Then, you could give that 2 or 3 feet to your living room/kitchen area. We just enlarged it from 18' to 20' upon the advice of folks at an RV forum who have built RV garages. One reason we did too is because one wall will have cabinets, workbench, and tools. That's 3'. The RV, with slide extended is 10.5'. Room to walk around the RV, and pull tools around to work on it inside the garage is another 6-7'. That's almost 21'. I would add some windows on the side of the rv space, even if high, awning types that could be cracked open for ventilation and light, if needed. That's an idea we haven't considered. We need to see if we would be able to get to them to open and shut the windows and the rolling shades we would have to put on them. Your guest bedroom - Think about placing the bed on the front wall, instead of the bathroom wall. Now, you can put a door to the bathroom, into that bedroom and you don't need the 1/2 bath, in the house, if you don't want one. The bedroom chair can still go in the corner, where you currently picture the bed, I think. I'm not sure I follow you. 3 doors into that 1/2 bath? We do need the half bath. We only need one shower, but we definitely need two toilets. Where you currently have the 1/2 bath, maybe that could be a closet, for whatever is in those 2 small closets in the hallways to the bedrooms? OR, you could enlarge your master closet into that area. ...If you remove the small closets, you might be able to widen your master closet. The other two small closets are for the water heater and HVAC. Since you are gone in the RV, most a good part of the year, do you need a hallway for the master bedroom? If you don't need a separated master bedroom, and you can get rid of those small closets, you can mov eh stairs back further, toward the master closet. That gains you at least 3 feet of space in your great room. I hadn't considered that. I don't have a problem not having a hallway to the master. But I don't see where I could put the door from the living room. What if you re-configure the entire bedroom side. Since you don't have guests, often and you were considering a jack and jill/shared bathroom. Why not just have one nice bathroom, between the 2 bedrooms that has it's entrance in the hallway? I definitely want a half bath on either side of the shower room. Personally, we don't like the idea of having to go through the bathroom to get to our master closet. If someone is using the bathroom, the other one, is not able to get into the closet. So, at the least, I would consider re-doing your existing bathroom, so that you have a more spacious vanity. As it looks now, you are wasting an entire foot of space in the bathroom, that could be used in the living room. I don't like rooms that have a door on every wall, especially bedrooms. I'd rather have my clothes in a convenient location when I get out of the shower instead of having to walk through the bedroom to the closet. Are you saying the half bath off the master is too wide? I would not make your porches any smaller. As it is, a 6' porch, sort of makes you sit like ducks in a row, if you have guests and it's harder to talk. Someone has to lean out to look at the person down the row of chairs. As a matter of fact, why not use ALL the space for your living room/kitchen and add shed roofed porches, to any width you like? Surely, they could do that. If we have people over, we will be in the car garage used as screened breezeway. We can set up tables, chairs, and cookout in there without flies and mosquitoes. We seldom sit outside now because it's not very pleasant. Thanks for looking this over. You've given me a lot to think about.
...See More
jdez
9 years ago
I like your plan. Especially the broom closet of all things.
bpath
9 years ago
Would you consider extending the front porch and adding a door to the laundry room? We find our "service door" indispensable!
lavender_lass
9 years ago
I really like the main floor!

Two suggestions....add a prep space to the island (across from fridge and range) and add another entry into the mudroom.

You may want to go from mudroom to backyard, without going through the garage. Maybe enlarge the porch and add access through that area? Also added a freezer to the mudroom.

As for the basement...maybe split the bedrooms and have more room for the rec space, with access to the outside. I added a wall of bookcases between the bedrooms :) {{gwi:1505141}}From Kitchen plans
{{gwi:1505142}}From Kitchen plans

And if there's room for the bedroom windows, I like this even better...with the bedroom and bathroom flipped. Just not sure how much your hillside drops off along the back.... {{gwi:1505143}}From Kitchen plans

This post was edited by lavender_lass on Mon, Oct 20, 14 at 19:01
dekeoboe
9 years ago
Do you have elevations? I can't figure out how the land slopes and where the grade will be with regard to the basement level. You said it was a side walkout. LL's revised plan has windows on the back basement wall. Will these walls be above ground and able to have windows?

I would try to rearrange the basement so that at least one of the bathrooms can have a window. Our walkout basement has an interior bathroom and that is one thing I wish we could have done differently.
annkh_nd
9 years ago
Nice plan!

I'd put a door on the end of the master closet, so you can put laundry away without going through the bedroom.

I love Lavender's change to the basement!
kirkhall
9 years ago
Do you really need the powder in the basement? Could you, alternatively, put one of the bedroom bathrooms at the hall side? As it is, I am not sure the "north" bedroom's toilet is any closer than the powder room toilet (for example).

And, if it were me, I'd want to swap my bedroom for the bathroom so I could have light on 2 sides in my bedroom. You might not. It would probably mean shortening your closet just a bit. But, it would also provide a sound barrier between great room and master bedroom (bathroom or closet).
User
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the comments everyone! I'd love to rearrange the basement, but I'm limited to only having windows on the one side. My goal for downstairs is less about spoiling my girls right now than about having a space with privacy that their future husbands won't mind visiting!

I didn't want to extend the back porch because I don't want to block the sunlight into the living room.

Lavender, I love the changes you made upstairs. I played with making a garbage/recycling area in the garage area off the mudroom, but wasn't sure how I wanted it to work. We'll have an extra fridge in the basement, so I wouldn't need the freezer there. I planned on keeping all my cleaning supplies, brooms, vacuum, and bulk items in the broom closet, so I'd hate to lose the space there. I guess I just have to compromise somewhere!

Of note, the upstairs is around 2100sq ft, and the finished basement is around 1400sq ft.
autumn.4
9 years ago
kelbrad-what part of the country are you in? You have a basement so I'm thinking Midwest or north? Our plan is similar in many respects so I have to say I really like it. :)

Just a note since we are now in. Our TV is on that wall between master and living room and we can hear it pretty easily through the wall. So if you have differing sleep schedules or Saturday morning early birds you might want to figure out a plan for extra sheet rock or something for a sound barrier. Also - our plan is open like that and the only place for cold air returns was flanking the fireplace - so the wall that has the TV on it has the cold air return and we couldn't insulate the whole thing for noise as well if that makes sense? Just something to consider if it makes a difference for your family.

So kirkhalls suggestion would take care of that no problem if that works. Maybe it's no big deal though.

Looks good! Do you have an elevation you can post?

Related Stories

ARCHITECTURE Think Like an Architect: How to Pass a Design Review

By Dylan Chappell Architects

Up the chances a review board will approve your design with these time-tested strategies from an architect

DESIGN PRACTICE Design Practice: The Year in Review

By Eric Reinholdt, Architect

Look back, then look ahead to make sure you’re keeping your business on track

EVENTS Don't Throw Away Another Household Item Before Reading This

By Mitchell Parker

Repair Cafe events around the world enlist savvy volunteers to fix broken lamps, bicycles, electronics, small appliances, clothing and more

GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING Spring Patio Fix-Ups: Earn Rave Reviews for Your Patio's Entrance

By Laura Gaskill

Consider innovative doors, charming gates or even just potted plants to cue a stylish entry point for your patio

PRODUCT PICKS Guest Picks: 21 Rave-Review Bookcases

By Cristin Priest {Simplified Bee}

Flip through this roundup of stylish shelves to find just the right book, toy and knickknack storage and display for you

HOUZZ TOURS Houzz Tour: Cool, Calm Edwardian Gets Another Update

By Natalie Myers

See the second stage of an evolving home in San Francisco

MOVING Saying Goodbye to One Home and Hello to Another

By Laura Gaskill

Honor your past and embrace your future with these ideas for easing the transition during a move

HOUSEKEEPING Don't Touch Another Stain Before You Read This

By Mitchell Parker

Even an innocent swipe with water may cause permanent damage. Here's what to know about how rugs and fabrics react

HOUSEKEEPING Another Independence Day: When Kids Can Do Their Laundry

By Alison Hodgson

Set yourself free and give your child a valuable life skill at the same time

CONTEMPORARY HOMES Houzz Tour: Sonoma Home Maximizes Space With a Clever and Flexible Plan

By Becky Harris

A second house on a lot integrates with its downtown neighborhood and makes the most of its location and views

Sponsored

More Discussions

Please critique my floorplan

48

It's May 2024. How is your build going?

38

Kitchen layout for new home addition

22

What Light Fixtures for Over Island Near Crystal Chandelier?

15

Is anyone familiar with this quartzite?

6