The master bedroom, the living room, and the garage are all oddly proportioned -- by that, I mean, they are long, narrow rooms. It's most obvious in the bedroom because you've placed a bed there; note that you have a lot of "empty space" at the foot of the bed -- space that'll cost to build, but isn't really useful for much of anything. Same thing in the living room: You're going to want to group the furniture by the fireplace, and that leaves kind of a lot of "empty space" between the furniture placement and the kitchen. Unless you were planning a table in that spot? But the window placement and walls don't suggest that.

I'm not completely clear on the change you're mentioning in the mudroom /kitchen door . . . but as it's drawn now, that door is interrupting some of your best work space. I would make the cabinets an L + island . . . and maybe have only ONE door (probably a cased opening, in reality) to that hallway -- and that'd be the door that already exists towards the dining room.

Mrs. Pete, Thanks for the feedback. The size rooms are based off the size in our old house, we measured all the rooms to give us an idea of what we are looking at on plans. Interestingly enough we were talking about the space between the great room and the kitchen as it does seem like lost space. So far as the mudroom and kitchen entrance we were shooting for a way to easily get groceries in the house, but.. you make a good point that it does chop up some real good space there and yes it would be just a cased opening. As you can tell we used some of what would be the breakfast nook area to use for the kitchen to put in a big island. The garage was the size the designer recommends for a usable garage it comes out to 24x 24. Thanks for your feedback, it helps!

Overall I like it, personal/private areas are decently grouped. Also like that you've got quite a bit of storage space.

A few little things I noticed:
- agreed on the odd bedroom sizes.
- The bathroom by Bedroom #3 and the mudroom has two sinks, but almost no counter space. I'm not sure about you, but I'd rather have space for putting things on the counter.
Or alternately, you could make it a shorter single sink cabinet and leave some space near the toilet to make it more of a visitable washroom, which could be handy if you have guests with limited mobility in the future.

Naween,
Yes we have worked hard at trying to put storage in there. Our old house was a two story cape cod that had storage under every vault upstairs and plenty of extra closets and an attic above the garage instead of a bonus room, so it as been an importance to try and get some storage in there. I like what you mention of a single sink with larger top rather than a double vanity as you end up with two small sinks.

I'm not sure what the small closet is for in the kitchen (pantry?) but I did move the sink wall up a bit, so dishwasher could be on other side and door to porch doesn't eliminate cabinetry.

It's usually better to have the dishwasher on the side opposite the range/cooktop, so there's more prep space by the range, and room for dishes by the sink. Also added a prep sink (if you like it) on island and possible wall oven for baking.

The doorway to the mudroom should not take away valuable prep space (hot pans, etc.) by the range, so I moved it down and pushed fridge closer to main work area. Microwave could go above wall oven...it would make a nice snack area on that back wall.

Not sure of the importance of closet opposite stairs, but evening the front bedroom wall is going to save you some money. You have large closet in laundry area and storage in the garage.

I did make the garage and screened porch slightly larger, so up to you if you like that. Also centered a couple of windows, etc. Just a few ideas :) {{gwi:1509867}}From Kitchen plans

Lavander lass,

Wow thank you so much for taking the time to work on these plans. I really am digging the kitchen. It looks like a wall separating the hallway and the great room too? That's interesting because we had thought about that.

1. I like how you pulled the bedrooms even for cost effectiveness. My question is bedroom #2 is supposed to have stone facade for the exterior. Does having these two bedrooms flush hamper that? I guess you could extend far enough to accommodate the stone facade, but that puts us back to square one on not having the bedrooms even.

2. How does one go about eliminating the space between the kitchen and great room? Shift those rooms from the kitchen and garage all back towards the great room? I like having the space but if it means I could shave some footage to save money that's great too.

Thanks again

I would imagine a GC could explain the stone facade and what it takes to make that happen. Not in my toolbox, unfortunately :)

As for the space between great room and kitchen...what do you mean? Did you want to take out the pantry/closet?

If you know how you plan to set up your furniture in the great room that would help decide how much space you need. I like that area 'as is' on the plan. I added the wall, so you wouldn't be staring into the powder room.

Strike that last from me. Stuff makes sense in my head and I can't always get it to words. I guess I'm trying to see how to shrink the space between the great room and the kitchen if that is wasted space.

One thing that really helps me is to sketch in furniture. It will help you see if you need more space (or less) in any of the rooms.

Here, I have a nice sectional and chair/ottoman (or recliner) in the great room. Seating for six in the dining room, with a hutch or buffet...and even a window seat and bookcases.

In the front bedrooms, I have one twin or full bed...also with a window seat and shelves (low ones?) and a dresser. The other is a day bed with a chair in the corner and dresser, with small bookcase under the window.

The porch (love porches!) I just added a small wicker loveseat and chair with table or ottoman and a table for four...with access to the outside. And plants, of course :)

Hope this helps! {{gwi:1509868}}From Kitchen plans

Oh, and since there are no closets between the bedrooms, I'd add some extra insulation (soundproofing) in that wall. It will make it easier, if one kid is sleeping and the other is watching a movie, listening to music, etc.

And since I have too much time on my hands, waiting for 5pm PT (LOL) I decided to add a little 'potager' or kitchen garden, for herbs, veggies, flowers...or a little of each. So cute and may not be your style, but fits perfectly in that little space :) {{gwi:1509869}}From Kitchen plans

It's only October and I'm already missing my garden!

This post was edited by lavender_lass on Thu, Oct 30, 14 at 19:46

Lavender_lass,

Those are all great ideas, I have emailed my architect to reflect those changes! My wife as already come up with the idea you have as well for a patio in the space that you have made the garden. Having the furniture drawn makes a huge difference in helping to visualize. Thanks for your help!

So glad this helped! My husband would have gone with a patio, too. I love little gardens and Naween's 'castle plan' has me thinking about courtyard gardens :)

My mom always says to draw in the furniture. She's seen too many home shows, where people get the house and the furniture they want doesn't fit.

Have a great weekend...and Happy Halloween!