I'd absolutely want more windows. All your bedrooms could use more natural light, and since they're all on corners, I'd want to take advantage of the ability to place windows on two walls -- rooms always look nicer with light coming in from two directions. And there's no way I'd want the living room to have only one piddly window.

No fireplace?

Where will you place the TV in this living room? If you say the wall shared between the living room / master bedroom, include ample insulation to prevent a noisy bedroom. Actually, I'd say use that insulation regardless of your answer.

I'd flip-flop the master bath -- that is, I'd put the toilet and tub on the exterior wall and the vanity/sink on the interior wall. This makes no difference in functionality, but it will allow you to have better windows in the bathroom.

What's the deal with the empty spaces on the sides of the vanity? I'd scoot the vanity up against one wall and insert a small linen closet in the bathroom itself.

Is the master closet 6 1/2' wide? Consider that you'll need 2' of space on each side for your clothes, leaving you a whopping 30" of walking space. Is it adequate? Yes, but it's quite minimal -- look at your yardstick and imagine having only that much space. You have a generous-sized laundry room right there; I'd steal another foot from it and have a more comfortable closet.

I'd bump the washer/dryer over to the exterior wall so the dryer could vent directly outside. The cabinets will be fine on the interior wall -- no difference in function.

I'd want a pass-through or an actual door between the master closet and the laundry room -- perhaps a pocket door or a pass-through so I could set a stack of clean clothes on the cabinet and pick them up inside the closet. So many steps to be saved.

On the subject of closets, your daughter's closet is deep . . . but not deep enough to be a walk-in, and it can only house one clothes rod (or shelves). This doesn't make sense: She won't have room to comfortably walk in the closet, and the things on the end will be difficult to access. It'd be more functional to give her a slightly larger room and a more shallow closet accessed with bi-fold doors.

How wide is the hallway? It looks rather narrow, and since it's completely enclosed, it may be a dark, uninviting spot.

I'd consider going with French doors into your office. You have the wall space, and this would allow a bit of natural light into the hallway. Center them in front of the office windows.

Actually, I'd consider French doors for ALL the secondary bedrooms, and I'd cover the doors with thin curtains (the type that're attached at both the top and the bottom). This'd provide visual privacy, but a bit of natural light would still come through to the hallway. This would, of course, be a bit taste-specific.

Yes, I do seem to be harping on natural light, but I know that that's something to which I react very positively -- either in person or in a magazine picture -- and I don't think I'm alone.

It's nice that your office has a closet and is adjacent to the secondary bath. Sure, you're using it for an office now, but if a future owner ever needs three bedrooms, you're set.

You say you work at home. Do you ever see clients at home? If so, they'll have to pass through your living room. And they'll occasionally ask to use your daughter's bathroom. If you do see clients, I'd suggest making the corner bedroom into the office so you could have an exterior door on the side of the house -- this would separate it from the family door. You could have a sign and client parking on that end, if need be.

I'd enlarge the opening between the living room and the kitchen/dining room. Also, as it now, when you enter the kitchen/dining area, straight ahead is the end of the kitchen counter -- anytime you walk through a door, you want a window, a door or some other focal point straight ahead of you. Nice sight lines make a big difference in the enjoyment of the house -- if you enlarge this opening, you'll have the dining room table and the door straight ahead. I'd also go with a larger door, or a bank of windows + the door. Also, as I said earlier, all rooms are nicer with windows on two walls. Opening up this wall a bit would give you natural light from two sides for both the dining room AND the living room.

The weak point in this design is the kitchen. It's a large kitchen, but it's not functional. Your stove and sink are much too far apart -- you'll waste many steps each day. I can't tell where the refrigerator is, and the pantry door interrupts your work space. Where is your main work area? I'm thinking it should be the L corner. With this much space, you can have a great kitchen; I suggest you post over on the kitchens board.

Nice sized pantry -- a huge plus in my book. I wish it could be brought to the interior of the house and the secondary bath could be bumped outward so it could have windows. I don't see any way this could happen, but I mention it in case someone else is more canny.

I'm suspicious of not needing permits because you're in the country. Permits, while expensive and a headache, are ultimately for your protection so you'll know that you're getting quality work instead of poorly install electrical and slipshod plumbing. I'd check again to see if your understanding was correct.

I'd love to hear later how your pre-purchased light fixtures, etc. work out as a savings measure. I'm interested in doing the same thing.

The dimension of the daughter's closet is based on the hallway outside, providing a flat wall in the bedroom instead of a jog. I would rather have some excess depth in the closet than a jog in the room but this closet definitely needs to have enough doors to function as a reach-in, not a walk in.

I would not want the master bedroom door right into the living room.

The house has way too few windows, but be sure to arrange windows in the bedrooms with bed and nightstand positions in mind. I see way too many houses where there is no good place for the bed because of window placement or if the placement is almost right it is too narrow and the bed overlaps the windows, the nightstands are in front of windows or the window treatments and bed/nightstands all conflict with each other.

All of the entries from the exterior kind of dump you into the middle of a room. You should try to create a sense of entry with a bit of separateness, a dedicated closet, and a place to sit down and put on or take off shoes.

I live in the opposite environment, a congested city neighborhood, and one of the things I did not like about this house is that the front door opens right into what is supposed to be the dining room. No closet, no separation, the wood floor is ruined near the door because there is no place to take off wet or snowy shoes before stepping onto it. It is one of the things I am planning on changing immediately.

Mrs, Pete - thank you so much for all of your feedback and taking the time to review my plan! You brought up some great points!

How nice to have the freedom to build without a permit! Do you need to pay attention to where your plumbing goes? Where will your utilities be, I mean furnace, ac, water heater?

Which way are your "views"? The only room with a room to the back is the kitchen/dining, and that's not much. Maybe open the dining a little more to the living room?

What is your climate? Do you need a place to come in with a jacket? Umbrella? School/work/music stuff?

I kind of like your daughter's closet; my son's is 43" by 8' with large bypass doors; lots of storage space, with hooks/racks on the sides, and you can see it all.

I'd try to swap the pantry and bathroom: it's nice to have a window in a bathroom, and it's easy to maintain the temperature in an interior pantry. That would mean a kitchen redesign, but if you can back the sink up to the bathroom, you'll save on plumbing.

Similarly, per Ms.Pete's suggestion, if you swap the washing machine to the other side of the laundry, you can share plumbing with the bathroom.

Where will your car live?

Where will you store "stuff", like out-of-season décor and clothes, hardware? If in the attic, make the access easy! NOT in a closet where you have to move the rod to climb up :( don't ask me how I know this.

Thanks for the feedback, ineffablespace and bpathome! I'll try to answer some of the questions.

There is an attached carport on the back of the house that leads to the laundry room. That's where we (as a family) will mainly enter the house, so it will serve as a mudroom of sorts, which I why I have an exterior door there...much work to do on re-configuring the laundry room.

We have a large shop where all out of season things are stored. (We have 15 acres, so we are dividing it legally - will be selling existing house and 10 acres after the new house is built on the 5 acre plot.)

I did find a drafts-person today who is going to handle all the plumbing, electrical and help me fine-tune everything, which is a great relief!

I agree the kitchen/pantry/main bath area need some re-configuring as well.

We should have views from all four sides of the house, with the main being the front and the back..the house will be placed on the five acre plot that is now in trees, so we're just taking out enough trees for the house and yard.

Definitely agree that I need to add more windows.

As for permits, we are outside the city limits, but I called the nearest city just in case, and we are fine there. I called the county judge's office and asked about permits as well as the county clerk's/accessor's office - we are good there as well - no permits required.

Oh, and for my daughter's closet, we're using fabric/curtains for "doors" per her request, which is fine by me...it allows us to bring in some additional color/texture and gives her room a more luxurious feel to it. :-)

We are also building in a rural area on a limited budget so that we will have little (or hopefully, no) mortgage. The only thing we have had to do so far is get a 911 address from the 911 office at the sheriff's dept. You might have to do that but it was free for us, so if there is a fee, it shouldn't be much. We will have get permits through the police jury office and the house will have to be inspected at certain stages throughout the build. Our builder knows the ins and outs of the process and is helping us with it all. I like your house plan. We are going with the basic finishes also. I think it can still be nicely done and leave us with no monthly mortgage payment or one that is so little that we are able to actually enjoy life a little bit more. Good luck.

What is your climate? Since you have five acres with views on all sides, consider placing your house so you can take advantage of passive solar/cooling.

I'd grab that wall of closets that is currently connected to the office and put them between the master bedroom and family room. Then, pull the bedroom door "out," and this will give you more privacy in the master.

I would definitely move the door to your daughter's room. It will make the room seem larger, and give you more wall space.

This post was edited by bird_lover6 on Tue, Dec 10, 13 at 10:09

If you decide to keep the hall bath and pantry in their current configuration, a solatube in that hall bathroom would be a nice way to bring natural light into that room. Pretty economical also!

Laundry off the dining room seems awkward to me.

You could switch laundry with pantry.

Or, if you want a more quiet office space away from the kids' rooms and living room, swap the office and laundry room.

I think you will be able to find a rectangle house plan that works for you and your family. Keep adjusting til it feels right.

You can never have too much storage, in my opinion. So more closets.

Will there be a garage? Which door will family enter most and where will they dump coats, backpacks, shoes etc.

As others have said, be aware of windows and views, and how it effects furniture placement.

What fun to design your own house!

lafdr

To have a window in the bath you can consider swapping dining and kitchen and also moving pantry next to master closet. By moving the bath you'll have a wider hall, and I guess you can also decrease the width of the bath about 2' and add that to the master closet area.