Help with family room / first floor plan

DSK1967

12 years ago

Attached please find a link to the plan for our family room in our renovation.

My original plan was to mount the TV over the fireplace, but the more I think about it the less I want to do that - angle of view and inability to set up speakers/home theater. Also the fam room is open to the kitchen, and there will be a be a TV in the kitchen as well, if over the fireplace it will compete.

I'm thinking of changing the plans to get rid of the bay windows in the back and keep it a solid wall (or smaller windows), put in some built-in type furniture, and mount the TV and speakers there.

For seating, I'm having a hard time with what kind of furniture to use, and where it will go ..... we have a leather sectional that I guess could go in front of the TV or fireplace, but am having a hard time envisioning a good layout with all the moving parts.

Also any comments on the entire first floor plan would be appreciated, these are not necessarily final (ie we are centering the entryway and making the guest bedroom smaller), any and all thoughts are welcome!

Second floor is being revised, will post that shortly as well.

Thanks

Dave

http://www.4shared.com/folder/SqOBmOK_/_online.html

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Comments (9)

kirkhall
12 years ago
I can't open your link.
Perhaps try to post it as a picture on a picture hosting site.
DSK1967
Original Author
12 years ago
try this link ....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30837145@N03/?saved=1

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30837145@N03/?saved=1
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Thanks for the responses everyone! Let's see if I can address them all: There's a lot of focus on my guest bedroom area. My intent for that space is really to "flex" with us as our family ages, like you said, @lavender_lass. For now, I see it being used as an extra room- play room, or whatever with a bed or pull out couch for the infrequent times we do have adult over night guests. It can also be used as a BR if someone breaks their leg or has surgery or something. Then, as we age, it will become our Master bedroom. The Guest bath is large because we needed one that is wheelchair accessible. We have 3 friends and family members in w/c now, so it was drawn with them in mind. (And any future handicaps in ourselves.) So currently, it will be used as the bathroom that every guest uses when they visit. I didn't want it to open right on to the family room, cuz I think that's a little tacky! :) I don't like the door being where it is to the "guest suite" or flex space or whatever you want to call it. I was thinking about moving the door down, like you suggested, @kirkhall. Since you mentioned it, I'm thinking that's probably a really good idea! @fotomatt- just curious what you meant about the small look/sq footage? Didn't know if you meant that I haven't used the space well, or if I did use it well! Does the exterior elevation look wrong? I was actually worried that I have too much sqft. Just wondering- I won't bite, I promise! :) @andi_k- good point! And actually, after looking at those pics again, they don't seem to have alot of usable counter space, either. I might have to rethink my vision for that room. Adding a little footage to the mudroom might be on the agenda. I need to check and see if it will jive with the upstairs. So....what do you think about my front windows, then? Should I cut them down to 2 casements w/ transoms? That would give me a little more room to play with in the mudroom, but would that ruin my exterior look? So many good things to think about! I appreciate them all!
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While I'm not a fan of WIC in the bathroom, I realize many people like them. That's a personal decision. However like was explained many of the things in this house don't work because they are just not good design. Here's the changes I made to the first floor to give you better flow and to put the things needed where they will work the best. 1. Since you don't use a bath, get rid of it! If you want a bath on the first floor, put it in bedroom 2. 2. Your master closet is actually now larger. However I was able to pull in the wall so it now matches the wall of the dining room. 3. Now you have a straight shot from the master suite to the bathroom to the closet. And then as an added bonus if you don't want to wake your spouse in the morning, you can now leave through the laundry closet! 4. Instead of the powder room by the master suite, I moved your laundry room there. Think of how easy it will now be to do your laundry. 5. I pulled the closet across to meet the study. Even though it makes the house a bit larger, it will actually save money because you won't have the extra bump outs. 6. Your study is the same size but by moving it down, you now have an actual hallway that creates a "spine" for the house, so you're not making a jog through your great room to get to the master suite. 7. By moving the powder room to where the laundry was, it freed up space so you now have a good sized entry from the mudroom door and the garage. No more trying to shove one another out of the way. Plus there's now more room to store all those kids things. 8. The powder room is now near the side where the kids will enter and it's convenient still to guests. 9. I moved around your layout for your kitchen too. It didn't work. Lots of space but not well used. I moved your cleanup sink to under the window with the dishwasher next to it. Lots of storage space in drawers now to the left. I moved your fridge so it's now in the work "triangle". So now you take food out of the fridge, move it to the prep sink on the island to wash, then prep to the left of the prep sink, and then carry it to the cooktop to cook. 10. In the master bath, if you're planning on a glass shower enclosure, I would probably flip the toilet closet and the shower so the toilet isn't against the master bedroom wall.
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chibimimi
12 years ago
No opinion (yet) on the family room, but a couple of other points:

You have A LOT of closets in the guest room ... is there a special reason for this? You could move the front door to the left without making the guest room much smaller just by getting rid of some of the closet space and reconfiguring the space. If the walk-in is meant to be the front-door closet, it doesn't need to be that large.

How do you see your living room being used? Right now it looks like a walk-through space. It's lacking a focal point; could you add another fireplace in there somewhere? It could be a lovely room with all those windows; perhaps it's just the furniture mock-up that makes it seem rather sterile.
kirkhall
12 years ago
I can see why you are having trouble.
Your FR is so long and lean, and putting the fireplace right in the middle leaves a lot of room on the "ends" of the room.

Really, I'd think this type of room would be better with 2 separate seating areas, one around the TV if you like, and one around the FP. But, having the FP centered on the long wall doesn't facilitate that.

If you really like this floorplan, perhaps you can go to the decorating forum and see what they suggest.
weedyacres
12 years ago
I second the advice to post this in the Decorating forum.

If it were me, I'd do 2 seating areas: put the TV area in the bottom part so it doesn't compete with the kitchen TV, and move the fireplace towards the top, and center some seating around it.
User
12 years ago
Do you have an "as is" floorplan so we can see what you are currently working with? What's potentially new vs. old? What can change/move? What can't?

For instance, as others have noted, the family room is too long for it's depth and does not work centered around the fireplace, yet there isn't a good way to split the functions in two without moving the fireplace. If the fireplace is new, then moving it would be an option, whereas if it's existing, then moving it would not be an option, but perhaps reworking walls would be a possibility. But, overall, trying to make furnishings compensate for poor architectural design is the wrong approach. Fix the architectural issues and the interior design will naturally flow from that.

It's difficult to make suggestions without that information.
DSK1967
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi All,

Thanks so much for the comments!

This is a complete renovation, so anything can be moved or adjusted (including the fireplace).

To answer some of the previous comments:

- The plans are going to be adjusted - we are going to center the entry of the house, and reduce the closet space / size of the guest bath. Probably a stall shower instead of a full tub.

- The kitchen is completely changing ..... will post those plans when available

- The family room - the side to side is pretty much set, we can't make it much thicker. We can move the fireplace.

- The living room - we are thinking about using it more as a library / office. Built in bookcases and a large desk. Or should we leave it as a traditional living room with couch etc? I just don't know the function of the 'living room' with a 'family room' that will be the primary non-kitchen hangout on the first floor.

Should I still put on the decorating page, since we might change the architectural drawing?

Thanks
Dave
kirkhall
12 years ago
Take your existing and new proposed to the building forum or here. But, post both.
Then, see what feedback you get for improving your structural flow.

Then, finally, take it to the decorating forum (and for your kitchen, be sure to post it in the kitchen forum).
kirkhall
12 years ago
Have you considered putting a double sided FP on the wall between LR and FR so it can be enjoyed by both?

Then, you can have your entertainment space nearer the kitchen side of that FR.

Help with family room / first floor plan

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Help with family room / first floor plan

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