No stairs going downstairs /we don't live in basement land. A real window would be fine . . . if it were to fall in the closet, but I'm not sure whether it would bisect the staircase itself. If your landing is around the 5' mark though, I'd assume a (small) window would fit into that closet. I'm thinking that it could be a small, non-functional window -- after all, we'd never want to open it in the closet. I think the dining room roof overhang will end up being a BALANCE between letting in enough light for the sun-filled space I want vs. overheating. Perhaps we should go with a ceiling fan above the table. I have several pictures of dining rooms in this style that I love, but this may be a weak point in the plan. Yes, I count 12 floor-to-ceiling windows. We had them in our starter house (though only four of them), and I LOVED THEM. They're something upon which I'm willing to splurge, and I like the idea that we'll have a wide-open view of the pool. However, if we check the price and find them outrageous, I can see a couple possible downsizes: - On the back wall of the living room I've placed a bank of three. That could drop to two. Considering we have a single door there, perhaps two is the "right size" anyway. - I could go with standard-sized windows flanking the bed. - Perhaps the study windows could become standard-sized. However, even thinking about them being a big splurge, I wouldn't give up the floor-to-ceiling windows altogether. I loved them too much in our old house. They brought in so much light, and the cross-breeze was wonderful in the spring and fall. The garage isn't particularly drawn to any scale -- it's just stuck in there. I can't say I've much thought beyond, "Yes, we'll store pool things there". I should investigate just how much space is necessary for these items. We recently ditched our lawnmower and other yard tools and have no plans to replace them. We're done doing that ourselves. I do have rakes, hoes, etc. for flower beds, but those don't take up much space. We're Southern, so we don't store our patio furniture in the winter. We're still using it. Similarly, HVAC units are all located outside here. I'm imagining it behind the pantry, enclosed by a trellis box and surrounded by flowers. However, in reality, the HVAC guy will tell us where this should go. He might say it should go along the side of the house. I feel out of my element on this one. I don't share the concern about walking through the study. That was the last part of the plan that came together for us: We tried all types of staircases in the space that's now the study. Tried bumping the entryway forward to the edge of the bedroom. Tried all sorts of things . . . 'til one day we thought about the staircase going to the corner, and it was a EUREKA MOMENT. We both like the arrangement very much. We think we'll like that the bedroom will be more private, and it provides a nice small entryway, while keeping the stairs out of the way but visible from the living room. Yes, I can see that everyone wouldn't like it, but I think this is one of our favorite parts of the plan. I'm trying to work on an upstairs . . . but while I think I have a pretty good eye for one story things, I find myself unequal to the task of "going up". The problem is that I'm set on a 1.5 story, and I can't visualize how far everything should scoot "in". I know exactly what I want upstairs: A small seating area, two bedrooms joined by a jack-and-jill bath and good closets. And I want to keep the plumbing roughly somewhere over the kitchen (or somewhere we already have plumbing -- I want to keep it somewhat consolidated). I'm still playing with upstairs layouts, but I'm not feeling very successful at all. I suppose the best choice is to draw out my best and throw it out here. Y'all do make good suggestions, and even when I don't care for the ideas, they often make me think, which is good. Thanks, folks! I'm enjoying the ideas you're sending out.

I appreciate your comments. Like I said, these are very early plans and I'm not an expert by any means. Why I'm grateful for feedback. â¢Garage- thinking a larger garage would allow for storage space. With four kids, we have lots of bikes, toys, etc. We only need two car, hoping to build a shop with more space for our truck and trailer, mower. Would need safe room (we're in tornado alley) if no on slab. â¢Mudroom- would serve as mudroom, laundry and office, plus more pantry storage. Thus the size. â¢Open balcony- this is an issue we're debating, because our youngest is under two years. We're considering 10' ceilings instead throughout instead. Guessing this if more efficient. Just looks bigger and more open with the vaulted ceiling and balcony. â¢We're also on the fence with an upstairs vs a basement. I like the idea of ample storage in the basement. Also an additional family room- thinking ahead when they're teenagers and have friends over. Plus it gives us more space to spread out! â¢Must haves: main floor laundry, master. We plan to retire in this home (we're 32 at the moment, I know things change, but building so we could when the time comes). We'd like two bedrooms on the main floor because of the ages of our youngest (1.5 and 4). They all need their own rooms. Two bathrooms between the four of them. I like the kitchen facing the family room on the back wall. I want to sit at our island. I don't have to have the dining nook, just thought it's a nice place for sunshine and gets the table out of the line of traffic. I'm open to anything really (other than our must haves). Whatever is the most efficient, flowing and cost-friendly floor plan. Slab with 1.5 stories? Basement with bedrooms? Like I mentioned, we're planning a Morton-style home (steel/metal- barndominium, whatever you call them!) so it has to be rectangular. Thanks so much for your time and feedback!!! I linked a photo I like of the kitchen/nook and living area. Along these lines... Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen/Dining Layout

hi pinkchrome! congratulations on getting this far! i just have a couple thoughts, and i'm sure you'll get different opinions and angles as others start weighing in. first, i'm not sure if the corner is the right place to move the fireplace, but i definitely agree it should be moved IF you're planning to create two separately defined areas like a living room (sofas/tv etc) separate from a sitting area with the piano. otherwise it's just floating and you're not making full use of it's function or how pretty it is to have seating around a fireplace. that said. you could also arrange the living room furniture around the fireplace where it is now and just have space on either end for other stuff like your piano, though it's not a full on sitting room space. maybe it's me, but i don't understand the plan of the master bathroom. are those half/privacy walls to the left of the toilet and to the left and diagonal to the shower? it looks like a very tight walkway near the vanity/toilet wall and around the shower privacy wall. and do you take enough baths to justify the size of that gigantic corner tub? take this with a grain of salt because i'm putting in a freestanding lion paw tub strictly because it's pretty and i had the space to do it this time, but i'm kind of over these giant beastly tubs that never get used and take up a huge footprint. our last bathroom was 7x15, similar to yours, and we found the bathroom just spacious enough, and there was no tub, just a large walk-in shower. i don't think walking through the closet is bad for the master, but i'd prefer not to look into the closet when i enter the bedroom. maybe if you move the entrance to the closet around the corner. that takes up a wall for furniture placement where you already have a wall of windows and a wall with a door to the deck, so something to think about. i can't tell what the dimensions are, but make sure you have plenty of room all the way around the island, especially where you have refrigerator openings, pantry doors, etc. if you're doing front load washer and dryer, you can have dueling counter tops on both sides of the room for folding and organizing! from an elevation standpoint, it's an awful lot of garage you're seeing from the front. is there any way to make that a side entry? also, i'm not an expert in this style of architecture, but the aesthetic seems very bland. have you thought about curb appeal yet?

Here is my best attempt at drawing up what DH & I would prefer along with a couple of questions.