Do either of you have hobbies? Need an office? A room to get away from one another because this house has no room to be "away" or for hobbies.

It's too small for me to read the dimensions. What is the size of the master closet? It looks too narrow to be a walk in closet.

The kitchen seems to need some help. I'd suggest posting on the kitchen forum for the gurus to help you. :)

It is a nice, simple layout. A few things to think about:

- The door opening at the base of the steps in the living room is an issue.

- You have no coat closet near the front door.

- You may want to lay out your furniture to see how you would arrange it in the living/dining room area. It looks pretty tight to me.

- Same for the bedrooms. I am assuming the dashed lines are where the ceiling slopes. Will that work where the closets are in bedroom 2?

Your closet: I suggest using a 6' double, folding or sliding door. Your closet is now 3'-6" deep. Clothes can take 2' and 18" is not enough to reach some areas.

I'd rearrange the laundry room, mainly personal preferences: I'd flip the left counter/cubbies in order to get more room by washer/drier, and I'd place the sink at the washer side counter.

In general, not bad. Hope you show us the elevations.

A little early to tweak appliance placement, but move the W/D down. When you go in and out the door, you will often be carrying things that you need to set down "just for a second". Much better to set them on counter than on appliance. And, you can have drawers or cabinets below for gloves, keys, sunglasses, etc.

speaking of gloves and sunglasses, what part of the country are you in? Don't you need a guest closet by the front door?

there isn't much storage in the bathroom upstairs. You'd be surprised how much space a middle school girl needs for orthodontia, hair stuff, makeup even if it's just lip balms.

i agree with cpartist, an "away space" will be nice to have. You also need a place for "the business of life", you know, school records, bills and proposals, etc.

Ok here goes, I live in central washington. We will have a coat rack by the front door, it's all I have ever had and like it.

The mudroom will change. The W/D will move to the end of the room and next to the outside door will be a bench/open locker spot for our coats and gear.

The master closet will get some type of bi-fold doors to increase the door opening.

I know the living area isn't large but it is still 3 feet larger then our current space and we do fine with that. This is planning around the needed walkways in the new house as well.

The upstairs rooms are 17x14 and 14x11'8". The roof line starts at 5'8" so even the sloping roof is still pretty tall. The closets end up kinda short but the rooms are large enough for wardrobe or extra dresser.

Not sure about the upstairs bath storage but there will be a closet at the top of the stairs for storage to mirror the HVAC chase.

I will have a shop space outside plus for now we have an extra bedroom upstairs and will add of fourth in the basement when we finish it.

DH and I have always shared a sink, so I wouldn't go for a double sink. I'd rather have a linen/storage closet in the bathroom.

"Enough space" now, with a baby, is a lot different than "enough room" for a teenager. The older our kids got, the smaller our house became! Finishing your basement will help a lot.

Definitely post your kitchen on the Kitchens forum.

Consider window placement and adding more windows. It will bring more natural light into the home and add to the exterior aesthetics. Large expanses of exterior wall adds to a boring house and dark interiors.

This looks like a plan made for a subdivision lot, not four acres. Was this house designed for the site or is it just a floor plan plopped on your site?

Where is your main entrance and where is the back of the house?

Which way faces north?

Also I assume the area by the stairs will be the dining room area?

I'm wondering how you'll arrange furniture in the living room since the fireplace is almost where the door is.

As others have said, when girls become preteens their "stuff" increases dramatically and they need more room for their "stuff". Plus again having an away room or an extra room on the main floor will be a bonus when the kids have friends over. Much easier to keep an eye on them when they're in a room on the main floor than if they are in the basement or their bedrooms.

Overall shape: The jigs and jogs on the exterior aren't necessary, but they will drive up the price. Where's your outside living space located? I ask because this isn't a typical backyard-living-to-the-back-of-the-house plan, and I'm assuming the area to the right will be for parking.

I suggest laying out furniture in the living room; it looks a little small.

I'm not loving that under-stair storage. It's going to be narrow and deep, and the stuff at the back will be difficult to reach. At the same time, you don't have a desk anywhere in the house ... I think you could attack both problems with a built-in desk under the stairs; something like this -- but you wouldn't even need a chair; you could just turn a dining room chair around:

I agree that the door at the foot of the stairs is a problem.

I like that the bedroom is arranged in such a way that you have an "aisle" across the end for the foot of the bed leading to the closet and bathroom. You have the opportunity to place another window on the back wall, and bringing light in from two directions is always a good choice.

I like the bathroom except for the vanity /sinks. Your vanity is plenty long, but the sinks are smushed up against the two ends. Personally, I'd downsize to one sink and go with a good-sized linen closet next to it.

I'd like to see a laundry chute between the master bath and the laundry room, which would allow you to toss your dirty clothes straight into the laundry room, but the only spot it could go would be above the toilet. I'm not sure how realistic that is. I'm imagining those little two-sided doors at the doctor's office in which you place your urine sample. I like this idea, but I don't think I have the right details -- maybe someone else can take it and run with it.

Are those cubbies at the back of the laundry room? I'd bring them forward nearer the door. The easier it is to drop off your things, the neater this room will remain.

I don't care for the powder room. Those too-narrow two-ended powder rooms are uncomfortable, and pocket doors aren't great for bathrooms; they are wonderful for doors that stay open almost all the time -- but bathroom doors are used frequently.

OK some great comments.

Yea it probably was designed for a track house but the design fits our land slope. My wife and I wanted the master on the main floor with the bedroom on a second story. I required a basement as well. The depth of house lets us have a walk out basement on the lot we have.We found several designs and our architect said this one would be easy to modify to our desires.

Nightowl: The kitchen doesn't have more windows because we took them out for
more cabinet space. The design doesn't have a pantry. We will have a
couple of solartubes in the kitchen. Plus that spot will be facing our pole building garage.

The mud room is still a design in progress. The cubby's are for cloths, a griend has this in hers and we love how it works. It will also have a large utility sink.

We plan to use the mud room for most entry. I wanted a decent space that we could undress/ clean up before going into the rest of the house. I tend to get dirty and wanted that space.

cpartist: The main entrance is the bottom of the picture. The front will face North East. That will allow the side porch to face southeast and the "view" we have. This side is also opposite of the wind.

The upstairs bathroom is the same size that I grew up with along with two sisters. We survived. I'll talk to my wife about increasing the size though.

mrpete: The jogs do increase price, particularly the tub spot, my wife says it stays though. Outdoor living space will be the porch and then a patio of the side of the porch.

We have played with the living room size I have measured it to compare to our current living space, it is 3 feet x 1 foot larger even after factoring in the walking areas and kitchen table by the stairs. I guess you missed that the storage under the stairs will be stairs leading to the basement.

I don't care for the pocket door to the powder room by it is a request by my wife. Working on that one still.

Sounds like you're pretty set on everything but I suggest taking a look at your stairs. Great stairs connect a house. Poor stairs dissect it. This house has the latter.

The kitchen doesn't have more windows because we took them out for more cabinet space. The design doesn't have a pantry. We will have a couple of solartubes in the kitchen. Plus that spot will be facing our pole building garage.

This is why you should post on the kitchen forum. If you spend any time there, you'll find that if you do all drawers instead of cabinets for your lowers, you don't need as many upper cabinets. Solar tubes are great, but natural light from windows is much better. Even doing higher windows would be better.

The main entrance is the bottom of the picture. The front will face North East. That will allow the side porch to face southeast and the "view" we have. This side is also opposite of the wind.

I would then move the fireplace to the bottom wall that is northeast and add more windows to the more easterly view. Why have a fireplace block your best views and your passive solar heat?

Another thought? One of the prettiest houses I recall when I was younger had pairs of french doors opening up to the porch to let the breezes in during the summer. I think putting pairs of french doors on your E side would be wonderful.

The jogs do increase price, particularly the tub spot, my wife says it stays though.

Your jogs are minimal and won't increase the price that much. Happy wife...

Great stairs connect a house. Poor stairs dissect it. This house has the latter.

ARG is one of the people I listened to when designing my house. He knows of what he speaks of.

Are you married to this square footage? Can you extend the front area a bit as I am showing? I played a bit. I reversed your stairway which would then give you a room for paying bills, crafts or just getting away from the kids when they are older. I moved the outside wall down to add a dining room to the right of where you enter, and extended the porch. In the summer, it will be nice to have a cool spot to relax.

I moved the fireplace as suggested above and added an additional french door and a window to take full use of that wonderful southeast light.

I also turned your kitchen into an L shaped layout which would work better. Corners in kitchens are wasted space even with lazy susans, etc. I made your island larger too, so lots of drawers there for storage. I also added windows so it will all feel lighter.

Maybe this will spur some additional ideas to make it the best for your lifestyle.

You have already received many helpful comments, so I'm not sure that these comments will be helpful at this point. I think the plan is a simple and straightforward one, and should make for a livable house, with two possible exceptions: 1) I find the living room space simply too small for the combination of kitchen, dining, living and all of the circulation generated by the doors on two sides of the living room. Have you actually laid out the furnishings you want to have in that space to see what happens? 2) Putting a 5-month old baby away at night on the second floor would be a no-no for me. Perhaps you're considering a crib in the MBR until the child gets older? Good luck!

I'll admit we really like the design. I'm really happy by the feedback that we have received from this though. cpartist I have looked over your ideas and submitted the dining room and kitchen change to our architect. I think that I like the whole layout much better.

We are going to have and office space in the basement after we finish the house that will be my wife's craft room and my computer room.

I'm not opposed to changing the stair I just don't understand how are stairs dissect our house. There are several houses built on this design that have pictures online and I think they look great, but I don't live there.

These are pictures from a house with the standard design and I think it looks livable. The space isn't huge but I wasn't going for that. Like I said we are planning on changing the kitchen and dinning area to cpartist recommendations.

If there is something I am missing I am all ears. I just don't have the skill to see it.

We are still in planning, probably at least a year away from moving in at best.

If you're thinking of having your office and craft space in the basement, then you might want to consider turning the space that is a question in my plan into your walk in closet instead. Or as Virgil alluded to, use it as a nursery for now until the baby is old enough to be alone upstairs. Or a library. Or a pantry. The point being it gives you more options

Ps, once you make the changes regarding the layout of the house, I would still post the kitchen on the kitchen forum for their advice. While the kitchen I designed above is better, they might have better ideas.

I like the plan changes from cpartist. It has better flow and seems it would live better.

We had an office 'nook' in our last house and loved it. It was open to a pass through hallway from the kitchen to the master but had built-ins to hide all of our stuff. When one of was working there we didn't feel totally cut off from the rest of the house yet felt a bit private as well.

Chance, the two photographs you shared are cute as a button, and I like the staircase and the style of the staging -- but that's a small room. A sofa and two chairs -- so five people can sit. The TV isn't in a particularly comfortable viewing area. And note that the entryway doesn't have any space to welcome guests /no place for guests to set down their coats and purses. Nor do I see space for a baby's bouncy seat or swing. Where's your Christmas tree going to fit in? Similarly, the dining area isn't large.

The pictures really make me question whether this room is large enough to serve as your main living area.

I haven't read all of the comments, just the original post and your request for thoughts.

Does your baby presently sleep on a different floor than you? Has she had any major illness yet like croup/stomach flu/etc? My thought is that I think it's a bad idea to not only put a small child (and possibly a future small child) on a separate floor from your bedroom, but also totally soundproofing your bedroom so you have to probably totally rely on a monitor to hear them.

I have a 6 year old and 3 year old. About a year ago stomach flu hit them both around 3 a.m. My 6 year old is such a deep sleeper she started to choke on her vomit in her sleep. Fortunately, our door is across the hall from hers and I was able to reach her quickly before she aspirated.

There have been many discussions on this board about all the things to consider when choosing where to place kids rooms relative to parents rooms, but I thought it was worth sharing my experience as food for thought. In a perfect two story home, I'd want a bedroom big enough to serve as a master upstairs (probably just share one bathroom with the kids) as well as a main floor master. I think I'd be comfortable sleeping farther from my children when they get to around ten years old or so, but as babies/toddlers/little kids? No way.

I don't think my wife and I could ever share closets again. I'd consider creating a second walking for master by stealing about 1/2 depth of the laundry room. Toilet would be entryway, toilet in a niche behind shower now provides some seclusion without needing to be a WC and then a second walk in. The laundry may work as an L shape with appliances on new rear wall. Locker hang system right inside the garage door.

I love this plan, just as it sits. Although, I'm sure that anything can be improved upon with good ideas. If you haven't yet, check out Brittanyork on instagram. She built this and her house is to die for!

I don't know if Chance is still around but got this in my email today and thought you might be interested in seeing lots of pictures of finished versions of this cute house. Mrsfireman, I agree. For the right family, it is a great plan just as it sits.

http://hookedonhouses.net/2015/09/17/sugarberry-cottage-5-small-houses-built-with-the-same-popular-plan/

Yes I have seen that site and the one mentioned by mrsfire. The actual photos really helped us choose this plan.

I would see if the windows on the bedrooms upstairs could be moved off center. The walls are cut up making bed or dresser placement potentially difficult.

I do not agree with those that make issue of the kids being on the second floor. We had a three month old when we moved into our house with the same set up. Two years later, we had another and never regretted having them both upstairs. Those days fly by quickly and then you really appreciate them being upstairs!!

Chance, we are looking to build a modified Sugar Berry Cottage in Washington State as well. You are a bit ahead of us, I hope you continue to share more as your plans move along!

Other posters commented about adding more windows for views/daylight - As someone who loves artwork, tapestries, and 'stuff' on their walls, I just wanted to remind you to consider those things too!

I've actually built or house in sketchup to play around with, well, everything. I'll post of couple pictures of the inside. It is still a work in progress. It is really fun to be able to walk through your whole house on the screen though.

Chance I would consider doing some storage inside the stairway on the side.

Depending on the layout of the second floor I don't think it's a problem to have the baby upstairs since the stairs are right next to the master bedroom. That's why baby monitors were invented. I had a baby in our current house. The master bedroom is on the second floor with the stairs across from the master bedroom door. The nursery was at the top of the stairs. When the baby was really young he slept in our room and then after a few months we moved him upstairs. It took us much time to get to him since he was at the top of the stairs as when we had a baby in our old house down the hall from me. If you do have an upstairs nursery I recommend having a place downstairs for a changing mat and changing necessities. We used the counter in our laundry room.

I noticed you plan to have fruit trees and a large garden. Do you plan to can part of your yield? If so, since you don't have a pantry where will you put the canning jars and canning supplies?

Finally, where will your kids play outside? Once they get older they won't be always going out with you. You'll want windows placed overlooking the play area so you can easily keep an eye on them. I am lucky enough that our backyard is behind our kitchen and living room with large floor to ceiling windows in those rooms. When I'm working I can watch them play.

I am so glad I came across this post- My Husband and I are about to begin building this exact plan by Southern Living. The funny thing is, my two concerns were the kitchen size and the mudroom size, and those are the two areas that you have actually expanded. I love what you have done in modifying this plan, now that I see it done, I'm considering asking our contractor to make the exact same modifications! I love this house plan. I think that it is very budget friendly and truly utilizes every sq.ft. of space. I am very interested to see how the 8:12 roof pitch worked out. I know that by lowering the roof pitch, you can save money, I am just curious of how the finished product turned out. If you have photos of your house (assuming you are finished building), would you mind sharing? I would LOVE to see how you built this plan.

They didn't build the plan. They have another thread with a different house they are considering.

cpartist - thanks for letting me know! Without reading through every comment, can you tell me why they decided not to go with this plan? Just curious, because we are about to start building.

They have another thread here with a new plan they're asking about. I don't know why as it was over 6 months ago, and my memory isn't what it was 30 years ago. :)

Summer Todd, we didn't go with this house for a few reasons. First the basement wasn't going to work with our lot because of the rock. It drove up the cost. Second the house didn't take advantage of our lots view and southern orientation. Third we decided we wanted most everything on the main floor for ease in the long term and for guests.

My wife and I still love this house and frankly I would love to build it. We had to make the hard decision that it just wasn't right in our situation.

I think that it's amazing that you responded to this today since I just put a new house up yesterday that we were considering, amazing timing.

The photos and original plans are great but some of the changes you've made have not been entirely beneficial.

I think the original Sugarberry Cottage design is beautiful, and the fact that it isn't a gigantic house is part of its charm. It's also cheaper to heat and cool a house of this size than a McMansion, and better for the environment. If my husband and I could afford to build a house right now, this would be the one (we have a toddler and another one on the way). Here is a picture of another finished Sugarberry Cottage in Louisiana...You should google it to see a tour of the inside if you like the farmhouse look. I think a few modifications to suit your family would be good, but I wouldn't enlarge it so much that it loses its charm and proportion.

Hi! I am a little late on the conversation...but my husband and I are planning to start our Sugarberry build this summer. I was looking online to find modifications etc. and came across your post. Can you tell me if you have completed construction? Did you extend the living room area, flip the stairs? I like the plan for the most part. I did nix the small covered back porch and enclosed it to add a pantry off the kitchen. I firt stumbled upon this plan on Brittany York's page. It seems lovely and she said they pretty much stayed with the original plan. Any advice would be helpful! Thanks so much!!