Hi everyone. Momto3 - This floor plan is indeed beautiful, as the pictures of the finished house show. And some of the suggestions given by others were little nuggets of gold to keep in mind! MyDreamHome, I love your laundry room - I have not come across one that is in that small a space and yet works as efficiently as yours does. The garbage bins for laundry are a wonderful idea! I too fold in my laundry in the laundry room as soon as items come out of the dryer - otherwise they need ironing, and I am not into that (unless it is part of my quilting - that is a different story). For those many people who were enquiring about how to make this large house smaller (I believe it is 5,000 square feet, give or take a couple hundred): some great suggestions were made about making some rooms smaller (ie - do you need a 30+ by 15+ playroom, and a 16+ by 14+ breakfast area? We would all like it, but...). However I have two other suggestions as well. This house, built as a single-story home, has a huge footprint. That means a huge basement or slab, and a huge roof surface. Furthermore, the roof will be quite high, simply because of the area it has to cover. So... You could consider moving some or all of the bedrooms upstairs, and while this may not reduce the square footage of the home, it will reduce the cost of building significantly (the cost per square foot will go down significantly because this area does not need its own basement/slab or roof). For example, if you put 1500 square feet of bedrooms/bathrooms upstairs, you will reduce your footprint and roof area by that amount - the size of a small-mid size house! With some interesting jut-outs, dormers and some sloped ceilings, you can make a very interesting as well as a light and airy second floor. In fact, a friend of mine did just this - they planned a large single-level house, and the architect suggested that with almost no changes to the roof other than a couple of dormers, they could put in a large master suite and two additional bedrooms and another bath on the second floor. They agreed, and then re-envisioned the main floor to keep the footprint the same size as before, giving them about 1/3 more living space for very little extra money. Just one word of warning: it will impact the layout of the roof trusses, and perhaps even the type of truss used, so that you have full use of the available height. So include this in the plan before you start building - even if you plan to finish the space later (another advantage of reducing the footprint - you can finish off the other levels later if money is an issue and yet you expect your family to grow). Similarly if you build the house with a basement and your land has just a bit of a slope to it, with some forethought you can have a walk-out basement with large windows and French or sliding doors...or at worst, finished rooms with large windows. Then you can put some of the bedrooms and the play room downstairs and still have them bright and airy. If you live where you have to do a basement anyway, you double the size of your (single story) house by utilizing the basement. A current trend in my area is for builders to use 9-10 foot ceilings in the basement to ensure that the area is not claustrophobic (and it allows for bigger windows if the house sits a bit higher). Often with a bit of landscape planning, enough of a slope can be created when the footings and the basement are laid down. Again here, if you plan to finish the basement (now or later), give it some thought so that you do not limit your options when you do finish it. For example, you may want to use longer or different types of beams to support the main floor to reduce the number of posts in the basement. And you may want to ensure that your posts are no closer that 12 or 15 feet apart - so that you likely won't have a post in the middle of where you would like to have a bedroom. It is also important to have a plan so that you can make the best use of windows, and put larger ones in if possible. Every bedroom must have an egress window (which is not very big), so don't plan on sticking a bedroom in the front of the house unless you are prepared to have windows at the front, etc. Plumbing is easier if it is roughed in now as well, although if you change your mind, it can be moved easily enough (but it costs $$). Has anyone tried either of these options? I would draw out a sample, but I don't currently have a couple of free hours - sorry... PS - sorry for the length of this post...

Jenswrens, we are going to include the prep sink. Here’s the updated kitchen plan. AnnieDeighnaugh, no, we don’t want two laundry rooms. That’s a leftover from a time when all the bedrooms were upstairs and we will ask for it to be removed. We are adding more windows to Bedroom 3 downstairs. There’s not much we can do about some of the windows not being under a deck, though. The ceilings are 9 feet, so I hope that will help. Good point about the “rabbit warren” in BR 3- I’ll give that some thought. I can see why you think there’s a lovers leap upstairs, but the door actually opens onto, I guess “landing” would be the best word. The landing is open to the foyer below. The door is there because the upstairs won’t be finished right away. The upstairs linen closet won’t require a special roofline. It just takes advantage of some otherwise empty space. I do think I’m OK with having more space in the bathroom and closet than the bedroom. We won’t be storing any clothing of anything in the bedroom- just our bed, two nightstands, and something for the TV to sit on/above. I think I like the idea of a cozier bedroom. I’ve been in some similar sized rooms (I’m weird in that I carry a measuring tape around in my purse and whip it out to measure rooms that seem to have nice space) and I didn’t think they were cramped. Do you think we’ll regret it though once we’re in- I’ve never been in a house with this layout so to some extent it’s a guessing game. The windows in the closet are just small windows up high on the wall- they’re not full sized windows and you won’t be able to look out and no one will be able to look in. They’re there for aesthetic purposes on the exterior so there are not big blank walls. We will probably upgrade the UV coating on those windows. I’ll look into switching the master bath toilet to the other wall. I don’t think the powder room would be as much of an issue, as hopefully when we’re trying to sleep no one will be using the powder room. The bedroom has windows on only one wall, but it does have glass French doors on another wall. Should I add a window to the wall with the French door? Waterproofing the basement is a main priority for us. In our current house the basement leaks like crazy and anytime it rains the sump pump goes wild. So water issues in the basement are an issue of which we are acutely aware. It’s one of the first things we asked about when we interviewed builders. Thanks for your input. I really like your house, by the way. Chicagoans, I don’t anticipate that we will really use the front porch for anything other than some decorative flower pots and the like. We will use the back and side decks mainly, as that’s where the view is. The front porch is really just for aesthetics, but if we were going to use it I’d definitely make it deeper. I think that I can vent the range hood up and out the wall above the kitchen. The second floor space is over the kitchen, but the wall the range is against is the exterior wall on the upper floor, if that makes sense. I have posted on the kitchen forum, and mistakenly didn’t post my updated layout here in my original post (but it is posted above in my response to jenswrens.) pps7, in the master bedroom we plan to center the bed between the two windows on the rear wall. We had them spaced so that we could fit a king size bed between them. We don’t need two entrances from the garage. That space off the foyer has been a pain- it was sort of a leftover space after everything else was placed and we haven’t been able to find a good solution as far as what to put there. We originally had a powder room in that location. But, then we started asking whether we really needed two powder rooms on the main floor and decided that we didn’t. I thought the conventional wisdom was that you needed a bathroom close to the family entrance/mudroom area, so we chose to keep that powder room and eliminate the one in the foyer. Of course, as long as it is just us we can just use the master bathroom. I’m not against eliminating the mudroom powder room as long as it won’t create a problem. Your idea to make a hallway to the closet and bath area is intriguing, but I’m not sure how eliminating the powder room would allow us to do that. Can you describe a bit more how that would look? My husband and I talked about the door to the deck from the master. I’m fine with changing to a few windows, but he wants to keep the door. We do have several dogs, and he likes that we could just open that door and let them out in the mornings. I’m not sure how much we will actually use it though, but I have to let him win sometimes. In the master bath, we’ll have two towel rings at the vanity area on the side walls, and will hang a hook outside the shower on the wall next to the tub for towels to grab when you exit the shower. We will probably also put a towel bar under the window between the shower and linen closet. We don’t re-use towels, after one use they go to the laundry, so we don’t really need a space to dry towels for reuse or anything like that. I have considered moving the entrance to the kitchen to the mudroom area instead of the current hallway location (moving the entrance to the other side of the range, so to speak). However, I have a couple of concerns about that. If we keep the powder room in the current location, I think it makes it much less accessible. My next concern would be that if the entrance is moved, you could probably see from the living room into the mudroom. I’m thinking the mudroom will probably not be immaculate most of the time. Would you think either of those things would be a problem? I hadn’t even noticed the uneven spacing of the front columns! Does the window under the porch need shutters, since it’s protected? I’m also not sure if correctly sized shutters would fit in the space, but I have no problem including them if they fit. We could also slide that window to the right I think to create more space for shutters. Thanks so much for all your advice. Lolauren, I think what you’re suggesting is to move the ovens next to the doorway from the mudroom/master hallway into the kitchen. Is that correct? Do you think that would be an issue with traffic flow by that area? Annkh, I understand that it’s a little confusing. We won’t be finishing that area now, so the landing is enclosed so you’re not looking from the foyer up into an unfinished area. The doorway was moved to the loft side just so you didn’t seen it from downstairs. At the time the upstairs is finished, that wall will be opened up to the hall as you’re suggesting. jlband25, the first floor is about 2800 square feet. Our community has a 2500 sq. ft. minimum for the first floor. MrsPete, I’m OK with not getting our money back out of the master/mudroom area. We don’t plan on selling, as least for quite some time, but I know that things don’t always go according to plan. I think it will really work for us. Are you suggesting movng the laundry fixtures to the wall where the door to the mudroom is currently located, or to the wall the mudroom lockers are on? I’ve not looked at the upstairs as closely as the others levels since we’re not finishing it right now, but I agree with your point about the bathrooms and will ask for that to be changed. Kirkhall, point taken about the grilling deck and doors. That’s a subject of contention between my husband and me. Does the revised kitchen layout above look any better to you? And does my explanation of the upstairs layout clear up that issue? I don’t necessarily love 2 story foyers, but my husband does like them. How would you propose reversing the staircase? Are you suggesting putting the landing against the front wall and you would enter the stairs from the kitchen area? Thanks so much to everyone for your advice! Every time I post I’m blown away by everyone’s ideas and the things that others pick up on that I never noticed. Ashley

greencleaning - Thanks for the compliments! singingmicki - "shallow cabinet beside the fridge" "put upper cabinets and a countertop but leave the bottom open for your dog's needs" - Brilliant! We love this idea! What a perfect spot! (I didn't want to get rid of the hutch next to the fridge in order to put the dog bowls there, and now we don't have to.) Thank You!! buehl - We do have a dining room and need to banquette to seat a family of 4. I see what you mean about the leg room issue. From your post, I think we're going to need to put a Lot more thought into the banquette. Thank you for all the great info! davidro1 - Again, thank you so much for your reply and terrific advice! We will take everything into consideration and we revisit the fridge wall options. Right now, we're trying to finalize the "L" cabinets. We put together 2 mockups based on all of the great suggestions we've been receiving here and on IkeaFans. What option does everyone like best for the "L?" CHOICE A: SYMMETRICAL 15's ALL of the wall cabinet have 15" doors (on both the stove and sink sides)! LOVE the symmetry (achieved by cutting down the upper corner cabinet). [](http://www.flickr.com/photos/40167831@N08/5672410282/) Stove wall base cabinets: From left to right: \* corner piece (with two 12" doors, one on each wall) \* small cutting board pullout \* 15" (not sure if I would do all drawers or some drawers...still need to decide on that) \* stove \* 15" drawers And I gain a bigger stretch of countertop between the stove and the sink. Sink wall base cabinets: From left to right: \* 18" drawers \* 24" dishwasher \* 24" Domsjo single bowl sink \* 15" (for pull out garbage) \* corner piece with two 12" doors (one on each wall) Questions: 1\) Glass cabinets \- I'm not sure that I have enough pretty dishes to fill the deep corner cabinet too. Would it look strange to keep that as a regular door? 2\) There are 2" of extra space to the left of the far left wall cabinet (next to the nook) \- DH would love it if the wall space flanking the nook window was symmetrical (not displayed in pic). Right now it is 13" to the left and 15" to the right. Is there anything that can be done with that extra 2" inches to fill it in? (We ended the backsplash to match the upper \- not sure if that's the best idea either.) CHOICE B: BLIND UPPER CORNER CABINET AND SHELVES Stove wall: [](http://www.flickr.com/photos/40167831@N08/5672410196/) [](http://www.flickr.com/photos/40167831@N08/5671843445/) Stove Wall Uppers: \* a 30" (which has 12" hidden) with an 18" next to it (two 18" doors so it LOOKS like a 36" cabinet) \* 30" above the microwave (two 15" doors) \* 18" with a 6" shelf on the end to fill in the space. Stove Wall Base: \* corner piece (two 12" doors, one on each wall) \* 12" \- yes \- bottom section for cookie sheets and things \* stove \* 24" drawers Sink wall: Here's where it gets super custom. [](http://www.flickr.com/photos/40167831@N08/5671843503/) [](http://www.flickr.com/photos/40167831@N08/5671843323/) Sink Wall Uppers: From left to right: \* 6" shelf \* 27" custom cabinet \* window \* 27" custom cabinet \* (not seen \- but there would be 12 inches of the blind cabinet from the stove wall) The two 27" glass cabinets flanking the sink should be the perfect amount of storage to put my beloved dishes. Loving the symmetry here. Now 27" cabs are not that much bigger than the 24" cabs with 12" doors that I was trying to avoid. I think this plan would commit us to paint grade Shaker doors since we'd need custom door sizes. I saw companies selling paint grade doors that might actually be cheaper than Adel White (which is making DH very happy), but more research is needed. Also, while it would give me an excuse to buy some adorable ironstone creamers and/or pretty colored glass vases to decorate the corner shelves \- I'm not sure about all that dusting. Sink Wall Base From left to right (same as Choice A): \* 18" drawers (the pic is wrong \- it should be all drawers) \* 24" dishwasher \* 24" Domsjo single bowl sink \* 15" (for pull out garbage) \* corner piece with two 12" doors (one on each wall) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you all again for your help!!

"Open" being not filled with cabinets. Not narrow depth on the sink run - all 3 of those elevations are the corner perpendicular to the sink run leading to the ?garage door. The first one is looking at the wall almost as you drew it. Just taking the two small base cabinets(12" drawers and 18" narrow depth and consolidating together as one narrow depth, all door cabinet. And replacing the cabinet from the window to the corner with open shelves. The second replaces the top cabinet between the window and the door and the narrow depth base with a 24-30" wide, tall narrow depth cabinet or even the 15" deep pax wardrobe with shelves. Still shows open shelves between the window and the sink run wall. The third kills everything. It's optimized for gear storage and not so much for counter area = you've kinda got a lot on the baker's table? Everything between the door and the corner is narrow depth. So, from the top down, those are two matching 39" tall by 36" wall cabinets down at counter height, depending on your ceiling height, you might be able stack more on top. You can have doors or not as you wish. The bottom is an array of narrow depth door cabinets, again with or without doors as you wish. The other thing I thought about was their wide sliding door units. Storage is directly provided by shelves and "drawers" by baskets or bins or the narrow depth drawers. There is an opportunity to make a counter bow out below the window for a "parking area" or perhaps your spouse could be cleaver with a wide pull-out counter. The exchange for the loss of the 12" drawers and the narrow depths is that the cabinet beside the cooktop - currently 12" drawers - could become 24" wide full depth drawers.