Need Advice on Plan and Changes

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

My wife and I are looking to build in the next year. We toured an open house that we really liked but wanted to try to make some modifications to the plan.

This is just under 2700 sq/ft, one level except a bonus room over garage.

I want to make the following changes to the plan without losing too much of the front look of the house:

1) Eliminate the hallway between the garage and kitchen/dining and reconfigure that area to have a laundry room vs the laundry closet in the plan. We are prepared to lose the door next to the garage as we feel it isn't necessary.

2) Add a bench and built in's for a mudroom.

3) Keep a 1/2 bath

For the kitchen area I'd like to:

1) Add a breakfast nook to the back of the house. Right now the only option is to eat in the dining area or at the island.

2) Add double wall ovens.

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this plan design?

Is what I'm trying to accomplish possible or should I just start with a new plan?

We really like the exterior of this house but I am questioning if I am trying to change too much of it.

Thanks in advance!

I also have a better quality pdf of the layout.

Featured Answer

Jillius

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

If your wife is wanting some distinct separation between the kitchen and family room, there are a lot of ways to achieve that other than a second island. However, it is somewhat of a personal thing what feels right to her. There's people who pretty much want the kitchen to feel as if it's in the family room. EVERYTHING open. There's people who want the kitchen nowhere near living spaces. EVERYTHING closed. And then there's the nebulous open-but-not-TOO-open-kitchen people, and that relationship is harder to pin down. I suspect your wife is in this category, so I'd suggest she comb through pictures on Houzz and Pinterest and look specifically for spatial relations that she likes between the kitchen and family room. Like, ignoring finishes and other elements of the kitchen, just pick out pictures where the connection between the living and family room is the amount of defined/open/closed she would like.

For example, the following are pictures I've pulled for myself to help me grasp what kind of spatial separation I want and to help me to explain that to others.

I've always liked the relationship between the kitchen and the dining and family rooms in this house:

Here's a link to more pictures of that house (including showing how the kitchen overlooks the family room a bit while still being a very separate room):

http://www.hammersmith.net/cottage-design/

With that house, definition comes a central hallway, doorways, and the general fact that kitchen is offset from both the dining and living rooms rather than having all the rooms centered on each other.

I also like how the kitchen here is separated from the family room with a fireplace:

My favorite of all these is from this house: http://hookedonhouses.net/2013/01/11/designer-betsy-burnham-updates-a-1930s-tudor/

That house has a kitchen with a real kitchen table and a small TV area (more of a keeping room situation):

And then it has a completely separate living room (visually, aurally, and olfactorily separate from the kitchen) in another part of the house:

This really isn't at all to suggest that you will like what I've picked for myself. It's more to show you that there are options for creating room definition beyond a second island. A fireplace, built-ins, half walls, wide doorways or archways, a hallway, a change in flooring (type or level), a change in ceiling, etc. can all be options to would create definition between rooms, and I'm sure there's more that I'm not thinking of. Even just off-setting the rooms as in the first photo above goes a long way.

Here's built-ins, archways, and a change in floor level all in one: