Hi, there... it's me again... lol.

Any reason y'all decided not to do a 1-2 rooms deep redesign? :-) That was, in my mind, the most important thing for a DIY Design. Unfortunately, most of what I suggested in your first post still applies (thanks for the link to the previous thread, by the way!!!).

Have to agree with ODD about her suggestions. You'll still have a house that is dark.

Thanks for the feedback. I did not change to a 2-room deep design because I've walked through similar houses and the rooms had more than enough sunlight for me. I don't feel as though my plan is too "fat", but I understand where you are coming from.

Okay, no problem. :-) I'll just bow out, then. Good luck!

I think having to walk around furniture in your dining room to get to your family room is going to be awkward. Also, my current kitchen design is very similar to yours and I really don't love it. Your main prep space between the sink and stove is very tight. You may want to post to kitchens to see if they can help you with a better layout in that space.

I agree - your dining room is a hall. Unless you buy a table that can fold up against the wall and only be put out in the middle for special occasions, this will be a constant problem. Things will accumulate on the table and it may also be damaged.

It's a nice ranch
-- very typical of the neighborhood in which I live (and at least a
dozen houses have a family room added onto the back just as you've
designed; however, these family rooms tend to be additions -- that's
what this family room is going to look like. I definitely agree with
the posters who say this dining room will feel like a hallway -- I've
been in several houses with this very layout. It'd be better if you
open up the doorway a bit /that is, make it wider ... but then you lose
visual and acoustical privacy, and you end up asking, "Why do we have a
second living space anyway, if they live like one big room?"

I'd open up a door
at the opposite end of the master closet (noted with a green circle at
the bottom of my post). This would allow you a "back door" into the
closet /bathroom /master bedroom, and you'll appreciate the convenience
as you reduce your steps /twisty turns between the laundry and closet
... and you'll like being closer to the closet when you just want to put
away a pair of shoes or pick up a sweater.

Still in the
bathroom ... I think the shower'd work better if it were turned 90
degrees -- see the purple box in the pix ... actually, one purple box
for a larger shower, a smaller purple box for a small linen closet or
tower.

Final thought on the master bath: With only that small window, it'll be a dark room.

You have two linen
closets in the bedroom hallway -- yeah, storage is always great, but I'd
go with a built-in linen press instead of a closet. Why? It'd make
for a great focal point as you walk down the hallway -- nicer than a set
of closet doors. Or leave a space for a stand-alone armoire ... or a
bookcase. See pictures at the end of this post.

Moving on to the
hall bath. The layout seems kind of "wrong". You don't want the toilet
by the door and the sink set apart from the other items. See the red
layout for a suggestion: This places the sink and toilet together (so
you can use the facilities, then the sink is RIGHT THERE ... and the
toilet is in a bit of a protected space, but not behind the door.

With a hall bath available to guests, why bother with the powder room?

Why are you
building two sets of stairs to the basement? Stairs are expensive,
which is why most people go with one set in the center of the house.

I'd like to see the
garage entrance in the laundry /mudroom. Mudrooms only work if you're
FORCED to walk through them to reach the house. I'd also place the
washer/dryer on the wall with the sink (you can still vent the dryer
straight outside) ... which would allow this room to lose some of the
empty space in the middle, which isn't really doing anything. I don't care for tray ceilings, and I reallly don't care for two of them in a large open space.

OK, I'll say it: you need professional help. The floor plan and especially the exterior elevations are just disappointing. It's possible to do better, but you have to want to improve. Good luck on your journey.

@mrspete - Thanks! Some really good ideas here. We are going to widen the family room opening a bit. We are also going to look at rotating the shower. We're not sure about adding a door at the end of the master closet because we feel like it might be abused by our children, but liked the idea. The bath #2 arrangement you posted is nice, but not sure we like the door opening in front of the vanity. Stairs to the basement from the garage is something we feel will get used a lot...especially when we need to carry things down and don't want to go through the house. Your garage entrance in the laundry / mudroom sounds good...just not sure how we implement it yet...will have to think about it. I thought the tray ceilings would break up the large open ceiling, but would love to hear any ideas anyone has instead. Thanks again.

@virgil - Your post brings nothing constructive to the conversation. If you have constructive criticism I would love to hear it. You make it sound as if I have a drug problem.

Virgil did give you constructive advice and that was to seek the services of someone who does this as a living. Someone who can work with you to put the ideas into a house that will work a heck of a lot better than this one.

You don't want constructive criticism because if you really did, you would have listened to those with more experience than me or you. Meaning you would have listened to the architects and designers. But you didn't.

So here's my kudos since that's what you seem to be seeking. This is an okay house for someone without any obvious background in design and architecture.

@cpartist - I did seek out help from my last revision and we have made several changes based on the feedback I have received:

• Limit roof design to make it less overbearing
• Exterior changes
• Foyer redesign
• Redesigned master / bath #2 / w.i.c layout
• Redesigned mudroom / laundry layout
• Redesigned kitchen layout

I really appreciate the feedback I have received. Your statement, "Frankly it's obvious the only reason you keep posting is to get approval for what you already have." could not be further from the truth. I hope I'm not coming off that way because that is not what I'm going for here and not something I would waste my time on.

The problem is you're looking at the 2D version and making changes and then going to the elevation and making changes without the whole thing being cohesive. An architect doesn't work one part and then the other. An architect thinks in 3D, not 2D and works it all together into a design whole.

You are putting pieces together and changing pieces. That's not how to create a house.

Ryan wrote, "...Your post brings nothing constructive to the conversation. If you have constructive criticism I would love to hear it. You make it sound as if I have a drug problem..."

Sorry, a drug problem never entered my mind.

It's like cpartist said. When one has spent decades studying, gaining practical experience, passing professional licensure and practicing one's profession, it's almost impossible to succinctly dissect and analyze attempts at residential architectural design which are created by earnest and well-meaning folks who have little or no experience at the task. It would take pages to describe the problem and how to achieve improvements.

This is why few professionals respond to the "critique my plan" postings that are so common here.

The best advice is what I said before: find someone to help you who has done this successfully 100 times before and makes their living doing it.

You obviously enjoy doing what you are doing. So keep having fun and best wishes on your journey.

Thanks for the advice @cpartist and @virgil.

We're not sure about adding a door at the end of the master
closet because we feel like it might be abused by our children, but
liked the idea.

So put a lock on the closet side of the door, then you control whether it's open or not Just a $2 hook and eye would do. Especially since you plan to stay in this house as you grow older, you'll appreciate the shorter pathway /increased circulation in the house.

Your garage entrance in the laundry / mudroom sounds good...just
not sure how we implement it yet

I'd do it like this:

I was poking around on Pinterest and saw this house plan ... note how the great room is attached to the back. The door is straight ahead of the foyer, which is a good sight line, and although it "covers" one wall of the kitchen, the kitchen isn't dark because it has that big window on the side. I think this great room is better placed than yours.

"So put a lock on the closet side of the door..."

We thought about that as well. We definitely like the shorter pathway...will have to think more about this.

I really like the placement of the lockers in your diagram and how it opens the space up. However, we do want a powder room close to the garage. We would just need to figure out how to arrange things.

Thanks for the attached house plan Pinterest. I agree that our family room isn't in the most optimal location, but not sure we could make something like the plan you posted work with our lot.

Thanks again for the suggestions mrspete!

I agree that our family room isn't in the most optimal location, but not sure we could make something like the plan you posted work with our lot.

Hire someone of design talent. :)

will have to think more about this.

Regardless of what path you take, don't hurry. All these changes are free ... on paper.

while the location of the dining room isn't bothering me, the width of it does....

i don't mind (much) using the dining room as a hallway, assuming you have enough room to get around the table/chairs to enter the family room (which sort of reminds me of a sunroom) to move in comfort around a table, i would think the room should be somewhat wider...

I have a 15x18 solarium that looks like an addition to the back of my house, just as your family room does. It is accessed by walking through the 10 x 15 eating area in my kitchen, just like your family room is accessed by your dining room. In addition to the solarium, there is also a separate living room and a family room, and we use our solarium exclusively for homeschooling. The access to the solarium is almost as wide as the eating area, creating somewhat a sense of continuum. I am grateful to have such a lovely dedicated space for our homeschool, so I am loathe to complain about the function of accessing it. But if it were my family's primary hangout space to read, socialize, and watch TV, it would drive me nuts.

One other observation: you seem to be trying to eliminate as much "unnecessary" interior space as possible. But there is a graciousness in allowing a little extra space. If it were me, the absence of a water closet in an otherwise nice master bath would be dealbreaker.

As much as I love ample garage space, your 3-bay garage looks out of place on a modest 3 BR, 2.5 BA rancher. Also, as a home office space has become a necessity to many people, the lack of a 4th bedroom or flex space of some sort seems to handicap the utility of the house, since you've also foregone a formal dining room in lieu of a bigger kitchen eating space.

There's a reason homes have grown bigger. We live differently. Your home needn't be 3,000 SF, but a little more interior space and a less cavernous garage will put your home more in line with 21st century housing.

I primarily hang out and contribute on the kitchens forum, but I thought I'd chime in on your plan in case it's helpful to you.

Your floor plan truly looks like many of the "before" layouts posted to kitchens for renovation help. It's very common for homeowners to inherit an ill conceived family room addition tacked on to the back of a ranch style house. It would be unfortunate if you build a new house that lives like a poorly planned remodel.

That said, how do you plan on using the family room? It looks like your tv will be in the front living room? Is the family room planned to be a quiet/away space? Have you looked at any inspirational house plans that have hearth rooms? You might check out some some hearth room plans for good ideas.

Posting your plan below to help others:

You'd do so much better putting the laundry room between bedroom 3 and the master, making the closet in bedroom 3 a reach in, and moving the family room to where the laundry is now. Have the master stick up like in the left corner so you can get light on at least 2 walls and bedroom 3 even with bedroom 2 in front.

Hi Ryan - I don't know how old you are and see you placed "Forever Home" in quotations, but please be careful with thinking "forever". For me, personally, it's a way to get stuck on trying to get everything "perfect", which is impossible, and is frustrating when life brings changes and the "forever" home just doesn't hold the appeal it did in the beginning. I also know that spending a little more money to have professional help will certainly ensure this will and may be your "forever" home more so than if you go it alone. Good luck with you plans. :)

@cpartist - I'm not quite following when you say "Have the master stick up like in the left corner so you can get light on at least 2 walls and bedroom 3 even with bedroom 2 in front."

Could you attach a simple diagram to show me what you mean?

@cpartist

Things I like about your changes:

- Laundry room closer to the bedrooms.

- Lockers available immediately when walking in from garage.

- Family room more secluded.

Things I don't like:

- Bedroom #2 and #3 create one big straight wall in front exterior now...not sure if that will look very good.

- 1/2 bath not close to garage.

Definitely gives me some things to think about. Thank you for taking the time to post your image.

- Bedroom #2 and #3 create one big straight wall in front exterior now...not sure if that will look very good.

There is beauty in simplicity so yes it will look better!

If you look at most well designed houses, they do not have lots of jigs and jogs and gable upon gable. Even look at mansions that are well designed and you'll see the simplicity behind them.

And the other advantage is that it now simplifies your roof, which in the long run will save you money. Money you can use to upgrade interior details.

- 1/2 bath not close to garage.

Is it the bath you need or a place to wash up? If it's a place to wash up, add a slop sink.