House plan suggestions
M Jacks
7 years ago
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House Plan suggestions
Comments (16)We are a 3-car family with a 2-car garage. Our kids drive a 1996 Jeep. Would the Jeep be happy inside? Sure, but it works just fine sitting outside, even with our North Dakota winters. Where I live, a 3-car garage is almost always the sign of a higher-end home, which yours is not. The extra corners created by the garage bigger than that part of the house also add a lot to your cost. Line up the garage with either the pantry wall or laundry wall. MrsPete is exactly right about the master bath. And the hallway to the other bedrooms takes up a lot more space than necessary. If you reconfigure the master to give more space to the other bedrooms on the same wall, you can eliminate the angled doors - even 2 feet would make a huge difference. The door to the office/bedroom will be at the end of the hall; the door to the left bedroom will be about where the closet is, and I'd move the door to the middle bedroom close to the master. Ideally, the two smaller bedrooms would have closets back to back, so each is twice as big as it is now (left bedroom closet would be a little smaller, if you put the door there). With the door from master to middle bedroom, I assume this is a nursery? Moving the nursery door to the end closest to the master keeps them close, but not attached. Baby won't be a baby forever. I get the sense that your architect is used to designing large, expensive homes, and isn't thinking in terms of making the best use of space, or getting the most out of your budget. Hopefully he can reset his thoughts and help you make a great house for your family....See MoreHouse Plan Suggestions
Comments (16)The first thing that grabs me about this house is the over-abundance of doors. Obviously you need enough doors, but extra doors just for the sake of doors runs up the price of the house, cuts down on usable floor space, and (in the case of exterior doors) cuts down on your energy efficiency and raises the cost of a security system. I can see several places where your plan could benefit from a decrease in doors: - The dining room and Bedroom 3 are obvious -- as other posters have said, they'll have little space for furniture placement because of these doors. - You have only one child, and even if you have more children (or guests), you're only looking at two bedrooms sharing the upstairs bath -- I would not compartmentalize it. No need, and it divides a person using the toilet from the sink. No chance of getting some natural light into this bathroom? - Next the door in the breakfast room -- you definitely need this door! While you have 9 single doors and one double door to access the front portion of your house, this one door is your only backdoor access. If you're like most of us, most of your outdoor recreation will be in the backyard, so this is actually quite minimal. And to access it you'll have to maneuver around the table /chairs to reach it -- not so easy with a plate of steaks for the grill. I'd eliminate the door in the breakfast room -- make it a window instead -- and replace the right-most window in the great room with a single glass door (or maybe a gliding patio door). You'll never put a piece of furniture in this spot anyway, and it'll give you easier access to the back yard, either from the great room or the kitchen. - The master bath is relatively small, but it contains FIVE doors! It will not be an attractive room. I'd lose the linen closet /instead install a nice set of shelves just inside the master closet and let those shelves serve as your linen closet; this also eliminates the problem of the doors banging against one another. Actually, though I like the idea of a closet in the bathroom, I'm not sure you have the space to pull it off here -- you just don't have the square footage in this bathroom. Then I'd lose the toilet closet; I hate them in the best of circumstances, and in this bathroom you just don't have the square footage to pull it off. This isn't about doors, but it's still about the master bath: Overall, this bathroom is trying to cram all the features of an over-done, bloated master bath into the space that would allow for a more simple bath. If you cut down to a standard tub, a no-closet toilet, one good-sized vanity with one sink, and the shower . . . each item can be functional and comfortable, and it will all fit nicely. Do note that the tub, jutting out into the middle of the room as it does, will be super-difficult to clean; you'll literally have to get into the tub to reach the back portion. And if I were you, I'd flip the master bath and the closet -- this would put the closet in the interior of the house and move bath to the exterior, where you could have the tub against the wall with a bit window above it. The master bedroom is generously sized at 16x16. You definitely want the 16' wide, if you have a king-sized bed as most people seem to have these days. However, that allows a very generous amount of wasted space at the foot of the bed . . . I'd steal that space, which will be essentially just walking space . . . and put it into the bath and closet -- I'm sure you'll never be sorry that your bathroom and closet are a comfortable size, and you'll not miss empty space at the foot or the bed. I'd also open up a door (or at least a pass-through) between the master closet or bath and the utility room. Think about how many steps you'd save if you could walk straight from the closet the laundry -- rather than through the kitchen, around the stairs, and down the twisty hallway. - Back to doors: I'd lose the doors to the utility room. Just increase the size of your garage entrance, and this'll give you more room in your laundry /casual entrance. With that open space, you can turn the washer/dryer 90 degrees so the dryer can vent directly outside -- always a plus. At the very, very least I'd lose the doors on the closet opposite the washer/dryer -- instead, go with open shelves, which will be more convenient. You don't need a closet inside a laundry room, which really IS a working closet, anyway. - The one extra-door I would not remove is the extra door in the bathroom next to the garage entrance. This one makes sense: It allows the bathroom to serve both the bedroom and the garage entrance. Okay, enough about doors. I do see a number of other things that could be tweaked -- lots of ideas, some of which are in conflict with one another: - Positive: Its footprint is fairly close to a rectangle, making it more affordable. - I don't like the garage poking out in the front of the house. However, I don't really agree with other posters that it isn't big enough: Just yesterday I was outside measuring how much space our cars require (we have no garage), and with all the space in a three-car wide driveway, our two cars are actually parked in roughly a 20x20 space. If you drive normal-sized cars and you plan to JUST PARK, you're fine. If you also intend to use your garage for storage, you may need more space. - I don't like that when you arrive home, you must walk through a long, dark hallway (move your closets to the interior wall, add windows on the right-hand wall) and then around a wall to reach the kitchen. I much prefer a pantry RIGHT THERE for my groceries. Since your kitchen is fairly far from the garage entry, I don't see a good solution. - I really like an L+island set-up in the kitchen. It's highly space-efficient and practical; however, in this case, your refrigerator and wall ovens are eating up the entire "short end" of the L, leaving you with a deep, dark cave of a corner that will be unreachable. I'd ask whether you're really going to use the double ovens (most people don't). If you go with a standard range, you'd add 30-36" of space to that counter, allowing you to reach into that corner -- perhaps it'd be the spot to place a catty-cornered microwave. Also, it's not a large kitchen -- and I don't think you have nearly enough storage. With the corner blocked off and the island storage gone to the sink and dishwasher, I'm thinking you'll have about four base cabinets and three upper cabinets actually available for use. This is very, very little. One option: Forego the typical island stools and install cabinets on that side of the island; this'll give you as much food storage as a small pantry. - Sight lines matter, and the most important sight line is the one from the front door. When you walk in the front door, you'll see the corner of your island and the edge of your breakfast room. I don't really see a solution. - Your dining room will look great right there by the front door with all the natural light, but it is uncomfortably far from the kitchen. Imagine how many times you'll walk back and forth to set the table, carry the food, bring it all back to be washed. Also you have no wall space for a china hutch or buffet. - The back porch is too narrow for real use. If you're thinking it's sort of a step-off to a nice-sized deck or patio, then you're golden . . . but if this is IT for the backyard sitting, grilling, eating area, it's grossly undersized. - The great room looks very nice. Since the overall look is Craftsman, I'd definitely go with short, squat windows over the built-ins flanking the fireplace. More natural light is always welcome. - I would look at bumping Bedroom 2 to the exterior wall. This would make it slightly more private. This would also put the garage entrance "closer to the action" and would eliminate the twisty hallway. - This plan shows winder stairs, and those pie-shaped stairs are hard to maneuver, especially if you're carrying something. It's so easy to change this to a square landing at the turning-spot. You still get the pretty, turning staircase, but it'll be so much easier to walk up. I would also add a window to that stairwell -- right at the landing. It would make the stairs both safer and more pleasant. - I like the above poster's suggestion to move the upstairs bedroom's closet so that BOTH upstairs rooms have balcony access. - I like the above poster's suggestion to harness the area above the entry for a game room or reading spot . . . though with only yourself and one child, I don't know that it'd be money well spent. Overall, I think this house needs some significant revisions to be made acceptable. Someone else said "Too many compromises", and I agree. No house is going to give you every detail that you want, but this one delivers too little....See MoreOur house plan - suggestions welcome
Comments (17)Hi and welcome to the forum! I think it is so nice that you are able to build a house on your family's farm...what a nice place to raise a family. Okay, so a few suggestions... The great room is pretty awkward. It is very narrow and long. I am assuming that you will actually be dividing this space up into 2 separate living areas...probably with a slightly more formal feel to the area in the front of the house. Is this correct? Whenever I've been in homes that have this layout, it seems to "feel" better whenever there is a clear distinction between the two spaces. For example, you could put the fireplace on the wall opposite the kitchen rather than in the corner and then center the furniture in that area around it...It would give this area more of that individual feel and help you to break up the space. If not, then I think columns work too, but I don't think that's the feel you're looking for here... The kitchen probably doesn't have enough cabinetry. You have space to make the island a little larger (maybe/maybe not...I'm not sure how much clearance you have between it and the walls/cabinets) which would allow you to utilize it for storage. Or, you could put a run of cabinets opposite the outside wall. And, I definitely think the half-wall separator is a nuisance for furniture placement and doesn't help the flow of any of the rooms. Powder room- I agree that a pocket door would be helpful here, but it's probably not necessary. I like the size of the master bedroom. I think you need to find a way to borrow some of that space for your bathroom and walk-in closet. That closet is probably less than 6' X 4' at its' widest point. Are you planning on doing some sort of cubbies in there on that far back wall? That will be about the only thing you could do to make it usable. I think this would be a tight closet to share... Good luck with your project!...See MorePlease review final house plans, suggestions?
Comments (20)Thanks again for all the feedback. LLass- You are amazing with your editing skills. I'm not able to edit the plan at all. Thanks for taking the time to do that!! You've given me some things to think about and I can see how the laundry and bath doors can be fixed. Thanks again!! Doodledog-Re master bath and bed -I thought switching them before but decided not to. We've had a similar layout in a previous house and it wasn't really an issue for us. We usually watch TV together, but we will put sound bats in. Mrs. Pete- I'm glad to see you agree with the the single sink. I agree, storage takes priority, how many times do I need to use the sink at the exact same time as my husband? The safe room is only a little over 8x4, so for a family of 4 and 2 (big) dogs that's really not too large.Unfortunately, living in the South a storm shelter of some kind is needed. I'll see what I can tweak with the master closet and bath. My husband works from home so his daily work clothes are shorts/jeans and t-shirts. He does travel and needs suits ect. but we have been trying to simplify our wardrobe, so I really don't want a lot of space. I would just fill it up. :) I didn't have it penciled in the plan, but there will be a closet upstairs in the guest room as well as in his office. I will mock up the dining room to check the space. Bird lover 6- I'm glad you understand where I'm coming from with the western sun! I don't want to be fighting a constant battle to be comfortable. Thanks again everyone for all your comments!! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out....See Morecpartist
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