Draft Home Plan - Please Critique
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bpath
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Please critique my plan, first draft
Comments (58)Ok so I've thought a lot about it and made some changes. I changed the kitchen quite a bit but it cost me a window. The room will have a lot of windows so I think it's ok? I moved the cooktop off the peninsula and put it on the wall, moving the sink to the 12'x4' peninsula. We prep by the sink so it makes sense I guess, we won't have our backs to everything. I'll just have to work a little harder at keeping the sink area clean and clutter free. The stove is now up against the garage wall, will this make venting difficult? Based on a suggestion in the kitchen forum I moved the door to the pantry/laundry room down so that the pantry cupboards are part of the kitchen now and the laundry room is it's own room. I'm not 100% convinced yet but it's growing on me. Since I don't have a window in the kitchen now there's no reason not to have the garage on that side so now the garage entrance is where you all wanted it :) It's a long garage so there's plenty of room at the end for a bench/closet/etc.. or even a bonafide 'mudroom'. And moving the garage allows me to add another window to the dining/office room at the front of the house. Upstairs I made quite a few changes as well, I wasn't really happy with the bathroom situation, the kids bathroom was much bigger than the master bathroom and there was no room for a tub in the master. I've moved things around a lot, one of the bedrooms got a little smaller but both bathrooms are much roomier now. The master closet is also quite big (too big?). I couldn't figure out a way to make the bathrooms bigger without sacrificing the size of one of the rooms but frankly, they're the kids rooms and they don't need a whole lot of room. By moving the master bathroom though I don't have all my plumbing stacked in one corner anymore and it's actually right over the open part of the first floor, will this mean i'll need a bulkhead for the drains or is there a way around that? Well let me know what you think, I always appreciate the feedback! Thanks PS. What is the standard overhang for a kitchen counter bench to comfortable accomodate seating?...See MoreFirst draft of our plan - please critique
Comments (9)You'd have to flip the powder room with whatever that is behind it, too, so the entrance to the powder room is off the garage hallway, next to the entrance to the basement stairs. Then incorporate whatever that is in that hallway now (I can't read it, maybe a closet?) into the mulit-space that is now laundry, desk, pantry, and (closet)? Or, you could re-locate the powder room to the back notch in the great room, where the entrance to the basement stairs is currently, then leave alone your garage hall closet. Now you can use what was powder room real estate to re-coup your pantry space. Also, critical problem: you have no front closet inside front entry. Take a notch out of that laundry room to make a front closet off your entry hallway. If you want to re-coup your launrdy room/desk space, then bump out the notch in front of the now powder room to make the house flat across the front there instead of notched. This should approximately get you back your space you lost from the staircase coming into that room. This post was edited by beautybutdebtfree on Sat, Jul 19, 14 at 13:12...See MorePlease critique my small 1.5 story island house plans
Comments (8)Renovator8/kirkall - The plans are a little rough, but the scale and dimensions are accurate. The stairs admittedly are still a bit sketchy at this point. I intend to have only a fairly narrow staircase, and may in fact put in a spiral one instead of an L or U shaped one, if it gives me a bit more space downstairs. The upstairs I really see longer term as just kids rooms...the master bedroom (+ guest bedroom) will end up in a future extension to the house. I'm just after a critique of the general layout of the house, or whether you think the whole thing is terrible and I'd be better off with some other design entirely (e.g. 1 story)....See MorePlease critique my house plans!
Comments (16)We are not planning on having more than one kid, if any. We plan on entertaining friends and family, but the only one who might stay with us for a week at a time is my mom from out of town. With these needs, you have lots of unnecessary space in the basement. Those basement bedrooms don't look comfortable -- the closets are minimal, and they're pretty far from the bathroom. We have a dog and plan on getting another. This doesn't look like a house that lends itself to indoor/outdoor living. Where will you let the dogs outside? The living, kitchen, dining room is all vaulted ceilings, which extends to the covered porch. The living room looks rather narrow, while the dining space is extra-large. Have you laid out appropriately-sized furniture in this design? Don't miss the fireplace and TV as a part of the layout. Do you enjoy grilling out? I see your only outdoor space is the front porch. Consider that your "taking the trash out" path will be fairly long, giving more opportunity for spills and leaks. Moving the kitchen nearer the garage door would reduce this path. The fiance is pretty set in stone about the layout but I know for a fact it needs more tweaking. As a first draft, it's okay -- but I think you can improve it pretty significantly. Keep at it. Changes on paper are free. I know for a fact we need some more linen closets, but I am open to any more advice I can get! The master bath is laid out rather awkwardly /wastes space -- you could easily work a linen closet into that same space. You have plenty of space in the basement to carve out a linen closet. Is it a bad idea to have the two extra bedrooms on the lower level? Given that you're thinking 1 kid max and 1 occasional guest, yes, two bathrooms on the lower level sounds like overkill -- forget "more" and work on "better". More to build, more than will need cleaning and maintenance. Does the powder room on the main floor need to be larger? Its just so guests can use it when we are entertaining. My daughter has that half bath, and it's acceptable but not ideal. It's small and dark. I'd get rid of the toilet closet in the master bath /design a half bath (with two doors) that'd serve the master AND would be open to guests. Less space overall, cheaper to build, only one toilet to clean each week. What else are we missing? Ideally dryers are placed on exterior walls so they can vent directly to the outside. This arrangement is cheaper and more fire-safe. One option: Flip-flop the laundry room and the master closet. In fact, I'd consider flip-flopping the whole first floor. This would allow you to have windows on two sides (improved natural light) in the master bedroom, and the living room makes more sense on the side away from the garage. You could funnel garage-entry traffic through the pantry. If you keep the laundry in its current space, you can combine your garage entry /laundry room and have a much larger /more comfortable space for both. Pull the master bedroom door "back" a bit so the door can "park" in the hallway and won't interfere with the bathroom door. Note that a person coming to the front door will have a sight-line right into your bedroom. That L-shaped stair hides a lot of space underneath -- are you harnessing it for closet space? You're paying for it; you shouldn't allow it to be wasted. You're missing mechanical equipment and vents. You've chosen a 30' wide space -- are you planning on using trusses? IMO the basement bedroom situation is not ideal with the bathroom so far from the bedrooms Agree. The overall plan is rather clunky, especially the basement. While all the necessary players exist, it doesn't look like a plan that'll come together as something really special /something worth the effort of building. I think a bigger kitchen would be better than a walkin pantry . I much prefer pullout pantries to walkins. I think the kitchen is one of the better parts of the plan. I'd like the kitchen better if it were turned 90 degrees so you could have the sink in the middle of the long cabinet run /have a window over the sink. I very much like the idea of a small kitchen and a huge adjacent pantry -- I'd want a pass-through between the kitchen and the pantry. Walk-in pantries allow you to see everything at a glance, and they cost a fraction of the cost of built-in pull-out cabinetry. Additionally, pantry shelves are superior for storing large items like InstaPots and punch bowls. If this were my walk-in pantry, I'd want pegboard on the no-shelf wall. What's the closet-inside-the-pantry? I think your pantry shelves may be too deep for comfort /you don't want things to "get lost" in the back. I hope this pantry is at least 5' wide. An 8 x 10 closet is pretty small for 2 people I'd call that "just right". I would put an egress in the office and not the exercise room if you have to pick. Working in a dungeon isn't fun for anyone. Agree, and work-from-home space is likely to become more and more important in the future. Is this enough space for two spouses? I would consider adding a doggie bath station in the basement somewhere. Actually, even better, do 2 laundry rooms, move the office upstairs and making the laundry room up there smaller with a stackable set (even combining it with the master closet) and putting a larger laundry room downstairs with doggie bath. If you do have kids, you'll be hauling laundry either way with the current set up, so if you have the space doing laundry on both floors would be my pick. You don't necessarily have to outfit a second laundry room with machines -- now. I just bought a new washer/dryer last month, and I was amazed at the size of the machines that're available these days -- they're all huge! By that I mean, the footprints aren't that much bigger, but ALL the machines are all taller /more bulky. Much more bulky than my old front-loaders. If dogs are a priority, I would consider space for crates, food bowls, food storage and more -- you can find some really nice customs spaces online....See Morecpartist
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