If I am a guest at your house and in the game room, it is a LONG walk to a bathroom that isn't attached to a bedroom.

I like your master bathroom/closets configuration. My husband and I love split vanities so our stuff doesn't encroach into the others space. It's actually a very similar layout to what I have now (though we also have a small linen closet in our master bath).

Definitely switch the computer nook and pantry.

I'd ad a linen stack at the end of the that 6ft vanity, unless you wanted a sit and stand nce

Thanks so far for the comments! Keep them coming please!

Question, I'm playing around with the floor plan in paint, and if I switch the Pantry and computer nook, then I can't make the hall go all the way through to the foyer area... at least without making the Pantry door on the far side of the hall so it seems to be too far away, especially from the kitchen table. I could keep the computer area there by bringing it out to accommodate for a hallway to go through though..

I also want a larger laundry room, but dang it I just keep making it bigger!

Hope you have a ton of money because with all those jigs and jogs and the fat roof, it will be expensive to build

cpartist, if you took the time to read the notes I made on the floor plan for my architect, I did state that I didn't care for all the bump outs in the front.

This is just draft number 2, I know that you know there could be many more drafts ahead to get it right. If you have ideas, or something of real value that could help me, I'd love to hear it.

It appears everything about the house plan is complex. The circulation is complex. The outer perimeter is complex. The overall organizing concept for spaces is complex. Your notes to the architect are complex.

Less is more. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Why don't you and the architect sit down together at a meeting with the goal of just how simple you can make the next version of the plan? Really. Simple.

Virgil, could you expand on what parts of the plan are complex? Specifically, the interior? I know we need to straighten up everything more, but can you expand on anything? Or have ideas on anything in particular?
I will be setting up an appointment with him, we just haven't gotten on the same page yet I think..

I truly don't understand why virtually every single house plan we see posted has the MBR on one side if the house and the children's BRs on the opposite. Unless they are grown children, this really isn't a great idea! I font know about your children, but my children and grandchildren had the rather annoying habit of leaving their BR and heading towards their parents, saying "Mommy, I feel sick" and then vomiting right beside the bed. Not nice, but it sure beats it happening in the LR they must walk through to get to the parents.

I'd put all BRs on the same side, the garage on the opposite and the kitchen near the garage. Id have the laundry room near the bedrooms. Id put the guest room on the opposite side from the family BRs - you need privacy from guests and they from you.

I dislike corner fireplaces - make for very awkward furniture arrangement.

I'd have the playroom near the kitchen - you can hear what's going on.

You can do so much better!

What I see as complex about the interior is that there are so many circuitous routes to move through the house: the long, long hallway to the master bedroom, the long path to the furthest kid's bedroom, many paths leading right through the work area of the kitchen. I appreciate having the kitchen be the "central hub" of the home, but not when you have to go through it to get to the garage, the laundry room, the computer room, or from any of those areas to the kids' bedrooms. Then there's the big storage area in an already very large garage, which adds a ton to the roofed space (and cost).

Before meeting with the architect, perhaps make a list of your primary goals needs: what I'm seeing here as priorities include kids bedrooms in a separate wing, private master suite, lots of garage storage, open plan.

But perhaps an unattached garage could handle some of the garage storage needs, getting it out from under the house roof (your lot is certainly big enough for that). Perhaps your kids don't need separate bathrooms.

You've indicated several things you don't like about this plan - what DO you like about it?

Anglophilia, the OP's kids are 6 and 10 - certainly old enough to find their way to Mom and Dad in the night. My kids were on a separate floor from us by the time they were 4, and it worked out fine. When they were teenagers, we appreciated having them further away, because they tended to stay up later than we did!

I don't think I'd give up the privacy of some separation of the kids rooms for a (hopefully?) infrequent barfing episode.

I'd really like to see this house as a letter shape - maybe a U to create some private spaces and separate the bedrooms? or a long L with bedrooms in one leg of the L with a lanai or gallery, and separate the master from the kids rooms with a playroom buffer?

Anglophilia - As AnnKH said, my kids are hardly babies. I guess it's one of those things that people have different preferences of. And them getting sick in the middle of the night isn't a good enough reason for me to have it on the same side as the master, as it hasn't happened even once a year as far as throwing up in the middle of the night. If one of them happens to be really sick, I let them sleep with me and hubby goes to their room, or his favorite, the couch..
AnnKH, I like the overall location of the rooms/areas, but yes I agree it needs help. I'm not sure what's up with the long master hallway like that.. The plan before this one had a much better mudroom/laundry/garage access that didn't make the entry into the kitchen or have to go through the kitchen to get to the laundry, I liked that much better. However, we had to trim quite a bit of sq ft and I was having a really hard time getting it to where we needed that I asked the architect to come up with a way that would get us in the sq ft range we needed to be. I feel like I am having a hard time thinking outside the box of the original plan so I put it in his hands, and while he made it the size we need, the changes came out to more bump outs in the front and the mudroom/laundry area I don't care for.
I'm also not liking the guest/study bath area. In the beginning we had a half bath next to the gameroom, but 4.5 baths seems excessive, however I don't like the location of the guest bath for guests to use. I really wanted an extra bedroom/bath in the event of helping a parent later down the road, but I knew that a gameroom, guest room and a study were too much and we'd have to combine something.. But using that guest room as a study doesn't seem like a good place to me, and besides it sticking out in the front too much, I can't put my finger on it.. I'd prefer a half bath by the kitchen area. So then I think maybe just nix the extra room and bath for a guest suite and make it a study. Our parents are still young, so if they did need help, maybe our oldest would be out of the house by then...
As you can see, I'm still struggling on exactly what to do with that room and it's location. The computer nook is important to me as the girls do their homework on a kitchen computer now, but I hate the open mess of it IN the kitchen, so I wanted it just out of site but very close. The other plan had it across from the Pantry...

I know that you wrote in the comments that you don't like reach in closets, but 5' is the minimum for a walk in because clothes take up 2'. You can only count the corner once, so a 5 x 5 closet only has 8' of hanging space (and the 2' in the corner is difficult to get at) but takes up 25 sq ft. On the other hand, an 8' reach in is 20 sq ft and is easier to use... My point is, put in what fits, what is functional, and what gets you the most linear feet in the smallest footprint. That's just one way you can start to simplify.

janniecone, yes! I actually thought the plan would be more L shaped, as the garage and bedrooms going out farther than the rest of the house, and the rest being straight (er) than it is. I have played with the bedroom/gamerooms so much that I just feel stuck on getting them located without a huge hallway. I'd prefer the gameroom be the room sharing a wall with the garage, not a kids room, but that left a huge hallway!
if anyone here can see a better way for the gameroom/kids rooms I would love to see it. I do want each kid to have its own bath. And I told the architect I preferred closets that were 6' wide and around 4.5' deep, but I don't guess he remembered that.

Emily, my kids have reach ins now and I hate them because I can hardly reach to the ends to find things. It would need a larger or double door I think. my kids can't reach very far either, right now they have a small closet door..

Are there any views to be had from the property? As it is laid out now, the living room has a restricted cone of vision straight north due to its relationship with the master bedroom and dining room.

It appears the view of the house for someone driving in the driveway will be of a long wall with in it a two car garage door, a one car garage door, and a couple windows int children's bedrooms. Forget, for now how, the interior spaces relation to one another, start by relating the home to the site.

Lindsy, your comments posted on your plan, and many of the comments here, are simply comments on this, that or some other little thing without any idea of some sort of major, overall organizing concept for the design of the house.

Strong designs always have a major overall guiding concept, from which all of the other design directions and decisions are based. Strong designs always have an overall organizing concept. Without that, one is simply left to have discourse over where the garage is located, where the kid are located, the size of a closet, the lack of humongeous mud room, or the need for a 3- or 6-car garage. Or some other functional preference of the day.

We see this every day here in discussions on this forum.

What is it that you want your house to be? What is it that you want your house to do for you and your family? In the coming years, as you and your family mature and change, what is it you want from your house? How can your house support and nuture you and your family now and a decade from now?

This is what architectural design is about. It's not about the size of a closet, or the number of bump-o's on the front elevation! :-)

You have some great comments here. My biggest concern is living right NEXT to your parents. That has extreme potential to be a big problem, sooner or later - no matter HOW good your relationship is. :/

"I don't have elevations...."

Nothing? Not even renderings? How does that happen or work?

I hate small bedrooms, no one can talk me out of it! haha.

Okay, then talk us into believing you need big bedrooms. We all have limited resources, so convince us that a big portion of those resources should go into a room meant just for sleeping and storing clothing. Share your rationale!

What I'd question more than the size of the bedrooms is a private bathroom for each child. They're very expensive to build, and they're high-maintenance rooms that require constant cleaning and are prone to expensive repairs. And these bathrooms are small ... I'd rather have one nicer bathroom that's more than minimal ... a bathroom that has some storage ... for the two kids to share.

What do the elevations look like?

With all those jigs and jogs ... and the front door being recessed in the middle, I can't picture an elevation at all.

Virgil, could you expand on what parts of the plan are complex?

I'm not Virgil, but I can explain: Most successful house plans have an obvious axis (sometimes more than one). This house has no real organization; it's just rooms spouting off other rooms like mushrooms. Simple designs really work, yet some people are afraid of simple designs, feeling that simple will be boring.

I truly don't understand why virtually every single house plan we see
posted has the MBR on one side if the house and the children's BRs on
the opposite. Unless they are grown children, this really isn't a great
idea!

A lot of people really like split bedroom plans because they provide for some privacy. And most people who can afford to build are past the years when children come into your room and throw up on your bed. Also, as someone else said, that tends to happen once or twice a year ... not a reason to alter your build plans.

Emily,
my kids have reach ins now and I hate them because I can hardly reach
to the ends to find things. It would need a larger or double door I
think. my kids can't reach very far either, right now they have a small
closet door..

Is the problem that they have reach-in closets, or is the problem that they have poorly designed reach-in closets with too-small doors? With some nice organizers, you can store things very efficiently in a reach-in, and if your doors are appropriately-sized, you can easily reach the ends of the closet. Example:

The computer nook is important to me as the girls do their homework on a
kitchen computer now, but I hate the open mess of it IN the kitchen, so
I wanted it just out of site but very close. The other plan had it
across from the Pantry...

So you want a place for the kids to sit and work that's near the kitchen, but not in the work area ... I say you need a good, old-fashioned breakfast table, perhaps a nook -- a plan like this would allow you space for storing crayons and other school supplies in small baskets. Don't neglect electrical outlets for computers. Spaces that do double-duty are the best!

Lindsy, your comments posted on your plan, and many of the comments
here, are simply comments on this, that or some other little thing
without any idea of some sort of major, overall organizing concept for
the design of the house.

Yes, I think you're focusing on details first and trying to mesh it all together into one design. Start with the big stuff and move on to the small details.

Other thoughts:

- Why do you need a computer nook PLUS a study? I know you say you want the kids to have a place to do homework near the kitchen, but you can put the study near the kitchen.

- You can easily put a linen closet at the end of the master bath. I can see two ways it could fit in. I have a 2' linen closet in my bathroom, and it's enough; we have a hamper in the bottom half and three shelves up above -- one for bath towels, one for toiletries and hand towels, the upper shelf for blankets.

- I don't like that wall in the master closet. It serves no purpose, and it creates an obstacle around which you must walk. The door itself is also an obstacle ... imagine walking into this closet and heading for "her" side ... you'll have to walk in and walk around the door.

- Another problem door: Imagine you walk into the toilet closet (which is not a comfortable room at all). You're standing in front of the toilet ... how are you going to close the door? In reality, you have two options: Scootch over between the toilet and the wall, or stand on the toilet.

- I don't like the location of the laundry room. It's not near either the master bedroom or the kids' bedrooms ...take a look at the pathway you'd have to walk to travel between the laundry room and the closets ... look at all the twists and turns, and remember you'd carrying a basket on your hip.

The pantry'd be better in this position. It would allow you to bring in groceries and drop them off without hauling them through the kitchen /disturbing the cook.

- Note that a bunch of traffic is funneling through your kitchen workspace ... anyone coming to/from the computer room, the laundryroom, and the garage.

- I agree that the hallway to the master suite is too long, and it places the bathroom and closet too far from the rest of the house. Imagine that walk every time you want to put away your shoes ... or get an asprin from your medicine cabinet ... or get your favorite hand lotion. The long walk with two turns is just too far.

- You realize you're devoting more space to the garage than to your main public living areas?

- I don't like the patio at all. It's going to be a dark cave, and it'll receive little sunlight and no breeze. It's going to be a room with all the negatives of the outdoors with none of the benefits.

Are you working with an architect or a draftsman? I ask because it's unusual for an architect not to draw up elevations at the same time he/she draws up a floor plan. Both work in conjunction.

To give you an idea of what Virgil is talking about, when I set about designing my house, I knew I wanted a courtyard feel for the house. I had spent time in my earlier years in Mexico where most city homes are designed around an interior courtyard. I was looking for the courtyard to be our own little oasis within the city. While I didn't have enough room or want a true interior courtyard, I was able to create that feel by making my house a U shape.

I then made a a bubble diagram (well I actually used squares) where I placed my living room, kitchen and dining room at the center of the U, with our master on one end of the U and DH's study at the other end of the U.

I also love craftsman houses and wanted a house with a craftsman feel.

This is a response to the past few posters, hoping I covered things.
I do appreciate the feedback, and I truly do agree with most of it. I guess I'm having a hard time putting it into words that my architect is understanding, although I thought I made it pretty clear. And yes, he is a true architect, not a draftsman. Also though, some of the things y'all have said here were things that I believe were more "correct" if you will in the first plan, but my architect didn't understand my want for not having to walk through the kitchen to get to the laundry, thought it was wasteful hallways. So I let him have the reigns so to speak on this draft, ya know "trust your architect saying" and it's apparent he doesn't see my vision because I haven't been clear, or he puts more of his preference into the drawing, I'm not sure. I'm not giving up on him or anything, because I know we can get there, we get along well and he is very prompt into responding to me, with tons of great references. So our next sit down, I need to figure out the best way to communicate everything. And you're right I am also focused on the smaller things too because it seems like when you want to change or add something, it's a domino effect of having to change other things.

I want a longer, but more narrow house (because that's what I envision looking best on such a very long lot.) However, that type seems to come with very long hallways.. Ask me how I know.. The first drafts halls were insane.

Is anyone willing to help me see where/how to create more of an L shaped? I feel like I've been looking at this for so long, I'm stuck, and I need to not be stuck in order for him and I to get on the same page. I do believe I know how to better fix the front of the house with him..

Kids rooms - I think that's also a personal preference and I know some view the rooms for sleeping and clothes only, but that is not us, nor was it when I was a kid. We all enjoy going to our private spaces at any given time to relax, watch TV, kids play, etc. We don't all stay together in the living kitchen together until bed time, sometimes we want privacy.
And when you have split bedrooms, how do you get the laundry closer to the bedrooms? I do like the location of my laundry, just not how it's accessed.
The garage-Not sure if this is just personal preferences or a regional thing as well, but while my garage is large, it's definitely not the largest or out of the ordinary here. 4 car garages are more of the norm. I could be completely wrong on this, but I would assume building a nice shed to hold lawn equipment, bikes, outside toys, etc would cost more than making the garage the size it is...

You start by creating a bubble diagram for your architect to show him which relationships are most important. Meaning which rooms need to be near one another. Please do a search above for bubble diagrams. There have been several threads that explain it.

I would also suggest you start by reading some books on design and some of the great threads here.

Here are some to get you started:

Designing a custom home

Book suggestions

What makes a house have good design

House plan using bubbles

I don't have the elevations, but I don't get the little nook in the front porch. It appears to be without windows (I might understand it if it was giving light to the computer nook or laundry room). It seems without purpose.

@ Linds Is anyone willing to help me see where/how to create more of an L shaped? Our lot was also narrow 65' but very long 700'. With north back yard. I wanted it to be bright, not dark. This is what our architect designed for us. Hope this helps. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4449548/the-journey-for-the-plan-has-finally-been-realized-long?n=40

Can the driveway for your home go somewhere other than where it is noted on the aerial image?

Mark, technically-yes to your answer. I will cover the reasons for our decision there, but as always I am open to any ideas.

So looking at the lot...
The main road that curves to the right: 1. It would need a rather large culvert built. 2. I was thinking it would be safer to not have it off the main road as people can take that turn fast and looking both directions, plus upward to see if there's a car headed towards the curve.
The street that is labeled as the legal street address for the property: 1. It's on the opposite side of where the garage is. 2. At first, I envisioned the driveway there, when you turn left from the curve road, it's a very short distance to where the driveway would need to start. 3. We decided for some privacy from my parents to have our garage on the other side. Not because they would invade our privacy, otherwise we wouldn't build there, but if our garage faces theirs, they would have a straight view into our garage. Which without typing a novel, quick reason on why we moved the garage to the other side: We all work together, family owned business. Sometimes I may be late, sometimes when I work from home, my husband may come home for a "quick lunch". And not that any of that would matter business wise, just simply putting in some privacy thoughts.
The Rock Road: Where we currently have it. I hate that it is literally rock, so it's a mess when it rains, but we wouldn't have to drive far at all before our driveway started.

The HOA requirements are it must be a side load garage.

I am struggling with *picturing, if you will where exactly I want the house to be. I thought for a while maybe angling it, but I couldn't figure out which way, towards the large curve, or towards the strait part of the main Rd to the right if looking at the lot. Then I thought I was thinking too much into it and just put the damn house in a straight line!
There are no fabulous views, but it is a nice subdivision and far better than what we have now.
It's either the front, the back which is just green pasture, West side is my parents, which has a lovely landscaped yard. The East is the least desirable, just a rock road with a view of a side of a house.

I would be VERY alarmed if my architect gave this plan to me. It has so many obvious problems ...

Consider this concept:

North is up

G - Garage

M - Mudroom

P - Powder room

K - Kid's block

K - Kitchen

L - Livingroom

D - Dining room

MB - Master bedroom suite

D - Den

E - Entry

Mark - thank you for that! I love that it looks like it's on a napkin! lol. But really thanks for helping me think outside of my plan.

A kitchen with windows sounds lovely, although I do worry that it would be the West Sun coming through, and I'm not sure that garage works for the HOA, I'd have to check. Yes, it's obviously side load, but I just wonder since it's still in the front of the house... But one important question I have to ask is why you think the garage location here is the best? Because I imagine if I posted this as my plan I would get so many comments about why I would have my garage sticking out when I have almost 2 acres? Ya know the snout garage comments!
But thank you, anything from a different perspective is helpful!

I . might be reading this wrong, but I think Mark is proposing the kitchen face south and the kids rooms are on the NW corner.

Oh gosh benjesbride, I think you're right! I'm not sure how I mixed that up. Thanks!

Similar approach, posted in another thread, but worth re-posting here. From Olsen Studios:

Mark, can I have your thoughts on this? I flipped your plan horizontally, and besides some rooms being exposed to different sun light (I'd prefer West sun in my bedroom, because given the chance I LOVE to sleep in!) Anyhow, my question if you can read the font on the picture is what would you do with the garage? keep it, move it up, something else? And besides the sun, are there negatives to flipping it this way?

Thank you so much in advance for your time and help!

ETA, I just would prefer for the side yard between our house and my parents to be the main playing area for the children, they'll run back and forth all the time. And since I'm not sure how large of a back yard we'll end up with, I just like the idea of it being more accessible from the west side of the yard .,

Obviously, over time we'll have to landscape, but my parents have tons of trees that I hope will help block some of the sun on the west side..

The curve in the main road makes the safe drive-way access to/from your lot challenging. I don't understand the notation on your site photograph. How close to the property line can you build toward the right side of your site, as shown in the aerial photo?

Virgil, on the right side there are only 20' set backs (from the red line) but 100' set back from the Main Rd. I didn't note the side set backs in my picture, just the utility line and building line.

The foyer seems a bit compartmentalized. Maybe more of a front porch and less of the foyer space? Lack of natural light in the rear bathrooms. Everything is bigger in TX :)

MDV-can you explain what you mean about the foyer? He doesn't have the width listed, but I was wanting the size to be about 8.5 wide by 7.5 deep. I like more of a wide rectangular look than a deep narrowed rectangle...
Yes, everything is bigger in Texas :) And while it's obvious I'm not happy yet with the floor plan, this is a very normal type of floor plan in this area, even more so in my direct
area the houses are closer to 3700-5000 sq ft one story homes! HUGE! They all have fat roofs that are hated on here.

Lindsy - just saw these posts since Mark's sketch, just wanted to pop in and say I would not be worried about the garage in his sketch, I know any sort of garage out front is hated by many on this forum but apparently I am difference as I place more importance on function in the backyard than street appeal of my garage. However, I would not at all 'flip' the drive to open on the back side of the garage as you mentioned in the image where you flipped the plan. Flipping the driveway would make it a massive and awkward snout.

I think Mark's plan has merit to try and explore more. When I think of snout garages, I think of those that face front so the first thing you see is the massive double doors of the garage and not the front door. By turning it sideways, if you add some windows to it, it will appear to look like part of the house. It's what I did on my corner not with my garage.

Lindsy - I would love to work on this plan more but I just don't have the time it deserves. Show your architect my sketch and comment and maybe they can build on the concept; or, private message me and I can share some ideas.

Here is a plan similar to the concept I previously mentioned. In your design I would have more windows in the kitchen and the drive would come from the right.

Thanks Mark! That does actually help, because I was playing around with that configuration, but really didn't know just how close the driveway should be to the front entrance.

Ineed to contact my HOA, because even though there are very few restrictions, and technically this is a side load garage, I do have this feeling that they will see it as a front entry garage..

If designed properly they shouldn't object.

The tower is giving me nightmares. I grew up in a city with a max security prison in the near center of town. The tower with the widows walk looks like where the guards oversaw "the yard" with rifles.

jannicone, here's a photo to get that guard tower out of your head. Split Rock Lighthouse, Lake Superior

If the cottage is constructed, it will be on a large lake, very close to a very large lake.