Do you have one with room sizes? Also helpful is climate, direction it will face, size of lot and family size. Kids/no kids.

Elevations?

I rather like it! And I'm one who likes a sense of entry (which I'd love to see here, because you might have guests come in out of the rain) and circulation (more than one way to get around). I think what I like is the bedrooms in their own hall, and kind of a "virtual hall" across the middle from the mudroom, making a natural separation between living and dining spaces. The laundry room is in a great location.

Homeschool will require materials storage and room to spread out, and for ongoing projects (so does a home where the kids are in online or brick-and-mortar school), while still leaving a dining table clear for, well, dining. Do you have room for someone to read or work quietly while others are more actively engaged?

Are you sure you're using an architect? I believe if you're using an architect it would say so on your plans. A designer is not an architect.

This appears to be a design for which imagination has been sacrificed to economy. Sorry to have to be the one to say this, but it's a square (have you noticed), fat plan which will have little to no natural light inside the house. You'll spend tens of thousands of dollars for a wrap-around porch, which will keep natural light out of the house, while you seldom use much of the porch. The roof for such a design will turn out to be high and huge, given the spans necessary to enclose the building and keep out the rain.

You really can do much better than this. Was this designed by an experienced licensed architect?

Do y'all think this one is any better?

Do you have an elevation to go with the second floor plan? I like it better than the first but am curious as to what it looks like with the mudroom entrance on the same side as the main entrance.

The thing that bothers me is that Bedroom 4 (is this the master?) has no real window to the outside, only the screen porch. It'll be dark, the ventilation will be bad and it makes it look like the porch was tacked on there as an addition and an after thought, the way it blocks the bedroom's windows.

Yes the second plan is a little bit better, but what do the elevations look like? (Notice I said a little bit?)

In both plans you have the pantry larger than the kitchen or at least the same size. Do you need such a huge pantry?

Also is there a reason you're putting the pantry on an outside wall limiting light coming into your public spaces?

Also, why are you putting a porch around three sides of the house? Don't you like natural light?

Commenting on the last plan posted. Poor spacial relationships.

Pantry on exterior wall takes up space where views can be had.

Grilling porch too far from kitchen.

Views to exterior from kitchen, dining, and living are limited.

Eliminate views from public spaces (screened porch, grilling porch) into private spaces (master bedroom & bathroom).

Walking through a bathroom to get to a walk-in closet is nota good idea. It will be difficult to keep humidity out of the closet in this configuration.

Think about the sound generated from the Utility room traveling thrrough the wall into bedroom 2.

To name a few.

Eh, I see lots of things I'd want to address:

- I agree that the problem here is that the house is a square. A rectangle would eliminate the biggest problem: Your most important rooms -- great room, dining room, kitchen -- are all placed in the middle of the house, where they receive no direct natural light. I'd say scoot these rooms towards the left so they can receive light (some of the rooms from two directions) and move the pantry and study to the middle of the house.

- Even the rooms that are on the exterior of the house need more windows.

- If you grill enough to want a grilling deck, I'd suggest that you place that grilling deck adjacent to the kitchen ... think of the steps you'd save, to say nothing of going through two separate doors while carrying plates of food.

- What's all that space in front of the French door in the kitchen? It's not enough space for a table, yet it's too much space for a walkway.

- I'd simplify the hall bath and remove the dividing wall. These two rooms will feel cramped, whereas one larger, undivided bathroom would be more spacious, more comfortable.

- I like the connection between the master closet and the laundry ... but I'd flip-flop the machines to the other wall of the laundry. Why? So they wouldn't share a wall with a bedroom. That noise would keep someone awake.

The second design is better:

- The natural light situation is better, though still far from ideal; for example, the pantry (a room that's better off without windows) is still hogging almost a whole wall. I'd say flip the great room over to the left and the kitchen towards the middle, which could allow the pantry to scootch up against the master bedroom.

- I like that this design incorporates an entryway.

Is this the time to bring up that there's no such thing as a "forever home"? All homes get resold. Often much sooner than anyone ever thought possible. Thus, resale is an important element in the design and construction of any custom home...

Is this the time to bring up that there's no such thing as a "forever home"? All homes get resold. Often much sooner than anyone ever thought possible. Thus, resale is an important element in the design and construction of any custom home...

LOL. When my ex and I moved into our forever home, he said to me, "I'm never moving again. They're going to take me out of this house feet first."

Well that was in 1993. The marriage didn't last, the house was really a house only for a family and the kids eventually grew up and moved out. We sold the house and while the marriage wasn't good, I'm happy the ex didn't get dragged out of the house feet first.

Second example:

DH (the keeper) and I bought a condo in 2010 in SW FL. We redid it completely down to the studs. Took six months and we loved the condo and figured we'd live there as long as possible.

Then we got a dog. A dog who hates the noise downtown where we are, and we started to hate the noise at night. When the condo decided not to replace the windows from 1982 with hurricane compliant windows that were more energy efficient and blocked most exterior noise, we knew it was time to start looking.

Thankfully I did redesign it with possible resale in mind. That doesn't mean I didn't design it how I liked, but kept it in the back of my mind. We sold the condo a year ago and got the third highest price ever paid for a unit in our building (with the exception of the penthouses which are double the square feet.)

Design a house for you and your family but design the best house you can. One that will live well not only for your family, but also one that some future family will walk in and want too. And that usually means one that is light filled.