Mark, a rough draw of existing floor plan attached..the house is a simple rectangle, gable roof ranch house built in mid 60's , with one large gable on the east side of the house- which the addition is being built off of. Sorry it is dark now or I would provide a picture! Land is flat and cleared in this area. Biggest changes made to existing house: basement stairs reversed, but in same spot.. master moved to existing kitchen/dining... kitchen/dining moved to living room.. most of one bedroom converted to laundry... staying is existing master (to become kids room) and existing main bath (I redid it a few years back with my own blood sweat and tears).. thank you for your time!

The first thing that hits me is the master bedroom is small. In our last house the bedroom was 14'x11'. With a queen bed, we could easily accommodate a chest of drawers, but also had a dresser, and our night stands were small (after a few years we realized we could put the bed on a different wall and replace the 9x11" nighttable with a proper one) and it was just big enough to move around. And we had two closets. We live pretty simply, no clotheshorses here! At 12x11 and one closet, will you have enough room?

where do you drop your gear, winter-wear, skates, summer towels, etc?

@bpathome thank you so much for taking the time to input! Luckily, our current master is about the same size with a king bed and two small side tables, with one small chest of drawers so we have had a chance to live in a small master, and don't mind it. I sure wouldn't mind a bigger master but trying to make things work within our existing space is a challenge for sure! I was hoping that since the reach-in (and I may change it to wardrobes, still up for debate) is 8', as long as we used the right organization system we could be good? We clean out our closets twice a year (well *i* do haha) so that helps. We also could use half the current walkin for lesser used items which would be my daughters new closet as I hope she never utilizes it all haha.. at the front we would have a bench and builtins. I'm not a big coat closet person, but you're right it might pose an issue once my kids get to an age of activities!

Clean out the closet twice a year? You're a better (wo)man than I am!

Which door will be the primary door your family uses, the one on the right/front, or the one on the left/back?

It would seem to make sense to reduce the size of the existing master bedroom's closet to make the north east bedroom less of an odd shape.

Consider having four smaller doors for the proposed master closet instead of two large doors; this will allow better access to all the hanging close. Then place the door to the master bathroom in the same plain as the closet doors.

The front entry needs work. There needs to be space just inside the door for a few people to enter the home, be greeted, take off their coats and hang it up. It should be configures to inhibit cold winter air from freely entering the home.

I do not understand any reason for the bump-outs for the window seats.

The office and exercise room stuck at the end of the addition feels awkward to me for some reason. I want to push them back into the existing structure and have the addition contain the kitchen and living room/dining.

Kitchen thoughts - I love the idea of a large open galley (I have that in my current construction project) but.... Your fridge has no landing zone close to it - it will get old traveling the fridge to put something on the counter. And, while I am also big fan of symmetry, just make sure there's enough space back to back for kitchen and sink. Perhaps consider moving the fridge to an end of the back wall of the galley? And then use that space to either enlarge the pantry of create a station for drinks / coffee?

I also agree about the exercise room / office being stuck on (and taking valuable corner space)

With the ease of access of the hall kids' bath, do you even need a half bath? Feel like maybe that's a "hall to nowhere" and taking valuable space.

@bpathome the door with the bench and built ins is our main door.. the other door I added haphazardly actually to have a second door and will probably never be used!

Where do the stairs go? To the basement? And if so does the basement follow the floor plan of the first floor? Right now I think what is hindering a better layout is that staircase.

@jannicone thank you very much for your thoughts! He originally had the fridge and range on the back wall with the larger pantry. I am torn about it- being a farmers wife I am literally just trying to give my hubby ease of access to things in busy times and me less cleaning to do- hense the powder room by front door, and my idea for the 'built in hutch' closest to front door was to do a drink station there with beverage fridge underneath, again so he doesn't have to tromp through my house with dirty work clothes throughout the day to grab a drink! I change my mind every day about it though! I believe I will be pushing the sink either left or right on the island when I get to the kitchen design point:)

@cpartist yes the stairs go to basement. It used to be half finished however we tore everything out last year due to water damage (we are doing weeping tile as part of this construction but saving basement finishing for later). Now it is just cold room, storage and laundry. I was open to moving the stairs in the beginning, but for a cost savings he thought it made sense to leave them, and just reverse them.

@mark bischak, architect -

sorry for some reason my return message to you didn't show up! I am honoured you took the time to input on my floor plan :)

the north east bedroom is that shape as we 'stole' the closet and another two feet from there 7 yrs ago to make current master closet- it would actually make a lot of sense to steal it back, and wouldn't require a lot of work to do so. I would hope my daughter would never utilize a full walk in closet anyways, so thank you for that observation!

if I decide not to do wardrobes in the new master, I love the idea of doing four doors- and pulling the ensuite door flush is brilliant- it was bugging me as is and that was the reason so another great suggestion!

the front entry is a bit troublesome for sure. I can't reallly steal more space from the master- however we do rarely get company out in the boonies here haha.. I will do some reconnaissance on that..

regarding window seats- I've just always wanted them- I have no current south facing windows, and I just imagine myself on cold sunny winter days curled up in a window seat like a cat soaking in sun reading a book.. the guest room window seat will more serve as area for plants and starting seedlings! Is this not a good idea? I thought window seats were desired!

the truth is, the rooms WERE added on haphazardly after the originally two drafts due to us just not fitting everything I needed in the main current house. If my husband just could have lived with a basement office- but a main floor office was literally the only thing he asked for. There will be a ceiling height change from 8' to vault in new addition- so I thought it made sense to have the kitchen with original 8' ceiling and where it ends- vault on dining/living begins, a more natural progression. Also thought addition would be less cost as we don't have to run plumbing under it at all and its just a basic rectangle.. At least this way my hubby can do his 5am office work without disturbing the rest of the house?

sorry for the long winded reply, and thank you again for your time!

I'm having trouble understanding the old and new floorplans ... I can't tell what's new /old, so I don't really understand the limits of what's possible; still, I have a few comments:

- In the half-bath, I'd go with a pedestal sink. It's a small room, and this would make it feel less crowded ... and you don't need lots of storage in a half bath.

- If you flip-flop the pantry and the refrigerator, the end of the island will become a landing spot for fridge items.

- I understand your desire for a window seat ... so charming. But I don't like the placement right by the front door. I think it'll be nice inside the house, but it'll look kind of like a wart on the outside ... and could make the front door feel "crowded". This made me think of a house plan I like (well, I like the living room): http://rosschapin.com/plans/small-houses/dines-point-house/ ... note that the house has a hallway that runs the length of the front of the house ... they have a twin-bed sized window seat that is technically in the hallway, yet kind of opens to the living room. I've always liked that detail. The window seat could double as sleeping space, but it would also allow a person to sit "near the action" without being "in the action". I think something similar could work well next to your dining table (with no actual bump-out).

- Still on the subject of the master bedroom. You say this is your forever house. Consider that you may one day be an elderly, ill person in this bedroom. What if you needed a hospital bed? What if you needed a home nurse to move through this space? My RN daughter worked home health during college, and she says that her clients who lived in shoebox houses really had trouble. One woman was literally unable to enter her bathroom with her walker, so my daughter had to spread a plastic sheet on the floor and give the woman a sponge bath while she sat on her toilet chair. What a lack of dignity. I'm not advocating for large bedrooms, just right-sized bedrooms ...and I don't think you're providing enough space for yourself, given that you're thinking "forever house".- Here's how I think you could best fix the closet /bathroom situation:

- Your laundry room was spacious, whereas your closets weren't ... I downsized your laundry a bit ... now it has a stack-up machine and a nice-sized cabinet for folding. Nothing special, but enough.

- I left a space for the fridge near the island and bumped the pantry out a bit, removing that indented space.

- I moved the kids' bathroom to the current laundry room. Simple, three-piece ... it's enough.

- Your master bath is unchanged, just bumped down a bit.

- Your closet is much larger than it was, and I added a window seat right there at the end of the closet, which can serve as a place to lay out your clothes, or a place to sit down and put on your shoes. It'll also make the space light and wide open.

- Finally, I added a window seat in the small master bedroom so that it'll appear larger and more bright. It'll feel like "elbow room" and will allow you a place to sit in the master bedroom without having the space for a chair. I don't know if I like BOTH window seats so close together.

- Alternately, you could divide that larger master closet and allow for a hall closet /linen closet as well

- The kitchen looks practical and economical to build. I'm a believer in small kitchens and large pantries (pantries are cheaper to build AND easier storage).

- The upper kid's bedroom is oddly shaped, and the closet is preventing you from having nice light on one closet. You said your daughter won't be using all of that best-closet-in-the-house (ever?) ... so I'd divide it into two closets /even out the kids' rooms. Something like this ... note that I moved the doorway of the upper bedroom so that you're getting more closet /less hallway:

- Final thoughts: The office and exercise room do look "tacked on", and I don't see these two small rooms being particularly practical. I'd make these two bitty rooms into ONE nice-sized sunroom ... use one end of it as an office ... include a sleeper sofa or a murphy bed so it can serve as an occasional guest room ... and place shelves around the windows for starting your plants.

Place your fireplace and/or TV built-ins in the middle of this wall and flank these "anchoring items" with single French doors for access to this sunroom. This will feel like an intentional "away room" rather than two tacked-on rooms. Finally, I took away the window seat; this doesn't seem to be the right place for it.

I downsized your laundry a bit ... now it has a stack-up machine and a nice-sized cabinet for folding. Nothing special, but enough.

Stackables are not good for the elderly. Think about how you're bending down almost to the floor to remove clothing and then reaching up high to put them in the dryer. Even apartment sized stackables are not good. For the elderly, the best is front loaders on pedestals. I wouldn't give up laundry space for a stackable. And if either of you are vertically challenged, I absolutely wouldn't do so.

However I do like what mrspete did overall with your master suite and the idea for a sunroom. A sunroom at the end makes more sense.

@mrspete thank you for your input, your suggestions on my single galley question a few months ago were the most constructive and practical, you are full of great ideas;). I really like combining the two rooms at the back. My hubby is not the neatest office keeper- however I think if i make smart storage solutions for him it could work! Honestly the last time we had a guest here was a year and a half ago, so dedicating an area for just that does seem a waste. And that's so smart to use French doors- I was going to do transoms to capture the morning light but French doors are better:) I will reconsider the window seat placement for sure. I would love a built in one rather than a bump out one I just didn't think I had the room- but I'll try thinking outside the box again!

Unfortunately the main bathroom can't be part of the demo. I just redid it two years ago myself, and hubby doesn't want to 'waste' money on something already perfect. I do really love the plans you came up with for the master, but i also can't see giving up the laundry space, it might be my favourite thing next to the walkin shower !

i do think I will take yours and Marks suggestion on changing the kids closets to make my sons room lesss odd shaped, it really does just make sense!

thankyou again for your detailed response on a long weekend Saturday:)

You live on a farm, and your husband tracks mud into your house, so here's my 2 cents worth. :-) Shift the new laundry room into half of the the old kitchen. You'll still get your big laundry room (I'm with you on loving big laundry rooms!). Re-work the entry so you can access the laundry room from either the front door or the bedroom hall. If you can work out the space, adding a small shower to that front bath would be good, too - that way, hubby comes in, strips, showers, and puts on clean clothes from the laundry room, all without tracking any more muck through the house. Then, take the other half of the current kitchen and the current dining room and make that your son's bedroom. Your daughter's bedroom and your bedroom essentially stay where they are. Your son's current bedroom (the oddly shaped one in the northeast corner) becomes your master bath. I'll see if I can post some images of what I mean...

So I made a few total guesses on dimensions, but I think this is basically your current house, give or take a few feet here and there...

One other thought... several people have commented on the office feeling awkwardly tacked on to the end of the addition. I experimented with taking your same addition and rotating it 90 degrees

:

@quinn Eskimo - you threw this together quick?!?! You must be a magician;) I really truly love your suggestion. My first floor plan from the draftsperson had the powder room/laundry combined at front of house (which many farmhouses have in our area)- but I really wanted them seperate, and just didn't have room to keep laundry at the front of the house, plus it would have been small haha. I am going to show my hubby and see what he thinks, and I have a feeling he will like it! I did like that I would have laundry right beside bedrooms, but him having a spot to drop his dirty clothes I think vetos that! Thank you again so much for the suggestion and putting together a visual, much appreciated!

@quinn Eskimo again thank you for the suggestion it came while I was writing the last post:) my reasoning for building rectangle out, besides cost, was to gain as many south facing windows as possible! but I do like how the elevation looks better than my current!

This is really long and will boggle your mind with possibilities... but I did some thinking about your laundry room space. I can't make everything all fit perfectly, so I'm throwing a bunch of ideas out so you can see what could get traded off and/or sacrificed according to your own priorities...

By the way, keep in mind I'm working off assumed/guessed measurements. If my assumption about the position of your existing bathroom is off, it changes how much fair-game space exists between the you-can't-touch-this existing bathroom wall and the front entry wall of the house. (BTW, I have it drawn as 27'3")

So here's version 1 (aka Smallish Laundry)

Here's version 2 (aka No Shower)

Laundry room much bigger, access to laundry room from the bedrooms or the front door (hubby can at least drop his muddy clothes in the laundry room), but no shower in the front bath. (BTW, this laundry room should be flipped, so the washer/dryer are on the bath wall instead of the closet wall - that would consolidate the plumbing a bit, and also reduces the noise to your son's bedroom a little.)

Here's Version 3, aka Small Bedroom

laundry room has space, shower in the front bathroom, access to the laundry from the bedrooms - but, your son's bedroom starts feeling pretty cramped.

By the way, an aside about entry cubbies. All three of the versions above have a little less cubby space than your original plan because of the entrance to the hall. Version 2 (No Shower) has the least - Versions 1 and 3 get a few more inches by turning the cubbies sideways, which might also mean the entry feels a little less cramped - especially if you could move the door to the left so it doesn't crowd the cubbies behind the stairs.

And on the cubbies themselves: in these drawings, they're set up as 21" deep, split between hanging space and bench space (10.5" each). So versions 1 and 3 look like this the way I've drawn them:

I did a version 4 that sacrificed access to the laundry room from the front door, but realized that if you're not able to access the laundry room from the front door, placing it in that position doesn't make sense. It makes more sense put the laundry room next to the existing bath (plumbing is more consolidated this way), like this:

So this is basically the plan you already have, but with a shower in the front bath. My reasoning for wanting to shift things around in the first place was that the master suite felt really cramped trying to occupy the space between the front of the house and the bathroom, and you had to choose between a walk-in closet and a walk-in shower - you couldn't do both in that space. So lets step away from the entry way for a moment and visit that master suite:

I realized I hadn't added a closet to your daughter's room, and doing so meant I had to make that room a little bigger, which decreased the space I had thought existed for the master bath. At first glance, pass-between closets to the master bath jumped out at me, so I drew it that way. At 3' deep, the one on the north wall could be configured as a shallow walk-in (6' total hanging space down both sides, plus wall space on the north wall) or just a really deep reach-in (5'10 hanging space as drawn here) - in either case, you end up with a little more total closet space than your proposal (looks like about 8' as proposed). There's a ton of other options for how to configure the back of the house - but the point is, I think enough space exists there to give you better layout choices than trying to jam the master between the bath and the entry - as long as you shift the proposed laundry room across the hall the the west side of the house. Again, though, keep in mind I'm working off guesswork measurements. You'll need to tweak/rearrange based on the actual measurements of your house.

Back to the entry/laundry/bath: You could keep the laundry room up front but nix the access from the bedrooms to the laundry room to eliminate the need for the hall:

I personally don't like this one: you have to lug all your laundry back and forth through the kitchen. Bu I included it for the sake of being thorough. :-)

Then I started thinking about different ways the entry, laundry, bath, and hall could interact - would getting the bathroom door out of the entry help?

Thanks for letting me play with your house! :-)

@quinn Eskimo again, words can't express how much I appreciate the time and thought you have put into floor plans for me! I love option 2 (while a shower at the front makes total sense- I think three full baths on the main floor is too much for me to clean haha), but having the laundry there definetly helps the flow of the house! I also don't mind the one where there is no hallway- while it is not ideal to walk laundry through the kitchen, I was going to have to have some sort of dirty work clothes setup at the front for hubby and carry through kitchen to laundry regardless!

The master split closet layout was actually my favourite saved layout before we started this process:) you are defintelty on the same wavelength as I am! And your measurements are very close- overshot by only a few inches! I am going to do some serious reconsidering and almost definetly, a piece of your plans will be part of my future home:)

I won't lie, seeing the exercise room next to the living room grosses me out - I wouldn't want ot see sweaty greasy people traipsing across the hall to the shower...it's more of a private space typically, unless your entire family uses it at once.

It seems rather hallway heavy, and therefore not the best use of space.

First, you say this is going to be your 'forever' house. The house to me, is chopped up. Small rooms, wasted hall space...and... No way to accommodate you if a walker, wheelchair is needed. Even a 'knee scooter' would not get into the bathroom. If one of you needs to be wheelchair bound it is not 'friendly '. Also, in that small workout room a treadmill would barely fit- I know because I had a room that small once and the treadmill took up most the space. I understand that 'you don't need much', but you do need to consider changes that may come into your life. IMO as homeowner and registered nurse.