Floorplan Feedback
Trying to layout our future dream home, something farmhouse and craftsman inspired with "pretty good house" design to limit month to month utilities and take advantage of solid design principles (tight house with good insulation and low mechanicals to keep comfortable).
So far our definite priorities are:
1) solar orientation (main windows facing south) to take advantage of passive heating and, lucky enough, the views on our future site
2) no hallways, open and flowing sightlines through the house
3) split layout to keep bedrooms separate and privacy for master suite and bedrooms
4) open kitchen, great room and nook. This is where we envision large gatherings and spending a large chunk of our time in the house.
5) large back porch/deck for indoor/outdoor
6) office to allow for flexibility for working from home
7) dedicated work spaces for him and her
8) oversized 2 car garge
9) flexibility for either bonus square footage upstairs (above garage) or unfinished walkout basement
10) something else I am probably forgetting!
Your time and feedback is appreciated!
Comments (21)
Related Discussions
Design help: Kitchen / pantry / floor plan feedback?
Comments (34)OK, spent some time with cabinet & ID. We created access to the pantry and modified based on the incredibly helpful feedback from everyone (especially @mama goose_gw zn6OH & @Buehl!). Attached here is the latest floor plan. Having access to the pantry is great, and having the dishwasher on the outside makes cleanup zone much improved, close proximity to dish cabinet, and trash seems better positioned. Still wondering if the primary prep zone is sufficient (about 38" on either side of the sink on island). Also, per your feedback @Buehl, wondering if we should change our potfiller to something like this: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2699429/prep-sink-next-to-range-how-close-is-perrrrfect, so that we have a secondary prep zone with access to water. Any other thoughts? I love the cleanup zone you had proposed @Buehl, but not sure how to get that while managing our window constraints & pantry access. One option maybe would be to shift from two windows to one? Not sure. Already feeling this is wildly improved, so very thankful to you all for your help!...See MoreFloorplan feedback
Comments (24)Noise&Privacy - we intend to build the wall with more sound barrier in mind and solid doors, but other than that really didn’t put more thoughts on this, I have sound barriers between my floors and between my bathroom walls and surrounding areas. Guess what? It only mitigates sound a little bit. I would seriously reconsider the toilet on the family room wall and more importantly, the two bedrooms having nothing to break the sound. Even with something like closet walls filled with clothes, some sound will still get throught, but a lot less than without. Unfortunately houses nowadays are not built with 6-10" plaster walls. I would also flip your toilet and entry to the closet so the toilet isn't against your bedroom wall. Do you really want to be woken by the sound of a flushing toilet? (And yes you're young now and making it through the night isn't an issue. Guess what happens as you get older?) we just live very transparently and quietly in a rural area without neighbors in sight… and when we are having people over the few times a year, we don’t mind all doors open kind of thing… putting as much space into place we would use, and make the space feel open when possible seem more important to us(like avoiding hallway to master), but we are discussing this over per your feedback and think about would we see it differently as we and the children all grew older. Yes once your kids hit the preteen years and are up longer, you may regret not having your bedroom separate from the public areas. Even if some days you're just feeling like you need a short nap once the kids are older, having them talking right outside the bedroom door? Plus while you have no thoughts of resale, sometimes life happens and for way too many people being able to see into the master like you have it would be a huge turnoff. Closet on exterior walls - we intended to have all cold walls covered by these storage functions, and solve the moisture issue through other solutions, such as engineered barrier product or intended space gaps and the trust ventilating. We thought it would be more comfortable living in, but we are vetting and debating on this further. Understood. I put my DH's master closet on our west wall and purposely didn't put windows on our west bedroom wall for the opposite reason. We're in FL and didn't want the heat penitrating. The only question then is what happens when it's hot in summer? That north exposure then would be welcome? Laundry - walking across the house with some laundry doesn’t bother me at all… it does make sense keeping the laundry room where master closet, our thoughts were to keep it at where the dirtiest/bulkiest laundry is, all outdoor dirty gears used on daily basis are stored in the drop zone at the laundry room, and we are expected to take those off as coming in from outside. And we can have very very dirty outer layer clothes.. don’t want them tracked across the house… Then consider plumbing a washer/dryer hookup near your master for when you're older and the kids are out of the house. the garage is on the very east end was due to the rather unpleasant weather (and no view) from the north and east. And the house exterior doesn’t have more than 1 area collecting snow. (Only have a snow gathering area right now, in the L zone created by the west side of garage, we think we can protect the U patio from few occasional south wind/snow via landscaping trees and short walls.) That is quite a hike from garage to kitchen/pantry area. Truly rethink what you have. Not a problem now but again, since you're planning to age in place in this house, it can become more of an issue. Especially in wintery weather with ice and snow. I still also think you need a covering of some sort between garage and house. This is why a talented technologist would be a huge help to you. The pantry- yes I am going crazy this round on pantry as I never seem to have enough pantry space. Two reasons: prep kitchen and storage. Prep Kitchen: Over the years I collected a lot of small appliances /gadgets… of limited functions, and I love them! (30+) none of them I want to see in my kitchen, and I prefer not having to move them more than a few feet even I only use them once a month or less frequent, I have them categorized by usage frequency desired to increase the chance I will use them as I wanted to. All these shelves can really help me with that! The issue isn't with the pantry prep kitchen space. The issue is where it is in relation. It shouldn't be getting exterior wall space. Yes I realize there's no view and the north is cold but then again, in summer having even a bit more light in the kitchen will be welcome. Especially since in summer, the sun will not penetrate those south windows. If it were me, I'd reconsider the whole center space of the house so that my kitchen winds up on the outside wall and maybe my prep kitchen, but I'd make my pantry on interior walls. Pantries do not need natural light and in reality, are not good for that anyway. And if it were me, I'd move it closer to the kids bedroom so the hike from the garage isn't as long. Also the island is very much our dining table and quick meals prep, if anything more is needed I will do the prep in the prep kitchen. Toaster oven for example used daily is in prep kitchen as well. Have you instead considered instead of a separate prep kitchen having tall cabinets lined up along one wall which hide all your "toys". Something like I did for DH's coffee/breakfast station. (I hated looking at his mess everyday because he loves leaving the pods on the counter, the spoon on top a napkin with coffee stains, etc. The advantage of this would be you wouldn't have to be constantly moving back and forth between your "prep" kitchen and the "real" kitchen shlepping stuff. For example, you toast your bread. Where is the butter to butter the bread? Kids snacks (and ours) for another example, I really want to organize better, they have a lot of varieties when come to snacks. Goal is when they open the door, everything they need is in sight to grab without having to move anything to get to something, or see something. So shelf space utilization will be reduced, as I won’t pack them as tights How about putting them in drawers instead of on shelves? Almost everything in my kitchen is in drawers and it's so much easier. And again, that could be part of your tall cabinets. Lower drawers for the kids. Upper shelves for you and your "toys". We (4) will be in and out in pantry “room” all the time Again, might there be a better way to organize? Storage: During winter here, there can be times that glass beer freezes in the garage, even with good isolation and house is warm, it is just really cold outside! So 100% moisture/liquid items need to store inside. I have the opposite problem. We can't keep the same stuff in the garage because in summer, even though the garage is insulated, it can get up into the 90's. So we store it in one of the drawers under DH's coffee cabinet. (We don't have kids here. We're in the golden years. At least that's what they tell me.) Coffee/breakfast station on right. And the cabinet open. The cabinet is 24" deep but the shelves above are 12" deep if I recall. You are on the right track. And you have a good beginning. I just think there's an even better plan out there for you if you're willing to listen. Hey if you can't find a good technologist, there is someone here who does excellent design remotely....See MoreFINAL Floor Plan Feedback
Comments (15)Where in SW Florida? What direction does the house face? Have you ever showered in a 14' long shower? Do you tend to get cold when you shower? If someone is in a wheelchair and needs the elevator to get to the top floor, they will not be able to maneuver to get out as they need a 60" turning radius. Here I go again repeating this list. Anything in bold truly needs to be rethought. The best houses orient the public rooms towards the south for the best passive solar heating and cooling The best houses are L, U, T, H, or I shaped. The best houses are only one to two rooms deep. And covered lanai, porches, garages, etc count as rooms in this case. The best houses make sure kitchens have natural light, meaning windows so one doesn't have to have lighting 24/7 to use the kitchen. (And no, dining areas with windows 10' or more from the kitchen will not allow for natural light.) The best houses make sure all public rooms and bedrooms have windows on at least two walls. The best houses do not if possible put mechanical rooms, pantries or closets on outside walls The best houses do not have diagonal interior walls making for odd spaces. The best houses keep public and private spaces separate. (see bedroom 2 up against the dining room. Also bedroom 4 up against the movie room.) The best houses do not have you walk through the work zone of the kitchen to bring laundry to the laundry room. The best houses do not have the mudroom go through any of the work zones of the kitchen. The best houses do not use the kitchen as a hallway to any other rooms. The best houses do not put toilets or toilet rooms up against bedroom walls or public areas. The best houses do not have walk in closets too small to stand inside. The best houses have separation, such as closets, between bedrooms and between bedrooms and public rooms. The best houses do not have roofs that are overly large, and dominate the exterior of the house. The best houses do not have stick on exterior materials only on the front façade. The best houses have an organizing “spine” so it’s easy to determine how to get from room to room in the house and what makes sense. Meaning they don’t have meandering circulation paths. BTW: I'm in SW Florida....See MoreBarndominium Floorplan Feedback
Comments (30)Thank you for the responses, and cpartist for the practical list. I am digesting all the feedback. After some of the points concerning privacy and open concept, I am introducing another type of plan into the mix. This to us is more comfortable. We weren't able to check all of the boxes on cpartist's list, but welcome any feedback and thoughts as it is being developed. Some of my own thoughts: -Wondering if the Master Bath is too long -Kitchen bar placement (Other alternative was rotating it 90 degrees so the open side of the "U" is facing the living room. The fridge would then have to be moved to the other wall joining laundry. -The dining room was originally closer to the kitchen, but extended it downward to leave more open space with the double back doors. Too much? -Open to how one would approach designing the living area. -We desired a coat closet upon entry, however, in doing so it created a corner in the study and also created an issue with the symmetry of the front windows and front door (Because the closet would cover the window in the study). If we inverted the living room and front door to the other side, that would result in creating a coat closet as wide as the WIC (Which is fine). However, the issue is that it would then close off one of the archways to the study, reposition the front door to be not centered with the whole length of the building....See More
cpartist
6 years ago
kolin_tomlinson
6 years ago
bpath
6 years agokolin_tomlinson
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6 years agokolin_tomlinson
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6 years agomrspete
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agono hallways, open and flowing sightlines through the house
I understand your goal: You want to avoid spending money on passageways that don't add to the living space; however, here's what you have to realize: If you don't include hallways, your rooms will become hallways; thus, you're building the space anyway. The worst no-hallway problem here is that the kids have to walk through the kitchen to reach their bedrooms ... this will be a constant irritation.
I suggest you give up the idea of no hallways and consider these two thoughts:
- Go with minimal hallways. Be sure your hallways are well-planned and promote good circulation in the house.
- Make the hallways do double duty -- make them earn their keep; for example, we are book people, so our hallway is going to double as a library. Something like this -- except we're going with cabinets on the bottom half /shelves on the top. Initially we were going to have a library /foyer, but the idea morphed into the hallway.
6) office to allow for flexibility for working from home7) dedicated work spaces for him and her
These seem like an overlap to me; in fact, I think you're over-doing the work spaces /away spaces. Look at how many away-from-the-action, one-specific task rooms you're planning:
- MBR nook
- Office
- Hobby room
- Playroom
- Laundry room
- Work area in the garage
- Basement and/or Bonus room
With so many jobs going to "work at home", I think it's wise for a young couple to build in a work space for both adults ... but I'd look at a multi-function room for each of you. Perhaps he'd keep the office (which is a flexible room just off the foyer; if he ever moved his work space elsewhere, this could be a TV room, a teen room, whatever). And perhaps she'd go with a big combination room with a desk for working, storage/work space for hobbies, and laundry all together. Something like this -- add a nice rug and floor space for yoga:
As for the kids' space (which is totally optional -- kids who have a private bedroom don't actually need another space), I don't like your proposed playroom at all. It's totally dark, and it creates a lengthy (dark) entrance to their bedrooms. Since the kids aren't even conceived yet, I'd do nothing like this yet ... but keep the idea of a spot for them as teens in the basement or bonus room.The truth is, little kids will be barfing in the middle of the night
making that trek longer and more dangerous that it should be, the
laundry room will house some smelly football practice clothes that might
have to "season" for a day before they actually make it into the
laundry, and the hobby room will be a foot killing Lego landmine....I've always thought this kids-must-be-immediately-next-to-parents concept to be overblown. Once they were no longer infants, my kids rarely woke during the night, and at any age they rarely threw up during the night. If they needed me, they had no problem reaching my room. In this case, we're talking about walking across the kitchen and the living room ... not exactly trekking the Andes.
Idea of a 3 seasons nook is lots of glass. There is plans to have
doors to close this off in cold season. However I believe it is closer
to a finished room as @jannicone mentioned, so it may be more
appropriate to call it a finished breakfast nook/dining area.Looking at the plan, I wondered where you were going to place your dining table ... and with this answer, I see several problems: First, people must enter the space through what looks like about 3-4' of space next to the peninsula. This bottleneck will be uncomfortable, and once in the dining area, people will have to scootch themselves around the table ... and then they'll be trapped in that dining area.
Good dining spaces provide circulation /it's easy for people to reach the table from multiple sides. Examples of dining room tables that're accessbile from multiple sides /don't trap people:
On the positive side, this will be lovely with all the windows.Why does a walkout basement preclude a good indoor/outdoor connection for first floor?
A picture is worth 1000 words. My current house is connected to the backyard via a raised covered porch ... only ours isn't screened ... something like this:
We use the porch ALL THE TIME, but we rarely go out into the yard, even though we have steps on both ends of the porch. The yard "feels" far away. And you can see that if you're going with a walk-out basement, you will have to have a similar set-up.
In contrast, my daughter has -- and my new house will have -- a flat entrance straight out into the back yard. Something more like this:
At her house -- and I hope in our future house -- we're out in the back yard constantly. She doesn't even have a big glass door to the outside, but the back yard just feels so much more accessible, so much closer.
This is not really a logical thing.
I have noticed corners "eating" space in closets. What is the
alternative for walk in closets? We really like the idea of walk in
closets (his and hers) but it becomes tricky to make them work without
losing a bunch of space.You understand the problem, of course. When you have two closet rods coming together, you still need 24" of space for each side's clothing ... so you end up with a situation like this:
Depending upon your space, you can "fix" this in any number of ways. The easiest walk-in closet would be straight with hanging space on both sides -- you need 36" or more walking space in a walk-in closet, yet if you have storage on both sides, the same 36" walking space serves both sides ... making this a more efficient option than L-shaped hanging storage:
Shoes work well at the end of a simple straight closet because they are not "deep" like other types of clothing storage, so you still have good access to the clothing at the end of the clothing rod. Note that in this picture, you could easily reach those shirts against the wall.
The kids bedrooms and jack and jill bathroom has been my biggest
fight! I would prefer bedrooms to all face the same way. We are basing
this idea on reducing the number of "dirty" areas to clean when kiddos
are running around. I like the idea of keeping bathroom connected to
bedrooms (instead of across a hall) and would like to see what other
smart ideas, and more efficient layouts, might exist.I personally like the idea of jack-and-jill bathrooms, but I don't like them when they're so very overdone. You can do jack-and-jills in so many ways:
I agree with the concept of reducing the number of "dirty areas" ... but note that when you opt for a jack-and-jill, you typically are then required to add in a half bath elsewhere in the house (because guests can't access the bathroom without going through a bedroom). On the other hand, if the secondary bathroom is accessible from the hall, you can eliminate that half-bath ... and that cuts out an entire high-maintenance area.
Have you read Don Aslett's book Make the House Clean Itself (or something like that)? I loved the book because I hate cleaning, and this book is all about designing spaces that require less cleaning.
Having one true entry (mud, foyer, garage) is a key for us. It seems
silly that most houses have a front door that no one uses, and a second
entry that everyone uses. Maybe that is just us experience bad
designs, but having them connected makes a lot of sense in an efficient
floorplan. Perhaps laundry can be next to mudroom, but closer to garage
(further from front entry) to keep in mind smells or noise...I love the idea of the foyer and the mudroom coming together in one space. I totally buy into the idea that it's silly to build a lovely entry that's used only when guest come over. However, we weren't able to work this into our plans.I don't know what y'all are keeping in your laundry rooms, but mine isn't smelly ... but it is noisy sometimes. This is an excellent spot for a pocket door.
he focal point when you approach a house should be the front entry and
not the garage. Having said that a front facing garage can work if
necessary, but I would try and play it down by setting it back from the
house, not in front.Totally agree. The garage is rarely the prettiest part of your house, so unless you're building on a small lot, it makes no sense to push it out in front.
However, regardless of where you place your garage, consider your guests' experience in arriving to your house. Garages often make this difficult. Consider some typical guest-arrival sequences -- the yellow is the driveway, red is your guest's car, and the blue line is the path he takes to reach your front door:
When your garage faces the front, the guest clearly knows where to park, and he can see the front door from his car. It's a comfortable arrival sequence.
On the other hand, the worst is a protruding side-entry garage. The guest pulls forward, which seems to be the thing to do ... and he is forced to walk uncomfortably around the garage with no sight of the front door.
And, of course, loads of other entry sequences exist ... but I personally think people don't pay enough attention to guest parking and guest arrival.
mrspete
6 years ago
cpartist