Floor Plan Critique
hjohn13
6 years ago
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Comments (23)
Virgil Carter Fine Art
6 years agoMark Bischak, Architect
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Please help! Floor plan critique
Comments (31)Not a pro and I'm having trouble seeing the details in the plans, but I have to agree with Lindsey_CA 100%. My "laundry room" is very small, probably 5x8 and leads directly to the garage so it's our main entry into the house. It's one of the things I despise about my house. I also have 2 kids who are now high school aged and between all of us, we do laundry at least once a day. My kids both play sports, so sometimes I have to do laundry more than once because the washer and dryer only hold so much. I can't tell you how many times people come flying through the garage and hit someone with the garage door. Or come through the kitchen trying to get out because they're late only to run into the open dryer door. I have to move the laundry to the family room to fold it because there is no counter space in that room. I'd love to relocate the washer and dryer but my husband does not want them moved to the basement, and we would lose a bedroom moving it upstairs, so we are stuck. We have a utility sink that gets a lot of use (much more than I thought it would) and I can't see if one is in your plan, but definitely put one in. Also make sure you have more closet space than you think you will need. I also agree that the exterior has too many juts which makes roofing lines more difficult. I also don't like having to go through the game room to get to the kids' bedrooms. While I do understand wanting to separate the kids from the master suite, when they get to be older, you are going to want to know what's going on in their rooms. I have a two story and can open my bedroom door and tell who is still up. : )...See MoreFloor plan critique
Comments (14)@One Devoted Dame Sounds like you definitely have your hands and hearts full. We have 9 children, but they are growing and flying the coop. 4 already are married. The days are long, but the years are short as the saying goes. The lot is basically a 67.5 wide by 117.5 long corner, rectangular lot. Set back of 20 in the front, 10 in the back, 10 on the street corner side and 5 on the other side. 4 feet of pool decking can go into the 10 foot backyard setback. This basically means we have 52x87 to work with including space for the pool. But restrictions say pool and fence can't go in to a side yard, so our house has to run front to back on the narrow width. So if I want to have a formal living and dining, as well as a family room, secondary bedroom( one day craft room) and the Master all down, it's pretty hard to make that happen without putting room upon room. Before we moved to the coast we had a 4000 square foot traditional 6 bedroom home in a golf course community. It was the typical upscale track builder home with a large family room with two exterior walls behind the garage, a nice kitchen in the middle back of the house with 8 foot island and a huge morning room that held our casual dining table and looked into the backyard. The formal living room / dining room ran from front to back on the left side. There was also a study in the front of the house across from the living room. All the bedrooms were upstairs. Now we live in a 3500 square foot reverse floor plan meaning main level is on the second floor. It's an even narrower lot than the new one and we have living/dining/kitchen/sunroom all in a row front to back on one side, and on the other Master/Master Bath/ Stairs /Bedroom 2, Bedroom 3. If you walk in our front door you look down a long hall to the main bathroom at the other end. lol. That's always been the one thing I hated, that I couldn't change. Downstairs is bedrooms 4 and 5 and a bath behind the one garage and a 12x24 family room and screened in porch behind the other garage. Long hallway again down the middle this time looking straight into the laundry room, but at least it has a window so you basically can see straight outside. After living here for 6 years, I guess I've just become used to deep houses with room behind room. It's not perfect, but it's not awful. I don't think there is perfect, but always compromise something you want for something you want more. Also, if I'm going to have more than one living space I really want at least one to look into the front yard and the other to look in to the back which this allows for....See Morefloor plan critiques?
Comments (31)garage dimensions are typical 3 car size What is that dimension? I was wondering if we should extend the living room by a foot or two and reduce the dining room by a foot or two. We did lay out our furniture and it fits. The living room is bigger than what we have now. My first reaction is, Yes, do that. Where do you anticipate doing most of your "living"? I see that you have a larger space down in the basement ... but that is away from the kitchen, etc. Bigger than what you have now is irrelevant; you don't want better than you have now ... not when you have the opportunity to build a space that's ideally proportioned. Also will take your basement bathroom suggestions back. We don’t want/need bigger closets down there but there may be some other configurations that work better. Yes to other configurations ... getting natural light into the bathroom would be a big plus. I would make the powder room access from the foyer instead of the kitchen. Yes, this is a good idea. Glad you agree the foyer/hallway could be improved. I try to set things up where the first view upon going through the front door is clear through the house to the outside. Yes, this is a big improvement ... unless you really love acting like PacMan....See MoreFloor plan critique
Comments (23)Mark- yes, we have thought of it, and the architect will be quoting us a price to do just that. I’m worried that cost will be prohibitive. If it is in the 10k or less range, that is likely what we will do, just using this plan to illustrate a lot of the things we like so he has an understanding of where to start. If it is 50k plus, then we will have to make due with a stock plan. Estimates that I’ve read online about architecture services differ so wildly that I am not sure what to expect. We know a plan would be most useful if planned specifically for us, but also know that this stock plan will suit us well enough if cost keeps us from having a customized home. I know it is the better option, but I am preparing myself that it may not be the option we have available to us based on cost. cp- we own the plan with the right to have it used and changed. If a draftsman within the firm will be the one to take on the project because the architect would rather not adjust a stock plan, then that may be what we have to do if the cost for a truly unique plan is beyond what we are comfortable spending. bpath- my thought for that wrap area was to store things that we dont much use, like the stand mixer, dehydrator, canning supplies, etc. The space that is more easily accesible would be food. does it seem to be too awkward of a space for that? In my head I picture it as being able to step into it and turn all directions easily, but not really walk around. Do you think it won’t even be enough space for that? It is difficult for me to visualize it without photos of the actual space. If it seems more like I’d have to reach in and to the right, then that would definitely be too awkward. We plan on having only lower cabinets in the kitchen, so I do need that pantry space to be useful for storing some of those larger items....See Morelittlebug zone 5 Missouri
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