Where will the house be located? Climate? Which way is north? Are there children? Ages?

How do you plan to use the lofts? Will the one loft be a bedroom, or not? How will you decide? The bathroom upstairs could be a bit bigger for storage and counterspace at the vanity.

Where will the bed in the master go? If on the long wall, you'll be looking right at the bathroom door. The short wall at the top is a better spot. You have a tub-shower combo in the master, is that right?

Where is the garage?

Are all the mechanicals in the basement?

Since you don't have measurements beyond room sizes and are just doing locations, it's hard to tell you if the pantry is too narrow. After all, the powder room door opens halfway onto the vanity.

do you want an entry way, which would be the ideal place for a front closet?

What is the site?

Are you considering engaging an architect?

Please consider: where to put the TV. there are so many questions on this subject on Houzz; decide now rather than after you build your house. Are you very neat people? The entire living area is open to view from the front door. If you make the house a true rectangle, that is, move the kitchen/dining room wall to be even with the master bedroom wing, then you could make the pantry a hall closet and put more storage in the kitchen.

Master shower? I love the open great room ♡♡

It's a good starting point.

How about exterior plans?

I was going to say you could have a coat closet under the stairs, but is that a stair to a basement? There goes my only coat closet idea.

You're looking at a 30' width on the living /dining area ... this may require an expensive support beam OR a post somewhere around the edge of the island.

I have doubts about the proportion of your stairs. I think -- in real life -- they'll need to be longer than you show.

Walk-in pantries only make sense if you have the width for shelves on both sides. As you've designed it, your pantry is using practically the space of a full walk-in ... but only gives you the storage of a reach-in. I think a pantry is well worth the space required (cheaper than a larger kitchen and more expensive cabinets) ... so I'd add another foot or so to make this a really good walk in pantry.

Since you're trying to keep the square footage small, why not combine the half-bath with the master bath ... accessible to the master PLUS to guests ... gives you a sink next to the toilet ... cheaper to build, one less toilet to clean each week? Note, too, that this cuts off a big chunk of square footage at the back of the house, and it allows you to have windows on three sides of the master ... or a door to the backyard.

Of course, the above idea costs you one walk-in closet. Perhaps you could have one closet in the bedroom ... and a second walk-in off the laundry room? Or turn the bedroom sideways ... which allows for two modest walk-in closets side-by-side /they'd probably have L-shaped storage ... and with the half-bath gone, you could expand the pantry and have a coat closet in the laundry /mudroom.

I don't have much love for the upstairs. The far-right loft space won't have acoustical privacy -- I point this out because once we rented a lake cabin with a loft, and I HATED sleeping in that loft. Every noise from downstairs came right up to me. And the 10x10 loft is interrupted by doors, so it doesn't seem to be particularly useful as a living space. I'd look into a Cape Cod or Story-and-a-Half style house with an upstairs something like this -- and you could use the basement for the aforementioned office. It'd be more private -- both visually and acoustically.

Where are the elevations to go with the plans?

How does the plan relate to your site?

Why would you want a loft open to the downstairs? All that means is it's harder to heat/cool and noise will travel up.

10' wide isn't enough for dining when there is a door in the middle of it, because you will need to leave at least 3' to get in the door plus 2' for chair pushback, leaving only 5' for table plus seating on the other side. And that is super tight; most people would want a 4' walkway for the door. So realize that if you leave that door there you will need to encroach on the living area to have any kind of table. And that you will need to walk around a table to get in and out that door. Maybe the two windows in the dining room could change to a door instead.

Don't walk into the great room. Change door and entrance where the pantry is planned. It will make the door more centered. Make the stairs side by side in stead of L shaped. Any room that you have to walk thru automatically is reduced by at least 3'.

All of the living spaces are small. Walk thru some decorator homes, etc. and see how wide their spaces are. It is very hard for most people to visualize spaces and most are too small.

Also, in the kitchen, the usual work flow is fridge to sink to stove. So make sure the walkway between island and stove is at least 48" from countertop to countertop. You will remove things from refrigerator to the island. Wash and prep at the sink. Then move to the stove for cooking. If you are having the dining room connect to the kitchen, you won't need seating at the island and you should be able to have 2-24" cabinets deep back to back for extra storage.

Thank you for your thoughts and questions! Just an FYI - this house was traced from a large professional builders' floor plan - that is where the kitchen layout and all measurements came from. All I did was manipulate the master/laundry area. So the stairs/measurements were theirs, not mine.

You all might think we are crazy but we don't have a TV and haven't for the past 8 years. We don't plan on getting one, we'd rather spend our time outside.

We don't yet have a building lot, we're looking. Ideally the wall with the most windows will face south. The house will be built in Southeast Indiana.

We are interested in creating plans that will help us save money now, but we could add onto the house later. So for example, we could build a two story house but the 2nd story could just be a loft for now, since we don't have kids at this point. (We're new to this so not sure how much this would actually save.) We're open to other ideas too.

We don't yet know if we're building a garage right now - may add later. It would be next to the mud/laundry.

We want a small house. We also want it to be energy efficient. Most people probably think that this house is too small, but we aren't most people. If anyone has links to other 2 story houses with the master near the laundry/mud room and an open concept, link them to me! I haven't been able to find much out there.

I'd love to hear suggestions on how to save money when building, or other creative ideas for starting small and adding on when needed. Thank you.

I'd love to hear suggestions on how to save money when building, or other creative ideas for starting small and adding on when needed. Thank you.

While it sounds counter intuitive, the best way is not with an internet plan but to find a residential architect to create a plan that works with your property. You're putting the horse before the cart, since the first thing you need is the land. The land will partly dictate the way the house is situated and how it's laid out.

There are even several architects here on houzz who will work remotely and have created some awesome looking homes. What you spend for an architect, will save you money in the long run in terms of mistakes, missing items, change orders, etc. Ask me how I know.

this house was traced from a large professional builders' floor plan - that is where the kitchen layout and all measurements came from. All I did was manipulate the master/laundry area. So the stairs/measurements were theirs, not mine.

Big builders certainly use plans that meet minimum codes ... but minimum isn't always enough for comfort. I understand the idea of wanting a small house -- I'm building less than you propose here -- but you need to research and be sure you're building enough for comfort. As for stairs, big builders frequently make their stairs as steep as possible (to fit them into a smaller space), but that doesn't lead to a comfortable stair.

The answer here is research and consideration of your personal "right sized" spaces.

We don't yet have a building lot, we're looking. Ideally the wall with the most windows will face south. The house will be built in Southeast Indiana.

You want to get the lot first ... then decide where you want your rooms to be placed.

So for example, we could build a two story house but the 2nd story could just be a loft for now, since we don't have kids at this point.

You may run into trouble with this concept if you're planning to finance the house. The bank won't finance a partially completed house; remember that -- for them -- it's an unemotional investment, and they want to be sure that if they have to repossess it, it's something other people would want to buy from them. They aren't going to want to put in the effort to complete the house. Likely they'd be fine with an unfinished basement or a house without a garage ... but not a one-bedroom house or part of the main living area is unfinished.

(We're new to this so not sure how much this would actually save.)

Not much. If you're talking about building the space and just leaving out the flooring, walls, lighting, etc., you're not going to save much.

OK...you want a small, simple and straightforward house. Good for you!

You traced the house from a builder's plan. Well, if you did, that plan did not have a good sense of minimum workable dimensions. And whomever drew the floor plan didn't have any sense of interior spatial flow and variety.

For example, opening the front door and immediately stepping into a minimal sized living room is a very poor practice for many reasons. The bathrooms (all of them) are simply unworkable as drawn.

You want an expensive house, and ask for ways to save money. Yet the plan shows stairs going down to a lower level, and well as going up to an upper level.

The upper level "loft" areas are terribly wasteful. "Lofts" always show up when a drafter or CAD operator can't figure anything else to do with the space on that upper level. When you see these in a plan you can be assured the designer was an amateur.

The structural framing to support the second floor loft areas will be very expensive, with long-span girder or two. The necessary supporting column on the first floor is omitted, unless the girders are exceptionally long and designed for completely clear-spans. Get out your check book for this one.

My best advice: start over! Don't look at that builder's plans any further. An experienced and creative architect, spending only a few hours with you, would be a major asset.

Good luck on your project.

Agree with the comments above to find your land first, then an architect to design a plan to fit your site and your needs. I think it's great that you want a small, energy efficient home. Please note that open two story rooms are not energy efficient and they are space wasters.

If you've read any of my "100 quotes for the year" lists, you'll remember one of them is:

“Choosing a plan without a site is sort of like choosing an outfit for the day - without knowing whether you will be attending a formal wedding or weeding the garden.”.

But good luck in your adventure. Exciting times ahead!

"You all might think we are crazy but we don't have a TV and haven't for the past 8 years."

I went 30 years without a television. And those of you that are thinking, "Well that explains a lot" can go back to watching Dallas.

Can anyone still watch Dallas? And why would you want to?

Most of the TV we watch is the morning news shows. Maybe an hour a day.

And get this, up until our last overseas trip it was no internet or cell phone for the duration, as long as three weeks. Just like our trips before 1990! Had to bend that rule slightly now however in that it's getting tougher to get around without a smart phone.

But it's a refreshing reminder for us that the cemeteries are filled with indispensable people.

And all please remember that not everyone can afford to purchase and design a custom home...some of us are stuck with the large scale home builders.

"Can anyone still watch Dallas" I always thought Digger Barnes should have been an architect......seeing as how he was lonely and broke and thinking everyone else screwed him over.

Tatts wanted to see more, I think it was Tatts.

Knife block to the right, spice racks on the wall, seedlings planted for southern exposure in the window, paper towel holder between prep block and range. Also, cook book holder. Water spritzer for the plants is on the cutting/prep block.

Aloe plant in case I burn myself...

Wrong thread Artemis! :)

" . . . not everyone can afford to purchase and design a custom home . . . "

I have see designs posted in some of these forum where the OP could not afford to NOT hire an architect to custom design a home with them.

CL most of us need to prioritize our spending.

When you don't have a lot to spend you need to make every cent count. I've lived in some very small houses that were super efficient and I've stayed in some enormous ones that are ridiculously short on amenities

There are some problems with the plan you posted. Small houses have to work much harder than larger ones and in my opinion this doesn't cut it.

Thanks Lindsey, In your opinion what are the problems that you see?

I love my open loft area. It is such a wow factor and while there are acoustical nuances, I knew this going in. The plan was also drawn so that the loft could easily be converted to an enclosed space later. I'm in FL and especially with upgraded insulation/doors/windows, I have zero issues with heating/cooling a 25' - 30' high space. Utility bills are not a shocker either. CL, remember to also keep in mind what *you* love.

And all please remember that not everyone can afford to purchase and design a custom home...some of us are stuck with the large scale home builders.

Actually if you do your research into builders, you'll find that small builders who only build a few houses a year, are probably less expensive than large home scale builders. The exception is if you're planning to build a home in a tract development and even then my GF and I found out that our totally custom home was cheaper than the tract home builder.

During the Parade of Homes my neighbor and I went looking at homes. We looked at everything from $200k on up to $3.2 million. One of our last places was a very nice looking development where we were told houses started at $305 base price to build. However, what that included was poor quality windows, very inexpensive tile, level 1 granite (not that there's anything wrong with level 1, but let me finish), windows that rattled because they were such poor quality, plumbing brands you probably haven't heard of (at least I haven't), shower curtains instead of shower doors, carpeting in all but the main living area, Whirlpool appliances etc.

The model as shown, still with the cheap carpeting in the bedrooms, but with upgraded granite, LVP in the main areas, adding the third bedroom, adding an electric fireplace, upgrading the tile to what was in style 5 years ago and a pool brought the price up to over $700k.

When my neighbor and I figured it out, the difference per square foot between the upgraded model and our home (in a more desirable area too) came out to $3 a square foot more for my neighbor's build and about $7 more a square foot for mine. So on a 2000 square foot house, we're talking $6000.

And our houses included better tile, or in my case engineered hardwoods throughout. GE appliances in my neighbor's house and Bosch in mine. Better trim carpentry, etc.

That may be true in your area, cpartist. I have done the research in my area, and I realize that the business models for large scale builders means that they charge a lot for upgrades, which is why we don't plan to do them right now. We're fine with what the house comes with. We can update things later. We've been in touch with small builders as well, but per square foot the price difference is still significant for large scale builders vs very small builders.

Some of my concerns have been noted already. I'm just going to list it all off, please forgive my curtness.

-walking straight into the living room which is already small, and having the stairs directly at your feet. The transition area for the stairs and for the front door is the same tiny area.

-no opportunity for a good focal point in the LR. The sofa is almost certainly going to have to be on the right hand wall under the window, from which pint it will command a nice view of the side of the stairs and hallway.

-the dining area is too narrow and as I mentioned above, there is a door in the middle of it.

-the kitchen I don't mind so much. It's workable for sure. The fridge is optimistically shallow in the plan; you will have to have a counter depth fridge for that spot, and it will still take more room than shown once handles are accounted for. Don't plan seating at the island, it won't happen.

-the pantry is a trap. I like long narrow pantries when the door is on the long wall. I don't see being able to walk to the end of yours, gather what you need, and get out. You'll have to back out the whole length. There's probably only 2' of walkway. If you are pregnant, or overweight, or a body builder that's not going to be workable. There's also no door shown. Adding a door will clog up the hallway more.

-the dimensions on the laundry/mudroom aren't given. I suspect once you add the washer and dryer and account for walkways there won't be much room left for the "mud" component.

-long narrow master bedrooms are super difficult. I would rather see 11x12 than 12x15. Place the bed in there. What else can fit once you leave your walkways? Not much. The extra few feet become wasted because there's nothing practical you can do with it.

-you won't get hanging rods on three sides of a walk-in closet. I don't know what kind of storage you need in them, just know that you won't get what you've drawn. And the doors should open out to maximize the interior storage.

-when space is at a premium toilet closets are out. Imagine walking into your water closet. The door hits the toilet! And the open door blocks your path to the toilet.

-I'm guessing that's a shower/tub combo which is perfectly acceptable.

-the linen closet is too small to be of any use.

-moving upstairs, I hate the loft. I dislike them in general and in a smaller home they are a sinful waste of space. You're paying to build, maintain, heat, and cool space that is doing absolutely nothing for you.

-when space is at a premium one bathroom is perfectly acceptable. You could do one up and one down if you want, but since there are only two of you and children are theoretical there's no need for three bathrooms. A family of four can easily share one bathroom, I promise. And it will be proportional to the size of the rest of your house.

We're fine with what the house comes with. We can update things later.

Yes you can upgrade the pretties, but you can't upgrade the bones of the house later. And there's a difference there too. Tract builders do the bare minimum in terms of insulation, windows, and other things that aren't seen.

That may be true in your area, cpartist. I have done the research in my area, and I realize that the business models for large scale builders means that they charge a lot for upgrades, which is why we don't plan to do them right now. We're fine with what the house comes with. We can update things later. We've been in touch with small builders as well, but per square foot the price difference is still significant for large scale builders vs very small builders.

Sounds like you've made up your mind.

My last recommendation: Just be sure you've run the numbers every which way and are sure of your facts. Examine all your choices. Exhaust your options before you spend a single hard-earned dollar. Confirmation bias has a very strong pull.

cpartist, That's not necessarily true...like I said, I have been doing my research. I do understand that the bones are the most important part which is why I'm not doing the upgrades. I want good bones instead of that. Not all tract builders are alike.

Yes, thanks Mrs Pete, I am definitely doing research. I have not made up mind totally, but I'm speaking from the research that I have conducted here.

Research the part about finding a site first and then designing a home that relates to it.

Mark, I am. It was really just the layout I like that I posted. I understand that how the land lays is important. It is not necessary to keep saying the same thing over and over again. In order to get started on a quote for a house without the land, you've got to choose a layout. I understand how the land lays affects the final price.

I'm not sure you're quite getting what Mark is saying, CL. It's not just a matter of site engineering changing from lot to lot. (Though we went from originally wanting a walkout basement, to finding a flat lot that wouldn't lend itself to one, to discovering that said lot has too high a water table for any kind of basement)

Land affects the layout. As an example, you can scroll down [this thread[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/tales-of-the-great-architect-adventure-dsvw-vd~4395123) to find the concept sketch Mark did for me. He walked the lot, I expressed a desire to keep a particular apple tree, and not to have a 1000 ft driveway. The very layout of the house reflects the properties of the site.

For instance, if our lot was on the other side of the street, with the road to the North, rather than the South - you wouldn't just invert this plan. That would put the bedrooms on the south side of the house, with the main living area and porch to the North. In fact, you'd initially look at the schematic and expect this house to get too hot, because of the windows on the West side. However, on this particular lot, there is a heavy wooded band to the West of the house. Afternoon and evening sunlight beating on it is not going to be an issue. On many other parcels, it would be a problem.

The way the house is designed for OUR lot, the front door is sheltered from the prevailing winds out of the North and West - sort of a big deal in my climate. And that whole "no basement" thing? That altered how the rest of the house came about, as we tried to provide storage for stuff that can't just go in the basement.

So, designing the house to fit the land isn't just about moving dirt around to make a particular plan sit correctly. It's about the layout being dictated BY the lot itself. I get wanting a ballpark for how much it will cost you to build. But you'll be further ahead to have a house designed that fits both your land AND you budget.

To add to what Holly said (from another thread):

"Good design STARTS with the site. Any home should be designed with the site upon which it will set in mind. Terrain, vegetation, soil conditions, orientation, wind direction, path of the sun, wanted views, unwanted views, utilities, water features, vehicular circulation, wildlife, and adjacent site conditions all influence the design of a home. Without considering the site, you're just plopping a building on a plot of land and not taking advantage of what the environment has to offer."

Oh my goodness, way to beat a dead horse, people.

I understand that land affects the layout and the price of the house! I have a background in art, design and environmental issues and I am not dense. When I say that I understand something, believe me. Just because I am not repeating back to you exactly what you want to hear does not mean that I don't understand what you are saying. There are 2 ways of approaching building a house.

1) choose your lot and find an architect/general contractor to build you a totally custom house

2) use a larger home builder while working with them to design a layout from the floor plans they require you use - doesn't matter if you've chosen a lot at first, but it will for your final plans.

Of course an architect would want to know the lay of the land first, and they would also advise you to use a custom builder - I can't afford to do that. Maybe some day I will. I've spoken to small builders, large builders, and architects about my particular situation and budget.

So, I likely have to use a larger builder. Therefore I'm not designing a from-scratch home. It is ok to work on your layout and get an idea for what you want before you purchase a lot. In fact, then you can look for a lot that will allow you to have, say, a walk out basement. I'm not finalizing a plan, just working on the layout. It is important to understand your budget as well as to understand all of the above. I don't have an unlimited budget, so I'm doing what I can.

Would an architect tell me that this is "bad design"? Probably. But it is what I can afford to do right now with what the larger home builder offers, who by the way, the one I am considering does have in-house architects, but you still have to use their floor plans. If I use a small builder and actually have truly custom plans, then I will certainly have an architect look over any plans before we build. Obviously. I have not been able to find a small custom builder that can build me a house for $90/sq ft, and also include 2x6 exterior walls, excellent insulation, high quality plumbing, etc etc. But I have found a larger home builder who can and gives a warranty.

I understand orientation of the house is important. I understand slope is important. I understand that the trees, the sun, and the view will all affect your layout and/or energy consumption. I understand that there will probably be issues during the build, sometimes major issues, and they might affect your basement, for instance.

I'm regretting asking for suggestions at this point. This thread has gotten really off-topic. Thanks to the people who answered the questions I did ask, though.

Um, no. You say two ways of building a house exist:

- Buy a lot and go totally custom -- expensive house

- Go with a large developer and choose one of their designs -- moderately priced

But I can think of several other ways to build -- for most of these, you could add in "with a big builder" or "with a small company" or you could act as your own contractor:

- Buy a lot and build a stock plan you (not the builder) choose yourself

- Buy a lot and build a stock plan you (not the builder) choose yourself

- Buy a lot and build a modified-for-you stock plan you choose yourself

- Buy a lot and go with a modular house.

- Buy a lot and go with a steel framed kit house

- Build a tiny house that you can move from place to place

- Pick a house plan and then locate a lot to build it upon (yeah, backward, but still possible)

You're limiting yourself by thinking you have only two options.

I would be very surprised if any builder nowadays could build a house for $90 a square foot except in a tract development. I don't care what they say. Wait for the change orders.

Actually if it were me and I was on a limited budget, I certainly wouldn't be building a new home. I'd find a house that needed some updating of the pretties. Meaning paint, wallpaper, flooring, maybe kitchen counters and backsplash etc. And I'd find the worst house in terms of needing updating in the best possible neighborhood. I certainly wouldn't build a house with a crappy layout just for the sake of building a house.

And yes, I've done that 3x so far with renovating ugly duckling houses.

But whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck.

C L are you fully committed to this exact plan? It seems as though you're not looking for so much for "critiques" as you are for tweaks, is that a fair assessment?

C L, I know it’s frustrating but please add me to the crew who say you have to find a lot first. Unless you’re looking at a cookie cutter cornfield flat generic square parcel (and even then orientation matters!) you really can’t look at a layout until you have a place.

I have fought against this for years - perusing floor plans and drafting up ideas while we looked at sites. My husband, who does this for a living, wouldn’t ever indulge me in more than just a basic list of desires and features until we secured land. And he never drafted up ANYTHING unless we were dealing with a specific site and testing feasibility. I HATED it. I wanted to plan and dream. But after research and time and more experience I’ve come to see the wisdom of what everyone else (and my spouse) were saying. Like Holly said, even just popping a house to the other side of the street means a complete shift in the layout of the rooms to maximize views, sun exposure, minimize winds, line up the driveway and garage, massing of the spaces and roofline, etc. And a site with any interesting topography or trees really needs to have a plan customized for it. It just does. The land we ended up with is in the windy Midwest on a somewhat steep incline, with lots of views. SO different than the other one we considered, which was sheltered in a lower spot on a piece of converted farmland, with a ravine on the west side. And those two sites demand completely different styles of house, not to mention changes in shade/sun design, styles of entryway, basement, etc. They’re four miles apart and night and day different. I cannot plop the same basic house ideas on both of them with equal success.

Your design time right now, pre-site, is best spent prioritizing your wants and needs. Make a list on what you want your house to do or how you want it to live, and what it MUST contain, what it should contain if it fits, and what would be nice but not critical. Ask your husband to do the same and compare. If energy efficiency is important to you, for example, figure out if it is for eco-consciousness or durability/redundancy, because those two different facets will cause you to come up with entirely different solutions (especially if cost is a major prevailing factor). Do you want high end bones but can deal with mid grade finishes? How flexible do your spaces need to be? Can you double up or triple up function of things like bedrooms and office space and craft rooms or skip a second full bath to reduce cost and still live comfortably? Etc etc etc.

Use this time to flesh out what you want, not how it will look. Once you know what you and your spouse value, you can search for land with that in mind, and give an architect a solid and highly personalized list to help him design YOUR perfect house. You’re digging st the wrong part of this process by trying to make floorplans work - that’s an answer, but to the wrong question. What you need to do is find a place before designing a dwelling. Dwellings should not exist independent of their place on earth.

I have had to eat crow on this one, but it really is such wise advice.

So I skimmed your plan, and then the comments. But you say:
"There are 2 ways of approaching building a house..."

A lot of folks here love helping others on plan discussions, showing others what we see. We love design, love helping, love sharing experiences with those who want to learn. But sometimes the folks who ask for feedback come back saying 'Oh no not that feedback!'

There are two ways of asking for advice.
The one way results in "I'm regretting asking for suggestions at this point"

Some things are subjective, area specific, etc. But not all. You've got a long road ahead with the build. It helps to ask in the other way. Good luck.

I have great respect for the work architects do (we're using one!). I think there is great value in architecture and our communities would benefit from making architecture more accessible. But I agree that it's a scary proposition and not always feasible on all budgets. Our architect will end up costing us ~ 12% of our total build cost, or 6 figures. Our initial bids ended up coming in almost 100% over budget. We're 1.5 years in with no permit. (This is, I should add, not all our architects fault!)

This discussion happens a lot, here, and I think part of the issue is that many people approach building a house like a renovation. Take something they can see and tweak it here and there and make it "their own". Thanks, HGTV! It takes a certain amount of faith to leap into a project where you don't know what you are buying and have no guarantee how much it will cost. That's why large scale developments exist! They satisfy a niche.

It seems like you are approaching this as a house for the near term and not a "forever" house, so I would look at it from a resale angle. Are you going to be able to sell this house when you are ready and at least break even?

On to the plan, some things that would disqualify it to me, as a buyer:

- the entry (or lack there of) is terrible.

- I don't know if it's just not drawn correctly, but the stairs don't make sense? You land upstairs into open space? The stairs in their entirety needs to be reconsidered

- the great room is too narrow at 15'. You need at least 3' (4' is better) for circulation, so your furniture will be smashed against the wall and it will still feel cramped.

- sure, you don't watch TV, but most households do. You should account for it if you want to sell your house in the future.

- seating not possible on the kitchen island

- pantry is weird

- tub / shower combo in master bath. Just have a shower, it will feel more luxurious than the combo.

- owners bed is narrow at 12'

- very little auxillary storage, especially upstairs

- lots of wasted space in the lofts, which is particularly offensive since the actual lived spaced are small and strange

Even when building a builder-produced house, I think one should consider the things that make people fall in love with a home and that set it apart from it's counterparts. It's not the shiplap, or the over sized island, or whatever design trend. It's light, good circulation and spaces that live easily. This plan doesn't have any of that.

Kayce made some excellent points, especially regarding the loft. Now if it’s going to be a library space or craft area? It might work. But truly, that square footage could be much better utilized in other areas and for storage. That home plan doesn’t appear to have much.