I'd want windows in the kitchen. That kitchen will be dark. I'd prioritize that over the windows in the walk in closet and the laundry room.

Lyfia, it just feels better to look at that simpler facade. I wonder, the porch roof slopes and dies into the den roof. Should it be a straight-across porch roof?

I was thinking what bpa said about a door from the family entrance to the outside. Draw a line for the path your kids will take after playing outside to get to the mudroom area or the restroom and I think you'll see what we mean. (Handy if you have a dog, too.) The master closet is very wide. Unless you're planning an island or bench in there, you can steal width from it and put a closet in the den. (Your windows will be affected.)

I like the simplified facade from Lyfia and think your home will look great. You might also like Dutty's (below) - I love the white board and batten paired with the red barn look for the garage.

I should have explained... the art room is just a place for kids to craft.... right now they use our formal dining room as a "craft room" to draw, color, paint, etc... and we wanted a small area off the kitchen for that. We discussed combining that with the laundry room and making an island to make it more useable, and multi-purpose especially when kids grow up and move out.

Hubby and I have tinkered with things we think we want changed and came up with this.

I wanted a hallway on the other side of the kitchen between that and the guest room... for traffic flow and also to display pictures.

I agree with the exterior. I don't love it. I did give him some examples (https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/109875202/thumbs/exterior) of houses we were drawn to, which do have complicated rooflines... but I wanted them simplified a bit.

Suru11: The house I showed him that I loved was in Utah... Midway Farms by Lane Myers. :) We've looked at floorplans (sketches) for 2 years and I finally found a virtual tour and loved that house... but the upstairs wasn't practical for us (they had an apartment upstairs).

I apologize... there are 2 posts on this and I didn't know how to delete one! I am new to Houzz and posted twice... (because I couldn't find my first post and thought I did it wrong... then I couldn't figure out how to delete one of my posts! I feel like an 80 year old using the internet for the first time on Houzz HAHAHA!)

In that rendering above the powder room lacks some privacy especially from the dining area. If anything at least flip it so the vanity and door is next to the laundry and not so you sit at the table and see straight into it.

Following.....

Hello, from another Michigander!

I agree that the laundry is in a very challenging location. Unless you are on a hobby farm, in which case it's in a perfect location. Consider putting a people-sized door on the wall of the garage just to the right of the door from the garage into the house. This is the "filthy children" access point.

REALLY consider another laundry area upstairs. Lose the loft if you need to. Maybe even the double-height foyer (which mostly just amplifies noise).

I agree with CP about the difficulty in getting things in and out of the master suite. That's going to lead to swearing. I'm also not sold on getting into the closet via the bathroom. (Do you have girls? Are they old enough to borrow your clothes?) Consider reworking that whole end of the house. You're also wasting prime real estate (a corner - where you could have 2 windows on adjoining walls) on a closet.

I wouldn't put the powder room where you just moved it to. It's visible from the dining room and also think of the sounds.

We have horses, and will have goats, and also a pool... on 22 acres of woods/trails (kids ride ATV's and are total dirtballs in the summer) so the half bath + laundry in the back was intentional.

Everything was looking decent until I saw your kitchen buried in the middle of the house. Is a no for me.

ackkkk! Bri Bosh. *cry cry cry* Ok... what would you suggest changing to keep a similar feel/flow/openness?

To be honest I don't care about interior kitchens. I've always had windows in my kitchens and I've always had lights on to do any work in the kitchen. In my last house I had 3 windows (corner so windows on 2 sides) in the kitchen and still felt the need for having the lights on when working. Windows are nice for not having to turn on all lights for just going in and getting things, but not for doing any kind of work IMO. If you are fine with the kitchen being dark during the day without lights on then you'll likely be fine. No matter what you'll need good lighting in the kitchen for working there.

Put the kitchen where the laundry is, moved those utility areas to a band from the side door across to the left between kitchen/dining and garage/guest room. If you have windows on two sides of the kitchen, you can see when the drivers in the family pull in, just in time for dinner!

bpathome... I want the kitchen/living/dining all open.. we do all holidays at our house and entertain extended family throughout the year.

If you have 22 acres, you can lengthen the house. Put the dining room between the kitchen and family room. Then all three of those rooms have windows along the backside of the house. Similar to this.....but obviously in the style of your choosing.

Ebner Residence · More Info

Your house is too square, so the middle will always be dark. For a house that size, it needs to be wider and not so deep as @gthigpen suggested.

Or you can bend back the ends to make it L shaped or U shaped/C shaped, with a master bedroom/bathroom wing on one side and/or a mudroom/bathroom/laundry wing on the other side.

Nicole,

Here is a link to the master page. From there you can find the Kitchen Forum, Appliance Forum, Home Decorating Forum, HVAC Forum, even the Plumbing Forum. There is a lot of expertise that you are going to need for this project.

Garden Web Forums

Keep your sense of humor.

A warning about the high ceiling in the family room. It's noisy. My brother's house has that, and when there are big groups gathered for holidays, the noise level is deafening. The sound bounces around up there and amplifies.

Also consider that rooms can be open to each other without being in a straight line. For example, the great room could stick out to the back of the house, and make an L shape with the kitchen in the bend of the L and the formal dining on the other side. With doors from the kitchen and the great room, that would be a wonderful place to put a patio for entertaining.

I took a look at some of the feedback design you and your DH were considering. Let me add to my comments in the other thread that you need to understand the conflict between design and cost. Always ask the architect, is this going to cost more? That question will work to your advantage in every aspect of your build. Ask them if there is a smarter way to accomplish what you want.

Corners equal cost. The more the number of corners the greater the cost. Complex roofs with lots of valleys and dormers are expensive, hard to frame and are invitations to leak. Keep them simple. Use the natural light and design with a thin thought, no more than two rooms deep. Corner rooms are valuable because you can light them from two directions.

Last, get your GC and his HVAC guy into the process early before you finalize anything with the architect.

Nicole, the biggest flaw (dark kitchen, and you will hate it) in your plan can be fixed, but some rework will be needed. Why, with so many acres, you want a house that us somewhat chunky/boxy?

Echo couple others - possibly add a laundry on second floor. Kids = lot of clothes, towels, sheets, going up and down. My last house had kitchen buried in the middle, I got used to it. The upstairs - maybe shift the center bath to a JacknJill between bedrooms 3 &4? That would make the loft area larger and more functional. Small loft at top of stair area seems like in invite to clutter or falling down stairs Walking through master bathroom to get to the clothes closet is a deal breaker in my book. Big pain. The first floor entrances are concerning - messy kids either come in through garage to laundry/family entry or back door, but back door means cutting through kitchen and hallways. Any way to add an exterior entry nearer family entry?

Jerseygirl322:
I feel like I see SO many homes with the interior kitchen. Our current home has similar layout (nook instead of dining room, and wall between kitchen/living room) but big window in nook + living room... and though our kitchen has a small window above the sink, I feel like if the wall was gone between the kitchen/living that there would be plenty of light during the day. Hmm. Though it is something to consider... its always been in my head to have this layout for the kitchen/living/dining.

The loft was not needed nor requested... I think just an extra space left over. Meh.

I agree with the needing a door on the mudroom.... I think that's something we'll need to do. And maybe shift the laundry to interior between pantry and family entry.... so that the laundry is more accessible vs being in the far back corner.

I like it a lot.

the laundry room is too small for this big house. It needs to be a lot bigger.

i would want a side door/exit out of the family entry.

its a darn shame there are no kitchen windows..that the kitchen isn’t better placed.

Windowless bathrooms do not bother me as long as the master bath does.

I don't know how to fix it on your plan but if you want to still have the open concept and not an interior kitchen you need to have the kitchen, dining room, great room all in a row instead of the dining and kitchen on top of each other.

"Art Room" ??!?!??

Obviously doesn't know the artists I know. Could be too small.

@Mark Bischak.... kids art room. For.... slime. Watercolors. Coloring. Painting. Creating crafts etc.

4 kids and watercolor? Not nearly enough room. Do you know how much set-up room it takes to properly watercolor? And what do you plan to do with the finished work? Ask me how I know...

Personally, I would not want the clean up sink on the island where people will be eating. Prep sink on island yes, dish sink no.

I would need to have a second washer and dryer on the second floor. That's a pretty far distance to be lugging laundry around—up/down stairs, through multiple rooms, a maze of hallways, etc.

The master bath is a very nice design. However, I personally don't like closets where you have to go through the bathroom to access it. But, I understand that is a common design these days.

Powder room is in a good location. (Edit: The powder room in the original plan is great. The revised plan is bad. You do not want the guest bath/powder room next to the kitchen and dining room. Terrible location.)

The door to the smaller bath on the second floor is going to be a problem. Have it swing the other way or install a pocket door.

I also agree with others about simplifying the roofline. Farmhouse is all about simple design—this is too complex.

You get extra points for not having a front-facing garage.

I would consider an asymmetrical fireplace as you have no good place for a TV (assuming you want a TV in there). Your master bath seems huge - too big? And the dining room seems too small for a family of six (unless you *never* entertain or have guests over). Your second floor seems very functional but that "loft" is certainly not a loft - only a pass through hallway (which is fine if the kids' bedrooms are the focus of the 2nd floor). I don't dislike the exterior although the attic roof seems quite high/ a bit of wasted space?

Well, that laundry is in the worst possible location--as far away from the bedrooms (and source of dirty clothes) as possible. Best place: 2nd floor, next best: near the MBR.

The Master closet drives me nuts. Why is the ONLY access to it through the toilet? And--why does the closet get a prime location--a front corner space??? At least swap the closet and the bathroom.

I just don't understand having the only access to the master closet through a bathroom.

but if you want to still have the open concept and not an interior kitchen you need to have the kitchen, dining room, great room all in a row instead of the dining and kitchen on top of each other.

Well I guess mine's an anomaly then since mine is open concept and mine is not lined up like ducks in a row. I have a large living room with windows on the north and south side and then I have the kitchen/dining room attached to the living room with windows on the south side of the dining room, and the north and east side of the kitchen. Open, bright and I don't need runway lights in the daytime. In fact on sunny days I don't need any lights.

CP her plan shows that the "main" part of the house is sandwiched between other rooms. As a result it isn't possible for windows on multiple sides? Am I reading the plans incorrectly. She could lengthen her footprint and not change much otherwise and then the great room, dining room, kitchen would all have windows along one side. But how can she manufacture another available side unless she completely changes the plan?

@cpartist I'd love to see your floorplan!

Where are the best views are from your house? That should be taken into consideration too, so that the biggest and most-used windows give you a great view. You'll save money on construction too if you have a less-complicated roof line.

I suspect what happened here is that you gave your architect/draftsman a plan that you wanted tweaked. It's always better to talk about how you want the house to be used, and let him/her arrange the rooms accordingly. That's what they're trained to do.

Our new house has an interior kitchen, and it is fine with me, but keep in mind our main floor is about a 1/3 of the size of yours, about 8 feet away from the windows in the dining room, and on a city lot that is about 0.14 acres with my neighbours about 9-10 ft on either side.

You have a much different space - and a lot more land to work with. The model home shows how many lights you need to keep it bright (on side note, please do not turn your ceilings into Swiss cheese - pot lights have a purpose but at a cost in terms of a less “sealed home” - so use them sparingly for that AND aesthetics.

Also, that laundry room is small for 6 people. And far away from where all the dirty laundry is generated and clean laundry is destined! We had a smaller one for a family of 6 growing up but again...entire house was about 2/3 of your main floor. And while there were more constraints in our case if you are building a house this size I assume you have budget to hire an architect and make a plan that really works for your family and works with - not against land. I am in no way someone who “architect only” (we are not using one - we went with a modified plan from a local “mid-sized” builder) but again with that land and a healthy budget - it is worth it to get an architect involved.

Repost from your other thread. (Don't sweat the duplicates. You can contact houzz support to remove the one, though no big deal.)

Welcome. I've seen worse, but it needs work. I'll be brief as I'm almost off to bed.

Master. bathroom is large, impractical closet at the far end.

Deep plan, kitchen would be dark.

Kitchen is thoroughfare. A passage behind the full height cabinet wall can overcome that. Also gives the guest room a better entrance

Who sits in a row for a family meal?

Laundry and closets on external walls. Laundry far from bedrooms

Back later

@cpartist I'd love to see your floorplan!

[HERE[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/absolute-final-plans-and-elevations-and-build-thread-dsvw-vd~4361032) it is. And if you scroll down to the bottom you can see pics of how it looks now. We just moved in and still have lots to do but it does live well.

Of course I'm not raising a family. It's just DH, myself and the dog so I didn't need a laundry room (having it close to the bedroom was more important at our age). We didn't need a large pantry since we eat out quite often and we didn't need as many bedrooms as you. We all build according to our needs, but my house is a U shaped house on a narrow lot so it works both for us and for our lot. And only the hallway to our bedroom is not bright and light.

CP her plan shows that the "main" part of the house is sandwiched between other rooms. As a result it isn't possible for windows on multiple sides?

She would be better off redesigning the house to better take advantage of light. She's on 22 acres so she has the room to spread out a bit.

If you stretch out the house, as others have suggested, get the family entry to connect to the backyard or side of the house. We are on 11.5 acres and have mudroom between the garage and backyard saves me from sweeping every time kiddos come in. In this plan kids will walk through your kitchen work zone before getting to the family entry.

I like that idea aziline!

aziline - agree! Our mudroom is between our garage and kitchen but it has backyard access (with a dog door) too. I love that it keeps the bulk of the dirt in there vs directly into the kitchen or other room in the house. Probably one of my favorite 'features' of our new house.