Check out Summit Studio Architects. His comments in these forums are spot on (except for that closet accessible from the bathroom thing). Even if you want your walk-in closet accessible from your bathroom, I am sure he would be able to design it to greatly reduce or eliminate any problem with it. Tell him Mark sent you.

Did a licensed architect draw up your house plans? If you did not (even if you did) the architect you are seeking may have some suggestions.

About the only thing Mark and I disagree on is the bathroom and closet thing. But then again our humidity is just a little higher than Death Valley.

Sounds like an interesting project. I'd love to see what you have so far. Probably best not to post it here. It can get pretty brutal. :)

You can contact me privately patrick@summitstudioarchitects.com.

Summit, We are about 90 miles north of you and agree with you on the bathroom closet thing. We love our closet off the bathroom. Super convenient and fits our lifestyle.

That's what I have in my house. I like that either one of us can get ready for the day without disturbing the other. But, I realize everyone is different, so I have a long conversation with clients about their preferences for closets and a thousand other things.

Today's humidity where I live in Michigan was 82%.

40% humidity this morning because it's cool. Later when the temp hits 89 it will be 14%. We just don't get moldy closets.

We had a licensed architect draw up our plans. We also already have our engineering stamp and JSTD for our heating/cooling. So we are ready to build as soon as we want. I don't have a problem posting the plans on here. They are already set. Thank you for recommending Summit Studio's, I will be calling them here shortly.

So, you’re looking for an Interor Designer, to help you with the wall colors, finishe selections, and furnishings? That’s a whole different playground than an architect.

An architect will help with the bones of the house, and that does encompass materials choices for the permastructure like windows and stone. The architectural elements that need to work with the character of the home design to give it a harmonious style as a whole should be planned by the architect.

If hou hired an architect, and didn’t get help with the windows and other architectural materials, then your best bet would be to continue with the gal you already brought to the dance and don’t try to leave the party with a different one. You’re not done with the date yet. Unless you were working with a draftsman, just transcribing a self design?

If all you need is a designer to pick colors and finishes, Houzz is littered with many promo sites like this one. Perhaps the best place to start is with your architect. Maybe a good referral source for a designer with your rustic vibe?

As far as your plan goes, I am baffled by the reasoning behind a w/d in a master closet. There's got to be a good reason to put an enclosed warm/humid feature in a closet.

I also don't get the dog washing station in a coat closet. That's not just wet and messy, but also slightly smelly. Is it possible that there won't, actually, be anything in the closet?

We are doing a dog washing station in our house as well!

I do a lot of work in a resort area where I make houses out of cottages. The plan you show would make a good cabin (not that I like it) but a crappy house. I have a feeling the architect you chose will have some suggestions to improve the design with some sizable changes.

I do not think I have ever seen construction drawings that show interior walls 4 1/2" thick and exterior walls 6" thick.

"I understand that you may not get this, but people with dogs that get dirty will get it right away."

I have and had dogs and I do not get it.

"The only mess we will worry about is entry and the closet area."

That's the concern, and a very important concern.

Hi Joe, I think what folks are saying is maybe consider an outside entrance directly to the dog wash and add a bit more separation (pocket door? exhaust fan in the wash area?) so that the dogs can be clean before they go past the coats and so that whatever is washed off does not leave odor or damp on the coats.

Good luck!

Joe, I'm a dog owner as well as somebody who grew up I the country with family dogs. I get that they get dirty/smelly.

What I truly don't get is- if they come in dirty and smelly, why would you put them in an area with human coverings, like coats? Why have coats that absorb all those odors?

2x6's are 1 1/2" x 5 1/2". 2x4's are 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". Whoever drafted this plan is leaving it up to the carpenter or carpenter's assistant or whoever shows up for work, where all those 1/2"s go. I may not make a difference, it might make a big difference.

The sink area in the master bedroom does not allow much counter space for toiletries or proper placement of mirrors.

The free standing tub may be difficult to clean behind.

There is limited circulation space in the master bathroom for the number of fixtures in the space.

A clothes washing machine in a walk-in closet is a real bad idea in reality no matter how good an idea it is in theory.

A 1 1/2" thick wall to support shelves and clothes hanging in the master closet is questionable.

Why have double entry doors leading into a relatively small foyer?

Ask Summit about the use of folding exterior doors in your area.

A watercloset in a small space is called a gas chamber.

The kitchen layout is terrible.

There is more but my break is over and I must get back to my projects.

The folding doors can work if there is enough cover or they fold into the rooms. However; once you find out what they cost they'll probably turn into windows or a more traditional sliding door.

Your architect likely knows some interior designers that would be a good fit. Depending on where the project is, I may be able to give you a recommendation.

following ...

The quote I got from NanaWall was $14,549, before installation.

Summit, I will be contacting you directly to talk to you later next week to talk.

"2x6's are 1 1/2" x 5 1/2". 2x4's are 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". Whoever drafted this plan is leaving it up to the carpenter or carpenter's assistant or whoever shows up for work, where all those 1/2"s go. I may not make a difference, it might make a big difference."

That's the first thing I noticed too. Ever since I've been in the business (45 years) we've always kept in mind "think like you're a carpenter" so therefore dimensioned to the face of the stud. And to the edge of the floor framing for stair openings. The carpenter doesn't care about the drywall thickness nor should he have to. And for all those 3 1/2" dimensions in the interior, we didn't note those as any un noted dimensions are assumed to be 3 1/2".

I agree with the location of the dog shower being suboptimal. It's in the front of the house and near the clothes / coats. Where will you store the shampoo and the towles required to dry them off? What about the hair that gets produced in the washing and rub down process - how much of that ends up on the clothes? and the humidity - you need a fan in there. It's way more normal to have a functional laundry room with a sink/ shower, etc. You will now be carrying dirty / hairy dog towels through the foyer kitchen, master bedroom and bathroom to get to the washer. (honestly at this point it might be cleaner to bring the dogs into your master shower! I do that sometimes!)

I totally get wanting to have a dog shower (have one) I totally don't get having it where it is and so far away from where the accompanying items need to go / end up.

I would also rethink the master sinks. No space that is usable for any kind of normal bathroom grooming. And dead space behind them. Depending on how deep that is, finding counter material could be challenging as well!

I don't have an issue with your master shower - mine will be 7x5. I do think you should have 2 shower heads in that space.

Make sure you work with the bank (assuming you are getting a construction loan) on a 2 bedroom house. Not sure about your area, but they are hard to finance here, and I expect would be even harder with a self build. Trying to do a self build with a bank is tricky - make sure you have that nailed down. If you are paying 100% out of pocket - then never mind! (and good for you!)

You need a interior designer for this if you are this far along with the plans - you should be able to find someone who simply works by the hour.

I understand why you want a dog washing area and why you want your washer/dryer in close proximity to your master closet. I just think you can do much better than this plan. Last summer I saw quite a few model homes that had two entrances to the master closet. One from the master bath and one into the laundry area with the washer/dryer on the opposite wall as the closet. The laundry was in a separate room but only two steps away or four steps away across a hall. I'd consider dog wash area in your walk out basement. Check the find a PRO section on this site for a designer. I hope Summit can help you out. Good luck.

Love the idea of the dog shower in the unfinished basement. When my dog gets a bath, it's doggy mania for about 15 minutes afterwards. It would be awesome for her to be able to do her figure eights in a bomb proof space.

In addition to the comments already made I think the guest bath / closet could be better - instead of the current layout, make the bathroom a linear one so it extends to the exterior wall (and therefore can have at least 1 window) and make the closet a reach-in (attached pic to illustrate this).

Also, not to pile on about the dog shower/closet - but I've never been able to stop my dog from doing a big ol' whole body shake post-bath - and I just cannot imagine having him do that in a small space with all of our outerwear.

Question: where is the outdoor fireplace? Is it the element outside, near the master bedroom? If so, how do you envision arranging furniture around it? It feels squished into that corner

If after you work with Summit, you are looking for an interior designer to help with colors, finishes, etc, I highly recommend Kate at Kimball Modern (on Houzz, but also kimballmodern.com). She works in all sorts of styles- though her website features modern homes and designs, she is working with us on a craftsman home with a traditional, almost French country kitchen, so she is flexible. Highly, highly recommend her.

Thank you to everyone who has offered their input. I believe this has gotten off topic and have deleted my plans. I should have listen to Patrick from Summit about posting them, at least in this question.

I would like to get back to the topic on hand and that would be rustic designers in the Denver Metro area.

Thank you to Mark and ddgdl for your recommendations on designers.

Asking again- on topic- have you asked your architect for recommendations?

Hi Laurie,

I have not, but will be sending him an email later today.

Here’s your “rustic designer”.

You probably mean “a designer who can work in a rustic style”. And, they can’t fix bad bones created by a drafter.

You have to have good bone structure to begin with to end up with a good result.

Makeup can only do so much.

Sophie, I get it, you don't like it. Please move on. You are boarding on trolling now.