I avoid:

Angled walls.

Designs that do not relate to the site.

Looking through a screened porch from a family room to any view.

Jack & Jill bathrooms.

Closets where hanging clothes turn corners.

Windowless walk-in closets.

Corner bedrooms with only one window.

No coat closet at exterior entrances.

Hallways less than four feet wide.

Stairs less than 3'-6" wide.

Tiny powder room.

Door swings that impede into laundry room work space.

Closets that are only directly accessible through a bathroom from a bedroom.

Gas chambers without a window.

Gas chambers where door swings take up all the open floor space.

Freestanding tubs that do not have sufficient space to clean around.

Doors that swing in front of other doors.

Different ceilings in an open space that do not transition well.

Insufficient space beside a door for the light switch.

Pretentious double doors into a master bedroom.

Clothes closets with door openings much smaller that the closet width.

Bedrooms with poor bed placement.

Cramped bathrooms.

to name a few.

Is it too late to build your own dream instead of someone else's?

I never build anything I can't pronounce...!

cot·tage /ˈkädij/

: )

Aside from all *that*...every living space is cramped. There are a lot of 'em, but they're all too small.

Love it when an *attic* is called a 'bonus room'.

What about this house do you love?

Have you actually broken ground yet?

The house is very cute on the outside, but I have to agree with Mark about the floorplan.

Wow! You guys a brutal! But I did ask for advice, so thanks. We did break ground; we're digging the basement at the moment. We did make some modifications so to your laundry list Mark:

Angled walls- I thought this gave it the character I liked? Hmmph.

Designs that do not relate to the site- I think it relates very nicely to our site and we had our builder confirm this before we picked the plan.

Looking through a screened porch from a family room to any view- there's no screen porch anywhere in that plan. Some things we changed in the family room: fireplace is not between dining/family it will be on the outside wall (adjacent to porch) flanked by two windows. The door to the outside will be from the nook in the kitchen because I don't like walking from outside directly into the living space. We eliminated the door to the porch from bedroom 3 and made that a solid wall because I didn't like looking into/out of the bedroom to the porch (maybe that's what you meant?

Jack & Jill bathrooms- I specifically looked for house plans that had these. I happen to like them.

Closets where hanging clothes turn corners- fine.

Windowless walk-in closets- wouldn't windows take up precious clothes hanging space?

Corner bedrooms with only one window- Agreed. we added windows to bedroom #3 (across from where that sliding door was). and doubled the size of the windows on the first bedroom (double window instead of single and taller)

No coat closet at exterior entrances- your opinion, I'm fine without them.

Hallways less than four feet wide- clearly you're an architect. i didn't realize this was an issue?

Stairs less than 3'-6" wide- see above.

Tiny powder room- now you're just being picky.

Door swings that impede into laundry room work space- you got me here. I was picturing swinging "saloon style" doors but prettier? I'm picturing me with a laundry basket on one hip and a kid on the other. I have no hands left to open the door. Suggestion?

Closets that are only directly accessible through a bathroom from a bedroom- This works well for my husband and I. I get up at 4 am Monday-Friday, he gets up at 7 am. I like walking into the bathroom/closets and being able to exit the closet --> laundry room without waking him up. Apparently I'm quite noisy in the mornings.

Gas chambers without a window- please explain what a gas chamber is. If this is a bathroom, the only bathroom without a window is the powder room?

Gas chambers where door swings take up all the open floor space- again I'm confused.

Freestanding tubs that do not have sufficient space to clean around- Tub will be angled in the corner. Idk if that makes it better or worse for cleaning, but I like the look better.

Doors that swing in front of other doors- you mean the shower door swinging in front of the walk in closet door?

Different ceilings in an open space that do not transition well- i think eliminating the fireplace right in the middle of the room will help with this? How do they transition poorly?

Insufficient space beside a door for the light switch- where?

Pretentious double doors into a master bedroom-i thought they were pretty. I think this list is a bit pretentious : P

Clothes closets with door openings much smaller than the closet width- pish posh. Wouldn't those big doors just look pretentious? I kid.

Bedrooms with poor bed placement- you don't know where I'm placing my beds.

Cramped bathrooms- i thought they were "nice sized". also i have a budget?

to name a few.

Is it too late to build your own dream instead of someone else's? Yes and you didn't change my mind. Gave me a few things to discuss with my contractor though, so thank you.

I would love to see some of your plans. Not being a smart *ss, you do clearly know what you're talking about. But I wonder- do your homeowners build the house they want? or the house you tell them they want? Anyways, thanks for the food for thought!

cpartist: This house has everything I was looking for. I wanted a house that is not "cookie cutter housing plan" style. I need an office, I wanted the open floor plan, master on opposite side as other bedrooms. I wanted one separate bedroom with a bath to be used as an in-law suite and I wanted the other two to have a jack and jill bathroom. I also like the outdoor space options: front porch, back patio and our basement will be finished with a walk-out to another patio. 5 year plan is to put a pool out that way so that'll be convenient. I also wanted the "cottage" style. The house is in the middle of 80 acres of woods and I think it'll work well in our location. I'm sure we could all pick apart lots of plans, but I'm happy with this one.

Well, so much for comments and advice.

Another thread where the OP wanted confirmation.

Good luck on your project.

Angled walls- I thought this gave it the character I liked? Hmmph.

Sorry no. It shows that the "designer" was trying to impress because they didn't have the real skills to do something well.

Designs that do not relate to the site- I think it relates very nicely to our site and we had our builder confirm this before we picked the plan.

Yes because builders have design degrees and know good design when they see it. (That's sarcasm.)

Gas chambers where door swings take up all the open floor space- again I'm confused.

That's the toilet closet.

Clothes closets with door openings much smaller than the closet width- pish posh. Wouldn't those big doors just look pretentious? I kid.

Not when you lose 1' or more on either side of the door. How do you plan to get into the spaces inside on either side of the door in the reach in closets? That's basically dead space.

Bedrooms with poor bed placement- you don't know where I'm placing my beds.

Actually in the other bedrooms you're limited to where they can be placed based on the windows, etc, so yes, it's poor placement.

But I wonder- do your homeowners build the house they want? or the house you tell them they want?

Why don't you ask Holly Stockley on this site since she's using Mark as her architect.

I'll add that I don't like houses without an organizing "spine" that leads you from one room to another. I've been in enough houses like what you're building that you wind up guessing where to find certain rooms because the flow isn't there.

I also don't like fat roofs because I can see problems down the line with leaks, etc.

And I hate kitchens that are interior and dark. I know that one because my condo kitchen was only 11' away from floor to ceiling windows and it was still dark because it had no windows of its own.

Another thread where the OP wanted confirmation.

Yep. Hope it's all you imagined.

Virgil, cpartist, thanks for the replies and suggestions.

I appreciate your expertise but am not sure why the fact that I “wanted confirmation” is so off putting. I think in my original post I specifically was asking if anyone else had previously built this plan. Not if I should change my entire plan. Perhaps I came to the wrong site for that.

Holly, I did slog through quite a bit of your post but will spend some more time later this week. Your house looks like it will be perfect for your family. I love that you were able to get a custom designed house with the expert help of an architect while keeping the artistic elements you wanted with the Swedish detail. Can’t wait to see the finished product!

I appreciate your expertise but am not sure why the fact that I “wanted confirmation” is so off putting.

Maybe because we see so much that could have been better but would have still addressed your needs and wants.

I know my house is almost perfect for DH and myself. The imperfections were more the result of my draftsman and/or builder screwing up. Yes I used a draftsman but have a design background, and had lots of help from the gurus here as well as the architects on this forum. Having said that, if I had to do it again, I would have hired an architect instead of believing my builder when he said he had a designer.

My saga is on this forum.

Thanks for clarifying. I do regret not coming to this site earlier because it’s obvious you guys on here have helped a lot of people and I’m sure could have made some major improvements on my project. Either way, I’m still excited with my future home and I’m sure I’ll be back with questions along the way.

Agree dumping the French doors into the bedroom and bath are trouble. Where do the light switches go when you walk in to the bedroom?

You will be even more excited about your future home that is designed by a local architect that meets your needs and designed for your site. Dump this someone else's dream and build your own.

Doc5md there are light switches to the left of the master bedroom door. I agree the double doors to the bathroom are trouble- we have that as a single door in our plan.

We are looking at starting this plan in TN would love your input since by now you should be done. Read comments above, tough crowd

Not really a tough crowd, but a crowd which understands and appreciates good design when it come to single family homes.

Do you want us to be easy when we are dealing with your life and your money?

We are done! And despite what others may have predicted, we love our home! Feel free to send me a private message.

DONE?!?!?? Where's all the follow-up discussions about the foundation concrete being the wrong color? Or the paint smells? Or the ceramic tile floor is too hard?

Congratulations on the new home and I hope the love lasts forever.

Hah! Believe it or not it was a relatively drama free experience and in the process we added a new baby girl to our home! Thanks for the well wishes!!