I'm not an expert by any means but I don't see anywhere else the stairs to go. That seems to be the only logical place for stairs. As for s/f, most of your s/f is in the basement. Most of the basement is bedrooms. I don't see anywhere where you can shave off 200sf. Have you talked to drafts person about this?

Thanks for the feedback. I don't see much either...oh and there is no basement. The left side is the upper level and the right side is the lower level. It will be slab with the first floor having a finished concrete floor. I've thought maybe I could do just one tall staircase against the wall but then it would completely change the upstairs layout :(

Maybe you could switch the side of the stairs going up. Switch the entry of the stairs with the closet. That way your front door won't swing right into the stairs. Also, you might be able to put an open railing between the stairs and the living room to give a more open feeling. I don't think this would affect the upstairs too much.

Where is the architect? Who will tell you no, you can not just go "straight up" without a longer length to the stair. There are a function of elevation. Not a good look in any scenario.

I suggest that you google 'Foursquare floor plans' for different layout ideas.

Couple of comments re existing floor plan.

One, you're losing a lot of floor space on the first floor to hallway/ corridor. Look for plans that keep halls to a minimum.

Second, the location of the first floor bathroom is really inconvenient.

And a question--How many bedrooms do you need?

(Personally, I would prefer the study on the lower level accessible to all family members rather than being tucked away as an adjunct to the master bedroom.)

Given the layout you can't realistically move the stairs without some fairly significant impact to the rest of the house.

But, you can modify the stair itself. it looks like you have enough room to add 3-5 risers in the stair landing. This means you can then remove 3-5 risers below, making your stairs a little smaller and your entry a little bigger.

You could also mirror the stair, as suggested above.

The stairs are in a common location for a design of this type. The stairs are a standard switchback design which is also commonly used.

You cannot relocate or reconfigure the stairs without substantial and significant changes to the floor plans on both levels.

It will be very had to shave 200 SF out of this design and still have it workable, with the number of rooms which are currently included. For example, your laundry is already too tight and small; the half-bath is probably not workable, and who wants to walk past the HVAC and WH to reach the toilet or lavatory? And your front porch is so narrow as to be unusable.

If this existing design isn't workable or affordable, perhaps you need to look at another design?

Your half bath is through the laundry room? Meaning guests have to walk past the laundry and hot water heater to use the bathroom?

And your front porch is so narrow as to be unusable.

To understand the scale. Your washer/dryer next to one another is a minimum of 54" as most washer/dryer's are 27" each. That's less than 5' deep.

Your porch is narrower than your washer/dryer width!

For example, your laundry is already too tight and small

Agreed. How will you work in a room that is only 5' wide? Where will you put the laundry?

And I hate to pile on, but the upstairs bedroom doesn't have access to a bathroom aside from the master bath.

SO I guess I need to add more context to the house to make it make a little more sense. The "front" of the house is actually the back. There is nothing to view in the "front" of the home but banana orchard. The home is being built on our farm which has an incredible ocean view that will be highlighted from the "back" of the house which will feel more like the front. The lanai off the upstairs and downstairs will take in the view. We run a B&B out of our current home and will continue this business in the new house. This is why I really liked having the two bedrooms and guest bath on its own hallway. Guests have their own "wing" of our home now and it works out nicely. The upstairs extra bedroom will be used as my husband's office and the office inside the master will be mine. Our property is a working farm so the tiny half bath through the laundry room is so you can take off dirty stinky farm clothes, shower off, and grab new clothes. We don't really have HVAC and the water heater will be tankless mounted on the outside of the home. I've been working on designing the home myself and dropped it off with a designer who will put some finishing touches and send it off to the architect. I do like the suggestion of mirroring the stairs! Thank you!

Your comments still don't account for the too small porch or the too narrow laundry room.

And honestly? I would never use a B and B where I had to share a bathroom with someone I don't know.

And honestly? I would never use a B and B where I had to share a bathroom with someone I don't know.

I might, but I'd be uncomfortable that the door is RIGHT at their bedroom door. Is here a way to put the bathroom AND closets between the two bedrooms?

also, I know that when one uses our master bath, you can hear it in the guest room below. Ugh. Maybe you can swap the master bath and master closet? Bonus: if you ever need to use that front office as a bedroom, the bathroom is closer and you can just move the door further into th master bedroom if need be.

Thank you for your input champcamp! I think I am going to mirror them though, so I will keep the double doors. I was going to change the double doors to a single opening to the right but the airflow and view with the double doors is great :)

cpartist you wouldn't be sharing with someone you don't know. Both rooms are booked together. But, we aren't discussing my business model here just feedback on the stairs and possibly removing 200sq.ft. My laundry room is currently that size and we really like it. You're thinking much too conventional build, the front doesn't have a porch the overhang along the "front" of the house will be 3ft. Yes, narrow but there isn't anything to see out the "front" of the house (which is actually more like the back) so there won't be any rocking chair front porch sittin' it will all take place on the "back" lanai.

What is your reason for removing 200 sq ft? What exactly is it that you don't like about the stairs?

Thanks Alison. We're in Hawaii so no need for coats ;) we will do a pocket door so guests can close off the hallway if they want. Lyndee Lee, there is an external door as well as internal one so you can come in from the pasture, take off your clothes in the laundry room and go take a shower. We have friends with a coffee farm that have this set-up that it is modeled after. My reasoning for removing 200sq.ft. is because the upstairs just feels so huge- I might forgo the extra "bedroom" upstairs and make it a storage area since we won't have a basement or an attic.

Changes:

Stairs flipped. Bedroom and bathroom on second floor flipped.

True, the 200 sq. ft. really won't save that much. We have a detached garage and sheds for storing things like beach chairs and floaties. We're about 20 minutes to the beach (but only 2 minutes to a waterfall with a swimming hole!) I really like the flipped stairs! Thank you palimpsest!

That's so funny..."flipping" the stairs, to me, meant "flipping" them to some other location in the plan, not simply reversing the run...

So interesting to see the language and terms used here, and try to interpret the meaning...

Good luck on your project.