We are in the process of building a new home in the country.

Maybe you are planning a new home in the country?

That kitchen will not fit a peninsula, the current design is very cramped.

The jack and jill bath would need to be a walk in shower instead of a tub in this layout, there is not enough space in that separate private room.

Sativa McGee Designs, I was thinking the same thing about the kitchen. The New Sand Mountain House has a different layout for the kitchen. Do you like that one better? I have posted it below.

I was hoping that they could add some additional space into the jack and jill bathroom and give some more room for towel hooks too. Not sure how that would work though. Here are some other jack and jill bathrooms that I saw that I was thinking might work?

PPF, yes we are planning on building a home in the country. I should have added that to the post.

The elevation posted does not match the floor plan.

That kitchen layout is much better. But what is the point of having a door into the laundry from the kitchen? I would frame that in and use the wall space for storage.

Is the front room going to be used as an office or bedroom? If bedroom then i would make it a flat wall in the foyer, having just the door from the hallway. And then use that recessed area between closets for a desk/make up vanity.

Jack and Jill bathrooms are difficult, I personally avoid them if possible. I would rather have a door in the hallway and a standard bathroom layout with tub across back wall. Doing this I would also eliminate the powder bath, because having two half bathrooms is overkill for this size home. I would instead put a homework nook int he hallway where the powder bath is located.

Guests can use the bathroom above the office if you rework it a little to make it a true bathroom.

Mark Bischak, thank you for your input. I'll will definitely be going through your list and see which ones apply to this house plan. And it is a different elevation than the floor plan, but we are hoping to match that elevation to the house plan provided. We haven't decided on the plan for sure, but that would be he plan.

Sativa McGee Designs, thank you again for taking time to respond.

One of the reasons I was thinking of keeping the kitchen open to the laundry was for the purpose of utilizing those hallway cabinets as pantry and turning it into more of a butler's pantry, but could still shut the doors if the washer was going.

And we are definitely planning on using that as a full time room for our kiddos whole time living with us. So I definitely think taking the space out of the foyer is a really really good idea.

I'm taking your comments to heart about the jack and jill and definitely considering it. I'm slightly torn because guests use my kiddos bathroom right now and it's always so messy because they are little and still learning. We are working on it, but I see the value in having that half bath close to where company comes in. And I have a boy and a girl, and was hoping the jack and jill would give them more privacy as they got older.

Thanks again for responding!

You have 2 little kids. And when you put them down to nap or sleep at night, one of them will be in a room with a shared wall with the family room. I see a big problem with that. What are you going to do for the rest of the night? Wear headphones?

I also don't see any wall in the family room for a TV.

Corners are prime real estate in a house, and you have a closet dominating one of them, and without a window. Yuck.

The only--only--access to the closet is through the bathroom that's shared by two people, right past the toilet. Double yuck.

When someone walks into the toilet/bath area of the Jack & Jill bathroom, where are they going to stand while they try to close that door?

Look at the path you have to traverse to get from the bedrooms to the laundry room. Right through the family room diagonally.

Not at all impressed with this layout; looks pretty slapdash to me.

Hi Courtney,

Congratulations on building a home on a great property!

As a designer, mom and someone who lives on over 25 acres, I have a few questions to ask to bring you to the optimal layout for your family.

Where is this home located? Do you have winters? You might prefer an attached garage. Also, what are the ages of your children? Do your kids ever fall asleep in the car? An attached garage leaves you the flexibility of letting them rest in place with the doors open to keep an eye/ear out for them. In ideal temperatures of course!

The mudroom area concerns me a bit on functionality. There are just too many doors into the space. I think that you would prefer a wash sink/laundry tub in the same space as your washer/dryer. What about when the kids wear in muddy boots? It will happen! The garage isn't attached so they can't leave them out there. You now have to walk through the mud to get to the office. This is not ideal.

Where the washer/dryer is located is a pathway to the stairs. Do you want to walk through your laundry room to use the stairs? I realize that there is another entrance to the stairs but both doorways will be used. Do you sort laundry on the floor or have designated carts or bins?

When I work with clients we try to plan out spaces that produce the "least friction" and make living in their spaces functional. Think about how you do things now in your current space, like laundry and imagine working like that in your new home.

Good luck and happy planning!

The outside looks very pretty.

Suggestions for master bedroom: 1) door to closet without going through bathroom (but keep door from bathroom too. 2) toilet in its own separate room 3) put a fireplace in your master bedroom since there’s a fireplace on the other side of the wall - it is SO NICE to have one in the master suite! 4) I personally wouldn’t want a door and window from my master going out to the same patio that is used by my family room for entertainment purposes.

does the house HAVE to have the back facing east? You will be in shadows any time you try to do a dinner party on the beautiful back patio. The back of the house is the focus and should get the best light since you’re in the country and it sounds like you’re on a big piece of property.

I wouldnt like having to walk past the washer/dryer coming into the house through the mudroom - maybe that can be moved further back somehow

if you can incorporate a walk-in pantry or walk-in mudroom closet somewhere, that would be hugely helpful

tatts, thank you for your input. We really aren't big television currently, so I don't see that being a problem in our new house. However, we will likely have a tv in the basement family room if that becomes an issue.

I do see what you are saying about the closet and we are thinking about re-working that back closet or incorporating a window. We still like the plan overall, but these are all really good things to think about. Thank you !

Hi Kat! Thank you so much for all of your thoughts. Especially since you have kiddos and live in the country! I definitely think that I want an attached garage (we live in Idaho) but I can't seem to come up with a plan on how to attach it without taking out a breakfast nook window or impeding the view on the front. My kiddos are starting school soon and I would definitely love to have somewhere to drop all of there items from the garage. And I'm sure muddy boots, clothes and hands will be happening a lot! If we removed some of the doors, do you think that would allow for a better drop zone?

And I think you are right, I really don't want people walking through my laundry room, at all! It tends to be a catch all right now and I really can't see my kiddos or their friends walking through it to go downstairs. That doesn't seem ideal at all.

So much to think about! I'm hoping that we are still picking the right plan, haha! Thanks so much for your help!

Heather,

I really love your ideas about the master bedroom. I really didn't think about my master door going outside right onto the patio where we will have family. We have a small family and liked the idea of being able to go outside from our master (maybe to a hot tub way down the road) but I'm not sure I will like that going right to the common patio. I love the fireplace idea! Our first builder talked us out of it in our current house, but I really wish we would of. Thank you for the reminder!

Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of commonality between the laundry and the mudroom. Lots of discussion on how to separate the laundry from the pantry, mudroom, etc. I really don't have an answer for that one. Definitely difficult.

We are sort of stuck having the back face east. Our lot is more narrow than deep. But our current home faces the same direction and our summer guests usually appreciate that we have lots of shade from the house in the backyard. We have really hot summers but we still get lots of sunlight in from the back of the house in the other seasons.

Thank you so much for all you input. :)

"And it is a different elevation than the floor plan, but we are hoping to match that elevation to the house plan provided"

Have you asked if that is even possible? Have you thought of having an architect draw a house that suits you, your lifestyle and your land rather than buthering a plan service plan in an attempt to make it suit?

Designing and building a house is not like building with Lego; one does not design a floorpan, then select an exterior elevation and put the two together. I'm not an architect, but i know enough about it to know it just doesn't work that way!!!

You really need to hire an architect to design a house for YOU, your needs and your building site. Anything else will be a real muddle.

Milworkman,

Thank you for your insight. We will definitely be working with a professional, but we are just trying to get a gauge of whether a plan such as this one would be workable for our family. Thanks so your comment!

Anglophilia,

I definitely understand the scope of your comment. This isn't our first time building a house and we definitely will be working with a professional. However, our builder does like to have some sort of an idea what we would like the exterior to look like and there is a professional included at all stages to make sure that it will work.

Thank you for your help!

Honestly youdon't take a bologna sandwich to a buffet. Search for a bubble drawing for your layout needs and some inspiration pics for the exterior. Do not arrive with to many preconceived designs in your head as all you will do is make you architects job tougher and you will make yourself crazy.

"Honestly you don't take a bologna sandwich to a buffet. "

Apparently you do if you're the current president. Classless way to treat that football team when he could have paid his hotel across the street to cater it.