Feedback Request for Cottage Plans
Janice B
5 years ago
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Comments (33)
Janice B
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Request for plan feedback (again) :)
Comments (23)I love your mudroom area. I like how the cubbies are recessed just a bit, love the back door to the porch, the command center, the powder room location and the fact that you have a straight shot to get to the basement from the garage area. The mudroom is well designed -- maybe the best feature of the house -- but I have two comments: - You have a dog shower ... it looks a bit cramped to use in that corner crushed up against the door ... what if it were switched with the closet? You'd have some elbow-room. Also, where are you going to store dog-washing items (shampoo, towels)? A shelf above the dog wash? A shelf in the adjacent closet? Will your dogs obediently enter the mudroom and allow themselves to be placed in the tub ... or, like my dog, will they do anything and everything to avoid the most hated place in the house? If they're like my dog, I'd consider a "sliding gate" or half-door that could scoot out at the end of the closet /block off this small area /confine the dogs to the washing area until you're ready to allow them back in the whole house. - You have a "command center" desk in the mudroom ... and only steps away a pocket office with two desks. How do you plan to use these spaces? A person seated at the "command center" will block access to the house. With cubbies in the mudroom and an office only steps away, I think I'd do away with the "command center" ... and open a door between the pantry /mudroom. This would allow you to enter the pantry with groceries without going through the kitchen. Something like this: - Now you can enter the pantry from the mudroom, and you have more pantry space than you had ... the dotted line is a dog gate that could slide out when needed, creating a dog corral when needed. I switched the closet and the dog wash ... and I'd take the door off the closet ... after all, a mudroom IS a closet, so you really have a closet within a closet. The bathroom seems a bit cramped, like there just isn't quite enough room for all that is in there. I think the problem is that you have three doors crashing together at the entrance. The rest of the bathroom looks modest but workable. The angled shower is a hint that you don't have quite enough room in this bathroom. I'd push the bathroom forward to meet the edge of the closet, a plan that would give you 3-4 more feet, allowing you to move the linen closet in line with the vanity and giving you some "elbow room" in the whole bathroom. I like the W/D in the closet, might want them on the north wall for venting. Yes, definitely. Common sense suggestion. A dryer that can vent directly to the outside is cheaper and safer. Incidentally, I'd love to have a washer/dryer IN my closet, and I'd deal with any dust. The whole design looks disjointed. The arrangements of the rooms have little rhyme or reason to them and it appears the front elevation was determined without consideration for the second floor layout. Yeah, it does lack elegance. It looks a bit ... forced? If that makes sense. The sight lines aren't lovely; rather, while walking down too many halls, you'll see the corner of something. I feel any closet layout where the hanging clothes turn a corner is a poor layout. Illustrated below, if you were trying to get you favorite shirt it would be difficult to get at much less find. I agree that corners in closets don't make much sense ... but -- pointing out the obvious -- your favorite shirt would be in the front of the closet because it's worn /washed more often. What'd end up pushed to the back, invisible and unreachable would be that shirt that doesn't really suit you, yet you can't bear to get rid of it because it was expensive ... and the dress you wore on your first date with your husband, which you love but can't fit into any longer ... and a few other things that really should go to the GoodWill ... and if these things are pushed to the back, you don't see them and don't consider donating them. Kalenangel, we will have a mail center there, but we hope it will just be the day's mail. The mail should be moved into the den to be filed. A two-step process for one of the biggest clutter-creators in your house? I'd think this one through a bit more. It's hard enough to get family on board with mail and paper clutter without expecting today's mail to be in one place, then be moved to another place. The more simple your system, the more likely it is to be followed. toilet that could be like my inspiration picture attached (private, but not enclosed) I like this illustration very much. In fact, I have that very picture saved in my "inspiration for upstairs bathroom" file. I don't think mine'll look quite as nice as this one because I won't have windows on two sides. A craftsman house has exposed rafter tails. It does not have the roof eave returns like your draftsman shows. It's shape is low to the ground feeling. Your house is top heavy with that roof. A craftsman house would never be all roof and no house and the roof pitch would be lower. For example, my house which could be considered a craftsman with some prairie roots in it has a roof pitch of 5/12. Yeah, this house sports one small nod to Craftsman style, and that's the pillars by the front door. Being overwhelmed with the oversized, ungainly roofline, I missed them in my first look. Final thoughts: It might be possible to design a worse bathroom than that connected to Upstairs Bedroom #3, but I think you'd have to work pretty hard at it. The two doors are too close for comfort, and the walk-in closet forces the space into a tight little pigpath that will feel cramped. If you go with a reach-in, you have just as much closet space, and you have space for a simple bath layout. The door can open inward, which just works better. The shower looks more narrow, but it's actually the same width it was ... just longer. The vanity is a bit smaller, but you're able to put all the water in one wall, which is a money-saver. I'd be tempted to go with a pedestal sink to give visual space ... and include a nice, deep medicine cabinet and a glass shelf to hold all your sink-area needs. This is quite a luxurious space for one child alone. I don't care for the desk on the landing upstairs. First, the area isn't 'specially wide, so a person sitting in that desk will block anyone else from walking through the area. Second, as the mother of two young adults, I think it's vitally important that you're able to monitor young kids' computer usage ... and you won't have a clue what they're doing so far up above you. Finally, it'll have no acoustical privacy ... so a kid trying to do homework in this area will hear the TV from the great room and the conversation in the kitchen. I'd make this a great built-in area for the kids' stuff: Cabinets on the bottom, bookshelves up above....See MoreUpdated Cottage Floor Plan - Feedback Welcome
Comments (8)Thanks cpartist... yes plan was kids would use the guest bathroom. It’s really not much further than the one they use at our current house so I didn’t think it was a big deal. We’ve never had double sinks in a master... I can see the appeal but on the other hand I kind of feel like I have enough to clean already! It is a cottage so 3 bathrooms on the main floor seemed like overkill. Eventually when the kids are older they will mostly sleep downstairs and there will be a bathroom right there for them as well....See MoreFloor Plan Feedback (Center Hall Cottage Remodel)
Comments (41)homechef59 - Yes the idea of adding the second story has been run by a professional who came out to check the load bearing walls etc. Every piece of molding has been painstakingly removed so it can be striped of 10 layers of paint and used again once walls go back up. The house is lovely but it isn't quite worth blowing out the entire structure and reprogramming the space. If I were to do that I would certainly do things differently but as it is I'm attempting to move as few walls as possible. All of the fireplaces are staying just as they are. cpartist - I hadn't considered bumping out the wall in her room. That could definitely work. I'll measure out once I'm back at the. In your revised plan you moved the MB door closer to the opening of the front door and I'm really trying to avoid it unless I can shield it from the front door in some way. In the MB/Bath there is a double sided fireplace where you suggest putting the wall of closets. The wall of closets could work for her space so I'll ask her what she thinks about it. Thank you! I'm actually trying to be fairly kind to the current structure of the house by not gutting the whole thing which has been suggested by numerous professionals who've come to give me bids etc. Aso, not every house is worth the large investment of a total gut which I don't think is supported by comps. tartanmeup - Definitely going to attempt to come of with a less congested space plan for the back area. I think cpartist's approach of moving that wall would work as well as shopping37's approach of closing off the mudroom. I'll make a few revisions and post those ideas. decoenthusiaste - Lots of info to consider. You read the workstation correctly. There's a large monitor at my desk along with speakers/monitors but thankfully it is temporary. Having a window directly behind my monitor is functional for what I do for a living but it will be eventually moved elsewhere. Still trying to land on the best arrangement for the back area of the house. I hope not to die there! LOL I just don't plan on ever selling it. I REALLY appreciate you all challenging my ideas. It creates internal tension but the resulting thoughts/questions are helpful and I posted here for just that sort of "gut-check". I consider this homework but I promise you I'm going to hire someone who does this for a living and take their recommendations seriously....See MoreHouse Plan feedback request
Comments (28)Office is small but it is the size I want/same as my current home (I work from home in an IT job using laptop only). With everything going digital, unless you have special needs -- like lots of materials or the need to see clients -- an office this size is going to work fine for you. With windows on both sides, it'll be a nice room. A couple things I'd do to the office: - Reverse the office door swing. Or, if you think you'll keep the door open most of the time, consider a pocket door. Yes, the door will conflict with the closet door, but that was happening anyway. - Don't skimp on electrical outlets on both exterior walls -- either one could be your desk-wall. I disagree that most people hate clustered bedrooms. Yeah, clustered bedrooms vs. split bedrooms aren't good or bad -- it's just opinion. What matters more is how the bedrooms are arranged /what that placement does to the rest of the house; for example, split bedrooms often push the living spaces to the middle of the house, depriving them of light. That's not happening in this house -- it's just an example. What's not opinion is that the hallway leading to your bedrooms is going to belong, dark and rather uninviting. Consider, too, bringing large bedroom furniture down that hallway /past the 90 degree turn. I can't see the dimensions for the bedrooms, but why is the master bedroom so large? You could literally put another bed at the foot of the bed you're showing. What I'd like to see added to the master bedroom is an exterior door; the master (and all the bedrooms) are a long way from any exterior door, and an exterior door would be good for fire-safety. I don't love the master bath. The second sink squeezed between the shower and the toilet closet is tiny -- you won't have any space for drawer storage at that sink, which is going to be uncomfortable. The bathroom will also be rather dark. Note that once you're standing in the toilet-closet, you won't be able to close the inswing door (without squeezing between the toilet and the wall). Where will you hang towels near the shower? I would want a closet near the front door, too. How would you use a coat closet? Guests never really put coats into closets -- but family members need closets to store coats, and I personally would rather have that in the mudroom area. What I'd also like to see is a cleaning closet, which would hold the vacuum, extra light bulbs, bulk-purchased paper products, etc. Your mud room is huge. Yes, and -- like the master bedroom -- it looks like walk-through space. Not functional. What are the dimensions of the half bath? It looks rather cramped. A window would make this bathroom much more pleasant. We have two kids, and a hall bath with two sinks. They never, ever use the sink nearest the door, it just gets dusty. What they really could have used was one sink but more counterspace and storage drawers below. And they are boys! Yes, storage at the vanity always trumps a duplicate sink....See MoreJanice B
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