functionthenlook - The house location is in Portland, Oregon. So not in a cold climate; I appreciate the comment, I'll look into re-designing the second floor. richfield95 - Thanks for the comment, I'll have the second floor re-designed. cpartist - House will be for myself, I am planning to start a family in the near future. Location is Portland, Oregon; Lot size is 8235sf; I can not cover more than 2650sf, current floor plan coverage is 2645sf. Actual needs - open dining / kitchen / great room area, study / office room, sufficient sized bathroom on main floor; decent sized master bedroom / master bath / closet, sufficient sized bathroom upstairs, sufficient sized laundry, 2 car garage, ability to work from home. I want to make sure the house fits into neighborhood, and most of my neighbors have 3 - 4 bedrooms. jannicone - The great room dimensions are roughly 24.5' by 18.5'; Overall square footage is about 3000sf; For now no kids, but will be starting family in the near future. I will need the ability to work from home. Naf_Naf - I am limited with setbacks on the width of the house, basically cannot increase the depth either because of impervious surface area coverage limit.

Hi Susan! That seems like a really long room- def. a challenge. Do you feel like you can spilt it?... let’s say the sitting area toward the window, and the dining toward the kitchen/bar? If that’s possible, then I sketched out an idea... Swing the sofa to the center as the divider. Either use the sofa you have (it may be too large/wide for now, scoot it to the left side) or find a two cushion love seat. The coffee table in front. The rocker in the corner. Move the charger from the entryway to the right side wall... (that cleans up that entry too). The dining table- if round now- might work in the dining space. Personally I love stools at bar height spaces, and they take up less space visually. The entry area with the sconces and the mirror will be less cluttered... maybe find a low seated storage bench? I didn’t see much in the playroom area- but that beautiful ladder shelf could work in the sitting area, maybe? If not, I’d at least move it away from the window a bit, better spacing. Maybe? ...just some ideas! I’m working on the kids room myself... and a wine bar area... and a library... and a guest room... and an office!! So doing a LOT of idea work too!

What I'd do with the bedrooms /bath: - Bump the bedrooms out just a few feet to match the laundry /bathroom. This will cost fairly little (nothing fancy in these spaces /eliminates a bump-out), but with shared bedrooms, those few extra feet will be welcomed. - Streamline the bathroom by placing the tub and shower on one wall. This will allow you to enlarge the sink, which will give you a good drawer stack on each side ... with this being a shared space, you need plenty of storage. It will also allow you to have a linen tower providing a bit of a pony wall to shelter (but not enclose) the toilet. This layout is a classic for a reason: it's is a pretty ideal design. - Move the washer/dryer to the exterior wall so the dryer can vent directly to the outside ... this is cheaper to build and more fire-safe. This also allows you a good cabinet next to the washer/dryer, which will provide space for waiting loads and folding. - With so much space in the laundry room, you have space to add full-wall closet. In a small house, this storage will be valuable. - In this laundry room closet AND between the foyer and the kids' bedroom, I'd put doors on BOTH SIDES of the closets, so they can be opened from either side. This will give you flexibility ... but the closets can be used from the bedroom OR the hall/laundry room. This makes you future-proof, as the closets can serve the kids' rooms today, other purposes tomorrow after the kids are grown. - Alternately, thinking of the piano, you could build a shallow "indent" for the piano, and on the other side the kids could have a bookshelf or a shallow closet for folded items /shoes. Thoughts about other parts of the house: - You have a closet (presumably for coats) in the family entrance. That's more likely to be used for coats than the foyer closet. - In that family entrance, I'd like to see a door (or a pass-through) between the mudroom and the pantry ... it will shorten your bag-carrying duties. - I'd like to see a cleaning closet somewhere central for brooms, vacuum, extra light bulbs, bulk-purchased paper products, etc. - How do you see the bed situation working out? One kid in the upper twin /another kid in the lower queen? Why a queen? I get that you're planning to use this when you have guests, but a double would allow the kids more floor space in a modest bedroom. - Alternate thought: You could do a set of twin bunks with a trundle underneath. We had a trundle bed (no bunk) like this years ago ... the trundle can "pop up" to meet the bottom bunk /creating a king-sized bed ... but a king-sized bed that can be put away, allowing the kids more floor space. Something like this: - If you are a tall family and are having this bunk bed built in, consider going with extra-long twins. The cost will be nominal at the time, but you'll be future-proofed as your kids grow. - I like that the kids have a shelf and a built-in light by the bed ... but I'd want to see a light for the person on the other side of the queen bed as well. - Note that those bunk stairs are going to eat up a lot of floor space. A ladder is much more space-conscious, though also harder to climb. - Note that the kid in the upper bed is going to enter from the foot /not the more common side of the bed. This is going to make entering/leaving the bed more difficult. Same thing for making the bed. - How high are your ceilings? If these bunks will be for teens one day, you don't want them bumping their heads. - A one-bath house? I'd want to see a half-bath somewhere else in the house ... one toilet for four people may be a stretch. I see you've included a tub ... consider that with only one bathroom, a tub-soaker is keeping the rest of the family away from the toilet. Perhaps work in a half-bath over by the family entrance?

I agree with you lofts are really not great functional spaces for much. Every child is sooo different and your guy being the first may not learn some challenging behaviors that could make this space a struggle. We would have hinged child safety gates at the top of the stairs and plexi glass in front of the stiles on the railing that looks over the space below. "Falling" toys would be very annoying. A love seat with it's back to all the doors would visually separate the play area. Add a bug comfy chair and you have a seating area. A large area rug for less echoing as well as carpet play would help define the space. Some would choose one of those graphic city scapes that a child would play cars on. Cubbies across the wall with the windows with baskets or plastic bins would give you tons of storage. Skinny book shelves between the windows would enable some toys/books to be stored out of reach. A good thing for certain types of art supplies . After that it's about how he plays. What toys does he have will he want. It doesn't have to be super organized or styled looking.