Designing a single floor at a time is a major danger signal. Whomever you are working with should know that architectural design is an iterative and comprehensive process where all floors, exterior and roof are all explored, studied and refined together.

When you encounter someone who only works "a floor at a time" it's a signal to run away as fast as possible and find someone who really knows how to design custom homes.

That's usually an experienced and talented architect.

Thanks for the advice! But we're ok and very comfortable with what we are doing and who we work with.

I welcome any input on this floor!

In master bath is that a sliding door to the toilet? You will not be able to have any electrical on the left side of left sink...where will you plug in hairdryer, etc? No lighting there either unless it’s above door height.

We just got the first renderings of our plans too, so I know that you're excited.

Is the powder room serving as a full bathroom and why?

What direction is the house facing?

I notice that there isn't a lot of storage space for linens, vacuum cleaner, coats, etc. Will the person sharing the only downstairs bath (excluding master) with guests keep it "guest ready"?

Good point about that pocket door in the master bath! We are still debating whether we put a vanity or a cabinet stack between those sinks in there. If it's a cabinet stack, we could put electrical there for the left vanity...

So, that hall bath will be both guest bath and our daughters. We have three sons who will be upstairs, looking ahead to teenage years we wanted her bedroom on a separate floor. It's not ideal for me not to have a half bath, but I don't see a logical place for a half bath and it seems like overkill. So, it will be between her and I to keep that bathroom tidy. Which I can accept.

The house faces east (the road). I tried to get what southern exposure I could! I'm excited about my east kitchen window and putting transoms over our master vanity. Hoping the tree line and covered back porch will help out with our west heat (Tennessee).

The study/bedroom caught my eye too. There’s no closet and it’s a long way through very public space to the nearest bathroom. Even if you just plan to use it as a study, making it a proper guest room could help with resale. You might want a coat closet near the front door too. Maybe consider looking in a few of the first floor closets where you’re living now and visualize where those items will go in this plan & see if that helps clarify storage needs.

We don't have any closets in our current house. Haha. We live in an old house with a horrible layout.
I have been considering a coat closet by the front door... Need to consider how to add that!

I notice that there isn't a lot of storage space for linens, vacuum cleaner, coats, etc.

Agree.

You have a large pantry ... but with shelves on only one side, it isn't space efficient. I'd add one more foot to the width /have shelves on both sides, which will double your storage ... for a very small increase in square footage.

Do think through all the things you need to store /assign them a spot in the new house ... don't leave this to chance.

One of the things for which I'm most excited in my new house is a cleaning closet. I can't wait to corral the vacuum, cleaning products, bulk-purchased paper products, light bulbs, batteries, etc. in one place. I'm going to have an electrical outlet planned just for a stick vac. Can't wait.

We have three sons who will be upstairs, looking ahead to teenage years we wanted her bedroom on a separate floor. It's not ideal for me not to have a half bath, but I don't see a logical place for a half bath and it seems like overkill. So, it will be between her and I to keep that bathroom tidy. Which I can accept.

I understand your reasoning, but I wonder if you (and she) will be happy having your bedrooms so close together when she's a teen.

I see no problem with her bathroom also serving as a guest bath. Bathrooms aren't onerous to keep clean.

Random thoughts about the plan:

- I wish I could read the dimensions.

- I like that you're going with an L-shape. So many nice windows.

- I'd lose the no-reason bump-out on the front of the garage; however, the rest of the jigs and jogs look to be "enough" for some interest ... without being overblown.

- The study /bedroom by the front door can't reasonably be used as a bedroom. It lacks a closet, and it's much too far from a bathroom. It fails even as an occasional guest room. With windows to the South and East, this could be an adorable sunroom.

- I like the relationship between the great room - dining - kitchen, and the study looks like an appropriate "away space".

- Do you grill often? Note that your kitchen is pretty far from the back yard door. Are you okay with carrying trays of meat through the great room?

- Is that the refrigerator on the left side of the kitchen? Ideally your food would all be stored in the same general area .... yet your fridge and pantry are separated.

- Kitchen corners are difficult. They're less efficient than straight cabinet runs /also more expensive. Rather than deal with two of them, I'd lose one corner /make it into a coat closet. With the large pantry adjacent, you don't need miles and miles of cabinets.

- I don't have a whole lot of love for screened porches, but that's opinion. Do note that you don't have a door between the screened porch and the back yard.

- The mudroom is oddly located. I started to say, "I'd want a door so I could close off the mudroom for company" ... but then I realized that's not possible. Why? Because it'd mean closing off access to all the bathrooms, the master, and the stairs. The mudroom is meant to be a messy spot that keeps the rest of the house clean ... no, not oddly located. Poorly located.

- I wonder about swapping the downstairs hall bath and the stairs. This would allow a window in the bathroom, and it'd place the hall bath closer to what I think is a secondary bedroom.

- I like the laundry - closet - bathroom layout. Very convenient for the laundry. With this much space, I'd investigate opening a second door into the closet so it could be accessed from either the bedroom OR the bathroom.

- I'd pull the master door back up the hall, which would allow the door swing to be hidden in the hallway /would make a nicer entrance.

- I can't find any praise for the master bath. From the double door (why?) to the wasted space in the middle, I'd start over here.

- I wonder about flip-flopping this end of the "L". I'd rather have the master bedroom on the left side /overlooking the backyard ... and then I'd add a slider between the master and the porch OR the backyard. An exterior door here would be nice for fire safety.

- I'd move the garage-house entrance door. Think through your coming-home steps. The red boxes are your cars, and the green line is the pathway you'll take walking into the house each day. The driver of the car on the left has to walk the length of the garage, then scoootch between the car and the wall and double back to the stairs.

I suspect you were thinking of teen drivers entering through that empty space in the garage (wasted space) ... but the garage entrance should be MOST CONVENIENT for Mom and Dad.

Your door should be located at the spot marked by the green arrow. This would allow both drivers to exit their cars, make one turn, and enter the mudroom.

I'd also investigate a pass-through between the garage and the pantry that would allow you to set your groceries straight into the pantry, then enter the house and unload bags at your convenience.

Well...this is another of those threads where the search is for "perfection" of a floor plan, one level at a time, without any similtaneous exoration of all the other floors and the exterior elevations and roof plan.

This is the time-saving process used by drafters, CAD operators and others who want to manage and minimize their time with consumers.

Unfortunately, this process selfim produces strong final designs.

Why?

Simply because all of the interior floors, exterior massing and roofplan are interconnected--a decision made on the first floor, for example, has direct impact on the second floor, exteriors and roof plan. By not exploring what those effects may be, one is left with compromised second floor, exteriors and roof plans.

We've seen this again and again on posts here. It's so unfortunate.

That mudroom seems woefully poorly designed for a family with three boys and a girl... where will they put shoes, coats, backpacks, sports equipment? The mudroom as currently designed is basically a hallway and the mess within its too-small confines will be viewable throughout the entire house.

So appreciate everyone's input! Love the feedback and how it helps to think through everything.

The drop space ("mudroom") definitely doesn't fit an ideal for me. Anyone creative who has ideas of how to improve that space - I'm all ears! As for now we plan to utilize the garage - for shoes, sports stuff.... and stand up freezer. Hooks in that drop zone primarily for backpacks and coats and planning a small counter for dropping mail etc.

Husband thanks you for reminding him to pull that master bedroom door forward... We moved Sadie's door and it opened up that possible change!

I agree the m bath needs to be scrutinized... I think there's a bath forum.... If there is, I'll post there for ideas. Oh, and those won't be double doors either... My husband is a builder and so some things that aren't of consequence he doesn't worry about bc he will just do what we want.

Sorry, I should have erased the "bedroom" label on the bedroom /study... It won't be a bedroom, for sure.

Thank you thank you!

How large is your property?

What part of the country are you in?

What direction is north?

First the good news. You have a good shape house with lots of natural light. Congrats on that.

If you love your daughter, you won't make her walk across the hallway and in front of the staircase and mudroom when she's a teenager to use her bathroom. Talk about not allowing her to have privacy.

What happens when the boys have friends over? What happens when the boys or even you come in from the garage as she's going to the bathroom to shower? Sorry but her bathroom being front and center next to the mudroom is just poor!

Not only that, but her bathroom is up against the dining room?

Why would you want her bedroom up against yours? Even with the closets, noise travels. Again why do the boys get some privacy but she has to live on top of Mom and Dad?

Why would you want double doors into your master bathroom?

Is there a reason there is no door between the master closet and the bathroom?

As mentioned, the mudroom is too narrow and it is a pathway to other parts of the house; the upstairs, master and daughter's room.

It's hard to see the numbers but it appears the pantry is 5' wide? If so, that means you only can put shelves up that are 1' wide. You need 3' minimum for walking. Plus putting the pantry on the opposite side of the fridge is not the best idea. Think of it. You come home and you start to unload groceries. Now instead of having the pantry close to the fridge, you're walking back and forth across the kitchen to both.

Do you need a dining room that is almost as large as the living room? That dining room looks huge in comparison to the other rooms.

The study is not a bedroom. It has no closet and it's way too far from the bathroom.

Do you ever barbecue? If so, that's a very far walk with food from the kitchen to the outdoors. Or are you expecting to walk through the utility room with food to get outside?

Designing a single floor at a time is a major danger signal. Whomever you are working with should know that architectural design is an iterative and comprehensive process where all floors, exterior and roof are all explored, studied and refined together.

When you encounter someone who only works "a floor at a time" it's a signal to run away as fast as possible and find someone who really knows how to design custom homes.

Having worked with a "designer" who was a draftsman and who initially worked this way, I have to agree with Virgil. It is so much harder to get it all right when you don't start with initial concepts for how the house will sit on the lot and how each floor and the exterior relates to one another.

It took me 3x as long as it would have taken if I had worked with a true design professional. Do yourself a favor and look at architectrunnerguy on this forum to see what we mean when we talk about designing the whole and not piecemeal.

And if your husband is a builder, he should understand the worth of a good designer or architect versus someone who just parrots what you tell them.

I agree that your daughter needs her privacy. I would consider giving her her own ensuite bath AND I’d add a walk-in closet as well. It can serve as an overflow closet for you guys once she moves away :)

Is one of the cars you plan on parking in the three car garage made by Matchbox?

The rest of the plan is worse.

Haha mark! It's a 2 car garage. Originally he drew it 3 car but I asked to shrink it and he never changed the label.

What is "he"?

I avoid:

1. Designs that do not relate to the site.

2. Closets where hanging clothes turn corners.

3. Windowless walk-in closets.

4. Kitchens with overly large work triangle.

5. Walk-in closets open to bathrooms.

6. Powder room off main entry

7. Exterior doors in living rooms that effect furniture layouts.

8. Clothes closets accessible from a bathroom.

9. Pocket doors in spaces that need a door that are heavily used.

10. Gas chambers without windows.

11. Gas chambers.

12. Looking through a screened porch from a living room to any view.

13. Corner bedrooms with only one window.

14. No coat closet at exterior entrances.

15. Cooking surfaces without counter space on each side.

16. Doors that swing in front of other doors.

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

18. Insufficient space beside a door for the light switch.

19. Rooms intended at ny time to a bedroom that would make a terrible bedroom.

20. Double door into a room that does not require it.

21. Poor spatial relationships where one has to go through a service area to get from their bedroom to any other part of the house.

22. Preparing to enter through a doorway while standing on steps.

23. Excessively large master bathrooms.

24. Excessively large dining rooms.

25. Main entrances that are far from the driveway.

to name a few.

If you are comfortable with what you are doing, why are you asking for a critique?

I wonder if you'd want to move the bedrooms to face south, so they get nice light? The bathrooms and laundry can "live" with north light better.

You mentioned a couple of things that are "not your ideal", so be sure and tell your architect that. I really, really, would not want to walk through a mudroom to get from bedrooms to the rest of the house.

I like the large garage space, but it's a traffic zone from door to door and car to door, so if you are planning to use it for the sports equipment and shoes it will become cluttered quickly. And you'll walk from the garage into the houe in stocking feet? I'd raise that area a few inches to keep it cleaner. And you do need a landing at the top of the stair there, for entering the house.

or, perhaps move the utility room to that space. If the bedrooms stay as they are, you can have a hall that has Windows to the porch, and doesn't go through the mudroom.

Good pickup on the garage entry not having a landing. Very unsafe!

Great list Mark! Thank you!

Pocket doors are best used in spaces where they get infrequent use. Not a bathroom that gets frequent use.

Not only is the mudroom small for a family of six and located in full view of the kitchen and dining area, but it will create a bottleneck in that area. And to have to go through the mudroom to get the daughter's bedroom and the master bedroom doesn't feel like much of a retreat to me. More like a hurdle.

Some very good advice above. My husband is a builder too, and I know the temptation can be great to figure this out on one's own, especially when one's current living situation is poor -- no closets, poor layout. But if this is going to the only time, or one of just several, you build a new house, you owe it to yourselves and your family to build the best house you can, and get the biggest bang for your buck. Make the house plan yield to your family's needs, don't make your family bend to a less-than-great plan, even if it's better than what you have now. You're already ahead of so many people being able to consider a custom plan rather than a cookie cutter online plan. Keep going : ) .

If you think you can't afford an architect, 1) you'll be paying for poor design in money and irritation for as long as you live in that house and 2) there are architects in this forum who work remotely and for reasonable $ to get people the right houses for their living circumstances.

Also, call me paranoid, but I've always been uncomfortable with the idea of identifying real life names, esp of children, with house plans. It's easy enough on the plans and in the discussion to switch everything out to an initial or "daughter".

My two paranoid cents : ) .

Hi Paranoid.

"Great list Mark!"

Yes it is, and not in a good way. If the list is greater than five, the design needs reworking. If the list is over ten, it needs to be scrapped and start over.

I personally disagree with some things on your list, other things are actually already fixed although not marked on the plan. And other things were very good thinking points for me. So I appreciate the list.

Hi Mark ; )

As a side note, I've been thinking a lot about coat closets. (what do you think about in your spare time? Haha).

I had been hemming and hawing, looking at the plan, wondering about the front door area and a coat closet. Currently we just have coat hooks on a wall in our home. We were toying with the idea of adding a closet in some shape and then the two of us were discussing the use of coat closets. When is the last time anyone went to someone's house and hung up their coat inside a closet? We realized that in our parents homes, coat closets ended up as storage for the owners of the home (read that :mostly junk and seldom used items) and I don't recall any guests actually storing a personal coat in the closet while visiting. Maybe it was a generational thing? I literally can't think of any person's home I have visited that I have had my coat put in a closet with a door.... all ages of people, all categories of homes. Maybe once, but it felt formal and odd. Usually it's coat racks, coat hooks, hall tree, or let's face it, people drape them on a chair casually.

Just thinking out loud.

I suppose the need for coat closets depends where you live (ie climate) and also where people enter the house (ie front entrance or mudroom/garage).

I live in Alberta, and we need coat closets, though we also have hooks outside in our garage, where we have our mudroom. But while we don't have an endless supply of hooks -- some of which are taken up by coveralls and chore jackets etc since we farm -- we do have an ample coat closet with room for about 2-3 dozen hangers. With our family alone and our kids' girlfriends/boyfriends, we're already at about 10. When we have the extended family and friends over for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we're easily around 30-40.

Honestly, I like the coat closet best for my own coats and jackets. I have some very good quality coats and also longer sweaters I wear in the autumn, and these store much better on a hanger rather than a hook. Plus I can see everything better. I also rotate out of season footwear. What everyone is currently wearing stays in the mudroom, and what's out of season (currently autumn and winter boots) goes in the closet.

As far as a generational thing, I remember going to parties where everyone tossed their coats on the bed in the master bedroom : ) .

I have the same memory, Becky. Mom and Dad's room was the coat repository for larger crowds.

Every time we visit my parents, coats go in the coat closet. At home, current coats hang on hooks by the back door, not-currently-in-season coats are in the coat closet. Along with hats, mittens, umbrellas, etc. Also outgrown things from one kid waiting for the other to get big enough.

I'm not quite as far into the Great White North as Becky, but I do need and use a coat closet. We don't have many houseguests (autistic children will cause some isolation), but I still prefer guests to come in the front door and I usually make a little room in the coat closet if I know people are coming and it's not summer.

We use our coat closet for family coats and have a row of hooks at the entryway for visitors!

Welcome to the silliness that is Houzz, Jordyn. :-) But Becky's got a point, you might want to go back and edit your daughter's name out of both the drawing and comments.

I do think Mrs. Pete has an excellent point re: the pantry. Widening it a little will double it's functionality.

May I ask what's going in the yet-to-be-designed upstairs? More bedrooms? Away-space for kids? Guest space?

I also do remember advice that gets oft-repeated here (so oft, I cannot properly attribute it) - design your house for the way you live, not the way you think you should live in a new house. You won't really change your habits all that much. So, if you're not social people, building a house with lots of entertaining space won't make you The Hostess With The Mostess, just to choose an unrelated example. Therefore, if you don't have a use for a coat closet and you live in a climate where they're not much of a "thing" it's probably not a big deal to plan for a hall tree or some other solution instead.

Could you effectively swap around the stairway with the mud/utility/bathroom areas? Keep your daughter's room and the bathroom on the same side of the hall, and create a more functional mudroom space?

And has anybody recommended ARG yet? I've lost track of where we are in this version of the Houzz Drinking Game (Memorial Day Edition).

love it!

I think with being in TN, we wont miss the coat closet by the front. Completely makes sense in climates where you have lots of bulky coats that it'd be nice to store those all together some where! I'll do hooks somewhere, somehow. Thus far we all keep our coats we aren't actively using in our personal closets and the others go on hooks at whatever entrance you come in (or that's the goal... but with kids they end up on the floor, stairs, chairs, couch...)

Thanks to this fantastic thread, I just sent off about 10 revisions. The major one being swapping the stairs and bathroom. Feel stupid we didn't think of that on our own! Not only will the bathroom gain a window, but our daughter will gain her own private door to the bathroom also. The master bath could use some shrinking, so I suggested that's where the extra space for stairs comes from - if needed. And if not, I want to take from the m.bath and add a couple feet to he laundry room width. Pantry, laundry room... pretty sure any extra space there will not be regretted! (adding that foot to the pantry!)

I still need to go over to kitchens and hem and haw about the refrigerator location. I've been creating a pro and con list in my head and maybe a thread over there will help me settle it.

Upstairs will be 2-3 bedrooms, bath, bonus (and linen/hall closet(s), of course). We're keeping it very simple. Side note, by the time our daughter is 14ish she'll be able to move upstairs to be bedroom if she wishes (or if we wish? haha), and not be quite so close to us. Which will in turn make her room a nice guest suite. I know having her in "our space" isn't how most plans would be drawn, but I didn't want another section of the house on the other side of the great room blocking my window dreams. :)

thanks again, everyone! really appreciate your time and all your input.

Some random thoughts....

Where do you plan on putting the TV? In the Great Room, there is no wall space for the TV. If you eliminate one of the windows on the fireplace wall (or both) and off set the fireplace, you can place the TV beside the fireplace on the same wall. Other wise it will have to go on the study/bedroom wall. And what is the study/bedroom room for?

The bathroom in the master bathroom blocks all the views from the master bedroom out to the patio area. Can you switch the bedroom and bathroom in the master bedroom?

Remember, every extra corner and jut out you add to an exterior wall, you add big buck to the price of the house. That study/bedroom is a good example. The more you can keep a square or rectangle, the lower the cost of the house and the easier it is to build and the less likely you will have building errors.

Here is a great article.....actually 2 great articles.....that will help you design your build.....

https://mcmansionhell.com/post/149284377161/mansionvsmcmansion

https://mcmansionhell.com/post/149563260641/mcmansions-101-mansion-vs-mcmansion-part-2

Thanks Kathi!

The TV/fireplace placement is still a little in debate. We don't love the TV over the fireplace, but it's still on the board. My plan is window seats on that south wall in the great room (more for storage /looks than function, of course). We've toyed with putting the fireplace on the screen porch wall (double sided fireplace?). It'll likely end up on the south wall but not sure if we'll create some built in/console look for just the TV (Hmmm) or if it'll be over a fireplace. I really like symmetry and light so I won't give up one of my windows for a TV nook (I don't really care about the TV /watch it much :) )

That front room is a study/office/etc. The bedroom label shouldn't be there!

My husband is a builder so he's super aware of what costs more! Which is why the house is pretty square. But, he also cares about it not being ugly so hence some character to the front. He has several inspiration elevations in mind that he's working towards.

TV over the fireplace is a huge debate!! I am not a fan, can you tell??!! We removed one of our windows when we built our home and our TV...a big one!....is beside our fireplace. It works out wonderfully well.

one that gives me pause on this plan is the front of house kitchen in a two story plan.

I've seen those in one story plans and the range vent goes up through the roof.

in a two story it looks like you will be venting through the front of the house.

are you comfortable with a big vent close to your front entry?

I think there's too much wasted space in the mud/hall areas. I would just move things around a bit, maybe something like this:

Yours:

An Idea:

If you could push back the garage a foot and make the mud/pantry 6' that would be even better. I noticed the garage is 25'4". Not sure if you have larger vehicles, but my 24' garage is plenty for a full sized SUV. The old entry area in the garage could be used for storage, bikes, lawn mowers, workbench, etc.

Just an idea. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Yeah, the garage is the required length contractor husband needs. He's allowing for
two feet of storage, his truck, two feet in front of his truck, and 2 ft behind his truck. One of his beefs with purchased houseplans everytime is the garage dimensions.

That looks nice with the powder bath backed up against the other bath. But it looks like we would go through the laundry room to get to our bedroom? That section of the house definitely needs work. We are trying to rework the garage entrance to create a better mudroom space.

the house won't be a true 2 story, likely the upstairs will only be over our daughters room to the garage. We will definitely keep the vent in mind!

No, you would get to your bedroom the same way as in the original. That door would be to your master closet. I just forgot to delete that part of the wall in the hallway near your daughter's bedroom.

On the coat closet issue, we live in TX and have no need for a coat closet either. BUT, I do have a closet in that general area for keeping the vacuum, bedding, overflow photo albums, etc. I am a fan of closets. The more the merrier. As far as our coats (what little we need), they are stored in each person's own closet.

Just thought I'd share where we are now... upstairs is in works (1st draft just arrived last night and a few more edits to go but getting closer).

I love this forum and the perspectives /wisdom here... even when it sometimes comes across painfully critical. Haha

Thanks everyone!

Better!

A few comments.

I still think the kitchen could be better. I would prefer the door to the pantry be at the end of the kitchen run so you could have an L shaped kitchen which is much better for counter space.

This way you could eliminate the uppers on the window wall and add cabinets that die into the wall on the cooktop side. Then I'd make the window as large as possible!

I would also not run around the other corner but would put the ovens on the end and make the island longer

I'm personally not a fan of double entry doors. More possibilities for air to infiltrate plus where do you put the light switches etc? I'd prefer a wide single door with sidelights. (I have french doors to my balcony and now regret putting them in, instead of a single door.)

In your bathroom, I'd flip the door to the bathroom with the linen closet so the door to the bedroom isn't smack in the middle of the room

The stairs to the garage need a landing. Not safe the way you have it.

Glad to see now Sadie won't be traumatized by strange noises. ;) However now the problem is, where do you put her bed?

Thank you, cpartist! As always, great great comments. And some things that our brains weren't seeing... Prob bc of burnout at this point. :)

Hubs really loves this door (hence what's currently there) ... But I think it's around 5k and we haven't priced out the house yet, so it's still to be determined if it'll come to pass! It has windows that open for cross breezes! Pretty, and cool.

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That is a gorgeous door, and I can see why you'd be swayed by it.

I know you don't want to add a half bath to the downstairs but I'm still not thrilled by Sadie's room.

Also in the garage, is that the water tank? If you go tankless, you could gain back that space in the house.

Also how wide is the mudroom?

I really don’t like a lot of clutter by the foyer/front entrance. You can always put a closet by the front door, but instead of a hanging rod just line the interior with hooks. You can have shelving above the hooks for other things and shoes can go on the closet floor (no need for cubbies). That way you can close the door on all the clutter.

Do you have your elevations yet? I'm a little concerned that the width of the jut out of the front wall of the study is a little out of scale with the rest of the front exterior but only elevations can truly determine that.

Sadie's room is still problematic, as cpartist has pointed out. There's not enough wall space for a bed unless you put it in front of the window.

What will the space under the stairs be used for since you don't have a stairwell going down to the basement? I'm wondering if you could put a small half bath under there if you eliminate the small closet and fit it in somewhere else.

I love hidden pantry doors but, in your case, having the counter that turns the corner would be much more functional.

Great ideas!

We need to split Sadie's windows and scooch a door.

That hall really should be labeled hall rather than mud... Hall with a drop space recessed. I'm not sure on that width but I'll check it!

This is his first shot at the elevation - we've got to widen or move that dormer - or do both, to balance. As of right now we're actually planning brick.

That kitchen is so very wide, I feel like I won't miss that corner counter...I could be wrong, but this setup really appeals to me. This houzz pic is kind of the idea. I'll likely get rid of the hall door to the pantry but install a "Costco" door to it from the garage. We had widened the pantry to 6 ft but also need to get walls to line up for structural so this is where we are with that. I really love the work flow of the pantry entry in my kitchen!

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