I'm not crazy about either plan. You have a lot of space upstairs, but there seem to be some problems, some already mentioned above. In looking back at your first floor plan on your other thread, I see that the Office is over a screened porch. Since I think you said you are in New England (if not, where are you?), I think it would be difficult to insulate the office well enough for it to be comfortable to work in during the winter with two outside walls and the floor needing to be extremely well insulated by someone who really knows how to do it right--still not sure if it would be warm enough. Additionally, it seems to me that most people would prefer to have the office be able to function as a bedroom, if needed. Even though you may not need it now, things could change. And even if you think this is your forever home, that could also change. Either spouse could die when younger than expected. The remaining person may have to sell, so it would be helpful to have a plan that has the most flexibility in how the rooms could be used. So here are some things to think about or try out; some may work for you, some not. I'm going to reference your first plan. I'd put the office roughly where the master bath is with the door as far to the left as possible, shift the master bath to the right with the door as far to the right into the bedroom, and make the office the WIC. If it is too cold in there, you could use a space heater for those times when it's cold, since you wouldn't be in there that long. I think the dormers need to be reworked so that there is a single large dormer for the bed to be opposite--I think it will feel strange the way it is opposite the short wall. I'd make a little "vestibule" so that the MBR door is opposite the new office door. So there would be about a 4' wall parallel to the top of the stairs about 7' to 8' in front of it, with the MBR and Office doors opening off of it. To have a bathroom for the Office/4th bedroom, as well as the twin room, I'd use the Laundry with the door moved in about 4' to create a little "vestibule". I'd have the entrance to the twin bedded room open to the left off of this vestibule through the present BR closet. I'd make a wall across the hall to the left of the door to the double bedded room, put a wall where the present entrance to the twin room is, and get rid of the long bathroom wall. Then I'd put a wall down the middle of this space by extending the dark black line that's next to the length of the stairs. This will give you a WIC for each of the bedrooms with about 4' on each side of each closet with room for shelving in between, and you could put a shallow linen closet facing the hall and to the left of the door to the double bedroom. The former WIC for the double BR can be the Laundry. You can put a large (16 or 21"?) Solatube or SunTunnel for light. You can add about 1'6" to 2' from the bathroom, because 5' to 5'6" is wide enough for the bath. In the bathroom, put a 5' tub/shower across the right end, the vanity to the left of it, and the toilet to the left of it. From looking at your first floor, I'm not sure how much leeway you have in moving windows. However, I'd really try to work on both floors together to get better placement on the second floor, but still have pleasing elevations. In the twin BR, you should be able to add an additional foot or so from the new bathroom, and I'd REALLY try to center the BR window between the twin beds so that one bed doesn't have to be scrunched up against the wall Hope some of this helps. Anne

I like it! The stairs are now leading to the master suite and office, but it seems more private than the other version (flip). I think it's because the master door is further from the top of the stairs? Also....much more difficult for kids to come or go, without you hearing them! LOL Not that they would, but it's still nice to be prepared :) The laundry...I like this better, too. And the bedroom sizes. The closets seem more equal and the larger sink area and shelves in the hall bathroom are nice touches. My only advice would be to really insulate that wall between the two bedrooms. In case your son doesn't want to hear giggly-girls during a sleepover!

I think the back of the house could use a little dimension...it all seems a little flat right now and not sure how that will look from the exterior? I don’t know if there’s any specific nice view out the back that you want to preserve/enhance, but having 1-2 bump outs might be nice. They could also get you some new windows in different directions, bringing in some different light. For example, you could bump out your living room so it’s not in a flat plane with the rest of the house. If your living room currently has a western exposure (I forget what the orientation is), you could then get north and south exposure by adding windows along the sides of the bump out. You could maybe even add some doors to the outside on the side of the bump out so you don’t have to squeeze by the dining table to access the sliding door - that’s how my house is currently and it is sort of annoying sometimes. I’m not an architect, so I don’t know the term for it, but adding a little dimension along the back might be good, unless you’re going for a super formal symmetrical aesthetic, which I don’t think you are.

I think you've done about the best you can do. When a room is really busy with odd angles, you have to go a bit simpler with the decor and eliminate clutter. I think your mock up looks a lot better than reality because the clutter is gone. For starters, the front door opens the wrong way into the room, IMO. Can you reverse that so you're opening up to a welcoming place to sit and not the TV screen? If you need more seating for entertaining, consider a round hassock for your coffee table so it can double as seating. Use a tray on it and keep it about the size of your table now. The room can't handle a larger one. Place a chair left of the fireplace. Add a large colorful piece of art 5" above the mantel. It can be as wide as the firebox opening. To tackle the wall over the sofa, I would use the pieces you have already to make a gallery that actually just incorporates the window that's there with the stained glass. Center the sofa on that entire wall and then plan your gallery to work above it just like the window does (at the same height and with a similar volume.) Eliminate the shelves. Maybe use them right of the window in the adjoining room, or the kitchen.