House Design Critique
Jessica
3 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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Jessica
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agolkloes
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Starting over! critique of design please:)
Comments (13)So right to the point MRR, not snarky at all!! hydro, you said you had a "modern design style" so I am assuming the house, or at least the interior, is of modern design but it's difficult to relate your landscape to your house without at least a photo. It's important in landscape design to know your client and how their home and lifestyle indoors relates to the outdoor world. You have a long list of "wants" which is OK but try to simplify and think about the space before trying to cram alot into the area you have. Many of the areas can be combined into functional blocks, ie. entertaining can incorporate the firepit, patio, pergola, etc. From your description of your lifestyle, this seems it should be the focus of your design. The dog area can include your lawn area (dogs love grass), shade and privacy issues, perhaps a dedicated doggie garden where he can romp and a high hedge will provide shade for him and you and shelter from the neighbors. A veggie garden can be achieved through containers on your patio or small raised beds near your kitchen door. The closer to the house the better. A water feature that is portable may be ideal for you. A small fountain can provide you the sound and ambience of moving water without the committment of inground waterworks. You might enjoy it near your patio or find it irritating! Some people don't like to hear running water 24/7! You might want to start small and see how you like it. Think about how it would relate to your other functional spaces. Do you want to hear running water while you are entertaining? Or would you rather have music playing while enjoying dinner on the patio? Would you like to have the water in a quiet corner of the yard where it could have a meditative feel? Or maybe you could have a water feature/dog waterer combo!!! (not joking here!) Enjoy the process, ask a lot of questions, and let us know how it turns out!...See MorePlease critique my unusual two-tiered hillside house plan
Comments (28)One of the problems you'll have to figure out is how to hold up the houses on the hill. Generally, this is done with a foundation / retaining wall. Without knowing the soil type, it would be difficult to figure out how the retaining wall would have to be constructed. Generally, you can think of a retaining wall as being an "L" shape with the horizontal leg of the "L" being on the uphill side so that the weight of the soil holds the vertical portion upright against the soil pushing against the vertical wall section. There can be a 1:1 (or greater) relationship between the vertical and horizontal legs depending upon the soil type, This means that a 12-foot high vertical wall would need at least a 12-foot horizontal section to retain the wall. You have to excavate the hill back, pour the horizontal and vertical wall sections - and then backfill the soil against the vertical wall. You'd really need a structural engineer to do this type of design, as if it is not calculated correctly and then built to match the structural plans, you'll have the entire building sliding down the hill. An alternative might be caisson (drilled) foundations - but that requires a caisson drill and access to the site where the foundations would be placed. You could also cantilever the houses off of the hill side - but, that's some real involved structural work. One other thought - while you're planning on a composting toilet - have you thought about how to dispose of the grey water (shower, sinks)? This post was edited by buckhorn_cortez on Wed, Dec 31, 14 at 22:49...See MoreNew Home Design Critique / Suggestions?
Comments (42)Your laundry room is clear across the house. Are you ok with shlepping laundry back and forth that distance? I wouldn't be ok with it and would prefer my laundry closer to my master bedroom. Is the laundry room doing double duty? I ask because it appears to be almost 16' long and if it's only a laundry room, that's an awful large amount of space devoted to doing laundry for a family of 4. However if it doubles as a sewing room, crafts room etc then yes it's a good size. And it is a trek to walk from the garage court to the front door, especially in lousy weather. Heck bringing in groceries from the garage to put away in the pantry and fridge will be a hike. What is the distance from the master bedroom to the toilet? I just tried to measure and from the edge of your bedroom to the toilet I measured to be close to 18'. (I can't read your dimensions) Add in the distance from the bed and that's even a longer walk, especially in the dark in the middle of the night when you absolutely must get there. Speaking of bedrooms, your master bedroom is almost the exact same size as your living room. Only you can decide if you spend that much time in the bedroom that it's worth creating such an oversized room or if the space could be better spent in more public rooms. Same with the master bath. Do you entertain enough that you need 3 eating areas? You have 2 kids but your mudroom area is large enough for a family with a heck of a lot more kids. And you have a large mudroom but your powder room is tiny in comparison. Getting rid of shower bay I believe would change the whole walk through shower. Each one of your vanities looks to be almost 10' long. So if you make the vanities smaller, move the tub forward, you could easily have the walk in shower. 5' vanities should give you plenty of space. BTW: Do you have a walk in shower now? This one is what? 11' x 6' or more? If not, I'd first go to someplace where they have them because quite honestly, they can be quite chilly and it's one of those things you either love or hate. I hate them. I notice you have a deck but no enclosed screened area out the back. Do you spend time outdoors when you would need a covered area? Agree with the comments regarding the upstairs. There's an excellent book I recommend regarding exteriors. It's called What Not To Build and I used it when designing the exterior of my home. I highly recommend grabbing a copy....See MorePlease critique our design for our home on the prairie
Comments (49)CarrellHouse- Thanks for the response! Yeah the bathroom placements are a little unusual, here's why- The idea with the mudroom powder is my attempt to keep muddy/manure/dust boots from tracking through the house just to "go". I actually would prefer my guests not see my mudroom at all, so I plan on the full flex room bath being the guest access bath. I'm going to have the kids "wash up" in the mudroom bath before proceeding into the house further. I anticipate the mud room bath as staying, well, muddy. Keeping room- I share your concerns about the 10ft of keeping room space. All it would take is for one kid to leave the bar stool pulled out from the island and it would get tight. The further developed documents (not posted) increase that width to 11.6 which is better, and I am looking at ways to possibly(?) steal a few more inches elsewhere. Apparently this is where the acronym TBWOIF comes in! Dining- This is where I am choosing form over function. I really consider myself a pragmatic person but I have, from day one, requested a three sided dining area. In fact it was a pretty big "driver" in the design process. Yes It will require more steps to dining. I will gladly be willing to pay those steps in order to have windows where I wanted them. We are avid bird/nature watchers and sitting by all those windows watching my bird feeders at suppertime is worth it. Pocket office- Mrs Pete's recent post made me think about this too. It is actually not a work from home office, just a place to pay bills etc. I believe the window will help. The other alternative would be to steal a foot from the master closet. Boy, this whole design process has been one big lesson on "everything is a compromise." ;) KawerKamp! Thanks so much for such a great lifehack! I really am going to keep this in mind in the pantry!...See MoreJessica
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