Just a couple of things for starters. I don’t see a coat closet at the front entry, maybe not at the back either. With a family of five, coats, boots, backpacks etc have to go somewhere. Also, it looks like there will be a lot of traffic through the kitchen to get to the bedrooms, not a great flow. I’m sure you’ll get a lot more responses on this site. Good luck with your new home.

A few more. Lots of wasted space in the hall by the stairs. Guests have to go through the kitchen to get to the powder room. Pantry seems a little far from the kitchen.

1- Every single kid visitor will have to go through the kitchen to visit kids upstairs.

2- There's not a lot of space in the aisle between island and stove.

3- A 48" stove will require make up air, so count that increased cost in your budget.

4- There's no way you can fit that many actual people at the island seats. The ones in the corner will kick each other because there's no room for their legs.

What direction will the house face?

What's the building site like -- views, city, country, large, small, flat etc?

Where is the rest of the house -- upstairs and elevations?

Who is doing the design -- architect, designer, DIY?

Ooops... just saw that there’s a closet by the rear entry, but none at the front. The large space by the stairway does not appear to have any natural light. Perhaps the pantry could be relocated to allow a window by the stairs.

It's obvious you're not working with a true person of design talent.

The best houses orient the public rooms towards the south for the best passive solar heating and cooling

The best houses are L, U, T, H, or I shaped.

The best houses are only one to two rooms deep. And covered lanai, porches, garages, etc count as rooms in this case.

The best houses make sure kitchens have natural light, meaning windows so one doesn't have to have lighting 24/7 to use the kitchen. (And no, dining areas with windows 10' or more from the kitchen will not allow for natural light.)

The best houses make sure all public rooms and bedrooms have windows on at least two walls.

The best houses do not if possible put mechanical rooms, pantries or closets on outside walls

The best houses keep public and private spaces separate.

The best houses do not have you walk through the work zone of the kitchen to bring laundry to the laundry room.

The best houses do not have the mudroom go through any of the work zones of the kitchen.

The best houses do not use the kitchen as a hallway to any other rooms.

The best houses do not put toilets or toilet rooms up against bedroom walls or dining areas.

The best houses do not have walk in closets too small to stand inside.

The best houses when building new do not have a powder room so small that you have to close the door to get to the toilet.

The best houses have an organizing “spine” so it’s easy to determine how to get from room to room in the house and what makes sense.

So how many of these best practices does your house have?

What do you dislike about the kitchen layout?

Show the second floor also.

How will you get your mattress into the master bedroom?

I think I’d move the entry to the kitchen to down by the stairs. That keeps traffic out of the working area of the kitchen, and gives you an L-with-island kitchen. It also means that when you walk into the kitchen in the morning, you aren’t confronted by the remains of someone’s late-night or early-morning snack left by the sink because the dishwasher was full or clean. The pantry entry could be under the stairs, facing the back hall. What is an e-space these days?

Is there a place to keep a broom, a swiffer, a steam mop?

Thank you for the comments- taking notes! More about property: house is in a field with a slope to the right to a pond. We want a view out the right/back with as many windows as possible and a large back porch. Garage will be enclosed, I only want 4 seats at the bar, and powder room is at mud room as most of our company will be entering and washing up there and I didn’t want them tracking to the front to wash. Hubby is on night shift a good bit so I requested entry to bath from laundry as to not wake him when needing closet/master bath. I do like the idea to change kitchen entry to next to stairs. Should the stairs move to exterior wall with a window and move pantry completely under stairs? I need room somewhere for upright fridge so either laundry or pantry needs to have space. Attached are two pics of property. In first pic, house is facing with driveway going from the gate I’m taking picture from to the left side of house. In second, house will be in field on other side of the pond facing to the left where the road is.

"Second floor will be designed after first is finished."

That is a poor way to design a house.

@lexigs

You might delete 2 of your duplicate comments.

Second floor will be designed after first is finished.

A house needs to be designed as a whole, interiors, and exteriors at the same time. This is especially key when there are multiple floors, as the stair needs space on both, and access to it needs to be planned.

You did not say who is doing the design, or which direction the house will face.

You might also add where (generally) you are building so others understand the climate.

Yes, I’d be more interested in how the second floor of my house is designed, where my children will sleep and prepare for their days and nights, than where the coffee station is in my kitchen. Well. I SHOULD be. But there are days . . .

The designer thought it counterproductive to design the second floor in case we moved stairs or shifted walls- then 2nd floor would have to be re-designed. The person doing the design is a local house designer/drafter that has done hundreds of homes in our area over 10 years. We started with two different boxed house plans and she modified both- but thought going from new would get us more of our list than continuing to revise. We are in Georgia so it is hot. Sorry I thought you meant which way it faces on the property- it will face South. Attached are The other two plans based off online plans. There is now a field of planted pines in the field behind the homesite and a young pecan orchard in the front right corner near the road.

"How will you get your mattress into the master bedroom?"

A mattress can bend a bit, so it won't be as much of a problem as will the box spring and dresser.

Consider how the house will relate to the site. This is clearly very rough and intended to show the public spaces oriented to the east facing the pond, and to both the north and south. Garage helps block west sun.

The house does not need to "face" the road. You will have a drive that leads them in.

The designer is not a designer but a draftsman if the way they design is to do one floor, then the next and finally stick a facade onto the outside. That's a very poor way to design a house. A house should be designed in 2D, 3D and in relation to the exterior all at the same time. That's why so many of us suggest you work with a licensed architect instead of someone who only learned a CAD program.

Go back to my comments about the best houses and start from there. You'll wind up with a much better house. This is not it.

I am sorry to say that there are a great many problems with the design. The kitchen functions as a thoroughfare. The layout is not very functional for cooking- it’s quite a hike from fridge or pantry to sink and then you’re backtracking to stove. The plans you started with have much better layouts. I’d say back to the drawing board on this. It is so worth pushing to get it right so that you are thrilled with both the look and function of the final product. Think about how your family uses the kitchen. Make sure someone can pop into the kitchen to grab a drink from fridge or a cup of coffee without getting in the cook’s way. Store frequently used items near their point of use. Create some deeper storage with plugs inside so you don’t have to have all your small appliances cluttering the counter. So much to think about but so worth it in the end!

The closets are poorly sized, 3'-8 1/2" minus 2'-0" for hanging clothes gives you at most a 1'-8 1/2" walkway, not big enough.

Your shower door swings out which will get water on the floor, which you will walk on on your way to the closet in your stocking feet.

Your closets open to the bathroom which promotes mold growth.

The space between "Entry" and "E-Space" is excessive and could be better used elsewhere.

Waterclosets should be installed 18" from a sidewall incase a grab bar is needed to be installed and used.

Move the barn door on the laundry room to the barn.

The pantry is poorly located. You have to walk from the car through the entry past the laundry and powder room past the stair and e-space through the kitchen through the dining and into the pantry with two bags of groceries then you have to get the other four bags.

The kitchen work triangle is way too large.

There is no coat storage at the front door for guest unless there is a dedicated dining room chair for guest coats.

Jack and Jill bathrooms do not work well over time. (I am predicting the future)

There's more but I finished the exterior elevations on the project I am working on and I am tired and going to sleep. Good night.

@lexigs

To me, it looks like the plan has been done by someone who makes drawings, not someone who understands how people move through space, how spaces are used, how spaces can be made efficient, etc.

IMO START OVER. It doesn't matter how many homes this drafter has drawn, that doesn't make him/her an expert or a good designer.

The designer thought it counterproductive to design the second floor in case we moved stairs or shifted walls- then 2nd floor would have to be re-designed.

IMO this sentence is the essence of the problem: exactly what someone would say who doesn't understand that a home is a whole and is a space for families to live in and move about in. It is NOT the sum of parts. And, if they're not willing to move walls or stairs with a little click and slide, what are they there for?

I don't understand a vestibule for the master. It will be like walking into a small elevator: you go in and see 4 walls, no light, cramped, tiny space, no function. What will you do there? Open doors? That would be an elevator that stayed on one floor.

don’t let your designer design your stairway with winders. code is strict for the design to be safe and they are not as attractive imo.

Start with the site plan, a step before you even configure the house's adjacencies of spaces:

- How far from the road will the fire department let you build?

- How close to the pond (mosquitoes, flooding, "pond" smell from adjacent field/highway runoff, etc)?

- Where do you want to spend all that time mowing, in front with a large circular drive, lined approach driveway, or cover in fieldgrass/trees/orchard?

- Water runoff within and from other props and highway?

- Slope of land to allow basement/walkout?

- Curb cut (the driveway apron location, not meaning there's a curb) limitations?

- Future shop/outbuilding location?

- Future subdivision of property for another house or two?

- Consideration of adjacent props and if they will always be trees or developed with a structure or multiple structures.

I really like the second box plan that your shared! It checked most of your boxes off and has pretty good flow. I would go with that one. Only thing I don’t like is that the garage is taking up most of your southern exposure for sun. I love how almost every room has a sunny window!

I also like the second standard plan you posted with the arial photo. It looks much more functional in terms of flow, and with a better sized kitchen.

This one!

I would get rid of the bumped out fireplace and put the tv on that wall. I would keep the other fireplace and do a two sided so that you could have one in your covered porch.

I would get rid of these plans and start over with an architect or someone with better design capabilities.

I don’t have anything to start over with. We’ve had land for a year and our kids are only getting bigger in their shared bedrooms. I’m ready to just compromise and get it done. We chose a two story to make the footprint more affordable. Our kids are 7,9,13 so they don’t have to be next to us anymore. We are also trying to avoid bump outs to stay in budget. With wood prices soaring we have to cut somewhere. Staying below 2800 sq ft. If we could do 3100 I’d be done already! The study is for my piano which needs an interior wall. To reply to the two that liked the other “2nd” plan - that was my first pick a year ago. It’s the most expensive but I’m willing to bite the bullet. The main issue with that one was my husband just couldn’t get over walking into the dining room. But seeing all the above issues maybe that’s the lesser of evils.

Yes dining isn’t ideal BUT I love pass through the house light where you have light shining through the house‘s back door to the front door. You will have that. I also love the window in the u shaped stair. You have your ideal master closet situation were it is opening up to the laundry. You can close off the drop zone and laundry room to hide messes when guests come over(so wish we had done this!) your powder room is right off the garage which works well if the garage is your main entry. If it isn’t you can swap it with the huge foyer closet. The kitchen is setup with fab symmetry with a trio set of windows, the island and the range as the stars of the show. Even though the pantry isn’t in the kitchen it is right behind the stove and close to the garage for grocery store hauls!

Your plan is bad. To spend 6 figures of your hard earned money on a plan that will not live well is not smart. Better to get it right now, then be unhappy with a poor design for 10-20 years.

I was in permitting with my plan when we realized it wasn't right. The smartest thing we did was to redo our plan to fit our site and now we have a fabulous house. In fact it wound up in The Old House Journal being showcased as a new, old house. But it doesn't just look good, it also lives very well for us.

As far as I can tell, you don't have a 2nd floor plan yet, nor the exterior plan (elevations). I'm not sure that a decision could be made about any plan without all of that.

You'd likely lose more on resale value than any extra expenditure you'd make by waiting.

Get an architect.

@lexigs, Hi Lexigs, please consider this floor plan. The ground floor is 2,213 sq. feet. This does not include the garage of course, which is not a heated space.

You can use the floor plan as is or flip it horizontally, or even put the large porch on the north side. You can establish the front entrance on three different sides. The large porch to the right, the east side, is meant to be the place to host parties with a view of the pond in the background.

Some home design pundits will dislike the location of the master and the entrance to the kids' bedrooms through a corner of the kitchen, others will see it as a good way to clearly separate the private family spaces from the public spaces.

I hope this helps. Cheers!

It is becoming a bit of an old wives' tale that placing your piano on an outside wall is a no-no. Today's modern homes tend to be quite well insulated, so this is usually not a problem. A simple way to check is to place your hand on the wall. If, on a cold day, the wall feels significantly cold to the touch, don't put your piano there. If it doesn't, go ahead. Remember to leave the piano 3 inches or so from the wall. https://www.pianolifesaver.com/english/blog/piano_placement