I’m going to guess that one or both of you works from home, and the upstairs living room will be a playroom for the children?

Please provide all the information the architect possesses about you and the site so a proper evaluation can be preformed.

I would want an easier way to enter covered patio from kitchen as so many of our grilling out days are rainy,

Just a few things. I'd rather people enter where the mudroom and nice stairs are rather than through the foyer where their first view is the kitchen in whatever state it may be. I would also rather dinner guests have a nice view of the stairs than of the messy kitchen where I just made a wreck preparing the meal. For me the fridge is too far away from the sink to schlep foods to be prepped. You'll need a prep sink in the island if you leave the fridge where it is. Agree that thepantry could be on an inside wall, or you could for a built-in one on where those right cabs are. Access from the kitchen to the covered porch would be important to me.

Bergen County, NJ - Traditional - Kitchen · More Info

You appear to have 2 stairways with access to the basement. I'm assuming the one in the garage is meant for taking things down to a work area. If so, a straight stair would work much better. 8'x4' sheets of plywood (for example) aren't that bendable.

Random thoughts:

- The name doesn't matter so much, but this doesn't say "farmhouse" to me.

- I'd eliminate the small, maybe 1' offset /make the back wall straight and simple. This small offset is not big enough to make any difference, and it'll be a waste of money.

- I like the location /size of the pantry -- except that you have to walk so far from the garage to reach it.

- I like that you have a cabinet in the kitchen "apart from the main work area" where you can keep the coffee pot, a cookie jar, etc.

- In spite of this being a very large house, the family room is going to live pretty small once you allow for a walkway to the sunroom. I think I'd rather have one large living space on the first floor rather than the family room AND the sunroom.

- You have THREE living areas -- family room, sunroom, living room. PLUS two offices. PLUS a basement. PLUS generous bedrooms AND an extra bedroom. Do you have specific purposes /needs /thoughts on how you'll use these spaces? It's a lot to pay for /furnish /maintain and clean /heat and cool /pay taxes upon.

- My grandparents used to have a house with a living room-fireplace-sunroom just as you're proposing ... and they had single French doors on each side of the fireplace. It was SUCH a lovely arrangement.

- Do you have a door between the mudroom and the kitchen/dining areas? I'd like to see a pocket door in this area, but I don't think one could fit in that area.

- Like another poster, I question why you have TWO staircases into the basement. Staircases are quite expensive, and these are going to the same area.

- Because this house is quite wide, I like the location of the main staircase.

- You have two offices upstairs, which is probably a good idea for two adult workers. I think we're going to be working at home more and more. But I don't like that one spouse must pass through the other's space to reach his or her office -- I think this is going to make both spouses unhappy. I understand that this will make the kitchenette 3' smaller, but the second office definitely needs its own direct door.

- Reaching the shower in the master bathroom seems to require going through a pinchpoint or bottleneck. Is that a freestanding tub? If it were set at an angle, you'd have better access to the shower.

- Two of the secondary bedrooms have large, generous closets ... yet the one on the far left has no closet.

- I'd move the master bedroom door "to the left /down the small hallway. This would allow the closet door to open into a small hallway, and it makes a couple good things happen: the bedroom space loses one door /one impediment to furniture placement. The closet door is steps closer to the laundry. One spouse can fetch out clothing without light spilling into the bedroom where the other spouse is sleeping. I'd go with a pocket door on this closet /leave it open all the time.

Just a couple:

- the window eyebrows look like a last minute add. They seem to be competing with the Garage door eyebrow and porch.

- I'd capture the Pantry space for the Covered Patio. Even though views are to front, I imagine you won't have the eating table on the Porch, and this may be a transition to more outdoor living space in back (deck/patio). Pantry over by stair, shifting of stair or capturing more space in Garage may be needed to fit Pantry.

- Master Closet moving door to "vestibule" by sliding main door out. Allows circulation from bath to not go through bed area, reduces long 'nook' from rest of house.

- Closet in Guest Room may be nice to have.

- Some detailing spent on back elevation with the roofed 1' bumpout for the Powder Room. Maybe some more thought than long blank wall with a "negative cutout" for the Patio by shifting/expanding Sunroom massing, which would also allow better path to it from Family Room (because FP location requires seating nearer to back wall which is in circulation space to Sunroom).

Well on your way!

The upstairs hall is about 3’x34”. It has no natural light at all. It opens up only at the stairs, which themselves are an interior shaft, whose light comes from a window in a door around the corner of a closet at the foot of the stairs. Solatubes upstairs can help with not having to turn on the lights all day long, but they won’t create an open, airy feel. It’s just dark and narrow, You‘ll need to really think about how you are going to light the hall.

On the other hand, I lived in a house with a similar though shorter hallway, and we used it for tumbling runs and our toy bowling set.

Appreciate the comments! I have listed some possible changes after walking through a house with similar first floor layout.

Kitchen

• Tall windows at sink (to see uphill) 4.5’
• 48” cooktop
• Space for build-in fridge/freezer 48” min each
• Bump kitchen out to make depth of house about 35’ - 38’

Pantry

• Move window to rear
• Possibly take more space from “covered patio” since this space will be used for food storage, double ovens, appliance storage (crock pot, etc), all paper goods, cleaning supplies, vacuum(?), butler sink (?)...
• Double ovens by the door
• Combo of closed cabinets and open shelves, brick flooring

Sunroom

• Single French Doorway on both sides of fireplace, so long as there is room to open without hitting door to front porch

Family Room

• Low-profile fireplace, room for mantle and TV above

Dining/Foyer

• Remove columns
• Single oversized front door (instead of two doors)

Porch

• Floor considering going’ to 13’ with support columns at the outside edge of floor to maximize usable floor space.
• Roof Overhang 2ft further than floor
• End porch at left edge of house (if we need to stay within budget)

Garage

• Overhang about 15’ to be able to park cars under the covered roof.
• Push garage back enough to have large flat area for cars at top of driveway
• Locking door at bottom of stairs to basement (instead of at top of stairs)
• Stairs should accommodate carrying full sheets of plywood from garage to basement.
• Door to backyard close to stairs
• Back of garage even for all bays

Exterior

• No grills on front windows or some with and without grills for viewing reasons (Living and Dining rooms: picture window with double-hung on either side?)

Second Floor

• Would like to see option for Master suite at front of house, kids rooms to rear of house

NOTES

• Unsure about covered porch in rear, possibly absorb as part of the pantry and living area