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Building a Home Design Dilemma

floor plan help

4 months ago

We’re getting ready to do a full gut renovation on this house for our family of 4. The condition of the house is such that we don’t have room in the budget for an architect so we’re working with a engineer/designer. He’s quite good but I think the layout needs some finessing.

This is my first time posting on Houzz so please let me know if more info or pics would be helpful. I really appreciate any and all input!

Basement - we’re pretty happy. My contractor assured me the 3 door mechanical room won’t require that many doors 😅

First floor - the powder room layout is giving me the biggest issues. I’m not concerned about the interior wall situation in the living/dining area as it’s not structural so we’ll workshop that with our contractors later.

Second floor - I’m open to suggestions but I think this might be as good as it gets? I wish there was a way to have a walk-in closet for the primary but I’m largely satisfied. We have built-in Ikea Pax wardrobes in our current home and quite enjoy them.

Third floor - we’re tempted to lose the third bedroom and give each kid a giant room and ensuite but are we hurting long term resale by dropping a bedroom? Idk the layout feels not ideal right now.

Info that might be useful:

this isn’t our first gut reno and we love and trust our contractors. I could share pics from our current home if that’s helpful
the house is maybe 120 years old and is quite literally falling apart. We need to spend A LOT of on some very unsexy ways like on the roof, foundation, new windows, the exterior brick walls, etc.

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Comments (12)

PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
4 months ago
Advice on remodeling a structure are best received from someone that can analyze the existing conditions first hand. Tear down and build new is always an alternative to explore.
Amy Skippen
Original Author
4 months ago
As it’s a row house, tearing down isn’t an option.
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Not sure if your shower is accurate with respect to where the head is but think about how you would turn the shower on with that door. It is a pet peeve of mine when I am traveling to get soaking wet with freezing cold water because you have to stand in the shower to turn it on. In one house I redid, I had the controls right by the door opening, on a different wall than the shower heads. On my most recent, it worked out that I have the door adjacent to the controls and the glass door swings both ways, making access easy. Just a though/something to consider as you finalize!
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Anj_p - thank you for your detailed notes. BR 1 is tiny. Those are bifolds in the closet door to maximize the usability of a reach-in closet. BR 2 is an odd shape, agreed. Originally the architect had the closet on the wall that is shared with the bathroom. I had them move it because there wasn’t enough clearance any where you put the bed (including this note in case you think that was a better placement). I’m a fanatic about symmetry though, and once we moved the closet, it meant the windows were off-centered which is why I had them put built-ins in the jut-out to balance the room. The windows are 4 ft windows though, so I don’t think a bed will block the light... but maybe I’m wrong. BR 3 will have a built-in in the weird corner - I should have noted that in the plans. Master - I agree on the walk. I plan to have another child in this house and I cannot fathom doing this walk 47x in the middle of the night. However, my husband gets up very early (~4:30 am) and says he would like to use the shower in the morning without fear of waking me... Additionally, the kitchen is right below the master bath right now so I think this placement was chosen for easy plumbing. I had tried to swing the master around - put the WIC where the hall bath is and then shift the Master Bath to where all the closets are and my husband hated it... That being said, I wanted to come here to see if a lot of other people share this opinion. I think right now he is comparing my thoughts (novice, never built a home) to those of a professional architect and builder and thinking there is no way I can come up with a preferable layout. He might be right, but I figured it’s definitely worth checking! Thank you for all the other notes as well. I will keep this all in mind.
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There just isn't enough information to give sound advice. Where is the adjacent unit and it's footprint? What are the lines outside the Living now, a porch slab or a roof overhang? Where is access to daily parking? What is the view out the back, e.g. does a small kitchen sink window get priority over a Master Bedroom window/access for this view? What is exactly wrong with the attic that has a full size stair and can't be used for Bedroom2? Can a unit really be totally gutted free from any MPE locations, e.g a slab-on-grade, hydronic baseboards, electrical panel location, sewer tie-in, or even the fireplace?
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We built a large house at the beach in New Jersey with an open concept kitchen/family room in the back which faces northeast and has a covered porch attached. There are 4 large windows on the back wall of the kitchen, a 6 ft slider and a 15ft wall of sliding doors/stationary panels in the family room. The family room also has two large windows on the south wall. and still the kitchen is dark. Don't count on the patio doors in the living room or dining room to provide much natural light, they won't. You have no windows at all on the south wall. I think you need to ask the architect to rework this design so you're getting more southern light. It shouldn't be hard for him/her to do.
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elisejames
4 months ago
For the powder room, I’d be tempted to close that 12ft opening a bit to create a hall-ish entrance to the powder room — it would also give you some other layout options in there. For the master, it looks like you have both a study and a little sitting area on that floor. Consider whether to create a WIC out of that. For the kids’ rooms - unless you are planning to sell in less that 5 years, I think you should do what works best for your family and not worry about resale. If you go the route for resale, I’d also consider another bathroom up on that floor. Best of luck. This seems like a fun project. I like a lot of your layout overall.
Julie Praus
4 months ago
I would reverse the toilet and sink in the half bath so the toilet isn’t the first thing you see if the door is open. I like all the rest including above comments.
Amy Skippen
Original Author
4 months ago
Powder room alternatives?
elisejames
4 months ago
Yes! That’s what I had in mind. You could possible the toilet back up to the w/d wall, then the lav would be along the outside wall — so it’s what you see when you walk in the door.
Amy Skippen
Original Author
4 months ago
I think it could work nicely. I’m pretty committed to not have the powder room open into the dining room and I think we have more than enough room to add a hallway.
emilyam819
4 months ago
I’d leave one bathroom on the kids’ level so they can use the extra room as a playroom.
WestCoast Hopeful
4 months ago
Seems like a lot of bathrooms on master bedroom floor for one bedroom and a study?

I like kids floor as is.

Kitchen seems so cut off from living spaces
loobab
4 months ago
On the children's level you have three bedrooms and one bathroom.

People just don't live that way any more, and you hurt your resale value.

Yet you have two bathrooms on the master bedroom level which has 1 bedroom.

That doesn't make sense.

Either add a bathroom to the children's level, or lose a bedroom up there, since you do have other bedrooms in the house.
emilyam819
4 months ago
Are there closets in all of the bedrooms?
I agree that 2 bathrooms on the master level is overkill (unless the study is really a bedroom? Maybe open the master bath into the hallway for the occasional guest).
Make another entrance into the kitchen, with powder opening into a little hallway:
WestCoast Hopeful
4 months ago
I don’t think two kids need more than one bathroom on the kid level. That’s totally fine and I wouldn’t add one.

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