Can be very expensive to stupid expensive. What type build, custom, tract, etc.? What do the elevations of your house look like? If this is a tract oy developer house expect the dollars to be very stupid if they will even entertain.

Just a glance at your floorplan shows this is not a budget build, so perhaps a vaulted ceiling addition is not a huge deal to you.

Ask your architect. That’s their job.

Spend countless hours looking for a house design that meets your every need and was designed for someone else's needs and another site. But then again that is what you have done and here we are.

Hire a local architect to design a house with you that meets your needs and fits your site; and live happily ever after.

Looking at the floor plan a little more, the entire house will be dark from all appearances.

it is a custom build

I am doing research in advance of meeting with the builder/designer tomorrow

from there we will be working with a local architect

I’m asking questions here so that I have a basic understanding in those meetings, not in lieu of working with those professionals

I was told to look online for floor plans to get ideas—the included floor plan is for inspiration and a point of reference on this discussion board

the plan is to go with a screened-in porch now, with the possibility of converting it to a sunroom later

I just don’t want to forfeit natural light and would like to address that upfront

no screened-in porch?
dormer?
skylight?
sun tunnel?

I appreciate any advice any and all are willing to share

Hi, Triune,

Dormers, skylights, and sun tunnels may mitigate the loss of natural daylight somewhat, but they'll also add cost, maintenance, and the potential for roof leaks at some point. A better option is to locate the screen porch where the decrease in daylighting of adjacent areas or obstructing a particular view isn't an issue.

Personally, I think the notion of scouting stock plans before meeting with an architect is likely to add more confusion and design constraints than if you were to focus on what you know best: your family's lifestyle needs and budget. Get those down in a format you can share with your architect and be open to their recommendations for what balances those objectives and the constraints of your particular site.

thank you all for your input

in our current home we definitely don’t have adequate natural light and I often have the lights on in the middle of the day

I like the idea of the screened-in porch so that we can have an indoor/outdoor space with the great room in the warmer months (we live in the Northeast)

I think a sunroom lets in more light vs the screened-in porch—is that correct?

"it is a custom build"

But it does not look like a custom design, it is rendered like a canned plan.

"meeting with the builder/designer tomorrow from there we will be working with a local architect"

Meet with the local architect before the builder, get rid of the /designer

I think a sunroom lets in more light vs the screened-in porch—is that correct?

No

that is a plan from website that I am taking as our inspiration plan
we will be working from there tomorrow

everyone I’ve dealt with so far has told me to get a plan off of the web to work from

the builder is the designer
his process is to design layout and then architect will take over

*of note: this has been a protracted process for us (almost three years) and I have gone directly to architects in the past, with less than ideal results and ultimately no usable product
—this is the furthest we’ve gotten.
I’m just trying to educate myself. I do search the web and search previous discussions
I posted here because there seems to be a wealth of knowledge and people with a passion for architecture and building projects

thank you

Your inspiration picture is what I was actually going to suggest, but without the dormer. You already have 12' ceilings in the great room. Put clerestory windows as high up as you can.

You are not working with a real architect if they are telling you to get inspiration from a canned ham plan. An architect would have you look at rooms or features that inspired moods and reflections. They would want a list of adjectives. And activities. And adjacencies.

I guess not

https://whyskylights.com/choosing-skylights/rooms/porch

I am going to ask about skylights over the porch area.

Has anyone taken this route?

How do you feel about the results?

Thank you.

Our screened porch is in the 90-degree angle between the breakfast room and dining room on the SE side of the house. The porch has a peaked roof. There are two skylights in the eastern slant of the porch roof. Breakfast Room and Dining Room have French doors out to the porch. They remain bright in winter. A mature sycamore on the south side of the porch provides shade in summer.

BTW, the plan you posted guarantees a dark interior -- and has a lot of other problems.

thank you for your feedback

the meeting with the builder/designer went well today
hope to have drawing soon

layout has some changes

he doesn’t expect natural light to be an issue as he has a similar
layout and his great room is on west side of house vs ours on the east side

why do you say the house will be dark?

seems like a lot of windows do me

thank you all for your help!

I think the darkness comment is from the location of your kitchen. You'll need lights on in there all day long, because there aren't any significant windows, especially since the only windows (dining room) face east and will be shaded after the mornings.

This plan would be good where people want to hide from *too much* light, but you say you are in the Northeast. There are no windows in your Great Room, your Kitchen, your laundry room. The Study has a window in the shadow of the Front Porch. Your Master Bath has one window (over the tub?) while the closet has a window -- but daylight fades clothes.

We have a short hallway from MBR to Master Bath with closets flanking the hall. That allows the bathroom to have light from two or three sides.

MBR: Do you like sleeping in front of a window; it doesn't feel psychologically 'secure' to me.)

Where do the stairs go?

As soon as you say "developer" I think this is not really a 'custom build', but some modifications allowed to a stock plan -- which this is, is it not?

My living room, kitchen, and dining room are laid out in the exact same way as your plan, right down to having a sunroom/3 season room off my living room.

I have lights on in my kitchen all day long, no matter how sunny it is.

The living room is also very dark to me. The sunroom is virtually all windows, nearly floor to ceiling. It certainly allows some ambient light in - but no direct sunlight ever.

That house is my second home, in a beach town where existing inventory is very tight. One learns to make do unless one has spare millions laying around. :)

Contrast that to my primary home, which has windows on 2 sides of nearly every room. Those rooms are so much brighter and the house just feels happier to me.

IF you care about how bright a home is, and if you are lucky enough to be building something new...you can do so much better than this.

My friend has a porch, not screened or enclosed, on the west side of the house. It has a couple or three of good sized skylights (which do not leak) that provide nice light to the porch. But, the light entering the house through the large picture window is not that great.

We had solatubes in our last house that gave great light to the stairwell, hall, and interior bathroom, and I wouldn't hesitate to use them anywhere else, but they are not the same as a window and view for the open feel.

If you will be creating your own floor plan, perhaps you can place the screened porch somewhere where it won't affect light to living areas.

thank you everyone

we will be taking all of your advice into consideration
and incorporating changes where can

I think solatubes are awesome in some ways. I have one in my stairs and yes it lights them up during the day.

But I agree with you bpath that it's not even close to the light that comes from a window. It's just like having a ceiling light fixture turned on, not streaming sunlight. Great for an interior secondary bathroom or stairs, but a rather sad substitute for a real window.

I'm also not sure I'd like the looks in the ceiling of a main public space. They look sort of like one of those cheap boob lights, only flat. 😄

re: boob light
eww 😂

I would be concerned about not having natural light in most of your rooms.

There is no Mr Potatohead stick on fixing your way out of a *basic form* of the house major issue. You can’t go back to the naive optimistic ”does this house make my butt look big” self deception. Yes, the house IS fat. And DARK.

And it can never be a thin blonde PhD super model. Or even an average brunette accountant. Its a goth chick, with bad eyeliner and acne. Because it’s bones are fat and dumpy and awkward. And oh so dark.

If you want a better, lighter, brighter, socially interactive, positive, happy, easy to live in, flowing and spacious, home? This pretty much is the exact opposite. It’s designed to look inward into it’s dark dark heart, and have everyone stare unto a device that simulates life, all alone, by themself.

I post this list all the time. Anything in bold is what will be an issue with this house and needs to be rethought. But like others have said, you bringing a plan to a draftsman (no architect with skills would want to work from a predesigned poor internet plan) will not get you what you want and need. You said yourself you want a light and bright house. This is not it and those items in bold below should explain why,

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 do not have diagonal interior walls making for odd spaces.

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 do not have roofs that are overly large, and dominate the exterior of the house.

The best houses do not have stick on exterior materials only on the front façade.

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. Meaning they don’t have meandering circulation paths.

And added from Architectrunnerguy:

-The best houses enrich their owners souls.

-The best houses are timeless.

-The best houses incorporate the intangibles of good design.

-The best houses have strong organizational concepts.

-The best houses have owners who understand what good design is….and isn’t.

-The best houses are shaped in response to the Sun.

-The best houses have all its parts in good proportion to each other and to the whole.

-The best houses enhance the street.

-The best houses balance function, aesthetics and construction.

-The best houses recognize there are always design tradeoffs.

-The best houses break some “rules”.

-The best houses are a joy to live in.

So what about this house do you like?

It sounds like you haven't come close to finalizing things. Choose another plan. This one isn't a good one...for all the reasons listed below. It looks claustrophobic to me. Not enough air flow.

If you are past the point of no return, do a pergola, at least for the front door.

Replying to:
cpartist

Your post is definitely food for thought.

Budget-wise, we may not be able to incorporate all of your advice.

But we have scrapped that plan and are starting over.

I’m thankful for everyone’s input!

Replying to:
Judianna20

great advice 😊