Advice on these two new house floor plans

last year

last modified: last year

It is 1-story house with basement. There are two preliminary designs with garage on the left vs garage on the right. Would like to seek feedback on pros and cons of both. Which one is better? Thanks!

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Mrs Pete

last year

last modified: last year

Random thoughts:

- What does your builder /architect /whoever say about your lot and which portion would be better for the garage? All land isn't equal, even on the same lot, and this may matter a good bit.

- What's up with the curve? I have the impression you're building on the side of a cliff, but that can't be true.

In both plans:

- Windows and natural light look good.

- Where's your guest parking? With all these bedrooms, you must expect an army to live in this house ... you don't necessarily need to garage all their cars, but you do need a plan for significant parking. I have a feeling that's sort of a weak point here.

- Each of these modest bedrooms comes with a tiny bathroom. AND a half bath in addition? You'll constantly be cleaning /running toilet paper and shampoo to cramped bathrooms. None of them have space for a hamper or any storage. Unless you just love cleaning toilets, you're over-bathed.

- Pocket doors are not a good choice on bathroom doors; they're harder to open, and when they do (not if they do), they often require a pro to fix them. They're more likely to break in a damp area.

- Are all these showers small? Like summer camp small?

- In each plan you have three public spaces on the first floor and two more in the basement. Do you have specific plans for what will happen in each of these spaces?

- No fireplace? Is that typical in your area?

- I'd want to add a door (or at least a pass-through) between the mudroom and the pantry. This would be a step-saver.

- The laundry rooms are far-far from the bedrooms, adding extra steps to an already thankless chore.

- Aside from the pantry and the master closet, storage is not particularly good in either plan. For a house this size, I'd expect 2-3Xs more ... a broom closet, multiple linen closets to support sheets for all these beds, coat closet.

First plan:

- I'd also consider flip-flopping the pantry and the laundry room so that the dryer can be on an exterior wall. Dryers on exterior walls require a shorter vent, which is cheaper to build and more fire-safe.

Second plan:

- Better connection between the family room and living room, which would be better for parties ... but worse for privacy.

- Windows in pantries are negatives. Well, more specifically, light is the enemy of food storage.

- Bedroom 3's closet is really bad ... with one little door, most of the clothing/contents will be hidden away in dark corners.

- Master bedroom is awkward ... you must walk around the bed to reach the bathroom. Shower entrance looks like a pinch-point.

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Comments (14)

bpath
last year
The first one is better. No door to the master. Keep the kids out, order door dash and deliver through the window. Easy life,
dan1888
last year
last modified: last year
A lot of west facing windows on the second will be a cooling challenge.. It would be my choice to have a side access garage. Why do kitchen layouts show a double bowl sink? No one chooses one. Start with a 24 or 27" sink base and all the oversize sinks will finally begin to disappear.
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This is really hard. At least you have some choices. I personally do not mind NOT having a toilet room. (I have one now, but not in the last house). If you can fit one in, it may appeal to a few more people. ( When we sold, we had 3 people wanting our home and it had no toilet room). Our tub sat under two corner windows with a wonderful view. So if you would rather a big shower than a tub, make sure you get the shower you want. I like Mongot's 2nd option, but would leave out the linen cab next to it. Hang your towels and add a small bench there. Supposedly, the door on the toilet room should swing out, but the one on house that we own now does not. If you leave it closed all the time, it does not matter. If you like it open, it will block your window. Also I noticed that on some of your drawings, you have lost 6 inches of your 9 foot 6 inch length. That space would make your shower much larger. Of your drawings, option B appeals most to me. Option A closes up your space and C wastes too much space. If your shower can be enlarged to 42 in or 48 in by about 5 feet, that would be really nice. I added a couple of other ideas. I personally like two vanities better than one. The cost should be similar if the total size is the same. Option A1 cuts back on vanity size, but you get a linen and toilet room. A2 has 2 vanities. I still like stand alone vanities for the style. Option 3 gives you more vanity space on one wall, but I don't know if an angled door is the best option. I'd probably do drawers on the end of the long vanity by the window. More light.
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We lived in Maine for 3 years when DH was doing a post-doc. I remember cold rainy/snowy winters. I'd want an attached garage but don't even see a carport. Will your family generally use the front door to come/go or will they typically go in/out thru the utility room? I would also want the front entryway to be covered -particularly if that is the entry the family will use everyday - and I'd want a nice large closet near the main entry to store hats, coats, boots, gloves, etc. Entering directly into the house with no foyer and no porch means that guests and family will track snow, mud, leaves, etc directly into your living room. With 1600 sq ft, you don't have a lot of space to spare but I think if you find a way to dedicate 50sq ft to a foyer, you will be much happier with how the house lives...particularly with two kids. I can't quite read the dimensions but the children's closets look awfully small while the secondary bedroom seems to have quite a bit of wasted space. What is it that you particularly like about this house plan? I do like the kitchen but the master bedroom seems a bit large for the overall size of the house and there is too little closet space. You didn't post an elevation drawing but I'm not seeing anything on the floorplan to make me think the elevation is going to wow me. In fact, the overall layout reminds me of a typical "double-wide" trailer layout. In general, I'm thinking that you can do better.
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Hi friends, anyone wanna offer up some advice? We have a lovely view out the back, and I was trying to maximize that while providing bar seating for the 5 of us not in a line. I'm thinking if I put I prep sink in the island it will keep me from wanting to prep by the back door to the right of the sink? And if the prep sink is there it will not matter which end the refrigerator goes on the range wall? In the area near the pantry /second fridge, I've got 53 inches. Will that be enough for a bar sink, coffee maker, soda stream? We use those items a lot, but I do not want them on my kitchen counter. Can I get bar sink behind an appliance garage type thing? I also want to turn the existing powder room into a 3 piece bath (add shower) without moving the toilet. The current measurements are 5ft 9" by 4 ft 6 in. The area labeled "add shower" adds 4ft 10 to the long wall and would be the same depth at 4ft 6. I could steal room out of the storage area to the right, but I'd rather not. Well crud, I just realized I don't have the measurement of the toilet off the wall....
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Welcome to Albuquerque! Feel free to reach out if you want input on builders or neighborhoods. I think you can make the first plan work for you, and I think you will love having a separate kids play area. I like your fireplace idea too -- that will make your furniture/TV placement options so much more flexible. To me the dining/kitchen location seems good -- I wouldn't switch them, but I don't think it would be bad if you did. Assuming you leave the design as is, it looks like it would be possible for you to extend your small pantry up to the window to give you more space (and if the dining area is big enough you could even scoot the kitchen down a bit to get a large pantry). My first concern when I looked at the layout is the lack of a mudroom with two kids. What I would do is to use that closet above the laundry space and put the washer/dryer in there (facing the now mud room). I would stack them on the left and then put a bench with hooks above them where the washer and dryer currently are. You can use the corner space for a cabinet to store laundry supplies. Another thought -- do you take baths? Your master shower looks small, and I know most of builders around here have master bath options for you to replace a separate shower/tub with a large shower. Unless you are a huge bath person, I would definitely do that. Final question/thought -- is the patio covered? If not, and you have the option to cover the patio, I would definitely take it. That will make the patio so much more useful in our climate, and this is an upgrade you want to choose when you build the house as opposed to an add-on later.
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PRO
RappArchitecture
last year
At a glance, I prefer the garage on the right, mostly because the public, private and service areas are clearly delineated. Also the garage is less prominent visually, always a good thing. I'll try and come back later and make more detailed comments.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
last year
The better one best meets your needs and fits the environment in which it sets. Most all of that information only you know.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
last year
I am willing to bet the designer of the house loves to play Tetris.
millworkman
last year
Garage right has 3 bedrooms instead of the 4 on garage left if that is important to you.
3onthetree
last year
From your last thread, big change going from ADU to basement. However, it doesn't appear that this is a hillside with a walkout basement? Is this not hilly CA? And where is the back setback for outdoor living? I thought "garage left" wasn't allowed to disturb historic trees with a driveway?

It seems that "garage right" has more openness to a view and more opportunity to manipulate, whereas "garage left" is specific to a tight Northwest view, though I do not know how height limitations you spoke prior affect either plan. It also seems that you are the one designing this instead of an architect? If you were to start with basics of adjacencies, circulation, nodes, arrival points, etc you might have a semblance of the "garage right" plan, so without any other information that seems to have more potential to pursue.
bpath
last year
So much depends on the site, how you approach the house, what’s around it, in addition to how it lives. Can you share those?
PRO
RappArchitecture
last year
A site plan showing property lines, conditions and house orientation would be helpful in order for you to get more useful comments.
WestCoast Hopeful
last year
What does the yard look like and the approach from street? Can you share the site plan?
cpartist
last year
last modified: last year
What does the site look like?

Neither is ideal yet but the first one is better because the private wing is private. The problem with the first one is that the kitchen and family room have windows facing due west which will be a problem in summer.
WestCoast Hopeful
last year
Isn’t the home facing north and the entire backside as a result north. In the first plan isn’t only the garage and one side of kitchen facing west?
cpartist
last year
Oops my bad. Kitchen and dining room.

Advice on these two new house floor plans

Mrs Pete

Comments (14)

bpath

dan1888

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