Just remember things look bigger on paper than in real life. Your great room and entry are not very wide at all. 10 feet or less isn’t a great amount of space in terms of usability and walking around. This becomes more obvious with the dining closed off and will make your great room a long bowling alley type feel.

Also - note that all the dimensions here are to the middle of the walls. So your hallway between the kitchen and newly ceated flex room is 3' 6" - NOT 3' 10". 42" for a hall isn't nice and it gets worse the longer it is.

Unless you have a dedicaed eating area on the part of the plan not shown, I would not recommend this. And probably wouldn't recommend it otherwise either based on the hallway being created.

If the hallway being discussed just goes to the garage and maybe the laundry room (?) I don't think it would be a problem for it to be that narrow. But the comment about having another eating area is good. Is there room for a full size table on the other side of the kitchen which isn't visible on the part of the plan you're showing?

Thanks so much for this input so far, exactly the thoughts I needed.

@WestCoast Hopeful The great room is 15W x 27L, its not quite as narrow as my first picture looked.

@just_janni There is a breakfast area that we would use for eating. We personally would never use the dining room. I'm working from home permanently so my options are take the 4th bedroom as my office or somehow convert the dining room to an office/study/dining room.

@kandrewspa Yes, there is a breakfast room.

Honestly I would use 4th bedroom as office.

I think you'd be disappointed closing off that space so completely. I'd at least START with using the 4th bedroom as your office if that's an option that does not displace a kid to sleeping in a tent in the backyard or something...

Two kids with one bedroom each, so we would lose our guest bedroom if I take the 4th BR as an office. Do you see any other modification options to make that dining more usable without closing it all off? It's going to end up being a room we never use.

I would just use the dining as your office then but not close it off at least at first.

I see that there is no landing pad by the garage door. So, I wonder if you actually made the space in question smaller than the 11'4" shown, it would widen the hall a bit and give room for a hooks for keys and umbrella, maybe a shallow shelf for sunglasses and mail? Would an office of 10x12 still work for you?

I would add the French doors between the dining room and the foyer. But I would do that even if it was a dining room. I'm not a fan of dining rooms being wide open to an entry. An office really needs to have a barrier from the entry. Might not need doors on the side facing the kitchen. That would depend on what your working hours are, and who else is at home while you're working.

In your kitchen, you might have problems opening a fridge door against that wall in the corner. Check fridge specs carefully and what size filler the kitchen designer planned to put in there.

Lots of sad stories on the forums of people not being able to open their fridge doors enough to have full access to shelves and not being able to open/remove drawers.

How often do you host overnight guests? That would likely dictate it for me - if we hosted a lot of the time then I would make the DR into a study - but if it was only a few times a year then I would set up the 4th bedroom as a study/guest room (but we use our DR all the time)

@bpath I plan on building a custom mud cabinet inside the garage next to the door.

@mcarroll16 It must be 100% closed off for my work. My kids are very young and very loud.

@chispa Thanks for the observation, I will look more into that.

@la_la Girl It would only be a few times a year, mainly for parents visiting.

It seems most would not enclose the dining room, I'm a bit surprised but definitely has me reconsidering.

I would enclose it, and like mcarroll said even if it's Dining room. It's nice to have a guest room available.

Where do the stairs lead? Is that space an option?

How soon are you starting to build this and is this a tract home or a custom home?

With young children at home, I would definitely enclose it. Small noisy children only grow into big noisy children (ask me how I know). Having an office to wall that off is crucial. And if you evern don't need a home office, you can move your TV there and wall the rest of your home off from their entertainment sounds.

@bpath There is a large recreation room with full bath upstairs that will be the kids play room.

@cpartist Building will start in the next couple months. And somewhat both, its a custom home builder offering about 20 floor plans for the location. There is a limit to what they will do I'll say that.

@mcarroll16 I thought it was a win win enclosing it for an office but still capable of being a dining room. I am now concerned it may close up the floor plan too much though. Definitely torn.

Can you use wide French doors on the kitchen-facing side, so the room can be opened up for dining? Then a different type of door on the foyer side, to prevent the doors interfering with each other. Something like a glass slider or nana-wall type folding door? I'm out of my depth here, hoping the pros have some concrete product ideas.

I worked from home full time for a few years and ended up working in a room off the back corner of our house - not sure WFH in the center of the all action (even if the room is closed off) would be great but every person/job is different

I'm seeing this great room configuration as not that great. The entire foyer end is not very functional. The middle is encroached on by the island. The island corner and traffic pattern from the breakfast area limit furniture placement for the fireplace. You can cut out scaled furniture and explore how you'd get things usable with flow through the space. I'm seeing a lot of square footage with the added dining room portion. I'm not seeing it accomplishing what I'd want for family life.

I think office location depends on the kids' ages and abilities though. My "office" has ended up being the kitchen table, because I need to have eyes and ears on what one particular child is doing. If I was in a quiet back room she would either wreak havoc in the kitchen, or I would be constantly running downstairs to tend her. A central room with glass doors that let me keep on eye on things but block out sound would be fantastic.

I would not advise an office being in plain site from the entry. A wall there allows for pretty artwork and a nice greeting/welcoming space. Smart design includes pocket offices unless you spend all of your time there. It's nice to have some office area once you start using your flex space for other things.

That makes sense @mcarroll16 - i figured WFH + young kids meant a nanny or sitter was in the mix but if not then central location would be key

Well a sitter is the ideal. Didn't even consider that! If you have a sitter, then the big concern is just whether you can afford to vacate your work room when you have overnight guests.

Have you actually walked this floor plan?

Are you allowed to flip the kitchen and breakfast area?

Oxymoron Flag Thrown:

"its a custom home builder offering about 20 floor plans for the location."

Do lay out your furniture to scale in the great room, including the tv.

If there's 20 to choose from, I'd drop this one from the running. Is there a link?

"Flex" and "Bonus" spaces are usually a sign of poor design or an inexperienced designer. All things considered, it may be best to build the house as designed, move in, and see what your need for the space is and remodel accordingly.

"its a custom home builder offering about 20 floor plans for the location."

No it's a tract home builder offering homes that are at a higher price point. A custom home you design yourself (or ideally with an architect) to meet all your needs. Nothing wrong with doing a high end tract home too if it meets your needs.

Another Flag on the Field:

"Great Room" is NOT interchangeable with "Living Room" or "Living Area". A "Great Room" is a large room containing several space, most commonly a living area, dining area, and a cooking area.

@Mark Bischak, Architect Thanks for your inputs.

The builder does custom homes, but within this neighborhood there are several floor plans that are then customizable. That is actually pretty rare around here in most subdivisions.

Regarding the floor plan, I'm only calling it a flex room since I will be using as such. But really I'm just considering closing in the dining room and it would still be a dining room if ever sold. What do you think of my changes in the original post?

Also, the Great Room would still comprise of a living area, the kitchen, and breakfast area. To my knowledge this is still an acceptable space to be considered a great room.

@cpartist Unfortunately I have not walked the floor plan, there are no homes available for me to do so. Overall we like this floor plan, kitchen/breakfast area, the bedroom's/bathroom layout and 2-side/1-front garage setup (I'm having the side garage extended 6' for boat storage). We also like the large recreation room upstairs which will be the kids zone. You are right the living area dimensions are not ideal. We planned on a two chair lounge area in front of the fireplace, then the focal point being the TV on the wall centered across from the kitchen island, with either a sectional or multiple sofas. The area in front of the foyer would contain an entrance table and possibly 2 small chairs.

@bpath We planned on a lounge area in front of the fireplace, then the focal point being the TV mounted on the wall centered across from the kitchen island, with the appropriate sectional or sofas accommodate path space.

@dan1888 Our floor plan is the smallest available and also the top of our range. Overall we like the floorplan, I just don't care for the wide open dining room which I was hoping to fix with the changes I proposed.

Any more suggestions/thoughts specifically on closing off the dining room? I appreciate all the feedback so far, it's always good to see things through other's eyes.

@Jesse I am also closing off a dining room for an office as we would never use a dining room. My plan is posted below. We will have barn door on the living room side and pocket door going to the kitchen (which isn’t represented on this plan version). I know that will get a lot of negative comments here but it works for us.

Have you considered adding access to the patio from the rear bedrooms + more windows @ blue highlights?

What direction will the front of the house face? I'm concerned that the house will be very dark inside and especially the kitchen which is why I asked if you can switch the kitchen and breakfast area. Think about it. You spend more time in the kitchen then you do eating in the breakfast area and half the year, dinner in the breakfast area is dark.

It will cost to make the dining room changes. Maybe one of the next couple floorplans aren't actually that much more once you add in the cost of your changes. Post a site to them. Just for fun.

That is one narrow Great Room.

@Patrick A We are likely adding an additional window to the master, similar to what you have. I toyed with a door, but the master is already fairly close to the patio door.

@cpartist The back of the house faces north, so it should be steady light while the sun is up. Not sure it would be worth the magnitude of floor plan changes.

@Kyla McSweeney Ultimately closing the dining room will serve us better and our intention is to be in the house to take our young kids through school years.

I vote for enclosing the dining room, see if you can pull the top wall in, kind of behind the post, so that it creates a better definition and a wider hall.

@cpartist The back of the house faces north, so it should be steady light while the sun is up. Not sure it would be worth the magnitude of floor plan changes.

Are you in the southern hemisphere? If not, then the house will actually be quite dark since what you want in your public rooms is southern light, not northern light.

I know you're set on this plan but here is something I continually post for others. Anything in bold needs to be really thought out regarding your plan.

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. (look how you get to bedroom 2 for example.

The best houses do not have you walk through the work zone of the kitchen to bring laundry to the laundry room. (Most laundry is generated in bedrooms. Look at the path to the laundry room from your bedroom.)

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.

Honestly this is not a very good design and especially not with the rear of the house facing north. I'm wondering if another of the plans might better suit your family.

Great idea and many buyers no longer want a formal dining room. With your concept, it still could be a dining room. I wouldn’t hesitate to make these changes. One recommendation is to get frosted glass in FRENCH doors. Also maybe widen other door and do double solid doors that can be locked but generally remain swung open. 36” width would be ideal.