Consider windows in the living room in place of the sliding glass doors, and put a door in the dining area to access the covered porch. I try to avoid doors to the exterior in a living room because it can limit flexibility in furniture arrangements.

There, that wasn't bad was it?

I do not like jack & jill bathrooms.

Thank you, Mark! Not bad at all lol
We will probably eliminate the Jack and Jill bath now that we are 85% sure we don’t want more children.

Not a fan of the pocket doors in the J&J. And agree with Mark about sliders. Good ones are expensive and you presumably plan to let your dog outside regularly. When I had a dog, she was ball obsessed. On a really cold day, we would throw the ball out the door over and over again, closing door every time. Trust me, even a good slider doesn't close as easily as a conventional door. Also sliders are hard to cover elegantly - if you ever care to.

I am not crazy about all the windows in the master bedroom. It is by far the sunniest part of the house. Have you planned the bed location/dressers/nightstands and how that would relate to the windows?

The pantry and walk-in closet at the front of the house with windows is less than ideal. You will likely permanantly cover the walk-in windows but not cover the office which may not look balanced from the street. Obviously the WC will be permanently covered but the pantry may not.

No coat closet. They aren't just for coats... and I live in NC but grew up in NY. I have coats.

I would pocket door the alcove entrance to the primary bedroom. It is nice to sleep in sometimes while one parent is making breakfast for the little one.

Do you need a tub in the primary? Do you have to have a fireplace?

Double entry doors - had them on the last house and skipped them on the current house. I am a snob - and to me double doors look like someone is trying to be fancy. Doesn't hurt that in my area, every nice new house is single door and every cookie cutter fancy tract house is double door. They leak more, cost more, more to maintain ... and some NC snob is going to think you are just trying to be fancy.

Do you anticipate a TV in the great room? Have you anticipated furniture arrangement - I do see that people are coming into the house and looking at the back of a loveseat. It isn't horrible, but then you will put a table behind the loveseat/couch.

Is the lot sloped enough for a daylight basement? Are basements common there? Do you know what water is doing around there? In my area, basements are mostly only done in daylight situations or occassionally with small expensive lots. You probably know this but in case you don't, up North basements make sense because you need to dig down below the frost line anyway. In the South, they are close to the cost of building up and up has a lot more windows and is a more pleasant space. I see a lot of steps off the deck so maybe. When you build a daylight when it isn't quite right, the house gets elevated and that costs money and has more steps in every entry point than needed. Which is both annoying and costs money. And depending on how they are made, create maintenance.

Coming from a daylight, now on a slab. Costs less, tastes great.... Especially with a pool.

Where will you grill?

Your plans are difficult to read, but my comment is on a 1.5 acre lot, and lots of family from out of town, why would you plan a one-story home with only 3 bedrooms?

I wonder if you have blocked a lot of the natural light with covered porches front and back. Great room does not look like it will be sunny.
Also agree you might wish you had a media room or an “ away room “ to escape to. I would say that could be the office, but not sure, if you WFH daily. At least work out furniture, TV placement beforehand - so that relates to Mark’s comments about retaining some wall space. Doesn’t take much scrolling through Houzz to see how most new homeowners are perplexed by fireplace and TV competition.
Not trying to get you to build a bigger house per se, but do wonder about how extended family visits, houseguests will fit in. . DH works from home 2x/ week but where?
As empty nester now I am downsized but still needed of 3 BR + office because… exercise equipment & space, spouse occasional WFH, guest room bed and amenities takes up space, hobbies, pet - & manage consistent use of all rooms.

Admittedly if I had been able to design and build my own “ dream home” there might have been space efficiencies and flow and designing around my exact needs including furniture preferences. I did not find such floor plans already built in the timeframe I needed for moving.

"And Mark, that's about the kindest plan review I've ever seen from you. Good job!"

I have more concerns, just trying to figure out how to word them. I have not ended a review of a design with "And you're ugly." in a long time, and will not here.

Here is one: Lay out furniture to scale in the all the rooms to help see how they will work.

Definitely test with a furniture plan per Mark’s last comment.

I like the plan overall - hard to read the plans so I can’t see if any egress windows are planned for basement?

I think it is a fairly good plan. I would want the bedroom wing reworked to avoid Jack and Jill bathroom. You have that upstairs room and bath for out of town guests, but as your parents age, they would probably rather be downstairs, so when your child gets older, you have the flexibility of turning that second story room into a game room and have a true dedicated guest room downstairs.

I would also consider adding a closet near the front door, perhaps in that bump out in the office.

Agree with the commenter who mentioned the covered porches and natural light. I would think about doing a partial covered porch/deck in the back. So that the covered part is not as deep.

The more I look at it, the more that prime real estate to the master closet bugs me. I don’t like the master right next to the garage, but I think with the mudroom and laundry over there, I would consider swap the master wing and the secondary bedroom wings. I feel like it will end creating more privacy for the master, allowing you to have access from your closet to laundry, and giving a better view to one of the secondary bedrooms. Also, gives better access for a hall bath, and allows you to create a master closet that could be truly interior, since any windows will always be covered to prevent sun damage to clothing (I have a huge window in my closet and hate it—takes up prime real estate for shelves and has to always be covered anyway.

If you are worried about light, and have the space, made the kitchen/dining/great room longer. Have them essentially in a row so each has windows. Have a slider across kitchen and dining and large windows in great room. For sure add a fourth bedroom for guests. Get rid of Jack and Jill bath options.

Your main concern mentioned here and your hesitation in the other thread is about "flow," but I don't know if you are referring to adjacencies, circulation, or sightlines. But overall the plan is fairly simple and straightforward, it works and I don't see a lot of red flags. Assuming the process and decisions you already navigated to arrive at this design were the right ones for you, then there are only small items that can improve things, but wouldn't affect the "flow" in a significant way.

But the biggest thing I see so far is that from your descriptions, the basement will be, and need to be, a big part of living here. You have extended stay of family, some of which would be aging dads. Right now, they will have to stay upstairs in the Bonus Room, since you are using the 3rd bedroom as playroom/homeschool, and stairs may become an issue eventually. A small child will age out of the size of a bedroom for a playroom, and the Great Room is not an option with you working next to it (and husband will work in which room?). So, maybe you approach the bedroom as Guest, and plans to remove the J&J will help that. The basement becomes more prominent in maybe having another bedroom, playroom, and homeschool area there.

So thinking about that, maybe the stair gets flipped with upstairs/downstairs. The column placement in the basement really limits future buildout. Can't see text, but the scale of spans looks like wood beams, maybe switching to steel beams will reduce the number of columns. The column line is too close to the walk-out wall as well, so I would re-evaluate the floor joist span with regards to column placement. Also, the windows are just symmetrically punched on the back wall, I would design the back elevation with the basement windows to work in concert with the main floor windows. Basically design the basement so you have flexibility for the life of the home and include it as part of the house design, not a leftover space.

Take your best guess at the way you would want to finish your basement in the future, and layout the beams and columns accordingly. The fewer columns and the further they are apart, the easier it will be getting the layout you want. Larger floor joists and beams will allow for fewer columns spaced further apart.

Are you planning an island in your master WIC? If not, I think you can take some of that space and put it toward a reach-in closet facing the foyer. Also, consider the glass in your WIC windows (to avoid fading clothes) and in the toilet room (privacy.) As mentioned, laying out your furniture to-scale will help, as will drawing lines for your typical paths through the house (backyard to mudroom / powder room; master closet to laundry; etc.)

Yes, I’m sorry if I got confused about rooms on other floors. I’m reading references to both “basement “ and “ upstairs “ and wasn’t sure home many potential bedrooms/ guest room/ office/ playroom are in the mix, even if not all being finished right away.

If nobody is reading this from your family, arrange the stair that leads to the space above the garage so a shallow pantry cabinet can be located in front of the stair that swings open to expose the stair to your private room. Don't tell your husband, son, or dog. You will thank me later.

I agree with below. Plan your basement now. All of those columns will mean you have limited options later. We designed ours completely - down to the location of the TV - even though we were not planning on finishing it until much later.

You can easily get your kitchen on an exterior wall with windows - you have 1.5 acres so your house doesn't need to be squished into one space. It just means redesigning your plan. It seems like your builder is probably designing this in house?

The dining area also seems pretty cramped, with not much space to walk between the table & island.

Regarding the kitchen, move your DW to the very end (top) of your island, then move the sink over as well. You don't want your DW opening into the oven door. The prep space is to the left of the sink as you are standing at it, so that is the counter you want to maximize. Make sure you are planning now for the ventilation requirements for a 48" range.

Don't use a barn door on your pantry. Use a pocket or hidden pantry and put something on that wall. Make sure you have AT LEAST 5' between the fridge & island. More is better (our layout is similar and that spot is a bottleneck. We have 4'-3").

I would plan built-ins on the fireplace wall to provide some sound buffer to the MB. If the TV is on that wall as well, I would plan on insulating that wall.

I don't love the windows in the closet opening right to the front of the house/porch. Given the location of your closet - a hike from the bedroom - you will dress in there. Which means virtually 100% of the time your shades will be closed. I might consider adding a door into your closet from the alcove so you can grab a sweater if you need one without having to walk through the entire MB suite/bathroom to get it. Would also make laundry easier.

Double sinks in the MB - verify what that vanity looks like and if it has enough storage for you. A single sink with 2 sets of drawers may work better for you. Make sure you leave sufficient space around your tub (1') or consider a Japanese soaking tub instead (wish I had one of those).

I wouldn't love walking past washing machines every time I come into the house, and especially accessing the basement. That is a big thoroughfare in your house and it will be cramped. Make sure the laundry machines are shown to scale - they look a bit small.

I think you could revise the layout of BR 2 and BR 3. If you are only planning on one kid, a J&J bath is not very useful to you (and in general, they are not loved on this site. We have one and I am not a fan - and we only have 1 kid so it could be worse. They are really only OK when kids are young, and not so great for adults/older kids). I would make that a hall bath which should gain you some space for laying out the bedrooms, possibly getting one of them in the corner so it can have windows on 2 walls.

It just seems like such a shame to design a house where the master bedroom is the only room with windows on two sides. I would definitely consider stretching it out so there are windows on the kitchen which would let more light into DR/greatroom as well. Pantries and closets are better suited without windows so these are a complete waste.

how many people do you plan on seating at dinner? It sounds like you are planning to have frequent visitors/family. Current DR looks pretty cramped for big family dinners - we have about that length but for holiday dinners our table expands to edge of room and kids are seated in the living room space (through wide opening between the two).

I have no idea what I would do with a master closet that big, and would probably ideally want slightly bigger closets in the secondary bedrooms. I still don't understand the closet through the bathroom thing? Maybe I'm just lazy and used to small houses. It just looks like a long way to go for a sweater, and I don't need people trapsing through the bathroom getting a sweater while I'm showering. Perhaps I'm missing something though...

We have a house that was built to have a walkout basement, but without the needed slope. There are a lot of steps to get into the main level of the house (from front door and side door) which drive me crazy! If I were to build a house I would not force a walkout (by builidng up the main level). Just sharing my experience (not sure if your lot will create the same issue). Although the basement is bright and light and adds extra space (e.g. for guest room), the stairs (both in the basement and getting into the house) really limit us in regards to thinking about aging parents/grandparents visiting.

All of your feedback has been super helpful. I am really glad that I got the courage to post my plan. I have stared at these plans for months and have read a million houzz posts, but the specific feedback and you all sharing your lived experiences with certain features is priceless.

@Architectrunnerguy I'll post a site plan and all elevations soon. We are currently waiting for the builder to verify the septic tank location.

@David Cary Great point. Our dog is actually a sun goddess so she asks to sit on our current deck whenever the sun is out and asks to come back in 10 min later when she gets too hot so lots of in and out for our four legged baby.

-We were planning to place the bed on that left wall in the MB. Thoughts on a transom window or smaller windows above the bed?

-Tub is a must have for me. I currently have to fold into a pretzel to submerge into our current tub. It's not relaxing at all!

-Fireplace isnt a must have, but a nice to have.

-I was actually looking at single doors last night.

-The plan was to have the TV in the great room above the fireplace. I've seen the many posts regarding this placement.

-Our lot is sloped enough for a walkout/daylight basement. Basements are becoming more common in GA as lot sizes are getting smaller and smaller here.

-Great point about the grill. Let me think about that one.

@Diana Bier Interiors, LLC There are 4 bedrooms with the bonus room above the garage. We didn't want a massive house for family that would be in town 1-2 times a year. With my local family, we try to rotate houses for family events so 1 family isn't always hosting and cleaning up.

@HU-457756048 I work from home daily. My husband doesn't mind working in the common areas 2 times a week. I don't like distractions and he welcomes them.

@thinkdesignlive there will be windows on the left side of the basement.

@chicagoans yes, the plan would be for an island in the WIC

@Mark Bischak, Architect secret door to the private room...noted.

@anj_p really helpful notes. Thank you.

@lharpie our current table seats 6 and we will be keeping that table since 90% of the time it's just the 3 of us at that table. I don't want a massive table for seasonal family gatherings. We rarely have seated formal family gatherings now that all of my cousins have small children. Parents usually eat on the go while chasing a toddler.

My husband and I both work in the fashion and retail industry so we have lots of clothes and shoes.

Great points regarding flipping the rooms, furniture placement, eventually moving the guest room downstairs, windows into the WIC and planning the basement now. Thank you!

To further what David Cary said - I have a home with a daylight basement. One of the main reasons I am building is that the lack of connection to the outside from the main living floor. :-(

A pool would be a PITA to get to (even though I have room on my lot) and just the feeling of not being GROUNDED loses something. I have a lovely deck I never use. And I have no desire to go down and up THAT many stairs to get outside. (and I have old / blind dogs that make those things more challenging)

Is there some way to orient your home to have a PARTIAL walk out basement and part of the living area that is at ground level? I've see this done well before and it's best of both worlds.

Something to consider if you want to have a pool with kid(s) also a line of sight / safety issue.

We have a walk out basement as well as a covered back deck and a stairwell down to the back patio and yard. It’s fabulous. Lots of spaces to hang out and not at all a big deal to go down the stairs at all. Our older dog manages just fine even in the snow. As she really ages she can be let out the basement no big deal.

What would bother me:

The bedrooms sharing walls with public spaces and with other bedrooms.

The bedrooms not having windows on 2 walls but the bathroom having the coveted corner spot.

The kitchen having NO natural light.

The layout of the kitchen with having to walk through the kitchen to get to the mudroom/garage and other bedrooms.

(Why not flip the positiion of the kitchen and dining room? Think about it. One spends a heck of a lot more time in the kitchen and usually dining at least for almost 1/2 the year, is done when it's dark outside. This will then allow the kitchen to be isolated without people walking through the kitchen to get to the mudroom/garage and other bedrooms.

The laundry room being so far away from the main source of laundry which is YOUR master bedroom.

Having to walk past the laundry room to get to the mudroom and visa versa.

Windows in the master closet.

The jack and jill bathroom

Is this one of the builder's stock plans?

But wouldn't you have to go down inside stairs to let the dog out the basement? An old dog might not be able to handle any stairs. Unless you have an elevator?

We owned 2 houses with full walk-outs in the back and it wasn't as convenient as being able to walk out to your yard from your main living area. You either go down the full staircase to the basement or down the full staircase from the deck. Basically those 2 houses were a full 3-stories when seen/approached from the back.

I agree with trying to design a partial walk-out.

I post this all the time with the caveat that anything highlighted in bold, you might want to look at again.

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. (I bolded this because the bedrooms share walls with the public rooms.)

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 public 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.

Yes but going down inside is carpeted and weather controlled and never slippery. Could also walk straight out front door toward the bitter end if needed. Bistros

Not bistro. No steps

I am 4 years in this house after 8 in the prior. We talk about all the time how we love our connection to the outside by being on ground level vs our prior walk out.

Sitting on the couch, I can look out my south windows and see various flowering bushes over the pool. Not a single step to the outside patio or garage.

I also really don't mind not maintaining a deck - we had covered screened area and open air.

There are advantages being up in the air and there are advantages of being on ground level for sure. Lots more leaves inside on ground level. A bit more privacy concerns. More bird noise (not an issue for us - lots of sound mitigation.

Interesting OP that you mention how basements are getting more common because of the smaller lots- obviously that doesn't apply to you. Trying to get 6000 sqft on .25 is not what you are doing at all. Basement building by the inexperienced (and many experienced) is problematic. Just something to watch for.

That closet is marginal for an island. We had an island in our last 14x18 that was upstairs. This one is down so we really had to shrink it and we are like 12.5x12 which is close to minimum for an island - and I researched it a ton before coming up with that size. We actually have a window also and it makes a good place for a bench. Find a way to increase the closet size if you want an island. An island is an obvious extravagance and shouldn't be shoe horned in.

The house seems small to me, to serve the needs you list. You don’t say if budget is limiting the size, but obviously your lot size isn’t.

The great room/dining room/ kitchen seems very limited. The great room is not that great.

I'd just make sure what you are designing now works for several years from now not just young kids. We certainly didn't have sit down dinneres with toddlers either, but in elementary school it's nice to be able to have the cousins over and eat dinner together on occasion. And after watching the middle schoolers walking home today I can imagine it will be nice to make them sit down together and put their phones away! We have a nice table sized for 6 most of the time but expands to seat 10 (and can squish a couple more when they are little kids). I think I'm stuck on combination of wanting to host family AND putting in a 48" range, so am assuming ya'll cook, and therefore people should have a place to sit!

We have a 48" range and cook a lot. Those 2 things don't necessarily go together. The range is more about a look than a practical cooking advantage.

Sure we have 2 cooks and the extra room is nice. But no question, wall ovens are more practical. We don't cook Filet enough to make the iron skillet on burner to oven that much of a consideration. And truth be told, it goes in the toaster oven so that the house isn't heated up as much and it is out of the way.

I am now 12 years in with 48 in ranges in 2 houses. No particular advantage whatsoever.

If you have a lot of guests - cater or cook ahead of time anyway. Who wants to be slaving over 48 inches of hot iron while guests are moving around. Now - potluck and people want to put several things on simmer - maybe. We have a big box of sternos for that - because you need to spread it out anyway. It is the rare person who brings over something that needs to be fired up - at least in my experience.

Off to go use my pressure cooker... (thats the other thing - so many ways to cook beside the traditional that 48 inches of traditional gets in the way).

Yes - this is a tangent but a decision you commit to very early and is impractical to ever change. 48 inch range is this size house is out of proportion, IMO. Save some money on the range and get yourself a bit more room (ie more square footage).

I'll post a site plan and all elevations soon. We are currently waiting for the builder to verify the septic tank location.

Do you mean that the house was designed without knowing it's orientation or site location? Please go ahead and show what you have. And I fail to see what the septic location has to do with the elevations. I'd love to comment but it's best to have comprehensive information.

I believe this is the most common floor plan posted on the forum. No doubt it's popular because it fits a Great Room, a Kitchen, 3 Bedrooms, a bedroom sized Master Closet and an Office under a gigantic trussed roof plus a ubiquitous bonus room with a minimum of hallways. Oddly, I don't think I've ever seen it flipped left to right.

The drawback of such a compact, deep (front to back) plan is a shortage of walls for windows for which paired windows and a window over a tub/shower is not much consolation. It also tends to create some overwrought roof forms made possible by roof truss CAD software.

As I've noted, and in some cases, drawn many times, I would add a low wall/counter with columns between the kitchen island and the "Great Room" creating a distinction between those spaces so no one is looking at the the backs of counter dwellers as if this were a tavern.

I would also add some closets in the Foyer and narrow the opening to the Great Room.

For a house this size I would not enter the house from the garage through a Laundry Room There should be a true Mudroom with adequate storage. The Dining Area for a table of that size should project more into the rear yard.

@littlebug zone 5 Missouri the new house seems large to us. We are currently in an 1800sqft home on 1/2 an acre with only 1 bathroom on the main level which is used by the 3 of us and all guests. It's all about perspective.

I've decided against the 48 inch range and will probably get a 36 inch. We do cook and bake a lot, but I've been doing my research (thanks Houzz!) and think 36 will be best.

@David Cary I've gone back and forth about a 36 in stovetop and wall ovens vs a 36 in range. Would you do wall ovens and a stovetop if you could travel back in time?

Elevations

Your house has a similar sloping elevation to ours. Our front door is one step up to get into but back deck to the yard is more like 10-15.

That shown slope won't hold without a retaining wall. I propose that when you build the side elevations will look much different with much more exposed wall for the daylight basement.

Ok, the house tends to have a tract house configuration in that the garage is forward and has a "tacked on" feel. I understand that some 1.5 acre lots are more suitable to getting away from that look than others but is there any way to get the house proper itself more dominant and move the garage back and to the side?

That, and then get bedroom #3 oriented to the rear where there's presumably (because the MBR faces that way) a better view?

I would definitely do wall ovens. One of the big issues is the cost of dual fuel ranges. We decided against which is frustrating. Our ovens take a while to heat up which isn't really the fault of gas but I don't like it. We have Bluestar - I love the burners but the ovens are meh.

The other issue is more space near the cooktop - ie drawers underneath. We do very well without but having pans under the cooktop would be nicer.

Then of course, having the oven higher is beneficial - but not a big deal.

Glad you have decided on 36.

If we ever build again, I would try for no uppers and that space under the cooktop becomes that much more important.

The view and sunlight in the kitchen is probably the single most important feature of a house. Given your land and your research and thoughfulness, I would not compromise on this point.

@David Cary, the kitchen layout you describe is what I designed for our new home and we couldn't be happier with it. The 36" Bosch induction cooktop allows for three drawers underneath and sufficient landing space on either side. I was also able to lower the counter height on that wall, which has been helpful for my reduced reach and height. For over a decade I was unable to use the rear burners on those ranges.

The side opening Bosch double ovens are a boon to our backs which have been injured several times. After having a 48 inch Wolf dual fuel range in two previous houses, this arrangement has also been so much better for two cooks in the kitchen, one short and one tall.

Should I require a wheelchair again, I'll still be able to bake. If that need becomes permanent, we could easily retrofit the lower drawers and create space for me to pull up to the cooktop.

The only upper cabinets in our new kitchen are part of the double oven stack, above the built-in SubZero and at the end of a peninsular. They go to the 10 ft. ceiling and the highest ones have glass doors for displaying a few sentimental items that we didn't want to jettison when we downsized.

@Chandllerin, I wish you all the best for your new home. You're brave to post plans here. Much of the advice you'll get is excellent, some not so much, but just thinking through why you do or don't care for these suggestions will certainly improve your plan.

Now that we are making edits to this plan and the j&j is becoming a hall bath, should we keep or remove the powder room?

Keep powder

If you do decide to put in a pool at some point, plan NOW for a bathroom easily accessible from the pool. Our neighbors built a pool, and from the back yard one had to go through the living room and down carpeted stairs, or walk around to the front of the house and go through the garage to get to a bathroom. It was terribly inconvenient - but a pool was never in the plans when the house was built. You have the opportunity to do better.