In the secondary bedroom area, if the bathroom is longer and narrower, it can go all the way to the outside wall and have a window, and the closets can be more-efficient reach-ins.

IMO no bathroom ever next to living space or kitchen You might not want 1 floor living but I will say I love my main floor laundry no trips up and down the stairs doing loads of laundry . I have had both basement and upstairs and I will always want a main floor one. Waht is that center piece where the stairs are it looks like ther eis a wall in the center of it Maybe just verify what is in there besides stairs. BTW this should nave just been added to your other post so now if we want to we have to go back and forth to see the changes. I do not like kitchens open to LRs but I also do not like cooking in a space where I can't talk to my guests at all. I think when using a stock plan every time you change anything it costs money and you are making huge changes everywhere . Go get an architect that can design a house for how you live

How does the house relate to the environment in which it is proposed to set?

The primary suite would be better in the corner of the house where it could have windows on both sides. Corners are wasted on closets since they don't need (and probably shouldn't have) windows.

I'd use the office as a combined laundry/fix-it/craft room. Put the office in the front window with a nice, built-in desk. You'll appreciate having a sink and a place to make messes that isn't the kitchen--especially since you have littles. Additionally, the master bathroom and laundry room plumbing would all be together and stacked with the downstairs bathroom. That should reduce the cost of plumbing somewhat.

Your kitchen is poorly laid out: the dishwasher and fridge doors will run into each other. And all the green space between the stairway and the oven is pretty much wasted. This is due to the "broken spine" of the house. If the transverse hallway ran straight across instead of jogging, you wouldn't have this problem.

The new design is in no way an improvement over the original internet plan. This is no way to design a house. Find someone else to help you even if you have to pay them for their time and talent. I see no hope of making this design livable.

While you're at it, add more stair risers so the ground floor ceiling height can be 9 ft.

The garage is too wide for a narrow lot — your kids won't be toddlers for long.

The short hallway and closet between the living room and dining room seems off to me. To avoid open concept, you could do a wall between the two rooms with large pocket doors or French doors for as much/little separation as the occasion required.

One more thing. When entering via the front door, the view ahead is toward the kitchen sink and dishwasher. Not an ideal focal point.

I understand wanting two living spaces but i’d accept one being a few feet smaller to create a kitchen with enough space for 2 cooks. it’s nice to have some space for kiddos to help without being totally in the way. agree with prioritizing windows on 2 walls on master and in hall bath.

I'll offer a differing viewpoint on the laundry.  Having had the laundry both on the main floor and the second floor (with main bedrooms on the second floor), I would much rather have the laundry room on the second floor near the bedrooms.  No more hauling loads of clothes up and down the stairs.  I'd rather walk up those stairs empty handed to move clothes over to the dryer, than have to carry a bunch of clothes up and down the stairs.

Mostly we are used to bigger houses - both on the forum and IRL. Just a comment.

The Primary bedroom is pretty small and I like them small. You would be crammed to have a king bed in there and it is smaller than the kid's rooms which probably have 50% of the occupancy rate. Is there a door to the closet off the primary? Have you laid out bed/dresser/nightstands? For a point of comparison, I think we are 14x15 but our closet has our dresser. I find that 13x13 is the smallest to have a king bed.

For a small plan, the hallways really seem wasteful - the percentage is huge.

Agree about having a closet in a corner.

If money is the issue, then build over the garage. While it isn't ideal, it isn't that bad either. You would be looking at a huge boost to square footage for relatively small cost. It will be easier to appraise - I have never seen appraisals consider footage above a garage to be diminished like the way a basement is. You don't even have to build over the whole thing if you don't want. You could possibly put the closet there which would allow the primary bedroom to have the corner and you could have a bathroom that isn't right out of a condo or a 1980's house. You could have suitcase etc storage off the closet (unconditioned and nearly free).

Lastly, loathing something is not rational and can lead to irrational decisions. Let go of the hate and at least give yourself an EIK. That has been a desireable feature for over 50 years. Do your kids like to eat alone in the morning or do you have sitdown breakfasts every day? Do they like doing homework alone while you cook dinner? If space is tight, I would let go of the formal dining and just have that area open. Having 4 separate spaces with hallways in a small house is why people tear down houses around me - it is really hard to fix. Your pantry is tiny BTW for 4 people. I suspect most people's islands get a heck of a lot of use. I know mine does. My MIL's does - like every time we go over. Why would we let her be alone while she is finishing up or plating up a meal? Even a bit of lunch doesn't magically appear in a dining room. She lives in a 2100 sqft 3/2.5 with a FROG. Take away her FROG and it is about this size. She has an EIK with a peninsula to sit at. Built in 1983 and feels more modern than this.

Instead of having (and spending money) on your "architect friend" remuddle a tract type home, how about asking him to design a home that fits your needs, your site and your budget.......................

I’d take the monsterhouse plan as is before I’d do the layout you are showing. Just add more windows to the master and call it done. Or hire the architect and do it right start to finish.

Changing only the floorplan to not utilize a portion of space over the garage is a mistake with how the original design is conceived. Look at and understand the front and left side elevation, how the massing and roofs work.

I think you are personally doing these drawings and changes, not the architect - and that is a communication and design problem. For instance, the stairs on the original internet plan has 17 risers, which is a 10' ceiling height. You want to change it to have a straight run, but with 11 risers you have a 7' ceiling height. You better do the math to get the footprint right.

Even if you take your shoes off in the garage, do you also hang your jackets, caps, backpacks, in the garage? Where do you drop backpacks, purse, keys?

What this plan shows is you don't know what you don't know.

How big is the lot?

If your "architect" friend gave you this plan as you show it, he/she is no architect because it's missing walls, and good space planning.

You walk into the hallway between kitchen and dining room so you can see a closet as you walk down the hallway? Why can't you have the kitchen and dining room connect? I grew up in houses with separated actual dining rooms and not one of them divided the two rooms with a hallway. They connected and had a door separating the two.

Agree about the closet taking up corner space.

The garage is almost as big as the full downstairs.

Agree about the master bedroom being smaller than the kids bedrooms.

Agree about laundry better upstairs for the reasons stated.

Actually agree with almost all the comments.

This is not it.

BTW I see your lot is 75' x 128 and you can build on 55' x 38' of it. You can still do better. Hire an REAL architect.

Consider making the house a 32 ft X 32 ft 4-square, center-entrance Colonial Revival for a gross floor area of 2,048 s.f. with the garage centered on the side so it's set back 4 ft from the front and back of the house.

Fitting an office into that area could be difficult but there could be a room above the garage for it or the Master BR.

You need to determine if a covered porch is considered a structure and must meet the unusual 50 ft front set back rule but 32x32 would allow a 4ft covered front porch.

The one thing I would not recommend is wrapping the house around the back of the garage.

We do not need a mudroom -- we take off all shoes in the garage

What about coats, bookbags, work tote bags, keys, etc? They have to go SOMEWHERE. Are you expecting people to run these upstairs as soon as they arrive home?

We loathe open concept

I hear you, but this plan feels choppy, and the rooms seem like they'll "live small". I can't see where 2100 square feet is going.

You might not want 1 floor living but I will say I love my main floor laundry no trips up and down the stairs doing loads of laundry .

Totally disgree. If you have a two-story house, you're going to go up/down the stairs to do laundry ... the difference is that when you have the laundry upstairs, you're just walking up/down, whereas, if the laundry is on the first floor, you're walking up/down while carrying baskets.

The primary suite would be better in the corner of the house where it could have windows on both sides. Corners are wasted on closets since they don't need (and probably shouldn't have) windows.

Agree; furthermore, placing the closet between the master and the kids' rooms would provide the separation you desire.
I'd use the office as a combined laundry/fix-it/craft room.

Like it.

Note that you've placed rooms allll around the staircase, meaning the upstairs hallway will be dark. Maybe glass doors for the laundry and office to bring in light?

I’d take the monsterhouse plan as is before I’d do the layout you are showing.

If those are the two choices, yes, go with the original.