I think it may be difficult, unless you have the master be a wing that juts out beyond the box. I say this because our first house was a simple 2-story with a gable roof, 4 beds and 2 baths up, and was 2462 sq ft. The downstairs had a 12 x 13 dining room, a 12 x 13 "parlor", and then a 13 x 15 family room, a breakfast room, and a decent sized kitchen (oh, and a 1/2 bath and very small laundry down.) I suppose since you only want one dining space and one living space down, you could use the square footage allocated to the parlor + dining room in my old plan for master bed + bath + closet, but the family room was so small in that plan...I know you would need bigger if it was your only space (the breakfast room was too small for an only dining space for a family, also.) Your 2 beds + playroom up would seem very spacious compared to the room sizes down. I don't know what it would do to the cost to build, but we have a master down in a 2-story that juts beyond the main facade into the back yard. It works great in our plan. If we had kept the master within the 2-story box, our upstairs would have been way bigger than we wanted or needed. We already have 3 beds, 3 baths and a large playroom up there...didn't want anything else up. I know you wanted to keep your plan a simple box, but if your master wing is on the back, it won't affect the colonial or farmhouse, or whichever 2-story look you like on the front.

Hello Segbrown of the Awesome Kitchen. Your kitchen contains the spirit of one of my unrealized kitchens! I have one of your same backsplash tiles, a sample, which I meant to use but the years crept by and that kitchen didn't happen. Back to your seating area. I was admiring your ottoman/table only to see it disappear in your final arrangement. As I am thinking about replacing my coffee table with such a foot-ready rest, I have to ask why you got rid of yours? Surely the feet in your house want a rest when tv watching? I am in the market for swivel/s. What brand/model are yours? Are you happy with them? Much obliged if you come back to comment. I've enjoyed every bit of your house that you've shared.

Just built a 2 story retirement home. The only rooms upstairs are a small MBR and small MBa. I like going upstairs to bed and I like perching up there on the windowseat to look out at the world. And I'm also of the use it or lose it school. But I had a friend who became disabled in his 30s while living in an old house with upstairs bedrooms and only a powder room on the first floor. They had to add a complicated lift to the tune of what I recall as 10K, but it was worth it not to move. Decided then we would never have a house that was not at least livable on one level. So we have a curbless shower downstairs in a larger bathroom, wide-ish halls and doors, and one barrier-free entry. A guest room on the first floor that we could use if we couldn't get upstairs. But actually, the location of the place, far from medical services of any complexity, is not suitable for anyone who is too feeble, anyway. So that was our compromise. It also means that our house is "visitable" on the first floor for people with different levels of mobility.

Still searching for something to fall in love with to put over my living room sofa. Some ideas but nothing I'm ecstatic about. Dining room still needs wall art too. I decided against the PB mirror. Searching, searching. Please post ideas if you have them. Thank you!