I love those kinds of double stairs, though I had never seen it used with a garage before. Makes a lot of sense, easy to get to storage from the house and from the garage. Where is the door to the garage or bonus room, though? I see the laundry room door to the garage, but on the plan it looks like you can go from house to garage via the stairs with no door.

Will banks give a loan for a one-bedroom house?

Bpathome, the plan is confusing. The main stairs go up to an open loft. There will need to be a door at the top of the stairs on the right, that will go down into the bonus room over the garage. Never thought about the lending perspective, but I work for the bank and they are doing the construction loan. You can call it 2br because of the loft upstairs.

Is that a wall oven in the corner? Never interrupt a stretch of counter with a tall obstacle in the middle. Especially right in the middle of your prep zone. Place it at the end of the run if you do it at all. It's a MUCH more expensive choice than a range. How do you plan to ventilate the cooking? Island ventilation is also much more expensive and difficult to do. You've got some budget busters here.

The master bath and bedroom are overly large at the expense of storage. Again, with expensive choices of separate bath and shower over a tub/shower combo. The walk in will not work as you have it configured, and the reach in coud become a walk in if you reconfigured the space. Or, you could reconfigure the space to have that second bedrrom to make getting a loan more achievable and then turn it into a walk in closet when you occupy the space.

For your loft, does it have a door where you can close it off from the rest of the house? Is there an emergency egress window located within it? Is there 70 square feet of floor space at at least 7' tall? If not, then it's not a bedroom.

Do you have enough cash to do this without a bank? If the 5 acres are paid off, you might be able to get a personal loan against it where a mortgage would be a no go. But I wouldn't see any bank financing a 1 bedroom, even with the loan recipient being an employee.

I never know how to comment on this... So, here I go.

Your powder room toilet is closer to your night-time location than your actual master toilet...

Just something to ponder.

Kirkhall, I don't see that as a problem, we just always use the closest one available lol!

DogwoodAcres, I misread the stairs direction, now I understand. But just to be sure, there is a loft over the House, and a bonus room over the garage?

I'm totally lost on the stairs. How can there be stairs from one part of the garage into the how and no stairs from another part of the garage?

Where is the front door?

What is the room with hardly any furniture?

It's hard for me to comment as I don't know where this is located, no idea which way is north and a few other things, like where the front door is, (let alone understand the stairs) that are essential for understanding how comfortable and energy efficient the building will be...which is important if you are on a tight budget from an operating point of view...not just building costs.

IAC, I really don't like all the wasted space in the DR area...it will not feel the least bit cozy. The Mbr seems overly large for a tight budget.

Maybe the loft area can be used as an away space, but I think, if you move the DR table closer to the stairs, you'd actually have room to put in a small office or den there as an away space. And I can't see the dimensions, but that sofa seems pretty far away from the TV for comfortable viewing.

Not sure what is in the corner of the kitchen, but a corner with a lazy susan is too valuable to waste. I'd put the cooktop on the back wall and leave the island open...no one likes to sit and get hit with splattering grease while they're at an island. If that corner thing is ovens, then maybe put the oven below in the island.

Do you have/need a coat closet? Linen closet?

Have you considered aging in place so things like wheel chair access, ease of getting in and out of doors, how many steps, etc?

I'm going to recommend another stab. I see a number of things that aren't going to "live comfortably":

- First, consider the front door. You're going to walk in, and you'll be thrust directly into the midst of the living room. No sense of entry, no gracious view straight ahead -- it's too abrupt. You also don't have a comfortable walking aisle at the front door; you'll be weaving your way between bar stools and living room chairs. You have no where for guests to set their purse and keys, no where for guests to place their coats.

- The kitchen is a decent size -- not too big, not too small -- but I agree with the poster who says you have a few budget busters here. If you're looking to build on a shoestring, consider standard items.

- I'd flip the living room and the dining room. The table would be nicer, if it were adjacent to the kitchen.

- Why so much empty space in the dining room? It's not going to look good, and it's a waste of limited resources.

- Can we see a front view of the house? I'm confused by the windows, which don't seem to match.

- Given that budget is an issue and you want back-door access to the bathroom, I'd consider going with a split bath: That is, place the tub /shower /sink in one room . . . and connect it to the half bath. This would eliminate one toilet, and plumbing is one of your most expensive items. The whole bathroom /closet area could be laid out much better; for example, you probably don't really want your tub hidden behind a door, nor do you want a shower in a house in which you're planning to age to be that small.

- Note that at this point, you have a direct view from the dining room table into the powder room.

- In a three-room house, you have five exterior doors. This is over-kill. Doors are expensive and energy in-efficient. You could easily get this down to three and still have outdoor access within a few steps of their current positions.

- If you move the washer/dryer to the other side of the room, the dryer will be able to vent to the outside, which is cheaper and safer. This isn't a deal-breaker, but it is something that could be improved.

Which door is the front door?

Thanks for all the suggestions. Decided not to put the cooktop in the island. There will be an office alcove under the stairs. I've posted the inspiration picture. The right side will be a side entry garage.