So, you're stepping out of the shower and...where is your towel?

I love a fireplace as a divider! So cozy! But the dining room is also cozy, as in very small, no room for a sideboard, probably only 6-8 guests at most.

Play around with furniture and tv placement in the family room; does it work for you? Or will you always watch tv in the media room?

Will the nook have a table in it?

Bpath- Excellent observations! Especially the nook...which between the door to master and patio, there isn't much room for a table. Maybe something like this, instead? :)
{{gwi:1406857}}From Kitchen plans

I would be wanting a separate laundry room and not in the entrance from garage, the one in this plan in a nightmare to live with, I know. With a busy family we always had a pile or two of laundry we had to step over, bringing in groceries was no fun and not enough room for coats shoes... I also did not like the visual reminder of laundry to do each I time I came home.

I also think a floor plan with hallways to the bedrooms is better than going through the nook and family room, too much disruption. I can't imagine trying to get in and out of the master with a table in the small nook with people at the table. Edited to add your new plans changes to nook are much better. :)

I think the plan is not bad over all and with a few changes with adding the hallways, laundry room and a larger nook it would be a nice plan.

This post was edited by xc60 on Sun, Jan 12, 14 at 1:07

I've learned from many on this forum that corners equal $$. So, thinking that if you make the master sitting area (love it) as wide as the bedroom, you could define it as smaller with ceiling treatment/color or bookcases on the ends.

Totally agree on the laundry.

Lavender, nice change, and I like the outside door better there. Would like some separation/privacy for the master, though; maybe just a little wall opposite the hinge side?

Where do the stairs lead?

You could move the pantry to the space under the staircase, accessed from the kitchen. Then you could move the MB door down towards the kitchen, then have the French doors in the nook swing out instead of in. That would give you room for a table. I agree about not walking in through the laundry room from the garage. I would never have that again, but some people like it for various reasons, just be sure you put thought into it.

Love the see-through fireplace!

Thank you everyone for the input.

I do think the Master Bathroom has and odd layout and will probably redesign it. Suggestions on that would be great.

We would love to make the mud room/laundry room bigger but what do you think would be best:

1) Taking some of the Master closet space to add to it
or
2) Taking some from the office space to add to it

Also a few other things, my wife hates hallways. Hates them with the fire of 20 million suns so what you see is as few as possible. In the nook we just plan for a small breakfast table and my wife's family dinning table in the formal dinning room. We don't have to host many family gatherings as we are half way across the country from them.

We also wanted to have a unfinished basement done with the plan for later expansion. We currently care for my wife's disabled brother, want to have a child and might be having my wife's parents move in with us in the next few years as the recession wiped out their retirement.

I would take a look at the powder room and guest bath. Both could have better access, especially with older/disabled family members.

If you made the garage wider, it would give you more space for the mudroom, without taking space from existing areas. Just an idea :)

The staircase and the powder room look very narrow. I agree with the poster above who mentioned gleaning the under-stair space for storage. I'm not sure it'd work as the pantry, but I'd want the space for something!

Love the way moving the pantry to the other side of the room made the whole thing more functional.

I'd rework the master bath -- five doors in one small space is way too much.

The vanity in your secondary bathroom is not wide enough to support two sinks. You'll have no drawers underneath, which means you'll have two sinks . . . but NO storage in that area. Downsize to one sink, and you'll have space for three drawers on each side -- a huge improvement.

I like the "walk-through" laundry just fine, but I'd want some storage on the side opposite the machines -- you know, space to fold and space to store whatever. I'd be willing to make the media room "a little more cozy" to get more storage in this entry-laundry room.

Thanks for the input everyone! I am going to take some of the advice here and do a rework to get more of you awesome opinions! :D

Made some changes. The master bathroom and mudroom/laundry room are rough ideas. Opinions about them would be appreciated.

I am not typically claustrophobic, but I would not be comfortable in your powder room. I like Lavandar's suggestion to add a couple of feet to the length of the garage, so you could expand both the powder room and the laundry/mud room. You might even get enough wall space to put a little window in the laundry. Of course, it's not our money!

Is the walk-in closet wide enough to walk between two rows of hanging clothes? If not, move the door closer to the vanity, and put shelves on the right side. If you squared off the spot where the door is, you would put in a pocket door (sliding in the direction of the kitchen).

One fussy note - I would put the laundry sink closest to the door.

Maybe I'm just cranky today, but I wouldn't like this set up. It looks too small a footprint to have everything you want. If you get rid of the study and make a desk area/laundry/pantry cluster you could have a proper breakfast table area and a PR someone more than 50 pounds can turn around in comfortably. I have a feeling you are going to regret that 36x36 master shower and the itty, bitty PR PDQ. Are you that attached to a MBR tub? And having the 2 bedroom occupants having to walk thru the family room and the way the jack and jill bath is set up just seems too small. Have you considered flipping it so the MBR is off the FR and the 2 other bedrooms are off the kitchen? And, the see thru fireplace is cute, but you lose what looks like a critical pathway. Also, perhaps think about moving the nook door to the family room so a kitchen table can go there. As nice as having a pantry is, perhaps consider investing in some good cabinet organizers and storing the rest in the basement. Good luck with your planning.

Big improvement on the master bath -- simpler is always better. Some thoughts:

- The master closet looks fine on the left but too narrow on the right. I'd give up the second sink (you'd still have a nice sized vanity) to get a closet that's comfortable on both sides.
- I'd flip-flop the sink and the toilet. It doesn't make any functional difference, but it puts the toilet on the "working end" of the bathroom along with the shower, and it leaves the sinks opposite the tub.

A bonus: By eliminating walls, angles and doors, you've not only made the master bath more efficient, you've made it less expensive. You've gotta love a two-fer.

- I'd put the dryer on the far left of the laundry room so it can vent directly outside.

- I agree that the powder room's too narrow. It's the same width as the washing machine, and that's probably 30". Too narrow for comfort.