Oh, Georgia...I really like it! :)

The kitchen is wonderful and I love the keeping room/banquette area. The living room is very nice...I like the fireplace and french doors, out to the patio. The stairs look great (much more functional in this location) and the library/dining/music room is a perfect example of flexible space.

I would add the optional door, to the mudroom. It makes a nice 'breezeway' from front to back and will let the kids come in from playing, without going through the garage. The upstairs looks great and the laundry access is such a good idea. Wonderful plan, IMHO :)

Wow! Thanks Lavender...I am on edge until I get numbers back from my builder, but I really like it too.

On your kitchen -

- Having lived with a kitchen with a long straight row of bar stools, please allow me to point out that the straight-row layout is not conversation friendly! The folks on the ends get left out, and the folks in the middle get talked over.

- I love that you're not married to the 'sink under the window' rule and think you'll love the 2 dishwashers. But since your clean-up area is so public, you may want to consider a raised counter for that part of the island to screen dirty dishes from view.

- My kitchen is a similar size and shape to yours (though it looks squarer in the pic. below), and instead of one LONG island, I split mine into two adjoining islands. There's no gap between them - just different shapes, heights and finishes to avoid the 'bowling alley' look, facilitate conversation, and add visual interest. I use the lower square one for prep and the L-shaped one for cooking. What's particularly nice as a cook, is the natural 'traffic funnel' the L and deeper square create to direct foot traffic around my work zone. I used to get very frustrated shooing little ones out from in front of my sink or stove, and your straight design doesn't discourage that at all.

Ina Garten's Kitchen of the year is my inspiration too... I am opting to do 12' of island instead and making 2 seating locations at the end for conversation sake. I am also not doing any upper cabinetry on the island but instead I am doing a built in hutch for dishware and glasses. Where are you storing yours?

Sweeby - Thanks for your feedback. Your kitchen layout looks great. I guess I got wed to Ina's kitchen and can't quite let go. My idea for the seating is actually for people to talk to me while I am cooking or for me too look at my kids crafts/ homework ect. Everyone usually like to gather around me as I cook...which is at least twice a day. The sink on the end will actually be bigger and will be the dish sink. Need to rearrange the dishwashers.

houseofsticks - Everyone is abuzz about this huge island, but I love all the counter space. I will literally live at that island.

My butler pantry is quite big so the good stuff will go there. The everyday stuff will go in drawers with dividers. The sippy's and plastic will go on the bottom drawer where my kids can reach in.

I like it too.
Some comments:
I'd make the His closet in the Master a reach in. You really don't gain much, if anything, with the depth there, since corners are hard to use. I think you have a similar arrangement in the guest/office room closet. Might reconsider that too. I'd also get rid of the second door to that bathroom (guest), and just have it accessed from the hall. It isn't a big deal to walk a 3' quarter circle to enter the bath, and you'd gain more in storage.

I think I'd switch the cubbies room and closet room from the garage entry (put your "hallway" through the middle) Add a door there somewhere to outside, but make it all one room rather than a couple of divided spaces (keep the powder divided, obviously.)

If you add the door from mudroom, I'd also think about adding a door from keeping room to that same space of the yard... If I were in the kitchen and needed to correct behavior, etc of children outside, I'd not want to walk all the way through the mudroom to get there. It'd be nice to just go to the keeping room...

Think it is a great plan - much better than our first draft!

A couple of thoughts -

Be sure you have at least 5 feet behind your island. We only have 4 and a few inches and I wish it was more.

Be sure you have at least 2' allocated for each stool - looks like you do.

I would mark out how long your island actually will be with masking tape and be sure you like it :). My island is 9' long in our house we are building and it is MASSIVE - and I had a freak out about it (no way around it with 4 stools other than seating on the end and we didn't want that for the reasons you state - most of the time people will be eating breakfast there while I cook/serve or doing homework or having a glass of wine while I cook ;)). . . I would have had a stroke if it was 20' - wanting the super long island and seeing one in person might be different :)

You may want to go to Phipps and look at the inspiration kitchen with your tape measure - we were there this weekend and it has a long island . . . not 20' though :)

Thanks Athens! I actually saw Ina's kitchen in person. House Beautiful rebuilt it in NYC a couple years back. It was incredible. Although she had something like 10 stools. That is overkill for me. I will use the ends for storage.

I am not sure how much space there is behind the stools. I will check with the architect and make sure I have at least 5'.

Also I will go see the inspiration kitchen...I think it will actually feed my huge island insanity :)

Kirkhall - thanks for your feedback! We are going to make that back bench a door. I wanted to divide the space because I am not the best organizer. I was told that sectioning off spaces for specific tasks will help you contain clutter to it's zone..if that makes sense. Also if guest enter through the secondary door I can close off the mud room with a pocket door if it looks horrendous.
I have to check with slope to see how to work access to the side yard. The playground will be there and I will be with them most of the time since they are still babies...but it's good to think ahead.

That makes send with the his closet. I am just concerned about the space he would lose with the window. I was hoping those corners would be for his accessories, shoes..ect. I will play with it. He will also have a golf/ workout room in the basement with a closet that he will keep all his golf clothes in which is the majority of what he wears...plays almost everyday!

kirkhall - forgot to add I wanted access directly off the room just in case I had a long term guest like my mother or in-law...but the more storage the better so i will think about it. I may add an antique hutch or piece in the hall for extra storage before the bath.

I like it! especially the first floor.

I have a few comments:

-Do you really want a double door at the side entry? A single door and a window (or sidelight) will work better and it will not compete with the main door. It bothers me that the left door obstructs the 1/2 bath opening.

-Sweeby has a point about the island seating. There is a solution to that: You can make the seating area of the island/counter a soft curve.

-I agree with kirk, about the guest bathroom.

I totally agree about the double door. That will definitely become a single door. With a dutch door out the back...always wanted one :)

The curve is a good idea. I will think about it but I am so wed to a more linear look.

Still toiling with the guest bath :/

Ga--love your house. Are you going to do the white brick version that is on your photobucket page?

Your home is very kid friendly.

GA -- love your home! Great plan. Love the traffic flow, and all the storage. Great master set up! Well done!

About that guest bath...
I was in a similar situation, and decided against doing the connection for 2 reasons. One is, as soon as you make it "THE" guest bath for a long term guest, everyone else in the house might feel awkward using it and/or your guest will feel awkward having people use it (even if they don't express it. When you make it have a dedicated door from a particular space, it becomes that person's space, especially a long term person). That means, everyone will need to go to the powder in the mudroom always. And, that is why I'd argue against that. Just make sure your doorways into the bedroom and the bathroom (from the hall) are wide to accomodate a walker, and you'll be good...

It is so easy to plan for when the kids are little. That is the time of your life right now and your are in the thick of it (soon to be more so!). But, it is so short-lived. Soon, they will be 4 and 6 or 5 and 7 and you won't need to be out there with them all the time on the play set. In fact, you won't want to be! But, you will still need an easy way to get out there quick as needed. That less-supervised, though supervised, time of their life lasts longer than the I-need-to-be-with-you-all-the-time part of their life. (I have passed the latter just recently!) So, multiple accesses to outside would be good for the longer term, especially as you have many areas of your lot that they can play in divided by house.

Welcome to the long island club! And I don't mean NYC. :) I am planning an similar kitchen with a 14' island. Your home is planned very well. You can get a J&J b/w the girls rooms if you move br#4 up towards master bath and put bath in the corner along with the closet. Think of the corner in 4 quadrants - two would be the vanity areas for each room, the right lower corner would be the tub/toilet and the left upper corner would be the closet for br #4. It should fit in a 10'x13' space easily which leaves you plenty of room for br#4. The only drawback is losing two walls of windows in br#4. The upside is no body will end up in the girls bath without being "invited" into the girls rooms. If you did that, I would move the door to br#2 so that the bath is open to the hall for guests/kids in the playroom.

I, too, would open up the mudroom so that the cubbies aren't right by the garage door. You need at least 4-5 ft in front of the cubbies if you have 2-3 kids grabbing their gear at the same time to head out the door. The mudroom would be a great place for a crate for that future dog you mention. :)

Is the nook off your keeping room for a dining table or banquette? If so, it may be a little small.

Given that you have no upper cabinets, I was trying to figure out if there is a way to get the pantry closer to your kitchen by switching the stairs to current pantry, pantry to butlers pantry and butlers pantry to stair location. I think this messes up the playroom, though. It sounds like you are a bit like me, though, and may be purposefully putting the pantry "out of site" because of how it will inevitably look.

Congrats on the baby to be! I have two girls just under 2 years apart - now 7 and 5 and a son almost 2.

Fabulous laundry location, by the way! Good luck with everything!

red_lover - thanks! I was hoping it would be. We are such informal casual people and I want my kids to have great memories.

I really wanted to do the white brick but my neighborhood wants me to do more earth tones. So wither it will be natural brick or a beige/ tan painted brick. I will go through the options with my builder later this week.

Love the house. It really seems like a well thought out family friendly home.
I agree with idea of removing the second door to the guest room. (I am never a fan of dueling doors) Have you considered adding a pocket door between the foyer and the guest room? Then you could leave it open most of the time, but allow your overnight guests to close it when they are showering etc. That would create a guest suite for them, but leave it available to your family on a daily basis.

kfhl - Thanks! So much positive feedback for a first draft...I hope the whole build goes this way..yeah right :)

Love this plan! Can't wait to see it go up! Do you have an elevation drawing yet?

Joyce 6333 - Previous message was for you...thanks!

Kirkhall - Yeah I have being debating about the guest bath. I think I will make it for hall access. I guess I just didn't want my mother walking out in a towel or having to change in the bath. But it probably won't be a big deal.

We are seeing how we can access the yard even better. I will see what the architect says when I bring it up. hopefully we can make it work.

Momto3kiddos - I am carefully dissecting your J&J suggestion. You are the only one who has given me hope! The mudroom may get a tweek so there is mor floor room. The architect has some ideas for that as well. The back to front breezeway is bigger than it needs to be with double doors and the powder room is too big. So there is a bit of room to play with.

And guess what my hubby is from Long Island and we just moved from NYC! lol So technically we are really in the Long Island Club. Seriously aren't they great. Oh and yeah I don't want to see the pantry due to my lack of clutter control at times :)

kfhl - The pock door is a great idea. We just want to make sure all the pocket doors are with really good hardware. Have heard too many breakdown stories. If you look you will see a window is in the direct site-line through the shower so it will bring even more light into the house if the door is left open...great suggestion!

nini804 - thanks! We have a few he sketched up, but just today I went back to my dream neighborhood my architect designed and fell in love with this house again. Although it is significantly bigger than mine. I wanted to do a white painted brick, but my HOA wants a more of an earth tone. I think going in this direction will be a good compromise...fingers crossed.

I love this floorplan! It looks really well thought out. One really minor thing I see, though - it doesn't look like there's a good place in the master bath for towels to hang. It looks like the only wall space is around the corner from the shower.

On my monitor, those bricks look like a soft gray/taupe. Surely, that's an earth color? I say go for it! Beautiful house...it looks so european :)

yillimuh - thanks...to say I have been thinking about this for awhile is an understatement :) We are going to put the towels behind the entrance door...across from the toilet. It was the only real space. The door will have a stopper so it doesn't bang against it. The plus is that it will be hidden when someone wants a home tour.

Lavender - It is stunning in real life. That whole neighborhood is. I am going to try to lean it a bit more American. I am afraid that if it is too European I will be stuck with that interior decor and I want some flexibility. I am also toiling with plain brick and/or lime wash.

I'm not sure where the problems with the pocket doors come from, but maybe it is about installation as well.
I have 3 in my current home - 9 years and no issues.
My mom has one on her pantry - 30 years with constant use and no issues.
I will have to make sure that we get the right hardware for our new home, because we have several planned. I think they are great for tight spaces and I love them for areas where you may not want a door every day, but you can use to hide the clutter or shut off an area of the house when you have company.

Lovely inspiration pic!

Johnson hardware for your pocket doors, and you all should be good.

Momto3kiddos - forgot to add...the banquette was inspired by this pic. We will either do a half circle or a U. I wanted it to feel very cozy like at a restaurant.

{{gwi:1424522}}

I love this floorplan! I want to grab the corners and shrink it down a bit, then give it to a builder to build for me :) Very nice!

Ga--I love the house you posted. Also loved the banquette pic. Hadn't considered that for my own home, but I love it. Please post more pics of elevations from that neighborhood if you have them. beautiful. Reminds me of Athens house.

Can't wait to follow your progress, as I'm still deciding where I am going with our new home.

just wanted to chime in to say I love your plan too! It's very similar to what we're looking for except we want our master downstairs. Love all the nooks & crannies. And your island - wow! Our current island is 8ft and I thought that was huge :) I'm sure it will be just stunning! How many sqft is this (can't quite make it out on photobucket) and who is your architect if you don't mind me asking?

good luck with everything! I look forward to watching all the progress :)

We went through the limewash/paint issue too and decided to do the painted brick. Ours is a creamy/greige colors - cream in bright sun, a little more gray/greige in shade. Similar to the house you posted but ours is a bit lighter I think.

We had the same issue with our ARB - wanted earth tones and european. I am not a european house person, for the reasons you state - we are pretty casual people with 3 boys and a big loud dog so I was afraid the more european interior would not be for me. Ours is really a georgian house, although we added a few french details like the chimney pots and flared rafter tails. When it was red brick , it was very georgian looking. Now that it is painted, it is less so, although our front porch is still georgian. We are doing copper gutters and darker shutters to give the outside some depth. We used Stoney Ground by Farrow and Ball, mixed by SW though, on the outside. It is a great color - doesn't photograph accurately but lovely in real life.

We decided against lime wash for a couple of reasons. One, it can look blotchy. We looked at a Spitzmiller/Norris renovation on Habersham after it was lime washed and it was splotchy looking from the street. Also, it gets very splotchy when your irrigation runs or it rains. We were also a little concerned about the dreaded pink brick look that happens if you lime wash. If we would have lime washed, we would have used a browner brick to counteract that, and we would have done several coats (3 or more) of lime wash for an opaque look.

This is a house my builder built of lime washed brick at Sea Island. It is a brown brick (Old Savannah by Cherokee).

Here is a link that might be useful: Sea Island house

Here is the limewashed house on Habersham - not sure how familar you are with Atlanta but this is near the governor's mansion. It has siding and brick - started out as a white painted brick house and they stripped it and limewashed it and added a limestone portico.

Here is a link that might be useful: Limewashed house

Thanks Athens! I think I am going to just do brick. My neighborhood doesn't like that paint either. It's too european! Imagine that. I just want the process over.

I will be happy with brick, but just need to get the right one. Your right about limewash it can look very splotchy. I saw a house today with it and my friend's response was it looks like a bad paint job. I think it can look great on the right house, but may not be for us.

Laurensmom21 - I will email you his info when we he wraps up the plans. I never told him I was going to post them here so I want to make sure that everything is kosher before I send out referrals. Someone else asked me for his info too.

Am I the only one who can't see this house plan?