It is usually a bad idea to have an inswing door on a WC room (your master toilet). If at all possible, I'd figure out a different way to "enclose" that space.

Otherwise, for a remodel, the layout is pretty good.

I am assuming you've considered all the pitfalls of a remodel this size (as well as "turning a carport into a garage--something that may or may not be possible given the structure of the carport).

Your dining porch conversion is narrow, and may be too narrow for what you have drawn, but I am uncertain and point it out for someone more versed in dining sizes to note and comment on.

What is next to the banquette on the outside wall?

Good luck!

A pocket door to the MB toilet might work better.

In the kitchen, you don't want to sink and stove to be back to back - if two people are working in the kitchen, you'll bump butts.

Do you have adequate venting for the range hood?

I would assume that you are going to have a sitting area in the kitchen? If not, the kitchen is quite large and has a lot of wasted space.

Unless you are really married to the idea of having two small eating areas, I would get rid of the banquette and make that one large dining area. You could then use the dining room as a study or open it up completely to one large living area (depending on load bearing walls, etc.) And if you planned on having a sitting area in the kitchen, it's still so open to the living room that you really couldn't have two televisions going, for example. It's not really a second room to get away.

Another thought - if you are really doing all new plumbing, etc., I would put the kitchen on the left and the dining area on the right off the foyer. You could then open that dining area a bit to the foyer

I think you're quite brave to tackle a project this size. I hope you provide pics as you make progress.

Good luck.

I just wanted to add that your master bedroom is quite small considering how "grand" your bathroom is. If you ever sell this house, it's going to be very difficult to sell with a master bedroom that size. Frankly, I would rework the bathroom and make it a bit smaller, and add an extra three feet to the bedroom. If you delete one of the closet doors, you could more easily rework the bathroom. You might have to give up the two separate vanities, but I think you could still get two sinks. I realize that the floating tub is probably gorgeous and you'll probably have to place it near a wall, but the overall livability of your master bedroom would be much enhanced, imo.

I have to admit that I'm quite envious of your shower design. :)

A couple of question and comments related to those depending on the answers.

Overall I think it looks very good. I do agree with previous posters comments.

What area of the world are you in? Im guessing Canada based on the closet style in the bedroom next to the master, although Europe does this the floor plan seems more American content. Do you have close neighbors on each side or are they far away? Are you willing to change some exterior placements of windows? Remove some and add others?

I think I would do a closet along the whole wall of the second bedroom for some privacy between the two rooms. Or do a lot of sound proofing.

If your have close neighbors on the sides I'd move the windows in the master to be on the back wall to the backyard. If no close side neighbors I'd still add some windows to the master and back, nice cross breeze.

I would remove the window on the side in the closet. The front one might change the facade too much. UV is not good for clothing anyways and you'll most likely keep it covered for privacy so why not remove and use the space for the closet anyways.

Or you could re-work the bath so all the windows are part of the bath and use the other space for the closet.

You want to put more walking space in front of the fridge. 2 ft is very narrow to open the door to get and load groceries etc. In that area.

What are you going to use the open area in the kitchen for? Seems like you could maybe do a different kitchen design to not waste that space. Maybe look at the shape or turning the island. Or remove the banquet and use island seating and move the entry to the kitchen. You could get a larger kitchen this way. Seem like with the dining right there and open that the banquet is redundant, or do you just happen to want a banquet because it is the popular thing right now?

You could possibly shorten the wall on the entry side of the kitchen so your living room could be enlarged some with furniture placement if you switched kitchen direction. Also a less tunnel like entry.

Good point about making the living room larger.

If the kitchen and eating area were swapped, I believe 8mpg could get a larger living room, a large kitchen, a nice dining room, and lose some of the tunnel effect in the foyer, not to mention turn the back space into a study, which was mentioned.

But there's mention of a fireplace on the left wall...if that's already there, I guess this wouldn't work. :)

Wow...thank you everyone for the great suggestions. I will have to see how I can rework it. Getting rid of the tunnel at the entrance would be great. The biggest reason I didnt move the kitchen to the other side was the fireplace. Im not that attached to it and it could go away. As for the banquette and the dining room...well, just didnt know what to do with the space. The current house had a dining table for 6 that just felt tight between where the island would be and the fireplace.

I would love to turn the island but I worry about blocking that hallway to the laundry. I will definitely redo it and see if I can make it work a little better

The 2nd bedroom next to the master will have a full wall closet, great idea. This house is in Texas and it was a common design of houses back in the 60-80s. The house I grew up in shared a common wall with the master. Either way, that wall will have dense pack cellulose to act as a sound barrier along with the full wall closet.

As for the master bath... I will look into it. I know it is quite large. The whole house is 2000sq ft, but I love the floating tub look. The house is on 1 acre and have plenty of space around that I dont need to worry about neighbors/noise. The closet windows I would love to get rid of though I dont know if I will have enough brick to close everything up.

Thanks again, I will post up a 2nd version of the plan sometime tomorrow. Keep up the great comments.

How about switching the kitchen and the living room? Seems like the fireplace would be in the correct spot for doing that. It would be farther to walk to the kitchen from the mudroom, but you'd have a larger living area.

Then open up the area to the entry. You could add a bit of a wall there to block kitchen view some from the entry.

Hey guys, here is the new plan. I believe you guys were right on the money about switching the rooms around a bit. I put the kitchen on the left and the dining room on the right. This gets rid of the tunnel effect and allowed for an office and less wasted space. I was concerned about light but remembered the house has 2 windows by the front door I was originally planning on sealing up due to the kitchen cabinets. This new plan eliminates the two windows and the fireplace. Please let me know what you think.

I would keep the windows on the kitchen side. Just make them shorter to clear the counters.

Maybe add a window on the exterior where the dining table is.

It looks a bit tight around the dining table and the island and also where the boxes are on the exterior wall.

I would try to make a pantry space in the mudroom area and easily accessed from the kitchen. Maybe move mechanicals around to use that. I'm assuming it is mechanicals in the closet next to the washer and dryer. Or could use the desk space, but a bit further to walk.

Still think you need to enlarge the master a couple of feet. Might want to play around with that and look at other walls configurations to make the floating tub happen. It is nice in an open plan and with kids to have a little extra space to sit in the master just to get away, read quietly, or to watch something else on TV than the rest of the family and not have to be on the bed to do it.

Are you in a cold climate? If so might want to keep a short wall to the left of the front door to try to contain a rush of cold air going everywhere when opening the door.

I like this new plan for the living area much better, and I think it will live very well. I don't think your dining room is going to feel tight since it is now open to the foyer. Just curious - is that built-ins or some type of china cabinet in the dining area?

I think pocket doors might be called for between the study and living room since it would give you more usable wall space in the study. You will have space for a "comfy" chair as another getaway spot. I'm all for making spaces multi-task. :)

I don't know if you have children or plan to have children, but a sitting area in your mbr will be very welcome at some point if you do. As I type this, my husband is watching tv in our downstairs living area, my teens are upstairs in the gameroom, and I'm sitting on my comfy chair in my our bedroom with my laptop listening to music. I really appreciate having a place to get away from the noise! When they were younger, we all wanted to be together, but now we appreciate our own space, sometimes! :)

I think the new version of the living area is very nice. I wouldn't put built-ins on the dining side of the entrance, because I think it's too cramped, but otherwise, I like it a lot.

I think the master bath needs to be reworked too-- as it is, there's no way to put a door between the master bedroom and master bath, and that means that if one of the "masters" gets up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, they're a lot more likely to wake up the other, and if one person has to get up early, they can't use a hair dryer or an ultrasonic toothbrush or anything else loud without disturbing their partner. Also, the floating tub will be more pleasant to use if you can trap the heat and moisture coming off the tub in a small area-- otherwise it's likely to get cold fast. And I agree with other posters that the master bedroom is quite small. Since the master closet is not huge (for two people), it would be nice to be able to have a couple dressers in the bedroom, and I'm not sure there's room.

Just thought of another possible change re the third bedroom near the garage.

You could get more closet space if you placed an entire wall of closets along the wall that abuts the garage and delete the other closet. I would then delete that interior door and the whole space would feel larger.

This post was edited by bird_lover6 on Sat, Apr 20, 13 at 10:38

You have a bedroom without a closet. Does your jurisdiction require a closet for a room to be considered a bedroom? If so, you will end up with a two bedroom house. This may make a difference if you intend to get a loan for the remodel.

I think you should really consider doing a teardown. It will be much more cost effective than this massive reshuffling and workarounds.

Lyfia - There are a couple windows in the dining area that I forgot to put back. I originally took them out because the kitchen was on the opposite side. The cabinets that were in the dining was going to be pantry pull out cabinets but I have since moved them to the kitchen.

bird_lover - I will check out pocket doors...though im hesitant as I was hoping to use some doors with glass in them opening it up a bit.

zone4newby - I will check into the rework on the master side. Also, we can put a door to seal off the bathroom without trouble. It would just be right inside the first door to the right, right before the toilet room.

dekeoboe - The original idea for the 2nd bedroom was an Ikea based closet as it takes up a little less space. I have added a true closet since.

Hollysprings - there is now way to do a rebuild. You would be very surprised as to what we are planning to spend redoing the whole house. To rebuild, I would talking about $80/ft to build which would be $160k. You guys may think Im crazy but we are honestly planning on doing it for $30k. With us doing all of the labor, we will save a ton. I have friends that are electricians and plumbers that will help check my work. Drywall, installing cabinets, painting, etc is just labor intensive.

This post was edited by 8mpg on Sun, Apr 21, 13 at 21:19

I'm remodeling my kitchen for $30K (no new appliances). I'll be paying a cabinetmaker and electrician, and the only DIY will be taking out old cabinets and painting, but we aren't changing any plumbing runs or moving any walls.

I think you are very, very optimistic to be able to do that much work for $30K.

I would stick to the IKEA closets personally. Way more useful than anything else.

You can use pocket French doors with glass in them.

annkh... Most people will be skeptical. We have priced the Ikea cabinets at $3500 with the 20% off sale. In fact, here is my break down:

Cabinets: $3500
Counters $2200
Electrical $500
Plumbing fittings/Pex $500
Subflooring (if we replace it) $1000
Floors $3000
Drywall/mud/texture $1000
Windows $4000
Trim $1000
Paint $500
Wood $500
Master bath supplies $4000
Other baths $3000

This leaves $5kish for misc stuff. This isnt a $1MM house..its a $150k house as it sits on 1 acre. If I was paying for all the labor, we would be in trouble. The rewire would be $2500 in labor...the supplies are cheap.Plumbing would be $1000 in labor. Cabinet install $800, drywall $1000, paint $1500, floors $4000, tile setter for bathrooms $1500, framing $500, etc. I will have a build thread with a good detailed budget log. Im sure there will be overages but Im budgeting $30k (not including appliances).

Another edit...
Changed to pocket doors on the office.
Bedroom 2 is a bit smaller making the master a little larger. Added a dresser which still allows 3' of space between the bed and the dresser. I tried moving around the bathroom with no good results. With the master getting a little larger this pushed the master bath over and the closet got a little larger.

Biggest windows I can get in the dining area. Moved the fridge and the two "pantry" cabinets around the fridge. I had to move the wall over a bit to allow a little more space for the fridge.
Pantry cabinets will have this look:

If you plan to move walls, don't forget to add money in the budget for an engineer. Oh, and all those pesky permits, too!
What about your finishes? I don't see a line item for tile, lighting, faucets, sinks, doors. Unless I'm reading it wrong, it looks like you just listed the rough in stuff for plumbing and electrical. I agree with the others that 30K sounds a little optimistic for this scale of project. I'll be rooting for you!
Good luck and keep us posted. You'll get a lot of good info if you hang around here.

8mpg, what's the existing layout? Obviously you'll be keeping all your appliances, but will you also be able to reuse things like the kitchen and bathroom sinks, faucets, light fixtures, range hood? How much of the remodel will get new flooring?

I'm not trying to be a stinker - I would love to see you get your dream remodel for $30K, and look forward to your updates!

With double pocket doors, where will you put a lightswitch for the office? Code usually requires that it's close to the entrance.

I do think your budget is a bit on the tight side, but it is not completely out of order. My guess would be another 10K and you would be closer. This is based on having done a project on a similar scale.

I highly suggest going back to the IKEA closets. You'll gain ~4" of space in the bedroom by doing that and have much more useful space. They do count as closets. Although it will be more costly to do.

You have many spaces with very tight clearances that you might want to revisit. You should aim to have a minimum of 30" clearance in all walking through spaces and that is a minimum. You have several that are 2ft.

The walking space between the table and the island - easy fix. Make it a narrower island. This will be your main walk thorugh space so you'l want a good clearance, just like you do in the kitchen isles. You really want people to be able to walk through there with no problem when somebody is seated at the table.
The clearance between your tub and vanities. There is only 2 ft on each side to get through if even that. Then you only have 30" of clearance to the tub - workable, but are you really willing to give up the extra space and less of a workable bathroom just to have the floating tub? I really urge you to work on other layout possibilities to really see what you're trading off.

With making the larger Master you made the 2nd bedroom much smaller and tight between the closet and the bed, if you go back to IKEA closets it will be a bit better.

Again in the kitchen, your clearance for the fridge is too tight. What type of Fridge will you be using? A regular on sticks out about 3ft. A counter dept can stick out with handles about 30". You want plenty of space to walk around that.

In the kitchen you don't want the sink and stove right across from each other. It makes it a one person kitchen as it will be tight for two people to be working at the same time in that space. You have plenty of space so why not make the kitchen function for multiple cooks/helpers.

Which walls are load bearing? Ie which direction does your rafters go? That might help you decide the best walls to move to expand some of the spaces and which might need a beam to make the areas open.

Edit: You might want to post your kitchen plan on the kitchen forum. Just watch for budget blow-up and you'll be ok.

This post was edited by lyfia on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 11:42

angel411 - we havent added all the fixtures up yet but Im guessing $1k will be added to the budget. The bathrooms prices above will include the sink faucets but not shower/tub. Lighting...we shall see. As far as an engineer, luckily my cousin is an Architect and works at a firm. Here in Texas we dont even need an engineer report unless the house is 10k sqft or more. That being said, the spans are 10' maximum so a triple 2x12 should suffice.

annkh.. I appreciate you trying to keep me in reality. I know that $30k is very tight but we are going to try very hard. Lighting can be expensive but I foresee some can lighting and other cheaper fixtures. I do not believe is $500 lights. Some thrifty shopping will be key. We roam our local places and look for clearances all the time. We bought a refrigerator for my sister (whirlpool gold with double drawers) for $1000 when the normal price was $2200 I believe. We love clearance

Zone4newby - thanks for the reality check. Talked it over during lunch with the fiance and we decided that a sliding barn door would probably work well.

Lyfia - The clearances are actually a little bigger than they look. Between the island and the refrigerator is actually 3' (well 2' 11 5/8"). We may try and recess the refrigerator a bit into the office to use a standard depth fridge rather than counter depth but you are correct, the island can be trimmed. Between the sink and stove is 4'4". I like the symmetrical look of them being back to back. Between the bed and closet in the 2nd bedroom is 31" which if we do use Ikea closets, almost 3'.

Thanks everyone for the great advice. You guys have really helped the plan come along and made it MUCH more functional. I will continue making tweaks. I will also crosspost into the kitchens forum.

Well there wasnt much response in the kitchens area...but I decided to stick with the layout. I have made some tweaks moving the kitchen/office wall back a bit and the kitchen/living room wall a bit to gain some space. I went ahead and ordered the cabinets today from Ikea... Had an overage already :D $4100 for the cabinets with tax.

Not sure if a lot of responses are needed, but live_wire_oak gave you a very good design that would actually make the kitchen very functional and allow for multiple cooks and conversation with guests while cooking and a nice prep space next to the sink. I have about the amount you show in your original plan and I wish I had more especially when my daughter wants to help as being on the other side of the sink is a bit far then.

Lyfia... When I looked at the thread yesterday, it only had 1 response..now there is a ton of great suggestions.

I listened to them and here is the new kitchen layout:

This post was edited by 8mpg on Wed, Apr 24, 13 at 23:13

Updated the master for a little different layout. Any comments? It makes the closet a bit bigger. The tub has a bit more room around it which is the main reason for moving it all. The vanity will be an 84" vanity. The 36" cabinet in the closet is actually for the gun safe.

I like the new bathroom layout..as i was reading through the thread I looked at it and thought of rearranging it similarly. The only thing I don't necessarily like about it in both designs is that in order to access the master closet (a location I know I'm in and out of a good bit when getting ready), you would need to try and get past anyone working at the sink vanity closest to the door there. Easy fix would be to have the closet entrance off the main bedroom instead. I think between tub and vanities its a very busy place for a door but just my opinion.

I'd maybe try and monkey around with the whole master bathroom layout to make it so you have the windows perhaps in your toilet area instead of the closet. Sides the concern of sun bleaching clothes and whatnot, just seems a better choice of where you might want ventilation. But at the end of the day I could live in what you've come up with. Depending on how free you are to move walls tho you could adjust the entrance location door into the master and probably do a lot of different things there.

Your plan looks very nice! I think the entry to the closet is a bit tight, but how often will you both be getting ready at the same time? You'll have to make some compromises along the way, and I think that's a great use of space.

Personally, I would have used that extra close space for a sitting area in the MBR, but I can see how some folks would value a space for their gun safe and a larger closet.

Good luck.

Thanks for the comments you two. I agree as I would rather have those windows in the bathroom rather than the closet. I will move it around and see what I can come up with. If I cant come up with something good, I will move the closet door to the bedroom.

Thanks again

You really haven't left yourself a lot of usable wall space in your master closet... Something to think about.