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umrain

First floor plan draft done, need your opinions.

umrain
10 years ago

Hi

We will build a bungalow on a lake lot. The bungalow will have a walk out basement and is about 2000 sqft. we have two daughters, one is four one is eight. we wish our new house has three bed rooms and one study room. their play room will be in the basement. this is our first draft for the ground level. please review it. any opinion is appreciated.

thanks

Comments (18)

  • umrain
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Here is the floor plan

  • mrspete
    10 years ago

    Nice house! Well-proportioned, but not overblown. It looks like it'll be a comfortable home.

    The one and only thing I'd suggest: Move the garage entrance to the left so that when you enter the house you have a straight shot in (rather than being greeted by the washer/dryer). It'll be easy enough to turn to the right, if you have things to drop off by the laundry, but the straight-shot entry'll be nicer.

  • mrspete
    10 years ago

    One other thing: You don't have a pantry. A walk-in pantry is always best, but you could make a cabinetry pantry on the end of the "L" away from the dining area.

  • kirkhall
    10 years ago

    I had the same thought as Mrs Pete re: moving the garage door. It will keep dirt/mud out of your laundry "area" a little more, perhaps.

    I can see why you may have put it to the right (if you wanted to not see the garage door if you were standing straight on to it), but it looks like you have a pocket door to close off that area if it is important to do so anyway.

  • virgilcarter
    10 years ago

    The zoning of the house is odd, particularly with small children, IMO. For example, the adult sleeping area is as diagonally far removed from the children's sleeping area as possible. The children can go out the front door during the night and the parents will never know they are up.

    The complete open area of the great room, dining room and kitchen means all sounds, smells and goings-on in one area will pervade all of the rest of the open space. It will be interesting to see if the small children will "play and stay" in the basement area, particularly when adults are active on the first level.

    Without seeing your property, it's really impossible to give any opinion as to how the house will relate to and complement your property. One thing is obvious, however, and that is that the house is almost a square proportion--virtually as deep as it is wide. This means an inherently large and bulky roof mass and shape, unless some of the plan proportions are changed to be much more rectangular.

    Just some thoughts. Good luck with your project.

  • dekeoboe
    10 years ago

    No deck, no porch? Where will the children play outside? Are you having a basement under the entire house? Where will the walkout section be?

  • zone4newby
    10 years ago

    I also hope you'll have a deck. What you have now seems cut-off from the backyard.

    I'm not sure about the bedroom layouts either, but I'm not a fan of split bedroom plans. I prefer having all the bedrooms clearly separate from the public parts of the house, so I wouldn't like having the kids' bedroom hall just off the foyer like that.

    I do like your nicely proportioned front entry and kitchen layout.

    Something to think about: you're building a smaller home, and your stairs to the basement are taking up quite a bit more square footage than they need. I'm not sure how to fix it on this floor plan, but two landings here is excessive, IMO.

  • umrain
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks for all your comments. I agree with the garage location and the two bed room location critiques. I have thought about these as well. But there are some restriction on the lot we chose. I need to explain more here. The lot is a walkout lake lot, but the back yard is not directly facing the lake. My lot is at the edge of the lake. The view to the lake is on the right side of the floor plan. The two children's rooms can not be put near the master bed room side. It will cause the right side stick out and block the lake view.

    The lot is 60 feet wide. So the maximum plan width is 52 feet. There are other restrictions on the lot required by the land developer or the city. The garage has to be on the right and can not stick out. The lot is a visitable lot. A bathroom has to be a visitable bathroom. I have made the master to be a visitable. I 'm not sure about the corner pantry. I think it will eat up too many counter space. So the pantry is beside the mudroom, the square next to the stair is the pantry. The pantry is a worry for me now. I don't know where is a best place for it. Need your suggestion.

    There is a deck, it will be added later. The porch will be connecting the garage and the front bed room. It will be 18 feet long and 12feet deep. Do you think it is two large?

  • umrain
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I made a mistake. I select a lot before decide on a floor plan. Something can not change, i have to proceed. Hoping the main parts are satisfied like kitchen, great room, master bed master bathroom. By the way, the basement will be a walkout. My kids will play downstairs. The basement plan will come out after finalize the first level floor plan. Thank everyone here. You are so nice and very knowleageble. English is not my first language. Hope you understand what I'm writing here.

  • jimandanne_mi
    10 years ago

    It would be very helpful if you could give us a rough drawing of the house on the lot, where the lake and road are, which way is south, where there are other good views in addition to the lake, and which direction would have access to the walkout.

    Depending on your answers to this, it would seem to me that it might make more sense to have the kitchen, dining and great room where the master bedroom suite and laundry are.

    Also, what kind of climate will this be in?

    Your English is very good, but I'm not understanding your use of the word "visitable" in referring to the lot, bathroom, and master. Could you explain that in some other way?

    Anne

  • lolauren
    10 years ago

    Visitable - handicap accessible...

    Here is a link that might be useful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visitability

  • okpokesfan
    10 years ago

    That is a long walk from the kitchen to the garage when you are unloading groceries. Otherwise pretty nice!

  • Naf_Naf
    10 years ago

    Umrain,
    What is your first language?

    This post was edited by naf_naf on Tue, Apr 9, 13 at 20:58

  • dekeoboe
    10 years ago

    naf-naf - you might want to take a look at the link lolauren posted. Sounds like Umrain did mean visitable.

  • Naf_Naf
    10 years ago

    Thank you dekeoboe,
    I did not read all the comments.

    Umrain,
    If the views are on the right of the plan, could you locate the garage on the opposite side so is closer to the kitchen?
    That way the bedrooms can get a lake view.

  • lyfia
    10 years ago

    We have a similar, but even further trek between master and 2nd bedrooms and a 4 year old. You can put chimes on doors etc. And windows too. If you're doing a security system then you'll have all those things. I like the idea of having those anyways to hear when somebody is heading outside or inside. I can already tell the separation will be nice when she is older.

  • umrain
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks Lolauren for explaining the visitable meaning. There is a circle in master washroom, this is for a wheel chair to turn around. I do not want visitable, but the lots on the area i like are all visitable. I have to obey the rule required by the city. I'm in canada, climate is cold here. I can't change the location of the garage. It has to be right. There are restrictions for garage location for each lot by the land developer. So many silly rules, aha.

    I will try to post the lot tomorrow. The backyard facing south and a lake.

  • sparky4sparky
    10 years ago

    Could you flip the location of the kitchen and the great room. You could be closer to the mud room that way. You might give up a bit of cabinet space but might flow better. I agree it seems like a long hike from garage to kitchen. Otherwise looks nice.

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