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akshars_mom

Feedback on Plan

akshars_mom
10 years ago

I would really appreciate the feedback on the plan.

A little bit about the us and what we are trying to do.

We are a family of 3. Our son is 7 years so will be with us for quite some time. Both my parents and in laws are out of the country and when they visit they will usually stay for longer intervals of time like 2 months to 3 months at a time. We do not have any pets.

What we are trying to do is a major renovation and addition to the existing house. The house currently is 1350 Sqft and we would like to bring it close to 2000 to 2100 sqft.
The house is in city and the lot sizes are small. The lot size is 61â * 105 â and we have to deal with the setbacks the city has so we are somewhat limited in the options we have.
The house faces south.

The requirement we had for the house was 4 bedroom ( with one working as an office) and at least 2.5 bathrooms. We do not want a formal dining area ( we had one in our old house and never used it). I cook everyday so having a decent kitchen is mandatory. One special requirement we had was for a prayer/meditation room. My husband does meditation every day and this the one wish he had.
In the plan attached below the three bedrooms are from the old plan itself with slight modification to one. So the sizes are smaller than what one would design if they designed from scratch but I am ok with that compromise.

A few concerns I have with plan as it is currently is:

1) There is no mudroom/laundry room I would like to add this but the designer says there is no space to do this. Would moving the kitchen area slightly back and adding the mudroom/laundry room right of the garage there make the kitchen/Dining/family room area too small?
2) Do we really need 3.5 baths? I wanted to reduce this to 3 baths but the designers says it adds to resale value? We plan to stay here 10+ years. Is he right that people prefer private baths for each bedroom and a separate powder room.
3) The kitchen on the sink side seems very long? Do you agree?
4) I wanted the prayer room but the current location make it not very useable for others when we sell. As it does not have a window it could serve only as a closet. Ideally I would prefer a window in the room facing east.
5) Any other things I am missing?
Thanks in Advance.

Comments (11)

  • chibimimi
    10 years ago

    Let's start with the prayer room. Which way is east? Is it on the right hand side of the plan? If so, you could put the prayer room between the garage and the kitchen, then use the current prayer room space to reconfigure the kitchen. Future buyers could use the prayer room as a walk-in pantry.

    If east is on the left-hand side of the plan, you could put the prayer room at the entrance to the master bedroom, where that first window is. This would still leave you with a 15'x14' master -- not large, but perfectly adequate, especially if you incorporate the former prayer room space into the walk-in closet so you don't have to have dressers in the bedroom area. The prayer room could later be used as a nursery, an office, or another walk-in closet.

    I think many people would prefer to have a full laundry/mudroom to having a powder room, especially when it's so close to the hall bathroom. Combine the powder room with the laundry to make the laundry/mudroom with the door where the powder room door is now. Then move the garage door around the corner, so it opens toward the new laundry/mudroom.

  • Naf_Naf
    10 years ago

    Do you have an existing plan?

  • mrspete
    10 years ago

    Sure, you could add a mudroom -- but it would be at the cost of space to the kitchen, which you say is important to you. You can add anything you want; the question is how much it'll cost and whether you're willing to pay it /whether you're willing to give up space elsewhere.

    Rather than give up kitchen space, I think you could bump everything down a bit and take the space from the family room. If you remove the slider (and instead have a bank of windows /a single door in the corner of the room), you could push the furniture against the wall and have the same amount of usable space in the family room.

    If nothing else, you could set up a "mudroom" area in the garage. You could set up a place to leave shoes, hang coats, etc. before entering the house. Ideal? No, but perhaps better than foregoing the idea altogether.

    This is a rather modest house, and I don't think 3.5 baths are a must-have. Of course more bathrooms are nice, but they're also more expensive. Especially if you plan to sell eventually, you should always keep your amenities appropriate for your price point.

    My biggest bathroom concern is that the occupants of the front bedroom must walk through the living room, down the hall, through the kitchen and down another hall to reach the nearest bathroom. Could you combine the bathroom and the powder room to make one larger, nicer bathroom (I'd rather have one bath a little more spacious rather than several tiny bathrooms) . . . and include a small hallway on the left so that the front bedroom could access it?

    If you have a bathroom accessible from the hallway, a powder room is not a necessity.

    In your bathroom, note that a vanity that size with two sinks means you'll have no drawers. I'd rather have one sink and a bank of drawers for storage.

    I'd also be concerned about the laundry room -- or, closet. If you must go with this reach-in closet, I suggest using stacked machines. That way you can have a small space for baskets of "waiting" laundry and a place to fold. I've lived with your proposed arrangement, and the reality is that you ALWAYS have piles of laundry outside the closet.

    Alternately, you could move the laundry out into the garage. Again, ideal? No, but sometimes the best option available.

    I do agree that's one LOOOONG kitchen counter.

    I understand the desire for a prayer closet, but I don't think this one would draw me in or make me want to stay a while. What's missing? A window! At best, you could use a French door, but then you lose the privacy that I suspect you want in this room.

    Which direction is East?

    How much space do you need for an office? Could this space be a small office with a built-in, space-saving desk? and shelves to the ceiling to hold your office needs? That'd allow the front bedroom to switch from office to prayer room, and it'd be a larger, more inviting space.

    Why do you have that odd angle in one corner of the living room?

  • Naf_Naf
    10 years ago

    Chibimimi,
    If the house faces south, the east is on the left (bedrooms side)

  • akshars_mom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    naf_naf, I could not find the existing plan that the designer sent . But found one where he has some comments but I hope it is clear enough to see what it is.

  • akshars_mom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Mrs Pete, Thanks for taking the time to give detailed comments.

    In regards to the Mud room I will look into the idea of setting up an area in the garage. That is what we had in our old house but it was not organized. May be I can look into organizing this space better this time.

    In regards to the half bath I like the idea of having a bigger bath and eliminate the half bath and have an entrance from the hallway also. If we do eliminate the powder room we will change the bathroom to be more accessible from the hallway.

    In regards to the front bedroom we plan to use as an office. My husband works long hours and will use that office when he is working from home. Ideally the room being far away from family area works better as he works on weekend and after dinner for a few hours every day so being away from family room works better.

    The east is in the side of the bedrooms. I agree the Prayer room not having a window is what bothers me.

    The odd angle at the end of the living look is because of the setback I think. I have been meaning to ask him but did not. I will ask him tomorrow.

  • akshars_mom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Chibimimi,
    East is to the master bedroom side. I did not think about the having the prayer room by making the bedroom smaller. But something I need to think about.
    I agree with you I would prefer a mudroom and bigger laundry room compared to a powder room. I will look into your suggestion on combining the powder room and laundry into one area.

  • akshars_mom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I have taken some of the comments received above and combined the powder room and laundry room into to one mudroom/laundry room.

    Have added a second door to the bathroom close to the living room so we have entrance from the living area so we can loose the powder room. Not sure if I should have the door where I have shown or change it towards the hallway. The same question for the mudroom and garage doors.

    Have moved the prayer room (it is smaller) but probably can be used as small office by some one if/when we sell.

    Do you think this is better.

  • mrspete
    10 years ago

    Take a look at this quick sketch for changes in the prayer room, laundry room and secondary bathrooms:

    - I've moved the prayer room to the end of the house. This opens it off the master bedroom and gives it a window. You could close it off with a pocket door, use a curtain, or leave it open. Future buyers could use this for any number of purposes. This does take away the window from your master bath. It also moves your plumbing closer to the kitchen and the other bathroom, which is a money-saver.

    - The laundry room is now larger, giving you space for folding and storage.

    - I made the previous small bathrooms into a jack-and-jill. I know it's poorly drawn, but note that you have essentially two half-baths connected to a "tub room". This takes away the cramped feeling, yet gives you plenty of bathroom.

    - I made one of the secondary bedrooms smaller, which provides a more direct route to the bathroom AND removes the uncomfortable bedroom-off-the-living room issue. This smaller room could be the office -- or a future buyer might see it as a nursery, library or craft room. Now that I look at it again, I think I'd switch it to be nearer the master bedroom -- put the two larger bedrooms in the corner together, and let this "extra room" be near the master. It just seems to give more variety for a future buyer.

  • akshars_mom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Mrs.Pete, I think you suggestion actually preserves all the bedrooms (except the master) intact from the current plan. The only thing I am concerned is if the hallway from the living area to kitchen/family might be too narrow. I will check on this.

  • cocontom
    10 years ago

    Do you actually want a separate living and family room? That's a ton of space if you won't actually use it- and with only one kid, will you use it, or just send him to his room?

    I would be tempted to move the second bedroom door to the middle/other end of the room, use the existing full bath space as the laundry room (with the bonus that then it's right outside the master), and then reconfigure the bath/closet/powder area so that it's a good sized bathroom space, still keeping the powder room.

    I know, for me, I would rather have one large, functional shared bathroom with lots of storage than two tiny bathrooms with almost no storage.