I am drawing plans of my new house too. I undestand your concerns. When I look at your kitchen I would like to add prep sink on the island. It will make it easier to unload from fridge to the island then move to the range. Make sure that you have cabinets nearby to unload dishwasher. In master bedroom when you open the door to the bathroom you walk right in the toilett bowl. Not too much privacy. I hope it helps.

iryna,

Thank you, so glad you saw those issues.
My wife has mention about wanting a small sink on the island many times.
Somehow I keep forgetting that. I have just made some changes to the plan.
The kitchen is easier to address than the master bath.

I added a small sink on the island, and added a base and wall cabinet next to the dishwasher.

(As I am typing this I have another idea)Maybe I should change the door open to the tub also? It is getting late, I will try this out tomorrow :)

Thank you again for your input.

What kind of easement?

You do not have enough space between your island and the surrounding counters. Others will disagree, but in my opinion you need at least 48 inches, especially where there is any kind of appliance door opening. You need to be able to move between the island and the open door. With the dimensions as shown, you will not be able to do that. It is both a safety and convenience issue.

Unless the island will have no seating, there is not enough clearance between it and the dining table.

The porch and entry looks cold and uninviting. The front door opens into a cramped area by the dining table. This is really bad.

There appear to be no coat closets at or near the entrance doors.

The living room is just plain too small.

The downstairs lower right bedroom closet is mostly unusable due to the single door in the middle.

The master bath closet doors will collide. The commode is the center of attraction, and its occupant will be kneecapped if someone opens the door. The same door will collide with someone using the sink.

The master bath shower door needs to open outward. It can't.

The laundry sink should be next to the washer. As it is, you will be dripping laundry all over the floor as you move it from the sink to the washer.

The garage is large, but has a tiny single door. Change that to two single doors.

Entry way looks tight. If the craft/guest room at one point hosts a guest, they would be just as well served by an armoire. I would lose that closet to open up the space in the foyer. You could also eliminate the french doors to the living room on the other side.

The closet in the living room is out of place and takes valuable space away from your ensuite. I made the mistake of an undersized ensuite and regret it now. The kneecapper toilet is an issue too.

You have double sinks on relatively short counters. There will be no drawer storage to speak of.

Seems to be a lack of windows in the back especially around the beautiful porch.

Utility room is very small.

creek side is right about the Family room -- way too small. You have drawn in furniture in some of the rooms. I think if you start to draw it in you will see that the room is too small and much of it is unusable space. Especially given the fact that the staircase sticks out into the middle of the room like that. That whole end of the room is unusable.

RE: space around the island -- I don't know what the general guidelines are, but I would say anything less than 3.5 ft is going to feel cramped.

I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but you need to start over with the whole layout of the master bathroom. creek side's comments are right. Also, as a realtor, I would say that in the size home you're designing really should have the master toilet in its own room. At least that's what any buyer would expect where I live. I see a lot of ridiculously oversized master bathrooms with lots of "dead" space that could have been better designed. But I'm afraid with this design, you'll be facing the opposite problem -- it will simply be WAY too cramped.

creekside did a good job pointing out many of the space issues & I agree with him. Here are the things I noticed in addition + potential solutions (sorry, it's a little long):

2nd floor bedroom @ rear of house-closet needs double doors, there's not enough interior clearance in the closet to walk in & with only 1 door there will be deep dark corners in that closet. Double doors will open it up and give plenty of access to do shelving, double hanging racks, etc.

2nd floor bedroom @ rear of house (again)- there is a section behind it that reads 'open to below'. My question is 'open to below' of what? Looks like that room is over the master suite which means 1/2 the master bedroom below will have a 2 story ceiling height?

Upstairs bedrooms-Very small rooms especially for 2 twin beds. Since twin beds are in both rooms, I'm guessing you have 4 kids. Is there enough closet space for them? With the rooms being so small + 2 beds in each, there is no room left for dressers unless thy're going in front of the window between the beds? What about toy storage and the like? Can you incorporate some of that 'open to below' space behind the rear bedroom mentioned above into upstairs square footage and expand those bedrooms? It would also allow for a different jack & jill bath configuration to help eliminate the door whacking the knees issue in the toilet/tub room.

Laundry Room-Not alot of available space to put counters or anything else for that matter. It looks like you have a closet(?) opposite the sink as you walk in. Is it possible to use the space where the closet & sink are to place the washer & dryer across from one another, then run an L-shaped countertop/cabinets from the washer to the corner and rounding the corner along the back wall for a foot or so then place a 2'8" wide cabinet style tall pantry at the end of the counter run in the other corner. The sink would go next to the washer, positioned under the window. This gives you much more storage & a place to fold clothes which you don't have now.

Master bath-Tub looks like it's only 5' long(?). I'm guessing some sort of jetted tub since you have a separate shower. As 5' jetted tubs come in alcove style vs. just drop in style, why don't you do a shower/tub combination using an alcove jetted tub & utilize the shower space for the toilet. I would delete the small closet in the entry way located behind the master shower on your plan to increase the depth of that toilet room. You could utilize the space where the toilet was to put in a linen cabinet/closet and this would also enable the bathroom entry door to swing the opposite direction & alleviate the current door-swing issue. Since the entryway closet got deleted, I would push the closet in the craft/guest room back into the room some to allow for a closet on the opposite side in the entry way or split the closet in 1/2 to make 2-3' wide closets with one opening into the craft room & the other opening into the entryway. I'd also slide the entry door over to the right a little to line up the door with the walkway into the family room vs. a lined up with the side of the stairs. This would also allow for more room for a closet.

Living room-The size is a little small, but if it's a room that will get little use or will be set up more as a study, then it's fine. But why does it have a closet? That space coul dbe better utilized in the living room itself and in the master bath that backs up to it.

Kitchen-I'd really have to sit down & play with this one. What I see at first glance in addition to lack of clearances between counters, island, dining table, & appliance door openings: Using a large 8-top round table vs. the large square one would save some clearance space. Another thought is to incorporate a bench seat with seating for 2 or 3 on the end of the island facing the family room, then place a rectangle or square table in front of the bench with seating for an additional 2 or 3 on each of the remaining 3 sides. This may enable you to utilize the space on the back wall for cabinets/appliances (may being the key word in this sentence as I haven't played with the layout to see if it works).

Kitchen (again)-The door in the kitchen leading to the porch will be difficult to access. You have a nice sized porch planned & you will want to use it., I would change the access point to the family room.

Family Room- At first glance, it looks big enough, but when you start figuring in walkways for access to the stairs & kitchen area, you end up in the neighborhhod of about 15'3" wide & 10'7" deep. Much of today's furniture is oversized, so you may want to just take some measurements & make sure the furniture will fit in the arrangement you want within that space. (I just started using a program called SmartDraw this week & it has helped me out greatly in planning the layouts & furniture placement in my rooms.)

Guest/Craft Room Bath-I'm not a fan of doors on both ends but I can also see the benefit in your case based on the location & potential for dual purpose. I would either delete the door leading into the bathroom from the garage entryway or make it a pocket door. Clearance between doors and toilets seems to be a consistent challenge in this plan.

That's all I've got for now. It looks like it's going to be a lovely home with good flow. It's just time to fine tune the plan so you're not paying out a fortune in change orders during construction. ; )

creek_side, dyno, dash, and mydreamhome,

Thank you for all your valuable feedback. They will keep me busy with the next revision :-) ... there goes my long weekend ... :-)

What do you think of this new (late night) vision. I thought I would do this tomorrow ... but here it is ... I have not show this to my wife ... hope she doesn't mind the smaller size island ;p

mydreamhome, thank you for your wonderful suggestions (ideas)
I need to read them again, and share it with my wife.
I couldn't keep my eyes open, I better get some sleep now.
Thanks :)

p.s. oh, before I forgot. We do prefer to have the Furnace & Water Heater/Softener in the garage instead of the basement. What kind of insulation do we need to make sure it works during the winter time. We prefer to give the service people easy access. Is it worth it?? I better stop now, I am rambling.

What about combining the hall and mudroom? I would place the cubbies where the W/D is and put the W/D on the wall opposite the bathtub. This would allow you to have only one doorway to the kitchen from mudroom-I would make it an opening without a door to open/close. (you could even enlarge the kitchen by a foot) Or you could add a shelving unit for a pantry or the like. YOu could also place the fridge in the corner and give more counterspace as the door way to the laundry will not be in the existing location. I then would move the existing garage door entering to hall over to the left one foot or so (where the 7ft cubbies are)

I would really try to place the Dishwasher next to the sink. easier to load!

that master workup still is not quite right, I think if you could eliminate the wasted entry to the suite and somehow encorporate that into this, it would be better.

Basement bedrooms look to have very small windows....or am I reading the plan wrong.

Hello Friends,

I got a new iteration. I redo the Master bath, laundry, mudroom, utility room, craft/guest room and living room. I am still not sure about the stair, master room entry, guest bath room, and the small guest closet (right next to the main front door)

** Also what do you think about NOT having the utility room in the basement? Any suggestion?

Perhaps I should step back and let this set for a day or two in order to get a new look. Thank you all for your support and input.

mrsmuggleton, you are right those windows are too small. I am thinking they should have been 3' to 4'...

Were did the second sink go ....

I just noticed that I am missing a sink in the Master Bath ...Ahhhhh ... For now please imagine there are two sinks over there. You can see that, right :)

Thanks

Utility room in garage. Why? What climate are you in? There really is no problem doing that. Most people don't want to see that stuff every day. So it is not the norm (around here) except that water heaters are often put there in non-basement homes. There will be extra cost as any time you put the furnace outside of the central area, you incur more ductwork. Similarly, a hot water heater outside of central area means more time for hot water (unless you have a recirc pump). Generally you would just want to keep the garage on the warmer side (in a cold climate). We don't have insulation in our garage walls and it still stays pretty warm. I'd just insulate your garage walls and you'll be fine.

Warning - I am going to sound like a broken record. Not to you but with a similar message to someone else. I live in a pretty homogenous housing market. But, I just want to let you know what building an overly custom home might mean. You probably know where this is going (ie resale). Maybe it is because it was done in my area a lot in the 90s and those houses sell for pennies on the dollar. Maybe in your area, this housing style is normal.

Here are a couple of statements. In NC, those basement bedrooms would not come close to meeting code due to egress issues - they probably wouldn't meet code if the windows were 6 feet tall. So we have a different world but my wife wouldn't let me put a guest bedroom in a full daylight basement. My point is only that basement bedrooms have their downside and anything that limits your future buyer pool can hurt resale.

Are people still building 2 story rooms in your area? They aren't here and heating costs are only going up. I live in a neighborhood where homes are 2x the average price and 4000 sq ft and no one has a 2 story room with the exception of the occassional foyer. Hey I built a 2 story great room in the 90s that sold just fine in 2005 but it was otherwise a typical colonial.

The master bath is getting better but 3x4 for a closed in shower is a little small. 4x4 is pretty good. Overall, for this size house, the master suite is a little small. Again, it is not customary in my market.

Put a generous mechanical room in the basement for the HVAC and water heater. If you have a heat pump or plain AC, you have to deal with condensate. It's a lot easier to just let it go to a basement floor drain than it is to pump it someplace.

There also needs to be somewhere to drain the water heater to in the event it needs service, which it will at some point. Again, a floor drain in the equipment room makes it easy.

If you have forced air heat or cooling, you need to plan for ductwork from the air handler/furnace to the various rooms, including a chase to the second floor. I don't see any provision for that in your plan. Don't just leave that to the HVAC installers. Absent some preplanning in the design, they will just take the space from wherever suits them. You probably won't like the results.

project09- I like a combination of the latest 2 layouts you posted on the 29th & 30th. The laundry room posted on the 30th is now configured to make better use of the space, the kitchen/dining area is much improved with better clearances. The layout you posted on the 29th has the master suite, guest/craft room, guest bath, living room, entry from garage that I prefer. I'm not a fan of having the guest room and/or bathroom right at the front entry with full view of the family room which is the configuration you posted on the 30th. The layout from the 29th gives the guest/craft room & guest bathroom privacy where the layout on the 30th does not. The master bath on the plan from the 30th is VERY small which is not fitting for a house this size. With the exception of the laundry room, the layout you posted on the 29th in my opinion was a better use of space, but still could have used a little tweaking.
Keep us posted on your changes!

How often do you take a bath? If you eliminated the bath in the master bathroom, it would open up the space tremendously.

My sister built a house last year, and needed to fit 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a small office, and a small tv room upstairs. She made her master bathroom nice, but eliminated the tub so that she would have more room. She made the shower nicer because of this (sprays and such), and a bit bigger.

You will have another bathtub on the main level if you ever want to take a bath.

I would definitely want a WC with a door in the master bath -- watching someone take care of business while you brush your teeth....well, it's just not the best way to start or end your day. You still need more room for a swing-out shower door so you don't hit the toilet (or someone sitting on it).

You have a built-in desk in the master -- are you going to use that, or is it just to look nice? It will severely curtail your ability to rearrange the furniture.

I would go with 10' garage doors just because they are easier to use. And you definitely have room for them.

In case you are wondering ... I am still revising the plan ... back to the drawing board :)

I actually feel that your master suite is plenty big enough.

The other question I have, is there any way you could design an entryway to the family room from the porch, rather than into the kitchen? It seems a little tight having the door that close to the kitchen table. You still have good access with groceries from the garage into kitchen without too far to go with them.

Here in Florida, many people put the hot water tank and heat pumps out in their garage, but we aren't cold for much of the year either. Another thought is perhaps an instant hot water tank, but I've heard they can be pricey.

We're going through the same house design process as you, so I know how hard it is! I do want to say that this is YOUR home, and it needs to be the way you and your wife want it. After all, that is the point of a custom home. I would NOT design it to fit some phantom future buyer. I just don't get the thinking going on these days with building a home for someone else.

Thank you for all your new feedback. These help me correct things that I have over looked. Here is my new revision. I tucked my wife craft room at the NW corner. I want it to be closer to the kitchen. I just noticed that I forgot to put a door to access the craft room closet.

I wish I could put a window in one of the kitchen walls.
Can those who have their kitchens similar to this revision share your take on my kitchen placement, please? We never have a kitchen located like that.

Hopefully I can get the new revision for the 2nd floor and basement soon. Once again, thank you for all of you who take time to provide us with your ideas.

You're in the kitchen much more than in a dining area. I'd swap the two rooms. I also would not want the master suite to directly share the wall to the family room without some buffer like a closet in between. The front living room area doesn't add any usable space to the home after subtracing the stairs and entry space. All it acts like is an oversized foyer without a foyer's formality.

I like the original a lot better than this revision. The only thing I don't like about the original is the relatively "lost" and useless living area on the front of the house. Make that into an office/guest room space and that solves that. Open up the laundry/utility/garage entrance space to be one large room and that solves other problems.

I don't have any ideas of how to buffer the master from the family room without impinging on the width of the home.

Project 09- Haven't been on for a few days. Saw your update. The revisions on the latest one work with the exception of the front living room that livewireoak pointed out. But is it what you want? To me this last revision seems to have lost a lot of the character & uniqueness that your previous plans have shown. You can find this layout in any home plan magazine or website and it's been cookie-cutter duplicated 1000s of times in tract built communities. If that is indeed what you are looking for, go for it. But if you wanted the character, I'd go back a couple revisions ago. Just my opinion.

Would you actually use two living rooms as drawn on your last revision? Most people tend to use one room, whether it is called a living room, great room, family room, or whatever. I feel that every square inch of a home should actually be used.

I would make one nice living room area, with either french doors or a sliding glass door onto the porch.

As far as the stair placement goes, could you have a nice open foyer where they could be placed on one wall, and then continue on it the living room area from there. It would be nice and open, while allowing for furniture placement in the living room area. The stair placement drives the loft design though, so you may not like what it does.

I like kitchens that open into a living area. In your first drawing the main thing I see is that the space between the island and kitchen table is way too tight, and I would not like the door placement to the porch from the kitchen. It's "off" and doesn't flow right. The porch can be easily used from the kitchen through doors from the living room.

We are designing a floor plan right now ourselves, and it is amazing what changes we have made over the past several months. It is just my husband and I now, so I can build my home without a bunch of bedrooms. We are building it the way that WE want. We are basically going to have the master and a large sewing studio. If we do get a guest they can sleep in the sewing studio. I want larger rooms, and less of them. We are also keeping the square footage down to around 1700 sq. ft.

I've decided against a loft, because I have found I never really liked living with huge vaulted ceilings. Wherever the loft isn't, the ceiling is a monster. The solution is to flat ceiling most of the house with the loft above it, but I didn't want that either. I do love being up in lofts though.

The other thing I have had to let go of is my desire to have a built in island. I've wanted an island as long as I can remember. I just couldn't make it work with the clearances and flow I wanted. I think I can have a nice portable one made though that can either store when not needed on a wall, and/or do double duty as a cutting table in my sewing room. I usually only want an island when doing lots of baking or cooking for company.

My changes in thinking about our house are not meant to imply that you should think and do as I am. I only mentioned them because frustration sets in while designing a home, and an evolvement process happens as a result. If you are stuck on a certain aspect and can't get past it, it means that something isn't quite right...for you. Sometimes it takes a while to figure it out. What figured out the loft/no loft thing for me was taking the time to go through a few model log homes. I'll always love the sewing loft idea, but for me, and me only, the tradeoff wasn't worth it. We are middle aged now and I want to keep the home manageable for when we are old.

Oh, and be sure to put plenty of dish storage near your dishwasher and to the table. The dishwasher should go next to the sink for ease of use.

Good luck. I know you are doing lots of head banging right now. It's easier to erase lines on paper than move it while under construction. You'll eventually get it.

Sandy

I'd take your kitchen design to the kitchen forum. I think it would benefit from some opinions there.