I am far from expert but one things seems a little off.

It seems inconvenient to have to walk through your dining room to get to the kitchen as the only way to get there apart from the mudroom entry. Dining tables are large and with the chairs it might be a hassle for guests or anyone entering from the front of the home to walk around the table to get to the action in the kitchen. We tend to congregate in our kitchen so that may influence my opinion on the set up. Good luck!

I agree! Having to walk around the dining room table will get real old real fast.

Edited to add:
The DR is the only access to the bedrooms and laundry room too... not a fan!

Where will you kids hang towels when in the shower?

This post was edited by LuAnn_in_PA on Fri, May 3, 13 at 11:45

If your table is normally set up at six feet in length, you will have five feet on either side to walk around on a daily basis (including space for chairs). I don't think that's a big deal. It's not like you don't have to walk around the island, as well. :)

If you you plan on putting a longer country-type table that can't be closed, I foresee more of a problem, then.

This post was edited by bird_lover6 on Fri, May 3, 13 at 11:19

You need a space to act as a hallway past the dining room, because bumping past the table all the time is going to get old fast.

If it were my house, I would change the stairs to a straight run, and use the square footage you gain to make space for a hallway past the table. You'd need to rework the mudroom some, but I think it would be worth it. If you do this, I would swap the future theater and family room spaces and put some windows in the family room (which will now be in the back of the house, so it won't mess with the front elevation). That would make the family room a much more appealing space, IMO.

I would also move the laundry room so that it shared a wall with the master closet, and the bedroom hallway connected to the corner of the living room instead of the dining room. First, it would be more comfortable-- it's always going to feel like the table/chairs are blocking the walkway there, and second, if you have people over for dinner, it's awkward for the view from the table to be into this private part of your house. Having the hallway open into the corner of the living room instead of the center of the dining room will be much better. Also it will get the dryer exhaust vent onto the back slope of your roof, so it's less visible from the street.

Have you considered skylights to bring some natural light into the center of your house?

I'm not worried about the walking through the dining room. I had a similar flow between the kitchen and the living room and had no issues. Right now we have to walk past the dining table (we use our breakfast area for our only dining are) to get to our master. Coming from the bedrooms in your case it is just cutting across the corner to get to kitchen or living.

What I would consider though is moving the door into the master bath. The door will be in the way in front of the vanity. I would want it as close to the wall as possible across from the vanity.

Why such a large closet in the bath? I would rather have extra closet space in the bedroom. Bathrooms generally doesn't make for the best spaces for storing things anyways. If you want it to be more useful for other storage then take some of it and make it hallway accessible.

Why no windows on the side walls in bedroom 1 and 2? Do you have very close neighbors? If not then maybe use shorter height windows so you can place furniture under them, but they would be good for a cross breeze and more light.

You have two sinks back to back in the kitchen and really only comfortable enough space for one to work in that space at a time.

I think it's possible that there will actually be plenty of space around the table, but the space will be more comfortable, I think, if the space is designed to indicate a walkway. Right now, the symmetry of the arch over the kitchen and the centered island suggests that the table should be in the center of the dining room, and neither side of the dining room looks like it is intended to be a walkway.

If you did something like this:

[Contemporary Dining Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2103) by Waukesha Design-build Architectural Homes by Anders Inc
with a peninsula in place of the island, and the table off to the side a little, it would offer a cue to let people know how to move through the space, and it would feel more comfortable, IMO.

I agree that the house lacks "flow". Walking through the dining room to reach -- well, pretty much any room -- is not a good idea.

Have you thought about how you're going to arrange furniture in that living room? There isn't a lot of wall space. Most of the furniture will have to sit away from the wall, which condenses the space quickly.

I've made some updates based on everyone's feedback where I feel it's appropriate. The major change however is the front elevation. I've attempted a modern craftsman look. To achieve this, the major change was to shorten the garage a bit (still room for 2+ cars, but a little tighter) and extended the front porch to a more useful size.

Thoughts on the front appearance vs the old?

Here is a link that might be useful:

I like the 2nd version of your front better. Feels more welcoming and finished.

If it's not too late to comment, the one thing that concerns me is that with your master bedroom appears to only have one wall (the back one) to put your bed. Any chance you could move the entrance door to the room to the left that way it give you more wall space. You would need to reconfigure your bathroom and closet but I think it will give you more options in the room. By putting your bed either on the same wall as the bathroom or the kitchen it will allow for a nice view out the windows when you wake up versus seeing a door. Just my 2 cents.

You should have a logical reason for the second gable. As in bump the porch entrance out there by a couple of feet. Otherwise, it's an inauthentic detail and should be removed. Another inauthentic detail is the use of stone higher than the foundation level. It should get reduced by a couple of courses to appear to be more realistic. You should also consider separating all of those double ganged windows, or else doing a larger central window clear of muntins with the side windows only containing the muntins. It's a little too "ducks in a row" as is. I don't know what type of roofing you're considering, but it should be architectural and offer some relief, creating some shadow lines and interest.

Joy314, I checked a standard sized (queen I think) bed and it fits on any of the three outer walls, though it did cover the side windows just a bit. So I'll look at moving those windows out a little.

hollysprings, the inner gable does bump out a bit, but the perspective doesn't show it. Playing with the plan this morning I was looking at pushing it out to cover 1/2 to all of the steps to the porch. Wondering how far out it could go before I would need some supports for it though.

I like the idea of the larger center clear window. I see that in a lot of the craftsman images that come up on a google search. I'll throw that in tonight and see how it looks.

The stone front elements are required per covenants, but I'm wondering if I could get away with just the stone at the porch pillars. The covenant isn't specific about how much or where, just that the front is partial stone/stucco/brick.

I'm iffy on the dining room placement. It's not my taste, but I've seen plenty of floor plans that use that three-rooms-together set-up in a great room. They tend to be across the back of a house and tend to have another entry to the farthest room.

I like the bedroom wing, but I do see two small things I'd change:

- Rooms with windows on two walls always look larger and are more pleasant. You could do this to both secondary bedrooms easily.

- I'd lose one of the sinks in each bathroom. Two sinks really serve no purpose, and in vanities this small, they mean you'll have NO drawer storage at all.

Thanks MrsPete, in my current drawings I've added the secondary windows already. Springtime in Iowa now and we've got our windows open. Good reminder of the nice cross breeze that we can enjoy for a few solid months of the year.

I'll have to consider the sink situation. The kid's bathroom sink really seems like a double would be nice, but then I think back to growing up with a brother and I don't recall ever using them at the same time. I guess in both rooms it's more of a his/hers arrangement, which is nice to have.

I think I have a solution for your narrow vanities...

Why not flip your locations of your hall bath closet and tub? Then, you can have a slightly narrower toilet room and closet, and a longer vanity.

Or, possibly flip your locations of the tub/toilet in the hall bath? OR, put one sink on one side and one sink on the other side (where the closet is) in the hall bath...

These recommendations would also depend on what that round/square thing is near the toilet? (if a vent fan, then not a big deal. If some sort of plumbing fixture...then...)

I like Kirkhall's suggestion to flip the tub and toilet locations. Putting your toilets sort of "back to back" would save money on the waste plumbing, which is a pretty expensive item.

As for sinks, in my mind, the question is, which of these would you prefer?

- Two sinks and no drawers underneath, which means you'll have always have a hairbrush, a couple razors, a basket of cosmetics and a bottle of hair spray crowding the countertop. You might hide a portion of this in a medicine cabinet, but it won't all fit.
- One sink and a three-drawer stack, meaning each person has a personal drawer for all those necessities, plus another drawer for washcloths and first aid items. The countertop will be quick to clean since it won't be covered with clutter.

I like the suggestion to split the sinks in the hall bath putting one where the current sinks are located and one where the bathroom closet is located. Then, there could be a linen tower next to each sink.

I sort of like the living room, dining room, kitchen arrangement but I think it's a matter of taste

I can see our whole family (inlaws sisters and brothers)
"visiting" around the dining table while some are in the kitchen and some in the lr

it's hard to have enough seating for large families if you don't use the dr.....

Yeah, that's the idea. Provides a all-in-one meeting place. Many of the things designed into this plan are in reaction to things we dislike about our current house.

Our current house has these three areas laid out in such a way so that you really have to all be in one room or the other to visit.

This plan gives three living areas which are separate but still together. The eventual finished basement will be the place to escape to if we want a place to get away or be in separate groups (kids/adults for example)