rsc2a,
Do you have a plan with the dimensions?
Without the dimensions, I am thinking that the proportions are not ok (like the great room seems small in comparison)
I do not like the bedroom without direct windows to exterior.
I prefer to locate the furnace/WH in a more central location for energy efficiency.
I am guessing that you forgot to place a window in the kitchen.
It would be nice to have a window by the whirlpool.
The master bathroom could have a nicer layout. Feels like a long hallway.
The general concept is interesting.
Good luck

I agree with marthaelena - where are the window in this house? Is there any natural light in the kitchen?

I'm still working on the plans. I just posted one with a lot of the dimensions for the first floor. To get an idea on scale, I placed furniture, hence the furniture plans. Plus, it's extremely helpful as I design my lighting and electrical plans. I've got a king-sized bed in the master and queens in the other bedrooms.

I thought about a window over the tub but it would be looking out onto veranda which I think would be awkward. There is supposed to be a window on the angled wall of the breakfast nook; I just forgot to add it. Additionally, there are second floor windows in the upper portion of the living room, adding additional light to the kitchen. The reason I don't have any windows on the "kitchen wall" is because I'm planning to eventually add a second garage facing the original garage, a courtyard type entry.

I'm not crazy about the master bath layout because of the hallway aspect; however, I have tinkered with multiple layouts and this is what I've come up with so far. Suggestions are more than welcome.

Additional information: I really like the covered verandas and arches. Probably my favorite designs are the Sater designs. I have thought about putting the WH / HVAC under the stairs. I am planning on geoexchange so the noise wouldn't be too bad. And I'm planning on using PEX with a manifold, which I could place under the stairs as well. The "hidden" closet in the master foyer is reserved for lighting controls (automated lighting) and whole house audio.

Feel free to butcher my plans as you see fit. I'd rather have someone make a thoughtful negative suggestion than 100 people pat me on the back :).

Thanks!

I'm afraid your $60/sq ft estimate is not at all realistic even if you're planning to totally DIY. You plan has all sorts of angles, bays, and bumpouts giving you a complicated foundation shape and a complex roof line. It's gorgeous but every one of those angles, bays, and bumpouts increases the cost to build. And higher end finishes such as "Venetian plastering" in all the rooms will add to the cost. Then there are the 3.5 baths (4.5 if that room off the garage with the WH is supposed to be another bathroom). Bathrooms and kitchens are the most expensive rooms in the house to build. The more bathrooms you have, the more expensive per SF your house will be. And, clustering wet areas close together helps keep plumbing costs down. But you've got your master bath a looong way from all other plumbing and then separate the fixtures in the master bath a long way from each other. So, your plumbing is not going to come cheap.

Those $60/sf builds you hear about are almost always 2 story plans (to cut down on foundation and roofing costs) that are nearly perfect rectangles with two baths (usually stacked to reduce plumbing costs) and the owners are inveterate deal shoppers (ebay, craigslist, Habitat Restore, etc.) who are willing to be quite flexible regarding finishes.

I live in a relatively inexpensive area to build in and my plan has some of the same complications as yours. Mine is 3200 sq foot heated/cooled with lots of covered decks/porches. It is two full stories (so I have comparatively less roofing and foundation costs). But, like you I have 3 full baths plus two half baths (with plumbing spread out. My foundation has a couple of bump-outs - although not nearly as many as you have. We're in the midst of building and our final cost will be nearer to $165/sf... and that is NOT counting land purchase nor clearing which we had accomplished before we started to build. We're building the house we wanted so we decided to bite the bullet on going over the $150/sf limit we were originally shooting for. But even so, we are having to cut back on some of the final finish work - fortunately, only on things that can be easily swapped out later when we can afford the higher end finishes we originally wanted.

Depending on the part of the country you are live in, I could easily imagine your costs to build exceeding $300/sf. Before you go further, you might want to get a couple of builders in your area to look at your plans and give you a quick "ball park" cost-to-build. Or, find out what comparably-sized complex shaped houses with equal numbers of bathrooms (spread out) and veranda space and higher end finishes are being built for.

As for design issues with the plan...

Have you taken into account the necessary turning radius to get a car into and out of the parking bay nearest the house? Seems like the corner of that bathroom wall juts out right n the path of a car backing out. I foresee dented bumpers and replacing chipped/broken brickwork.

And, could you explain more clearly WHERE are you thinking about someday adding that second garage to create a courtyard? If I'm understanding you correctly, the garage addition would exacerbate the problem of lack of turning radius to get into/out of the current garage. But maybe I don't understand.

Dryers need to be vented so having them next to an exterior wall is extremely helpful. While you can use flex duct to vent your dryer, the longer a run of flex duct you use, the more careful you have to be to clean that duct out regularly so you don't have a fire start in the dryer lint. I would try to swap the machines to the other wall so dryer could be vented out that little jog of wall.

Since you're showing some pretty substantial walls/columns defining the veranda in back, I'm assuming the entire veranda will be roofed over. That will be a lovely space but, the veranda roof will keep much sunlight from reaching the window in the angled wall by the breakfast nook. Nor will much light from second story windows in the great room reach your kitchen since any light coming in from those windows would have to basically make a 90 degree turn to reach the kitchen. At most, you'll get some reflected light if the walls and floors and ceiling of your great room are light colored. A window facing the garage "courtyard" would help bring light into the kitchen even tho the view might not be the greatest.

Anyone trying to cook in your kitchen is going to HATE that small island that you have shown between the pantry and sink. The cook would have to walk around that island constantly to get from stove to fridge to sink to pantry. Extra steps and bruised hips! Better to leave that little island out completely. There is a kitchen forum on garden web where you can pick up some great tips on designing a user friendly kitchen. I highly recommend it.

Your water heater is way too far from master bedroom shower. You'll have to turn WH up higher to ensure water is still hot enough when it reaches your shower. I would consider going tankless instead with a small tankless heater for masterbath and a larger one for the rest of the house. Or maybe two additional tankless heaters if all three bedrooms will actually be occupied regularly.

IMHO, Master bath needs major reworking to provide some natural light to vanity area and to get rid of long "hallway" effect. Windows in showers (except for small high windows to let in a little light) can be a pain to keep clean. Unless you wipe them down after every shower, they wind up constantly water spotted. But, if you're going to have a big jaccuzzi tub, it is a shame NOT to have a window beside it to enjoy the view while soaking. I'd start by swapping the location of shower and tub and then seeing if I couldn't consolidate bath fixtures on one side of the bath/closet area and consolidate the closets in the other side to get rid of "hallway" effect. And, since closets don't need windows, wrapping closets around exterior walls seems like a waste unless you are specifically planning for the closets to serve as additional "insulation" space against outdoor noises or a hot south-western wall.

Speaking of closets, the one for the secondary downstairs bedroom looks to be only about 3.5 ft deep. (I'm judging by comparing it to cabinet width in kitchen b/c kitchen cabs are pretty uniformly 2 ft deep.) Clothing hanging on a rod takes up about 22 inches. With the closet door at one end as you have shown, to get to clothing at the other end of the closet, the user will have to squeeze down a claustrophobia inducing space between between wall and hanging clothes that is only about 2 ft wide at most. You also can't put the "pocket" for a pocket door behind a sink as the wall behind the sink HAS to have plumbing run through it.

Is that little square between entry to master bedroom and master bath toilet another little closet? If so, where is the opening into it? And, what about that little jog to the left of the masterbedroom entry? Just a niche? Or, another closet?

The office design looks very very nice and very user friendly. I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a guess that you spend most of your time in an office! You are clearly very aware of what works and what doesn't work well in an office! If you raise your awareness of what works and what doesn't in the rest of a house to the same level as your awareness of office space, your entire design will benefit!

I too think the great room is rather small for the size of the overall house. It looks like you only have a few inches at most between each sofa and the loveseat and only about 18 inches between sofas and the fireplace wall. If so, there is really no easy way to get into and out of your seating area. Again, I'm guesstimating clearances based on visual comparison to kitchen cabinet widths so I could be wrong.

Upstairs, I'm not a fan of J&J baths unless there is no other option. It is just too easy to go into one, lock both doors for privacy, then forget to unlock one when you leave thereby locking the person who has the other bedroom out. And if these rooms will be used by kids, expect them to lock each other out on purpose just to annoy one another!

Finally, check window placements carefully. I could be judging wrong but on your front elevation drawing the window into the front upstairs bedroom is perfectly lined up with the window to the dining room (although the dining room juts forward). When I look at your second floor furniture plan and compare roof line for the dining room to figure out where the dining room window would be and thus where that bedroom window will fall, it looks like the bedroom window will extend a few inches into the hallway or you will have to shift it to the left so that it no longer lines up with the dining room window. Not good.

Sorry to point out so many negatives but you said that would be more helpful than "pats on the back" so I'm taking you at your word. I do think most of these issues could be addressed (except the whole cost/sf thing) without substantially altering your elevation - which I do think that is quite lovely.

Will look forward to seeing future iterations.

Bevangel,

Your comments are EXACTLY what I want to hear. I didn't even think to look at the plumbing and the pocket doors. I will continue to revise and post my plans for comments.

FYI: The veranda around the back is roofed on both sides with a trellis in the center (along the LR wall) to allow light. (Think two boxes jutting from the bedrooms with a trellis connecting them.) Any of the double dashed lines are archways.

Cost issues: My wife and I are very diligent shoppers and I plan on buying a LOT of my material off of ebay, craigslist, etc. I don't mind stocking up material now to save later. I could see myself getting all my plumbing fixtures for under $3k.

And while I love the Old World look, my wife is probably going to only let me plaster the common areas and maybe go back at some later date to plaster other rooms. We are located in Nashville and are hoping to move somewhere around here.

I'm wanting to make my own cabinets and will not even think about building till they are done. I'm thinking if I make all my own build-ins and vanities, it should save a TREMENDOUS amount of money. I'm also planning on building the trays in the ceilings and anywhere there are coffers, "buiding down" the beams with hollow boxes.

Also, I'm doing the research, and if geoexchange is as efficient as they claim and I'm willing to roll the tax credits into paying down the house (as opposed to adding more features), my wife is willing to let me ignore the cost of HVAC in our overall budget :)Also, any fixtures, material, etc I purchase before hand, I'm not including in the budget. My budget would start once we broke ground.

The room off of the garage is a mechanical room. I have thought about going with tankless water heaters, at least for the master bath portion of the house.

Design Issues: I've checked the radius...as long as you aren't parking a tank or big SUV, it will fit. I've got 10' doors in the garage so you can see the scale.

I've kept fighting with myself about that island in the kitchen thinking I might end up hating it, not sure. Take it out, put it back in, take it out, etc....I'm thinking about building a mock-up of my kitchen with scrap lumber around the house, just to get a feel, but I am afraid you're right. I do love the double island / island with bar though :(.

If anyone has any ideas on how to rework the master suite, I'd love to hear them. As long as the footprint of the master suite area stays the same, I'm all ears. (Well, not literately :D) My only hard and fast desires are a master foyer, large closet(s), double vanities, walk-in shower, and private loo. (Ok, now that I typed that...sheesh....I want a lot). In the current plan, there is an archway between the shower and the tub that would have glass to separate the two. (You'd get light to the tub from the window in the shower.)

The little "closet" behind between the master foyer and bath is a closet hidden behind a paneled door (to match the walls) for house brains (i.e. audio and lighting controls). The one to the left is a coat / shoe closet for the wife and I. It has a pocket door that you should be able to see.

Looking at the guest bedroom closet, it is a bit tight. Will rework.

Thanks on the office. I love it! :D Yes, I work in an office...the two features I'm most proud of in the house are the kitchen and office, considering the island comments above.

There is two feet between the fireplace wall and sofas and 18" between the sofas and table. I found on google this is typical spacing but I'd gladly listen to contrary opinions.

Yes, the J&J bath is for kids. I just love the idea. (You hate them, I love them, America is grand *waves a flag*) But your comment about locking doors and annoying kids is well founded. Haven't thought about that. I figured the two upstairs rooms would be for my two boys and the downstairs for my lil girl...granted, she'd get evicted if we had company. That' the price she pays for having the "nice" bedroom.

Keep all the comments coming. It's extremely helpful and I really appreciate it. I plan on passing my final plans around the office (I'm a civil engineer and work with several guys who are also part-time GCs.) And I might hire an architect / interior designer to give them the once over and rip me.

Thanks!
Ronnie

Our kitchen is similar to yours, but we reversed the curve of the island, and don't have the middle island. For the middle island, you could use a portable island, maybe one with a butcher block top.

Discussed some of these issues with my lovely wife...As far as the redoing the master bath / closets in the master bath / lighting in the master bath, we both feel it would be awkward to have windows in the bath on the back side of the house seeing as how this faces a very public space (veranda). Thoughts?

For your tub window you may want to consider what I did. We have a 4x4 window that is all privacy glass. Outside our master bath window is a wrap around porch so it is a public space. We've always had privacy glass next to our tub so we don't have to worry about opening and closing blinds. Just our preference.
Here's an old picture taken from the inside:

The window came from Texas Custom Doors (www.texascustomdoors.com). They were awesome. The window is call Evangeline and it is actually made by GlassCraft (http://www.gcdoor.com/Windows.html - to see other designs) You could probably source it elsewhere but Katy at Texas Custom Doors was super to work with. That window is one of the biggest bangs for the buck in the house. It was under $1000 delivered (three years ago) and it lets in a ton of light and my Master bath is on a north facing wall. It is opposite my vanity so I get to look at its reflection every morning. People really like it when they see it in person. Something like that might solve your tub window problem and would be a nice focal point from both the bath and veranda.

The other comment I had is that you seem to think the tax credits will offset entirely the cost of a geothermal system. Don't think you'll get it for free, the price of a geothermal system is quite steep and the tax credits only make a dent. Most everyone who knows about them knows they are a superior system but generally price prohibitive. Otherwise you'd see them in every house. It costs money to save money and you have to pick your splurges and most people seem to value their finishes more than their systems.

You're a civil engineer so remember the project management mantra: Cost, Schedule, Performance - Pick two. You cannot build a high performance house for low cost unless you have an infinite amount of time. Good luck! (and I don't mean that in a snarky way) Keep the questions coming. This group likes to help those willing to not take everything as a personal insult.

Kalio,

I love that you mentioned the cost, schedule, performance mantra! I've tried to get my managars and clients to understand it and, no matter how hard I hammer it, they don't get it. Either way, I'm insulted! ;)

I'm not hoping that geothermal will pay for itself completely. I'm hoping with the new tax credits that I can get it for the same post-tax price as a traditional system. The wife would let me ignore the total cost because of the energy savings...I figure the savings would be more than the HVAC portion of our mortgage, hence me getting to ignore it.

I'm willing to take my time and do it right so I can get it cheaply. That's why I'm learning to build cabinets :D. We have very expensive tastes, but we're also really cheap. Not a good combination, but it's made us good shoppers. The only reason I'm so tight on my budget is we don't want to owe any more on build house than on this current house, even though we could afford it. (YAY for 15 yr mortgages.)

Background: My wife (22 yrs old) and I (28 yrs old) bought our first house three years ago....we rehabbed it completely (to the studs) then moved into it and finished it. Then we bought #2 rehab, worked on it, sold #1, moved into #2 and are living in it while we polish it and I plan this build. And by "we rehabbed", I mean the only thing we hired out was the HVAC and roof. My wife has amish friends and we got a roof put on (~22 squares) for $600 labor (we tore off existing), and I have an HVAC guy that put in a dual system (gas downstairs, electric upstairs) including all new ductwork for $14k. Other quotes were coming in around $25k. He's a little sloppier than other guys but I'm willing to touch up his screw-ups for that kind of money. We also got all new (25 total) replacement windows installed and wrapped for around 6k.

I've been working on the plan through the day (work is slow :P) and have made some adjustments. I'm not thrilled with all of them but I think it's a better overall design. I'll be posting the revised version hopefully in the morning for everyone to tear apart.

I've thought about skylights in the master bath, but as far as I know: skylights = leaks.

Keep them coming!

You might like my other mantra then- Ignorance is my competitive advantage. I think it's yours as well since you do what you do because you don't realize you can't.

We had a skylight in our old master bath and it worked well. The secret is to buy only Velux, then get the correct flashing kit for your roofing type, and then... wait for it... install it according to the directions. That's the part that trips most people up. Since you don't know any better you read the directions, then do it right.

If you're lucky, your thread will catch MightyAnvil's eye and he can give you some good feedback. Simplifying the rooflines and foundation zigs and zags is the low hanging fruit of cost reduction. Keeping dimensions on common stud sizes and full sheets of drywall and sheathing can help reduce scrap as well.

You mentioned the Amish. Where are you located?

Just outside of Nashville. I grew up near one Amish community, and my wife grew up near a second Amish community. In fact, she went to the Amish elementary school growing up. As far as your second mantra, I love hearing people tell me I can't do something because it's all the more reason to get it accomplished. In fact, dad just build a 3-car shop w/ paint booth (he loves old camaros) with a 2 bed / 2 bath overhead apartment for $45 / sf.

The cost savings right now I'm crying about is building on a slab. I really want a good (>4') crawlspace for obvious reasons, but dad keeps insisting that slabs are fine. (Grandfather built on a slab forever ago and it's working fine.) I'm going to use an elevated slab for the look, but I have decided to go with the slab. Also since we are going to use a lot of tile, it will make it much cheaper and easier. (A lot means main foyer, kitchen, dining room, garage entry, and all bathrooms. I'll probably have them pour the slab under the other areas 1" lower so I can drop in my PT plywood for hardwood.

I would love to simplify the rooflines (part of the reason for the shape of the veranda....continue the roof from the house and use it to square up the roof, but it's still a very complicated roof. I'll try to get elevations and some details I've drawn up (i.e. fireplace wall in living room with built-ins).

Do people prefer the link with the pictures in the link or pics in the post itself?

rsc2a,
Pictures in the post are better so we do not have to go back and forth, as long as they are big enough.
I hope you place some dimensions.
I read your explanation, and I still think that the great room is not proportionally correct with the overall size of the house. It is important to think resale value.
Are you using a skylight because you can not figure out a way to place a window in the right place? A skylight over the whirlpool is very nice. I do not like them in the middle of the bathroom.
If you can figure out a way to fix the master bath without changing the shape, and having the window in the right place, then you are very good!
You are a lucky person. Your wife follows you on all your adventures!!!
I can help you a little bit, eventually.

Revised plans and elevations on site below! Also, I had an idea about adding an exterior door off of the bathroom (between the closet and tub) but wife thinks it would be awkward (for the same reason as a window). Thoughts?

Here is a link that might be useful: Revised First Floor and Elevations

What program did you use to work on the drawings?
I can not read the dimensions and if I want to "play" with your floor plan I need the dimensions so I can scale it down.

Microstation....very expensive professional program. :-)
I'll try to blow up the dimensions so that everyone can read them. What would be the best way to show the dimensions for you? Length of each wall or approximate room dimensions? Of course, I can dimension everything but it wouldn't be very clear!

I know Microstation, my first job was with an engineering company, mostly working for IDOT (IL dep. of Trandsp.)
They designed bridges.
I think I have an old version of it at home.
Do you want to send me the basic floor plan? I think it can be converted to AutoCAD.
If you want. I can always scale it down from the pic.
Just in case, my email is verdooren12@hotmail.com

All I need to know is the dimension from the garage corner to the master bedroom corner (exterior dim.)
in other words, the overall dimensions.

"skylights leak" means a sloppy installation was done. When they first became popular (40? 50? years ago), the leakage problems were caused by poor installation, plus lack of or improper sealing techniques. The same techniques are required for solar tube installations, of which there have been hundreds of thousands done with no problems.

klabio ~ the window is gorgeous. I do wonder though... if someone is on the porch at night (with no porch lights on), looking when someone is in the tub.... it seems to me that the silhouette might be blurred, but still quite visible. To be concealing, you wouldn't have much light transmission in the daytime.

meldy - it is quite private. We've tested it with my face up against the glass at night. You can't see a thing. The secret is that is triple pane and the outer pane is all privacy glass. Then the patterned glass is almost all various types of non-clear glass. The inside pane is clear glass so you can see the patterned glass.

Hey Ya'll,

I've been working on the first floor and have just posted revised plans. Let me know what you think.

Here is a link that might be useful: Revised First Floor

With your comments and drawings, I don't see this really progressing to an actual build without some professional help. Sooner rather than later would be better for your education in budget and sizing the home for needed human dimensions. You have a weakness in both areas. A professional can take your ideas and turn them into something buildable that is still disctinctly yours.

But, planning the home without the site that the home is planned for is cart before the horse type thinking again. Site considerations drive design decisions. Even the flattest of building lots may face the "wrong" direction for the sun travel---and that's a biggie to anyone considering geothermal because you should also learn as much as possible about passive solar and home orientation. That's "free" greening of your home, if you just site it right!

While I appreciate your points and I'm open to questions, critisms, and comments, I would have to disagree with pretty much all of your points.

I am a civil engineer that designs various structures and infrasture improvements every day. In addition, I have personally completely rehabbed two houses, and multiple family members have built their own houses so I have a very real understanding of budgets. I think that, yes, $60/sf is tight, but when you consider the fact that I'll be building my own cabinets and I plan on having most of the "finish items" (i.e. faucets, lighting, appliances) prior to construction, it is very do-able in this area.

I acknowledge that I have struggled with sizing, but more of an "how much room do you need around X piece of furniture" than actual room dimensions. That is why, with the help of Lord Google, I am drawing a furniture plan with my house plans...to get an idea of the size of rooms. In fact, I'm using the larger sizes for furniture and, in all likelihood, would have smaller furniture than drawn. And, in my humble opinion, 15'x15' non-master bedrooms are EXTREMELY generous in regards to size.

As far as designing the house before selecting the site, it is neither the wrong or right way to do it. It is just as easy to select the site to suit the house if you have a plan you're set on as it is to select the house to suit the site. In fact, it would be a good idea to have an idea of the house you want before you buy the land so that you don't purchase land and find that it would not be suitable for the type house you had in mind.

Additionally, concerning the geothermal and greening of my home, that is just a consideration, and may or may not happen. I would personally site the home for views over energy concerns. The "greening" of my home I'm looking for is more green in my pocket. I try to be responsible when it comes to enviromental issues, but I refuse to live in a 400 sf mud hut or pay $15/sf for recycled tile. I have bamboo flooring in my rehabbed house right now, not because I was concerned about the environment, but because I like the way it looks and the price was right. In fact, I'm planning on 2' overhangs on the roof, great for energy considerations, but I'm doing it because I like the look, the savings is just a perk.

I changed some spaces and tried to keep the same concept that you had. I think you have everything in that plan for one reason.
Since the Veranda is such an important space I wanted it to have access to the powder room.
The deck that I show by the master is optional. I just thought it is nice to have access to the veranda from the master bedroom (the door has to be added)
I placed some dimensions so you can have an idea of the proportions. I added a bit of a Foyer, all you had was the hall. The office is also a little bit bigger (If at 23 you have done all of this, you will need a bigger office)

What do you guys think?

marthaelena,

I love it....really do. I think you can definitely see my overall concept. You recognized that, yes, everything I had in there, I had for one reason or another. For example, people were always questions like, "do you have to have a master foyer to the bedroom?" or "do you really need a formal dining room" not understanding the type of house I'm trying to achieve. Other points I think you saw: I'm trying to isolate the toilets from the rest of the bathrooms, etc...

I'll give it a good look and have my wife look over it. The only thing I can see that I might change right now is swapping the sink and the range in the kitchen to put the stove hood on the wall. However, the layout as you have it would be better when it comes to "sink appliances" like the dishwasher and trash compactor.

Oh yeah....and I might swap some of the doors for pocket doors. I've heard people (mighty anvil) say that pocket doors are a result of poor planning; i happen to like them in most cases unless you're trying for a grand entry (i.e. master bedroom, double doors into office, etc.)

Things I LOVE about this plan: art niches (I'd add a couple in the foyer area), master foyer (privae master suite), "drop zone" by the family entry, simplified lines (but there are still the major angles), you kept the server hutch (that I really like but was not a "have to have or else"), and you kept built-in in the dining room.

Things I'll don't like: I really like the ideas of double islands in the kitchen (but am starting to see it might now work for my overall concept), pantry is too small? (you kept my pantry...I just question whether or not it was big enough to begin with, enough wall cabinets in the kitchen?, and I'd prolly shrink the built-in in the dining room and move the adjacent niche back into the dining room (i'm picturing a built-in wine/coke fridge in the dining room)

Thanks a ton...I really appreciate it. I'm going to look at my latest revision and look and yours....merge what I like and draw revised elevations...I have a feeling the overall layout will look more like your plan with some of my wants (that you've mostly incorporated like wall niches). I know you said you work in the field, but if you aren't a designer or architect, you should seriously consider it! Everyone has been a big help but you've really gone above and beyond.

Basically, I like the plan [although I still don't like walk-in closets]. Marthaelena is great, isn't she?!

I agree that the stove on the wall would be better; just move the window to the right. Put the sink on the island. I've lived with both, and a sink is considerably safer than a stove for any people sitting nearby. Don't forget that you can hang short cabinets high to delineate the island; those are good for storage of only-occasionally-used items.

Whether or not the pantry is big enough, will depend on your shopping and storage habits as well as how carefully you design for access. That is, drawers and pull-out shelving permit close to 95% accessible space in a given volume, whereas plain shelves [especially high ones] are often less than 70% usable space lessened by often having to move things in order reach what's in back. The easier you can reach any single item [without rearranging others], the better. You can measure the shelfage you presently use to get a general idea of how many running feet. Study kitchen aids for handicapped to get ideas -- most of them are simply commonsense sliding and storage methods that can be easily adapted.

I don't want to be the one parking in the inner garage. I just know I'd ruin a 30+ year accident-free record by snicking that corner, probably on a sleety night.

We don't have that much ice here :). I've been meaning to ask everyone and keep forgetting...Does everyone here like or hate the overall room layout of the house?

rsc2a,
You are welcome!
I think the pantry, as you have it, works ok, unless you want it to be bigger. I have seen it in several houses. (Sorry I forgot the door, also the door under the stairs).
I did not work on the veranda, the skew lines that you had can be added.
If it were my house, and if I had room in my lot, I'd place the garage at 45 degrees; this way you will have more room to maneuver and also it will open up the courtyard.
Could you integrate the Dining room built in with the wine built in? (No wall in between)
Kitchen: I missed to dash the wall cabinets by the refrigerator. I was also thinking to use a down draft cook top. I prefer the sink by the window, but the sink at the island is ok, too.
Good luck.

rsc2a,
You are welcome!
I think the pantry, as you have it, works ok, unless you want it to be bigger. I have seen it in several houses. (Sorry I forgot the door, also the door under the stairs).
I did not work on the veranda, the skew lines that you had can be added.
If it were my house, and if I had room in my lot, I'd place the garage at 45 degrees; this way you will have more room to maneuver and also it will open up the courtyard.
Could you integrate the Dining room built in with the wine built in? (No wall in between)
Kitchen: I missed to dash the wall cabinets by the refrigerator. I was also thinking to use a down draft cook top. I prefer the sink by the window, but the sink at the island is ok, too.
Good luck.

Wow! I really like what Marthelena did!

The Masterbath now looks luxuriously spacious AND she managed to site the jacuzzi under a nice big window. Perfect.

I envision a gorgeous stained glass window (made with opaque and semi-opaque glass only) in that window by the masterbath shower. It is perfectly positioned to be enjoyed by folks on the patio if you mounted interior lights to shine on it(with a switch on the outside).

The additional windows in the morning room and double patio doors in the great room would definitely help brighten up the kitchen. I generally like having my kitchen sink under a window but agree that, for safety sake, it is better to get the stove off the island. With all the windows Marthaelena put into the nook area, I don't think I'd mind having my sink on the island at all tho.

I also like that Marthaelena put in a powderroom that is accessible from the patio. That is a feature I promise, you are going to LOVE. One minor quibble with that powder room tho is that, if someone leaves the interior door open (and somebody ALWAYS does!), you will have pretty much a straight-shot view of the toilet from your kitchen island.

I for one don't like looking at a toilet while cooking or dining. Silly I know but... I'm wondering if it might not be possible to slide that interior door over and rehinge it so that it opens against the wall of the other bathroom and is offset from the opening between dining nook and hallway? Then, put the toilet up against the wall where the interior door is now so that the toilet is hidden from view even when the bathroom door is open.

Finally - and I'm sure this is just an oversight that crept in when Marthelena realized there was room for a powderroom in that corner - the bathroom for the second bedroom lacks a tub or a shower! At over 9' x 7.5', the room is plenty big enough to be a full sized bath although you'd only have room for a normal 28" to 36" vanity instead of a 6 ft long one! You just need to decide how you want to fit the fixtures in.

Oh, one more thing. I still remain concerned about the turning radius getting into/out of that inner garage bay. You mentioned that the J&J bath upstairs was for kids so I assume you have some. An experienced driver driving a small car might be able to negotiate that curve but visualize a 16 year old with a brand new driver's license trying to do it!

If your lot isn't big enough to angle the garage, (or you don't want to do so because of the effect on the front elevation) perhaps you could extend the garage another 3 to 5 feet and stick a "man door" between the inner garage bay door and the house? That would push the garage bay out far enough so that one would only have to curve slightly upon backing out in order to miss the bedroom wall instead of having to make an almost 90 degree turn.

Most families need extra room for things like bicycles anyway - especially if you have kids - so the extra width would probably come in handy and wouldn't cost that much to build. Plus, it might be nice to have a man-door on that side for those occasions when you back out of the garage, close the garage door and only THEN remember that you left your briefcase inside.

I'm looking forward to seeing the final version of the plans. And then seeing photos as you build.

Meldy, thank you for your nice words!!!

bevangel,
OMG you are good! How did I miss the shower hahaha
The thing is, I was having troubles with my program at home so I worked on this in my break time and like in a hurry.
Thank you for your nice words, too.
Yes, the toilet in the powder room can be fixed, there are a couple of easy ways.
I will not do anything until we hear from rsc2a's wife.

I hope you and Meldy are around here when I work on my dream/forever home plans (3 to 4 years from now)

Marthaelena, I wish I had known about this forum when I was working on my plans and could have gotten YOUR input on them. although I ended up with a plan I really like, after seeing some examples of your work (including the above) I am absolutely positive you could have massaged it and made it even better!

I'll be honored to be a second set of eyes for you when you start working on your own plans. I can't wait to see what you design for yourself. So, if I'm no longer active on this board - feel free to email me anytime. I can't imagine my daily GW fix tho.

Latest revision...redid the power room, added a bath to the guest suite, slight tweaks throughout, put in furniture (for a sense of scale), modified the kitchen ever so slightly.

I'm going to let it swim in the ole brain matter cause I'm already seeing a few things I've missed....nothing big though.

{{gwi:1445063}}

Here is a link that might be useful: In case the picture is broken