original plan that I posted. Most changes are in guestroom, laundry end of house on the left.

If you add this to your original thread, people can see the changes you have made and not make the same comments they made on the original floor plan.

Edit: I see we were posting at the same time. Now, we see the original floor plan, but not the comments and responses. Sometimes a number of people comment on a certain aspect of a floor plan, but the owner explains it was done that way for a reason and will not be changed. Then, hopefully, others will not make the same comment.

This post was edited by dekeoboe on Wed, Jun 18, 14 at 19:24

I do not see an island in the kitchen, but there appear to be two peninsulas. Is one of them an island? Maybe you could show a close-up of the kitchen so that the island would be easier to see. It is also difficult to see which appliance is which. Is there more than one sink?

Is that a prep sink on the peninsula? But it doesn't look near...anything but serving?

The entry from the garage and service door has changed to go smack dab through the middle of the laundry and the kitchen. Are you cool with that?

For the guest bath that is usually a powder room, why not have the commode in the space with the sink, and just the tub behind the door? That way it's a half-bath most of the time, and if you have overnight guests, their bathing toiletries and towel are not accessible to dinner guests.

close up of kitchen as requested...sorry I can't turn it.

Kacee-DW placement perpendicular from the sink is tough for loading and unloading. Think of standing at the sink with the door open. No room for your legs. My personal experience, fwiw. Always twisting and reaching over it while unloading and I am not short.

The kitchen/family entry changes are to the plan's detriment. Runs all of the entry traffic through the worst possible place to have it. This home designer knows nothing at all of kitchen design. That half of the house needs a complete redesign.

The master needs to be flipped so that the bath and closet provide privacy and sound buffers between the public and private spaces and to allow the bedroom to have light from multiple directions.

The original is actually better on several grounds.

I think the original traffic pattern from the informal entry/garage was better, so was the kitchen, and so was the guest bath. I like that the full bath part could be closed off to create just a powder room while separating a staying guest's toiletries and such behind a separate door (it could even lock with a key instead of just a privacy latch I suppose).

I may be in a small minority, but I like using a powder room as a guest rather than a full bath that is crammed with family things.

The entry from the garage and service door has changed to go smack dab through the middle of the laundry and the kitchen. Are you cool with that?

Yes, we are. There are just the two of us and we will be the only ones using that entry most of the time.

The guest bath is just that, no family use except maybe once or twice a year when our son and wife stay over for the night. So not crammed with family things.

We are talking about reversing the master bath and bedroom.

I don't like the DW placement and told her that today.

Another possible kitchen plan below....

The location of the DW in the second plan also means the lower corner cabinets are essentially useless.

That's a really basic error.

No, not that either. This designer just doesn't get it. And not just the kitchen, there are just too many issues with everything. Very amateur effort.

The original was several grades better than this revision. If a home plan isn't improving with revisions, it's time to reassess the skill level of the person creating it. Especially when there are such fundamental truly basic errors plaguing it.

I also like the first plan better than the second - I like that the stove top was facing the window, which I think is very nice. I would not want a cook top facing the dining room, but that is my personal preference - better to have a sink facing the dining room, as it will make returning dishes to the kitchen easier - the stove top would be in the way. Also, I do not like the barstools in the hallway - that seems awkward to me.

I haven't looked at the third plan that much yet, but it does have better flow - having an island instead of two peninsulas really helps, I think. For me, the stove top is in a better position, as you can easily turn around to communicate with the dining room, but it also allows you to cook without distractions, for when you need to concentrate on what you are doing, and I like the addition of the pantry.

I really don't like it. It's a nice idea of a plan...but the details are all wrong. It looks like someone stuck boxes of rooms together and tried to make them work.

I know everyone is saying this...so a few examples. The master bedroom has the outside corner for the closet, rather than making the best view/window placement for the bedroom. The closet should be between the great room and bedroom, so you have some privacy/noise control and better window placement.

There's no window in the second bathroom. That area could be reworked and make more sense with the laundry room.

The kitchen just doesn't make any sense. You have PLENTY of room for a much nicer kitchen...why the squished space?

Do you want to have the dining room between the kitchen and living room? You'll be walking through it all the time. Some people like the placement, but others prefer the kitchen closer to the living room...or more of an L-shape. What would you like?

This seems like a very (as Holly said) amateurish plan. If a family member is helping you, then that would explain it. If not...find someone else. Sorry...just my two cents.

I want to point out that people aren't picking on you when they criticize this new plan (or any plan). When you ask for critique, that means there is going to be criticism, and it's best to sort these things out because it's not a real house yet, it's a piece of paper.

There is a certain amount of feedback that goes on in Gardenweb along the lines of "It's your house to do what you want with it, so do what you love and it will be great".

I don't personally think that this is valuable feedback at all, because if you were really sure that it was what you wanted and you loved it, you wouldn't be wasting your time on a forum getting other peoples' opinions, you'd be building it.

There is a simplicity to the left side of the original plan that is lacking in the plans that follow. I don't love the kitchen layout in the original plan either, but it is better than those that follow. I don't have a problem with a cooktop on an island or peninsula, if there is some separation (usually width of countertop) between it and a traffic pattern, and if it's vented properly, so I think that plan could be reworked with some juggling of the other appliances.

In the second plan, I am assuming you will come in a lot through the garage, and I really think you will find it tedious walking on a serpentine path through the kitchen. The third would make more sense if the lower part were all cleanup and storage and the upper were all preparation including the fridge. The other problem with this is that there is a kitchen counter at the front door.

Again, under certain circumstances that can be okay. It's common here because the houses are mostly 15 feet wide and it's easier to put the kitchen and circulation up front and use the entire width for a living space, but these are Small, Narrow, Vertical houses, and your house is largish and horizontal in footprint so it's really not necessary to confront the kitchen counter right at the front entry.

Thanks all for the input....so much to think about.

One thing I DO like about the plan, the relationship between indoors and outdoors. It seems like a wonderful connection between the spaces...and I'm wondering if you live in a warm climate, if you're a gardener...or both?

I would love to have that kind of flow in my home. Lots of little seating areas and is that a fountain on the second bedroom outside wall? Also think about...do you want a larger dining area outside? An outdoor kitchen or just a BBQ? Any covered areas? Pergola? Screened porch?

If you like the overall idea of the room layout...then that's half the battle. You just need someone, who understands more about room relationships to take the plan and polish it into a much better flow INSIDE. It can be done...and it will be beautiful :)

Just stay open to all ideas and keep working on this. It will be worth it, when you're finally enjoying your new home!

Why does the great room need 4 sets of French doors?

For safety reasons, the master toilet room should have either an outswing door or a pocket door.

It may or not be bothersome to you, but one thing I noticed off the bat is that is if your master bedroom doors is open, living room occupants may be able to see right into your closet. My closet is not usually houzz-worthy, so I'd be showing off my mess a lot if I didn't close the doors.

I also agree that the house could have much better flow that it seems to have on paper.

We have 3 sets of french doors along one wall of our living room, and love the feeling it gives to the space.

You really have a great deal of room in that last kitchen plan. I think I really would reposition your dishwasher to the "south" part of your island since you already have plumbing planned there. I would make the island sink bigger, center it in the island so the DW is to the right. Put your fridge where your wall oven is... most people use their ovens occasionally so move it to the front and you could have an enviable baking station with a warming drawer and a small prep sink in front of that window. What a place to set out holiday dinners up there out of sight.

May I suggest, you take your Wed, Jun 18, 14 at 19:51 layout, and swap all 3 appliances:

Fridge to location of the ovens. Ovens, under counter, where the cooktop is, and put the cooktop over near where the fridge was...

Then, re-evaluate the location of your DW and dish storage--consider using the windowed sink as a prep sink, and the peninsula one as the cleanup sink (just make sure you have dish storage near that sink).