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ivy07

First Floorplan Feedback

ivy07
9 years ago

Long-time lurker, first time poster. Thanks in advance for any advice.

We are wanting to build a new home next year and are trying to create our floor plan prior to going to the drafter. This floorplan below is for the first floor. We plan to have a finished basement with two additional bedrooms and a bathroom. We also plan to have a bonus room above the garage. Each square on the graph paper represents 2' x 2'. I know that I have not accounted for wall thickness in my dimensions (I figure that is what the draftsman is for).

The house will be built on farmland we own and the front will face North.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Comments (3)

  • kirkhall
    9 years ago

    Is this a working farm? And, how many people (and what ages--middle age, young, old) will be living here?

    It strikes me that the vanity is overly long; the shower huge, and the w/d far from the bedrooms.

    I could see wanting the w/d near the back entry if a working farm, but then, I'd also want a good area to wash up, and also a man door, so to speak without having to enter through the garage from the farm.

    There isn't enough space around the table in the nook for chairs. You could probably do a built in dinette type area, but not free-chairs there. And there isn't enough space between the nook table and the island for there to be island seating.

    I am unsure about size requirements for a dining room, since we don't have one.

    Your view down the hallway will be... "TOILET"! I think I'd rearrange that hall bath so that the toilet isn't a focal point at the end of the hall. :)

    4' deep walk in closets are just wasted space. Either make them reach in, or rearrange to make them true walk ins at 6 feet deep.

  • mrspete
    9 years ago

    Your dimensions are way off. I mean, no bed is 6x8', nor is any bed slightly larger than 4x4'. No tub is 2' wide. Lots of problems throughout with dimensions that need attention. I suggest you start carrying a tape measure around so you can measure rooms, hallways, etc. in real life -- it'll help you gain a realistic idea of what's comfortable.

    I'd say start with the living room. Yes, people do have 16x22' great rooms -- but rooms that size tend to have furniture in the middle and the edges are "open" as walkways. In this layout, your two sofas are almost 20' apart -- and then you have more space for walkways outside this area. A comfortable seating arrangement tends to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 10x10' - 14x14'. If your furniture arrangement (not your walls) is larger than this, it feels "too big" for normal family life and people are too far apart for comfortable conversation. If you want a space this big, you'd want to break it up into multiple seating areas. Note, too, that the chairs-and-table arrangement is given the prime spot in front of the TV, but the chairs are 14' from the TV. This just doesn't work.

    Next, the kitchen island and the cabinet behind it look good . . . but the other cabinet is 5' away -- about a foot too far for comfort. And the pantry interrupts the main work space.

    Why is the dining room edge chopped? It's going to be expensive, and it serves no purpose.

    The office is well-placed, but if you intend to use a 6'+ desk, you'll either need to place it against the wall or enlarge the room.

    The door to the master bedroom needs to be at one end of the little hallway or the other -- not in the middle.

    We have a looooong vanity like that in my girls' bathroom. It isn't particularly useful.

    Totally agree that the long-view down the hallway should not be the toilet. Note, too, that this bath places a water-requiring item on each wall. This means that all three walls will need to be thick enough to contain plumbing. This is expensive and increases the chances of a leak eventually.

  • ivy07
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the replies. There are some good suggestions that I hadn't considered.

    This home will not be on a working farm. My wife and I are in our low 30's with two boys aged 4 and 7 and will possibly have one more child in the next couple of year.

    I will go back to work on these plans to implement some of the suggestions (with more realistic dimensions) above and re-post when I make my revisions.