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divine_serenity_gw

Help needed with downsizing

I LOVE SummerfieldDesigns house plan (link attached below) for Momto3kiddos. I have modified it in my head so many times :) I'll tell you what I love and maybe you all can help me to mash it into about 2300 sq ft. I had already figured I would remove the 'boys room, and the large family space on the back of the house. I want to maintain the 4ft hallways for accessibility and the guest suite with the fully ADA bath. I like the jack/jill bath between the girls rooms, and the full bath off the mudroom/side porch to keep the hunting dirt/stink the DH brings in out of the bedroom, and using it as our primary guest/hall bath and nixing the powder room. I thought about relocating the laundry to where the office currently is with a pass through from the laundry to the master bedroom closet. Decrease the girls room dimensions to about 13 x 12. I love the mudroom with the build in drop zone cubbies. I thought about using the 'formal dining room ' more as a den for the kids, add a coat closet into part of the that den space. and making the dining nook large enough for our primary dining needs. I hope that i can open the living room space into the 3 season (covered porch) during family gatherings, so that traffic can just flow into the that space through large french doors or the like. I. the guest suite will be the office/sewing room until the time it comes needed to be used as an in-law suite Sorry I wish I could draw this out but I haven't yet gotten that savy with some of the programs that I have downloaded; any help would be appreciated. (when referring to the link, look at the bottom most design). Trying to eliminate most of the bump outs to make the roofline as simple as possible to decrease build expense.

edited to add: we will need to incorporate a wide stair case to the basement .

Here is a link that might be useful: inspiration plan

This post was edited by divine_serenity on Mon, Sep 29, 14 at 16:50

Comments (13)

  • tikilyn
    9 years ago

    I borrow inspiration from that plan! I loved it so much. I have mine at 2399sf of living. What I took away from that plan was the kids side of the house with the c shaped hallway. I'm sure most will see it as wasted square footage but we like it. We had a larger one (I think you can see it too) but it ended up being out of our budget and had to downsize it alot!

    We're just waiting for our finalized plans so we can get started. Hope this helps

  • divine_serenity_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Love the somewhat concealed safe storage off the back of the closet. You have 2spaces listed as utility side by side...is one supposed to be another closet like his and hers or linens and such?

  • mrspete
    9 years ago

    My comments are directed to Tikilyn's design more than yours, Devine. Though you're the original poster, it's so much easier to comment on images rather than write-ups.

    - I'd be concerned about the secondary bath size. They're so tiny -- those sinks have to be in something like 24" vanities. These bathrooms have no storage -- not even space for a trash can or hamper. I wouldn't like them at all. I'd rather combine them into ONE good, usable bathroom shared between both bedrooms.

    - Likewise, the secondary closets are lacking. Actually, this comment is true of the master bedroom closets as well. You've allotted space for a walk-in with essentially storage on one side only. This takes the space of a walk-in but only gives you the storage of a reach-in. You've taken the worst of both worlds! In the master, this fix is easy: Stealing just a bit of space from your generous-sized bedroom will DOUBLE your storage space -- an excellent bargain, in my opinion! The secondary bedrooms are tougher to fix.

    - No fireplace?

    - The office and dining room look to be nice sizes and comfortable.

    - The kitchen has miles of cabinet space, but no pantry. I'd give up some of the "side cabinet" storage for a reach-in pantry. No other storage is as cheap or as functional as a pantry.

    - I'm not loving the master bath. The sightline as you walk in the door is of the side of the vanity. The toilet closet is going to be dark and uncomfortable -- I wonder if the toilet could be swapped with the shower so it wouldn't be dark. The vanity could comfortably support one sink and drawers for storage on each side, but as it's drawn, you have duplicate sinks and essentially no storage.

    - I'd try a whole-room re-do: I'd move the bathroom to the corner, a prime location because it allows two windows on opposite walls -- always a good thing. And I'd move the closet to the middle of the house.

    - I like the safe-closet concept. We're doing something similar, but we're only using a small closet -- like a coat closet size. What are you planning on storing in this much larger space?

    - Another place pocket doors would be useful: The family room. This is the kind of door that stays open most of the time.

  • divine_serenity_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I'm new and haven't figured out the whole posting images things, so that is why i posted the link but i will see if i can get it to attach. FINGERS CROSSED I THINK IT WORKED!

  • tikilyn
    9 years ago

    divine_serenity - the other utility closet is actually my master closet. My husband closet has the gun safe storage room. He loves it too and I love that I won't have to look at his ugly safes anymore.LOL

    MrsPete- The plans are not finalized and still need tweaking. Some labeling is off and room measuring are also off. I'm waiting right now to hear from our designer with an updated plan with fixes. I posted this plan so the OP could see what I took off of her inspiration plans and how we made it smaller.

    The tiny baths are because that's what our kids wanted. They are girl 13 and boy 11 and already share a bathroom and everyone hates it in our house. They are always fighting who showers first, who cleans what. So to take away all the fighting we are giving them their own bathrooms although tiny. We also do not like J&J baths either. My two kids do not have that loving sisterly or brotherly relationship, as hard as we tried my husband and I failed in that department. Two small bathrooms are better than one shared bathroom in our house.

    Closets are fine for us. My daughter has a smaller walk in closet right now and it works just fine. I think they'll be ok with what they are given. Now my closet is not right in this plan. It should be 8'x10' and the laundry room the same size. My husband closet is design as a walk through so he can conceal his gun safes.

    No fireplace? LOL I live in South Texas. That would be a waste of money to have one install down here. It would never get used. I barely even turn on our heater during the winter months. Instead of a fire place we will have built-ins on that wall between the two openings.

    We like the master bathroom and have no problems with its layout. The vanity will have plenty of storage.

    .What are you planning on storing in this much larger space?

    That space is not a room for hiding. It's for storing my husband actual gun safes which are really large and unsightly. He'll also store his work gear in there. He is a federal agent and has way to much gear! Right now we share a master closet and he is over taking my side with his work gear. So my solution is to give him his own closet to fill up and give me my own space, he's not allowed to invade!.

    Another place pocket doors would be useful: The family room. This is the kind of door that stays open most of the time
    I'm not to sure what you are referring to? The only door in the family room is the french doors that lead out of the house. Can you enlighten me please.

    Like I said the plans are not finalized. The kitchen layout is not correct on this plan. If you want we can start another thread about my plans as not to take over the OPs post. I'm open to suggestions but we really need to keep the house under 2400sf this time.

  • mrspete
    9 years ago

    Have the kids actually seen a sink that's this small? I'm not sure the girl especially would be enthusiastic about it, even with the promise that it'd be 100% her own.

    Closets: I'm not saying they're too small. I'm saying they're poorly designed /wasteful of space. They're using the space required for a walk-in . . . but because one wall is just plain WALL, they're only giving you the storage space of a reach-in. I'd say either decrease them to reach-ins . . . or add another 1-2' so the space required for a walk-in is worthwhile. This could be a step towards dipping down under 2400.

    I think fireplaces are becoming less and less "a necessity" these days, but I still wouldn't build without one. How else will Santa get into the house? And I want it for the looks, even though we also live in a warm climate.

    I can only imagine how much gear a federal agent would have. Knowing that, his closet space makes perfect sense. I think I'd build in "locker" type storage for his non-gun items. I wonder about dividing it into two rooms though. I'd be tempted just to make it one walk-in closet . . . and install his safes all on one end.

    Your family room has two sets of doors: One from the hall into the family room . . . and another from the family room onto the porch. I'm saying I suspect the hall-to-room doors will remain open most of the time -- that room is down a hall, so it'll have visual and acoustical privacy without closing the door. I'd consider using pocket doors in that spot.

  • tikilyn
    9 years ago

    Mrs. Pete if my finished dimensions are 6'x6 and the neo angle shower is 36"x36" doesn't that leave me with another 36" to work with. We can get at least a 30" to 33" vanity to fit and still give a couple of inches between the shower and the vanity. What am I missing, because you keep say 24" vanity but I see room for a larger one.

    Love the Santa comment! We've never had a fireplace in any of our homes that we've lived in. When our kids were little and asked us how Santa entered the house without a fire place we just told them that he had special powers that got him in and out. No need for him to use a fire place anymore.LOL Having a fire place isn't a big deal.

    My husband is going to make a shoe rack shelf that fits into the doorway of his safe room so that it's hidden. The rack will open out in the closet. He's got that all worked out in his head and will install that after we close.

  • dekeoboe
    9 years ago

    divine_serenity - You say you need to get the plan down to around 2300 sq ft. How many sq ft is the inspiration plan? I don't see it listed, but it looks very large.

  • divine_serenity_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    4993 living space.

  • divine_serenity_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    here is another plan that has some potential, it is already quite a bit smaller than my original inspiration.

    Here is a link that might be useful: 2140 sq ft

  • mrspete
    9 years ago

    I extrapolated 24" from the plan: The bedroom is 11'-something, meaning that the bath was going to be roughly 6' wide. And the shower is clearly more wide than the vanity. It was a guess based upon approximate numbers.

    But if the bath is actually 6x6', the actual math isn't far off. The exterior walls and walls that contain plumbing lines are going to be 6" thick, and they'll take away from the width of the room (dimensions typically include the wall width for exterior walls, and they measure from the center of the stud for interior walls). Add in a 36" shower, allow for the overhang of the countertop, and your vanity is between 24 and 30". It's not spacious.

    The plan is almost 5K square feet? I'm having trouble reconciling that with the Bedford house, which is less than half that. Something's off somewhere. If you want this basic layout in just over 2K square feet, the Bedford plan is a good choice.

  • divine_serenity_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I love summer field's design, I just can't afford to build on such a large scale. I'm trying to keep 3 bedrooms for daily use, and one guest suite that is ADA accessible as I foresee being caretaker for one of our parents in the future. I've shaved off about 1000 sq ft, but still need at least another 500 to appease hubby. I would like to keep the full bath off the mud room but i could be decreased to 1/2 if need be. Plan on having people over for sledding and such in the winter and with the direct access outside, to the mud room and bathroom with a pocket door to the rest of the house the only space they would have access to would be the laundry room. At least that's my thoughts b/c while I'd like to trust everyone in my house i've seen family members steal from other family members so better to just limit temptation.

  • divine_serenity_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I have the plan down to 2800, just some rough drawings on graph paper, but the living room went from wide to much more narrow and I really want to utilize the south facing windows to the living space and breakfast nook for winter solar gainâ¦I'm hoping to find a builder soon, i've been asking around but haven't had much luck yet.