Sorry, didn't load right.

and the rest of it....

I love your plan. My DH and I would also be ok with a single sink in the master bath. I love it. Not too overly huge and I love the screened porch. Hope everything goes smooth with the build. Don't forget to post pics later on. Thanks for sharing.

I would make sure that when I'm standing in the foyer, I won't be able to look straight at the toilet in the kids bathroom. You might think about moving the door over.

Nice Plan.
Flip the bathroom so you can not see the toilet from the foyer.
Add at least 12" to the dining area. It should be ok to shift the island.
The laundry door bother me.

JDez- Thanks!!!! I appreciate your comments. I was a little nervous about one sink because two is the norm, but I just really don't see a need for two.

okpokesfan- I had not even thought about seeing into the hall bath from the foyer! My goodness! Thanks for that!

naf-naf- Thanks. I will definitely check out the hall bath/foyer situation. I had not even considered that. Would you make the laundry room flush not angled? I think the designer did that so the hallway would have better flow, but I've contemplated puling the wall out flush. It would give me more space in the laundry room. Just an fyi-I'm not planning on having the ironing board where it is drawn in.

Thanks again for all your help!!

How much can you change? Is anything possible?

If so, I would change the upstairs. Even though you have mild winters, I would NOT want my upstairs office over the screened porch.

Love the screened porch, but I think the living room, dining, kitchen, screened porch and master should not have anything over them. I'd try to put the two bedrooms and bath over the front...so they're over the front bedrooms and garage. And it would make some sense of those gables! :)

In the kitchen, I still like the island. Even if you have to have some partial walls, I think it makes the plan more open and gives you more flexibility in the dining room. I like the banquette...but if you ever decide to have a bigger table or pull it out a bit, you'll have more space this way.

Just an idea... {{gwi:1507073}}From Kitchen plans

I don't know how to fix it, but I think you are going to have a major problem arranging furniture in the great room. You will have lots and lots of traffic thru there.

If you flip the master, so that the bath and closets are on the right and the bedroom is in the outside corner, you gain:
- a sound buffer from the living room, so when the kids have friends over, you have a quiet place
- better light
- cross breezes
- plumbing clustered, saves $$
- faster hot water to the master

Can you flip the kids' bath completely, so the water heater (is that what that is?) and tub are on the right? This goes along with the suggestion to move the door.

If the ironing board will be somewhere else, can you make the LR a tad shorter, removing the angle, and put the door next to the MBR door? That would widen the hallway just a bit, just to have a little more open feel back there.

Consider solar tubes in the hall and the interior hall bath for light without electricity.

Loving the screened porch :)

Thanks everybody for taking the time to chime in.
LLass- I don't know if "anything is possible" right now. My husband might have a different opinion about that. :) I know what you mean about the bonus space over the garage and screen porch, I have actually brought up that point before. I think we are beyond changing that. We are in a milder climate and having foam insulation, so hopefully it won't be an issue. I will check on the opening the wall for the kitchen idea. I do think I might like that!

Liitlebug5- I've mocked up my furniture on my plan and I don't think it will be a problem. But I could be wrong. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

bpathhome-We had considered flipping the master and bath, the reason we didn't is we live in the south and get brutal western sun in the evening. I'd rather not have much living space with windows on the western side of the house. It would just heat up the house all summer.
I can rearrange the hall bath and laundry however I need to to make them more convenient. I will try to sketch out what you've suggested and see how it works.

Thanks again for all your help!

Had a few minutes, so just changed a few things. Don't know if you'll like it, but maybe it will give you a few ideas :)

The laundry room is a bit awkward (that corner) so I added some shallow shelves there. It gives you more storage, but still allows easy access to the bedroom. Also put in a little corner niche, just for fun.

I changed the second floor just a bit and added on the 'short' wall...a wall of cupboards/bookcases. Great extra storage and easily accessible place to keep kids' toys, as well as holiday decorations, extra office supplies, etc.

Oh, and I made the safe room a little bigger. I'm assuming you're having this in case of tornado? After spending the night in a very small walk-in linen closet as a child...it would have been nice to have been a few feet bigger. I do not miss tornadoes! {{gwi:1507076}}From Kitchen plans
{{gwi:1507077}}From Kitchen plans

This post was edited by lavender_lass on Thu, Oct 17, 13 at 15:12

I'd switch the master with the masterbath purely for the soundproofing. That's one big open concept space and all that sound would interfere with trying to sleep in the master bedroom. And it appears the only space for a TV would be the wall between the great room and master compounding the sound issue.

I'll second the idea of going with a single sink in the master bath. I've never grasped the concept of needing two sinks side-by-side. No one ever uses them at the same time anyway, and they're an expensive item. Not having them = more storage, and we all need that.

I don't live in the world of tornados, so I am unacquainted with the world of safe rooms. I think I'd build it as small as possible. After all, you don't spend significant time in there.

I usually lean towards finding house plans a bit excessive and suggest reductions, but in your case, I don't think you have enough space in front of the toilet in the master bath to make that space comfortable. Also, your master closet seems a bit off: It's long and will only hold clothes on one side -- not a particularly good use of space.

If you move the shower to where the sink/vanity is now, you could put the tub in the corner, which allow nicer windows in the tub area. Then you could put the sink where the tub is now. I think it'd be a nicer bath area.

I totally agree with the idea of flipping the master bedroom and bath for noise reduction.

I also think your dining room is too narrow. It looks fine on paper, but when you have people pulling chairs back, that small space will be gone.

I'm with you on avoiding the hot western sun. Our bedroom has a large window facing the west, and we have to lower the a/c 2 or 3 degrees to get our master at a comfortable temperature, while the rest of the downstairs is freezing. (Two story house with 2 a/c units.) It's just brutal when it's 102 degrees outside and the sun is beating down on our window.

I think the hall bath and a sound proofing wall will be adequate for sound reduction, and you have the fireplace butted up against half of that wall which should help, as well.

Thanks again for all the feedback.
LLass- You are amazing with your editing skills. I'm not able to edit the plan at all. Thanks for taking the time to do that!! You've given me some things to think about and I can see how the laundry and bath doors can be fixed. Thanks again!!

Doodledog-Re master bath and bed -I thought switching them before but decided not to. We've had a similar layout in a previous house and it wasn't really an issue for us. We usually watch TV together, but we will put sound bats in.

Mrs. Pete- I'm glad to see you agree with the the single sink. I agree, storage takes priority, how many times do I need to use the sink at the exact same time as my husband?
The safe room is only a little over 8x4, so for a family of 4 and 2 (big) dogs that's really not too large.Unfortunately, living in the South a storm shelter of some kind is needed.
I'll see what I can tweak with the master closet and bath. My husband works from home so his daily work clothes are shorts/jeans and t-shirts. He does travel and needs suits ect. but we have been trying to simplify our wardrobe, so I really don't want a lot of space. I would just fill it up. :) I didn't have it penciled in the plan, but there will be a closet upstairs in the guest room as well as in his office.
I will mock up the dining room to check the space.

Bird lover 6- I'm glad you understand where I'm coming from with the western sun! I don't want to be fighting a constant battle to be comfortable.

Thanks again everyone for all your comments!! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

If the safe room went back a little more, it could be accessed from the kitchen and be a large walk in pantry.

I like the redone version mud room much better. If you keep the old version, consider taking out the hall so it is just the one mudroom you walk through from the garage without a hall.

Do you really prefer the hall bathroom with no window? It could be flipped with the laundry room. I prefer laundry rooms and bathrooms to be on an exterior wall for light and more direct venting. But that is personal preference.

lafdr

lafdr- thanks for your thoughts. I do like the re done mud room /pantry by LLass as well. The only issue is the the stairwell. I don't want an open stairwell in the main part in the house. We have 14 yr old handicap child who is able to walk, but not that well, and not able to understand safety hazards. (I couldn't just tell him stay off the stairs.) Therefore I really need the stairs away from the main house with a door to to close them off. Maybe I should have expressed this in my initial post.

The laundry and hall bath I have toggled with as well. Right now I have a pass through hamper/ hanging space from the laundry to the master closet and if I switch them, I gain a window in the hall bath but lose my pass thru, it's a hard call. ;)

What if you put a door on the stairway? The door could stay open against that wall to the closet or you could close it for safety. Just an idea :)
{{gwi:1507080}}From Kitchen plans

11 acres and a front load garage???? You've got plenty of room for a side load here, and it would help the appearance immensely.

live_wire_oak - I know, I despise the front load garage as well. The issue is the terrain of our land, we are building on the top of a ridge, and the angle the driveway will wind up the ridge, that is the best / only place for the garage. The lay of the land dictates this one.