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kassikolo_gw

what are good room sizes?

kassikolo
11 years ago

So we love this layout.To me it is appealing because of keeping room (instead of the covered porch) and i love the kitchen layout.

So now we are trying to figure out what are good room sizes, with them not being too big or too small...we want to stay within 2,500. I am the only one who will be cleaning so i want it to be comfy and not huge..

So what do you think are "good" room sizes for kids bedrooms, master and living room?

Comments (11)

  • zone4newby
    11 years ago

    I think it's really personal. Something you could do to get a better feel for what the sizes mean is to play around with furniture placement and see if you're happy with how things fit. If you use Autodesk Homestyler (it's free web-based software) you can upload the floorplan as a background, and they have an easy tool to get it scaled correctly and a huge library of furniture.

    FWIW, the master bedroom on that plan is too big for me.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Autodesk Homestyler

  • virgilcarter
    11 years ago

    The suggestion to study furniture placement is a very good suggestion. These room sizes, however, are not large, with the exception of the excessive amount of space devoted to the master bath and dressing area.

    It seems commercial house plan factories always include huge master bath and dressing spaces, apparently because it wows Mom and Dad when they first think about buying and building.

    By comparison, the master bath and dressing area appears larger than just about any other room in the house except the Lodge room and the Garage. I always am in awe that anyone would build a bigger master bath and dressing than kitchen, dining, bedrooms or any living space.

    On the other hand, perhaps the family will all spend time together in the master bath and dressing area, in which case so much area is more logical.

    FWIW, the angles, the various ceiling treatments and the extensive covered porch will make this house much more expensive to build than a "normal" 2500 SF house--whatever normal is!

    Good luck!

  • renovator8
    11 years ago

    Larger than HUD minimum standards and small enough for light to penetrate far enough into the room to prevent you from spawning genetically altered children. What you do in there I don't want to know about. People rarely put their furniture where a designer thinks they will so provide for at least two layouts.

  • ready2moves
    11 years ago

    I have remodeled a home and designed the home we are living in now. I have a few suggestions for you:
    1) kids bedrooms, plan on no smaller than 12 x 12, and plan for a double bed, 1 nightstand, 1 chest, and a huge desk.
    2)dining room should be large enough to hold every member of your family with chairs out from table and enough room for someone to walk by. so plan it with chair away from table and with any other furniture (china cabinets, buffets)
    3) master - i made ours too big, but love it. but if I could do over, I would make it smaller and the closet larger. I would not have dressers or any clothing in the bedroom. I have one dresser (for out of season clothes) in the bedroom and another in the closet. I dress in the bathroom. duh
    4) allow for a HUGE fridge. I have mine recessed, even with my cabinets. I planned for a 36 area, but now I want a sub-zero. well, no room. even though I went out the back for it into the garage, still no room. so plan for a larger fridge, if you want more than 1 child.
    5) two of my kids bedrooms have only one window (huge, but), and they have more wall space and can place furniture, toys still, desks, etc. the other two kids bedrooms have windows on 2 walls, but not enough wall space, but I planned for that, as their rooms are large like masters. If i had it to do again, I would do rooms the size in between the sm & lrg, and put windows up higher, so furniture could be placed under. when kids are small and have a single bed and toys, it was great! now, they are older, need a full/queen beds, and desk for electronics.
    6) entry into the house from garage, if this will be main (kids too), make it HUGE... allow for shoes, coats, and junk to be deposited. I have a huge closet from garage, but the kids mainly came in the front door into my foyer...wow, did not plan that! so now, their cars are in garage, and that is better, but still closet is not large enough to keep all the shoes they seem to have.
    7) bathrooms for kids. if you have boys, do a walk-in shower, if you have girls do tub/shower. and most important for every two kids have a full bath! skip the double sinks in a bathroom for them.
    hoped to of helped...

  • lolauren
    11 years ago

    Overall, that looks like a very nice plan. I think there are a few things that could be changed to make it better.... but I'll stick with what you asked about. :)

    The answer depends on who will be living in your house. Will every bedroom have a regular occupant (one kid in each bedroom?)

    I think Bedroom 3 is the only one that looks a bit small. You could easily push it out and gain a couple feet, though.

    The master bedroom is a nice size, but the door to the patio limits where you can put furniture... or at least it seems to. If you are fine putting the bed along the closet wall, it is ok, as is. (I would probably put it there to keep it away from noise.... just something to consider for you.)

    You didn't ask about the eating areas, but in regards to their sizes: The doors in the breakfast nook also looks like they will reduce the size of what you can put there since you need to account for a walkway on both sides. I would make an outline of the size of that room and figure out if your furniture would fit with space around it. If it is close, you could certainly have less doors to the outside there.

    For similar reasons, I would eliminate the dining room door that goes outside. It eats up space for furniture... and it makes 3 doors in your entry area. I think it would potentially be confusing for a guest to know which door to enter.

    RE: the living room. To me, 15'ish x 15' isn't very big especially if one side of it needs to account for a hallway. Again, measure this out so you can see how big it actually is. What type of furniture would you have in here, how would you arrange it, etc. Would you have a TV in that room? Where? etc. My living room is only slightly larger than that without a hallway, and we don't have children. The room doesn't allow for very much furniture. If we had kids, I would want more space..... but if you have an additional keeping room, maybe it isn't a big deal.

    RE: master bathroom and Virgil's comment... We put in a large one, like this plan, and every single day we both appreciate it (and every day we are wowed... still.) In fact, I don't want to move just because our master suite offers so many positives that I couldn't find in another home... So, everyone is different. For example, our bathroom is bigger than our dining room... but we use the dining room once a year (if that.)

  • zone4newby
    11 years ago

    If I were going to build this plan, I would want to move the powder room. The way it is now, not only do people need to go into your mudroom to get to the powder room, it's likely that a fair amount of noise from the bathroom will be audible in the dining room (since there's a shared wall there), and it seems like something to avoid if you can.

    Also-- that plan has only one tiny coat closet in the mudroom, and nothing for guests. Is that appropriate for your climate?

  • melsouth
    11 years ago

    It is a little difficult to read the measurements, but it looks to me like the master bedroom dimensions are 15' 5" x 13' 8."

    Definitely not too large in my book.

  • cottonpenny
    11 years ago

    Pay attention to the dimensions of the lodge room in particular. Because it's so open you'll need to be able to walk around the furniture placed in the middle of the room. I have something similar and though I measured it out beforehand, I wish I had another 2-3 feet in each direction in my family room.

  • pps7
    11 years ago

    Overall, I find the space kind of choppy. There are 2 dining areas, but both are quite small and it would be difficult to seat a large group of people. There will be 2 living areas-the lodge and keeping room, but neither can seat a larger family gathering.

    Here are my ideal dimensions:

    Master bedroom 15x13, provided you could center the bed on the 15' wall. The layout of your room does not allow for this. If you don't mind your bed crammed into one corner, then it might work.

    kids bedrooms 12x12

    Family room 15x17 of usable floors space for furniture. So this excludes space needed for walkways. your room is too small, unless your keeping room will be this big.

    Dining room 12x14. Do you intend to put a round table? Otherwise , I'm not sure how you will be able to seat a large group. The exterior door limits the possibilities.

    The master bath and closets do seem disproportionately large.

  • nini804
    11 years ago

    What size is your dining room table and other furniture for that room? That is a pretty small dining room, but perhaps you intend to use it for something else. Bedroom #3 also seems a tad small, especiallybif you plan to have a full-sized bed or larger. Your master bath is going to be lovely!

  • mrspete
    11 years ago

    I've gotta say, I'm not wowwed. For a house with a relatively large amount of square footage, these rooms are a little small. Why? Because so much space is gobbled up in hallways and transition space. Consider:

    - The foyer is over half the size of the study.
    - The kitchen has a large walk area to the kids' bedrooms . . . another large walk area to the dining area . . . and another big open space between the kitchen and the table. LOTS of open space in that kitchen, which is expensive to build.
    - The dining area is a long way from the kitchen.
    - At 15x15, the lodge room is already moderately sized, and you're going to have to place the furniture "towards the center" so you can walk through to the kitchen and so you can use the doorway to the kitchen table area.
    - Open space on both sides of the tub is dramatic, but expensive to build. Likewise, for all that bathroom space, your sink area is small. With a shower that big, could you omit the shower doors? The direct access would seem to fit in with the centerpiece tub.
    - I'm a proponent of big closets, but WOW that's some master bedroom closet space. Yes, it's luxurious, but it'll be expensive.
    - Lots of little jogs and corners all over the place -- those'll be expensive too.

    Things I'd do a little differently:
    - I'd open the pantry /laundry /mudroom up as one big multi-use storage room -- it seems more functional. It'd also allow the kids to go straight from the garage to their bedroom area without passing through the kitchen, and it'd allow them direct access into the laundry room.
    - I could do without the dining room /porch door. In a small dining room, you're probably going to put the table so close to the door that it wouldn't open anyway.
    - Two doors opening into the breakfast area seems like overkill. I'd move one of them to the living room to provide outdoor access from a different area.
    - I would eliminate the door from the end bedroom into the bathroom. It opens right onto the toilet, creating a "sidle situation" in which the user must open the door and "sidle" over to close it before using the toilet. And two doors side-by-side like that is a bit odd.

    What I do like:
    - Great windows
    - Love the covered porch /fireplace
    - The bedrooms are all nice sizes

    Yeah, I know, lots of negatives. It's really not my cup of tea. For that much square footage, I'd expect more living area and less hallway /transition area. Don't take offense. You probably wouldn't like the house I'm planning -- our tastes are quite different.