Should mention that we'll have a second laundry closet upstairs where most of the dirty clothes will be.

Also will have a full, unfinished basement (to be finished later if needed.)

I'm not sure about the stairs. I'd like a stair with a landing to protect against major falls (thanks for that, chisue). We will have 9 foot ceilings on first floor, so I don't know if the dimensions I've allowed for the stairs will actually allow for the stairs I'd like. I'll also need to place a set of stairs to the basement, once I find out if the (up)stairs are ok.

Overall works pretty well.

A few quick thoughts:

Do you really want built ins next to the fireplace instead of more windows?

Instead of the Dutch door, how about a pocket door?

What do you think about moving the front door to the left to line up with the door to the back of the house? You can get rid of the sidelights and add a window opposite the stairs.

Exterior doors should swing into the house.

The dining room hutch should be along the long wall. I don't think there's enough room for it where it is right now.

Not loving the kitchen layout. Definately post it in the kitchen forum. I would move the fridge to the where the homework station is and add a prep sink to the island.

I wouold maybe reconfigure the mudroom a little bit. I would enclose the office/craft area. We really appreciate being able to close the door if we are on a business phone call or trying to get some work done. If the washer/dryer is predominately for guest use, I would consider moving it to the guest wing.

Good luck!

@pps7, Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I think the thing I love most about your response is that several of the issues you've raised I've already been struggling with myself.....so I guess that means I've really become educated on proper house design! (At least designs that meet THS's member's standards.) Or I've been spending WAY too much time on this website! :)

Built-ins vs. windows- you're right, I'd much rather have windows there, but I have that old "where-to-put-the-AV-peripherals" issue. The TV will hang above the mantle. (FP will be wood burning.) So I'm not sure how to include the extras without at least one built-in. I also thought about maybe rotating the layout of the room a little bit to put the FP in the corner where the screen porch meets the room, but I'm not sure if I would like that set up over the years. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Dutch door- I'll be honest here- I only have the dutch door there because I'm really in love with them and I needed to find a place to put one! haha And the most logical place to put the dutch door was from the kitchen in to the Family Center (that's my current name for the laundry/mud/craft, etc room.) We think it really adds to the farmhouse feel. If anyone sees a reason why we should definitely not include it, please let me know!

The front door sight line: I also don't have an easy fix for this. The exterior of the house will have the symmetrical windows typical of a farmhouse/colonial facade. (See pics below.) If I move the front door over, the symmetry is thrown off. I thought about putting in a double front door, with only the door on the guest's left side opening, but I assume that will increase costs dramatically. How important is my lopsided sight line to the overall feel of the house? I definitely want my home to have a welcoming, "right" feeling. If putting in a double door (or some other fix) is needed, I'll do it.

Kitchen layout- funny you mentioned moving the refrigerator there....because that's where it was to begin with! :) After staring at the kitchen for a couple of weeks, I decided that, according to THS standards, having the fridge on that wall was too far from the sink, so I moved it over next to the sink. I'll admit, I felt a little dismayed, because I like the original layout, and I didn't like losing the counter space. I'll definitely have the kitchen forum take a look and hopefully they'll give me some feedback.

Here are some inspiration pics:
The outside is currently being inspired by these two pictures:

[

[traditional exterior design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-exterior-home-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_736~s_2107) by other metros Witt Construction

{{gwi:1509557}}

Kitchen inspiration pic- do you think a dutch door would add to the farmhouse feel?

[

[traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by dc metro kitchen and bath Cameo Kitchens, Inc.

Your island is too big and too small at the same time. That lopped off corner still doesn't give you enough aisle space between island an breakfast table. That corner is too small to serve as seating. You need 24" minimum per person for chummy seating, and 30" is better. It's the same with your seating on the aisle. You need 60" of clearance from an island that has seating and a traffic route through it. 72" is better if it's a major traffic route, as yours appears to be.

Building an ADA house is a great idea if you plan to age in place or have a loved one with special needs, but it's a lot more than having ramps to the entrance. The halls and traffic patterns are very tight for a comfortable ADA at 36" or less. The overall home's depth would benefit from adding at least 5' to it to increase the aisle and hall spacing. If you want an ADA accessible bath, the toilet area needs to be much larger and/or open to the rest of the room. There are a lot of little tweaks with these issues, and you need to explore them with an architect who understands them.

All in all, it's not a bad beginning, but you have focused on placing things in it, and not focused on the people who will be traveling through the space and inhabiting it. You're not thinking in 3D. This is where some even just basic software can help you to visualize the space in 3 dimensions rather than just a flat floorplan. The most basic homeowner Chief Architect isn't but $99 and it's worth it to be able to bring a sense of dimensional space to your layout. If you get proficient in it, upgades to better products are avaiable.

Of course, if you present your ideas to your architect now, you can probably save the money and time on the software and get a much more appropriate plan for how you need to use your home.

I really like your 'inspiration' photos.

Make the kitchen island smaller. Make the family eating area larger. I'd want a table more *in* the alcove. You need two feet of 'push-back' for chairs.

I'm OK with the fridge near the edge of the kitchen; it's the 'most-visited' place in the kitchen. (My DH is especially drawn to it while I am starting dinner.)

If you want a lot of DR seating, go long and narrow. If you're OK with extending seating out from the family eating area when you have guests, you may not even need a formal DR. (What you've drawn is quite small.) Otherwise, that area between island and great room is unused -- maybe 'milling area' for the kids? LOL

The laundry/crafts area needs some work. The family 'launching space' -- garage entrance -- can't have too much room. I'd want more storage there too. Can you do a laundry chute from the upstairs?

Yes to 36" wide doorways throughout.

I'm no fan of double entry doors, and you don't want a door to swing over the floor at the foot of stairs either. Sidelights or an over-the-door fan light would keep that area from being gloomy. Will anyone use that foyer coat closet? Ours is a waste of space. Do you want a 'pantry' there?

You've made a creative start here.

One thing I noticed is that you talked about centering the front door to make the front facade symmetrical. At the same time, all your room sizes are based upon 0" thickness walls. You are either going to lose interior room size, or the outside dimensions of the house are going to change. Unless they expand by the exact amount from each side of the front door, it may not really be centered once the walls are drawn in properly. In addition, because you do not have equal amounts of walls, some sizes will change. I would strongly suggest that you use some kind of software to see how interior walls will shift your design.

Lots of recommendations on this site. I didn't want to spend that much when I was doing up ideas for my parents house so I went with one that is based online, but you save your files to your hard drive. Subscription is around $15 for one month access or spend around $35 and get a year of access.

I used Plan 3D. There may be others out there, but this is the only one I have used. I tried many free programs/trials but they were either too hard to learn (sketch up) or were too limited. Lots of demos on the website so you can see what you are buying before you pay.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plan 3D

Another free one that is okay is floorplanner.com I like it because you do get that feeling of walls having a dimension, and it was free. When you go to post your things on the forum, you will need to take away any of the colors that show up, as in general, I've found the forum members do not like multi-color plans (best in B/W).

Here is a link that might be useful: online floorplanner

Lots of great advice! And thanks a bunch for the 3D links. I did try Google Sketchup, but got frustrated with it and returned to pencil and paper. I'll take a look at the two links provided- I've never heard of either of them, so thanks for introducing me! :)

And you're right, hollysprings- I have a hard time visualizing space in 3D. I really wanted to use a 3D program, but figured I wouldn't be able to figure them out, since I failed at Sketchup, but I'll try again.

It looks like I can address some of the issues right away.....by not buying the furniture I drew on the plan! :)

Chisue- the "milling" area between the dinette and island and 2nd pantry I'm actually pretty excited about- it will be used as card table seating for large gatherings. It's not unusual for us to have 40 people here at holidays and small group gatherings, so I really need the option of adding tables in areas like this. Currently, we partition off the mower and bikes in the garage, put a space heater out there and set up banquet tables.....it's really kind of embarrassing! haha

Alright folks, looks like my next step is to build this house in 3D to get a realistic picture of what the wall thickness will do to my plans, and to rework the mudroom/laundry area. I really appreciate your input, and, with any luck, I'll be back with an improved draft!!!!

Hi,
I'd love to see how your final plans turned out!