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kathi67_gw

New House Plans... Please help and critique...

Kathi67
11 years ago

I have still been looking at house plans, until they all seem to all run together... Here is one that I have tried to work on and would love some / any input.

I have noticed there is no linen closet in the house, in which I would like one.

I am not sure about the kitchen nook area, pantry and laundry room.

There are some more things I am not sure about but just can�t seem to figure it out.

Any input would be greatly appreciated... I need the house to be less than 2000 sq. foot.

We are a family of four and not very formal.

{{gwi:1511356}}

Comments (10)

  • renovator8
    11 years ago

    Whenever I see one of these internal kitchens with a dog-leg peninsulas I can't get beyond it. This one even has a door breaking the kitchen into two halves with too much space between the counters for comfortable or efficient work and too little for an island work surface. I would scrap the entire kitchen and get some help from a good kitchen designer.

    The person who put a column in the entry way should be arrested. He/she not only wants you to walk into posts but the corners of cabinets.

    There is only one window for 3 bathrooms. Is there some kind of phobia at work here?

    I hate to say it but this looks like a plan that worked for a larger house and someone tried to downsize it unsuccessfully. You would be better off finding another plan to work on.

  • Kathi67
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Is there any way we can make this plan work? What would we need to do to make it successful?

    Thank You,

    Kathi

  • renovator8
    11 years ago

    If you made the house 2 ft deeper and a bit wider it might be possible to move some walls and make things fit together. Someone appears to have tightened the plan up until it stopped functioning well. It reminds me of builders who routinely cut s.f. from a with no concern for what happens to the spaces left behind.

    What is the dotted stair-like thing in the garage? If it goes up to a habitable space why wouldn't it be entered from inside the house? It's difficult to imagine a space worth occupying that wouldn't be accessed from the inside of the house. Who drew the plan? A stair should be shown in solid lines until it is over 3 ft off the floor then it should be dotted. All dotted lines should either be above the plane of the plan or below some element in the plan. If it is a future stair it should be labeled as such. If there is a habitable space above the garage, the egress path cannot pass through the garage.

  • chicagoans
    11 years ago

    I'm not a pro like Renovator but even I can see some things that would bother me in addition to Renovator's points above.

    - Awkward sight lines, for example from the dining area straight through into the Master shower. Hello! And from the FR into the bathtub.
    - Scale: I think the dining area is going to be really tight; it seems like the chairs and possibly table aren't drawn to scale. Measure your table and chairs at home, with the chairs pulled out enough to get in and out, and see how much room you need for that in addition to walking around them. Seems like the chairs would block your MB door.
    - Outswing door from dining area to porch: in some areas I think this wouldn't be allowed. For example here where we get snow, it would prevent the door from opening.
    - Secondary BR closets on valuable corner space. They would be better on interior walls to act as a noise buffer between BR and common areas, and free up exterior walls so you can have more windows.
    - No mudroom or hall closet.

    Even though the plan isn't large, it could be expensive to build with all those jogs in and out. (More jogs = more complex foundation and roof and therefore more cost.)

    If you're looking for efficiency, a more square plan would work better.

  • dbrad_gw
    11 years ago

    The sightline from the dining room to the master bath definitely needs adjustment.

    Also, you could potentially see right through the house from the driveway into that far right bathroom.

    Do you have plans for a hutch in the future in that dining room? It's fairly tight already.

    Are those two bedrooms on the right side going to share that bath between them? If so, think about expanding it to make room for 2 vanities. Use some space from that large closet.

  • mrspete
    11 years ago

    I don't think it's a bad plan, but it needs some tweaking:

    - I agree that the post in the foyer has to go. The space just doens't allow for it.

    - Do you intend to use the office as an office? It appears to be set up for a possible bedroom. Since it looks like money is an issue, I'd consider eliminating the 3rd bathroom. This space in this bathroom and the adjacent closet would make this area into a good-sized family room /office, and it would give you a place where someone could watch TV without disturbing the rest of the family in this otherwise very-open floorplan.

    - If you can go to 2000 square feet, I'd add a little extra width in the great room -- once you have furniture placed to the middle of this room (to allow walkways), you're looking at a rather tight room.

    - The dining room is too small for the table you've drawn. Also, squaring off that odd corner in the dining room will allow for better circulation around the table AND will cost less to build. I'd go with a sliding glass door in the dining room; that takes care of the "swing problem" and doesn't cut into your floor space.

    - As for the kitchen, I'd make it into a galley kitchen -- more usable space, and it could be a little more narrow (probably 9 foot wide, as opposed to your current almost 12), giving you a little more space in the great room -- space that could become a real eating bar. I'd adjust the pantry /laundry rooom ... oh, I'm just going to draw a sketch.

    - I'd try to give a little more sinks space to the hall bath.

    - I'd move the back-bedroom closet to the other side of the rooom. It'd provide a buffer between the bathroom /living room (noise), and it'd allow for nicer windows towards the back yard.

    - Is that a window in the front closet bedroom? I'd look at moving this closet somehow.

  • mrspete
    11 years ago

    This is a quick sketch -- I gave absolutely no thought to the placement of appliances, etc. I'm just thinking of the functionality of a galley kitchen. This gives you a spacious pantry, but it eliminates that wasteful angle. It also gets the 'fridge out of the corner, where the door won't open all the way.

  • zone4newby
    11 years ago

    It's a small thing, but I don't like that the only access to "his" closet is through "her" closet. I would either remove the wall between the closets, or move "his" closet's door so it opens to the bedroom.

    I also agree that it's odd that there are so many closets in corners-- the back child's bedroom would be so much more pleasant if there was a window to the backyard.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    11 years ago

    Lots of things bother me about this plan...I don't like only one window wall in a bedroom, I wouldn't want people seeing into my MBR from the dining room. Which way is the sun going for this site...if East is to the left, I would go crazy with the MBR blocking so much morning light to my kitchen....I also don't like access to my closets only through a bathroom...lots of walking to put laundry away...site line from FR into main bath is not attractive.

    Seems to me lack of linen closet is the least of your worries.

    I agree with the others...there are soooo many plans out there, you can find one that will better suit your needs and make better use of the space....

  • User
    11 years ago

    Ick. Not a pleasant plan to live in. Dark and gloomy and a frustratingly small amount of storage for the amount of square footage.