Hi, just a few comments. I would hang on to the divider wall and closet between dining and bedrooms. I think this will give some privacy to the bedrooms that you wouldn't get if it is open to the adjacent space. They also help to "define" the space. The master bedroom opening off of the living room lacks privacy you may want. I would vote for a transitional space instead of open to the living room. Could be something simple like an alcove. I like the shelves on either side of the foyer. It gives a sense of "entry/importance" to your front door and I think that is valuable. My other comment is to focus on the energy efficiency of the home. If it is a new build, there is no reason not to build well and reap the benefits every day you live in your home. Benefits being low utility bills and comfort. Insulation (a whole lot), air sealing, good doors and windows (high R-value/lowU-value) and minimal thermal bridges will really make your home efficient and cozy. If you get to be very air tight (which I recommend), look at getting balanced ventilation with an ERV or HRV. Good Luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: What is an HRV or ERV

I made a couple of changes, giving the 2 bedrooms their own little entry, turned the powder room so it doesn't face the public areas quite so much, which gave the butler pantry room to expand into a serving/display area. Oh, I changed the bathrooms to have one sink, more counter and drawer space. I know my kids are almost never in the bathroom at the same time.

I agree with Laurie about a transition to the master; you moved the door which made a big difference, I wonder if just a little framed arch around it, just a few inches deep, would work with the interior design?

What is the household makeup? Kids? Do you think you'd like a side door along the driveway?

Thank for the comments so far! Very valuable. Def going to switch a few things.

I think the foyer lacks any wow factor. There is also a lot of dead space between the foyer and living. With the entrance to the master being right there, you may run into furniture placement issues. You don't want all of the furniture in a little group in the middle of the room. The half bath layout is a little strange. At the least I would switch the door swing so you don't have to walk back past the door to open it after washing your hands. The wall between the dining and bedrooms seems like a waste. I don't care for the setup to begin with, but all that does is put an obstacle between you and the bedroom. Hall space equals wasted square footage. I like the shared bath, but the tub and toilet should be seperated from the sinks by a door. The laundry room looks a little too long and narrow. Overall it just doesn't have a very good flow. It seems like a box with all of the rooms pushed to the outsides. I would start withs a ven diagram to figure out what you want where and how to make it fit better and maxamize the space. How many square feet is that? Also don't see any 2x6 plumbing walls.

This post was edited by MethodDesigns on Sun, Nov 17, 13 at 22:46

MethodDesigns, is there any hope for that awkward foyer? I played around and expanded the master bath and closet over, to make each a foot or so bigger, added a closet to create a front hall and a wall for a cozier living room. Did the good intentions help, if not the execution? What if the front door were flush with the rest of the wall?

I also realized I'd shrunk the bedrooms by a couple of feet by moving their closets, so I moved them out just a bit.

I'd like to see that powder room out of the dining room....nothing like excusing yourself from dinner to walk...three feet away to flush. Somewhere along the laundry room/pantry corridor would be my pick. But then all your pantries would be gone. Somewhere around the foyer might work as well.

Giving privacy to the bedrooms and powder was the original reason that back wall existed and it did a fair job at that.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Sun, Nov 17, 13 at 23:50

Maybe a little "guest hall" in the foyer?

Does the dining room seem lost and floating?

Are you definitely planning on the pool? If so, you'll need a bathroom nearby? Even in the original plan, the bathroom was halfway across the house. Perhaps you can tuck one in the storage area.

Help,

What is the maximum area that you need the house to be?

Bpathome, exactly what I was thinking for the foyer while looking at robotropolis's post. I don't like the powder in the dining, but I also never put the door right in the main entry. A hall with a closet is a great idea.

Thanks, MethodDesigns, I always like a little setup like that. Then, because I'm waiting on laundry and didn't like the dining room's location and the lack of outside doors, I did this (of course, the scale is all off now):

I would do something to define the spaces a little more. Could be some columns with arched openings or something like that. Probably would be good also to help break up the long spans.

Changes in ceiling height or treatment and floor treatment can help define spaces, too.

Thanks everyone. A little more about the home- we ant expand out further sideways since we are right up to the setback. We are building a modern style home- and are hoping for large glass windows all looking out to the pool area. All the feedback is awesome. Didn't even think about the bathroom location in connection with the pool. Seems there is no good place for that powder room!

Maybe down by the laundry room, with a cabana!

And then your foyer contains only a closet. I flipped it with the door, and now there's a window beside the door. Also, when guests enter, they come around the corner and ta da, they see the pool. And, sometimes walls are your friend, like for putting a TV and sound speakers on. Oh, I don't know if you have children or not, so I added double doors into that one bedroom to see what it would be like as a den/guest room, now or later. You can see that in the previous example.

Help,
The floor plan, as is, is very distorted and out of wack..
I would like to create a file to scale but I need additional info, including the square footage.

Big improvement on the foyer. I like that the bump-out is gone.

Why two half-baths though? I'd keep the one by the back door (better not to have wet pool feet traipsing all the way across your floors), but if you have that one there, why do you also need the one by the entrance? I'd go with a larger entrance closet . . . or add that space to the master closet.

Master bedroom is okay, but I'd want to take advantage of the opportunity to have windows on both exterior walls. Makes any room nicer.

Main living area -- I'd give it a C-. The living room is a bit odd, and I think the problem is that you have furniture against the walls . . . then "open space" -- one open space, of course, being the glass wall -- on the other two sides. It feels out of whack -- it's like the furniture is all crammed in together, but it looks out onto an empty space -- it lacks proportion. TV placement will be awkward. And then you have so much space between the living room and the kitchen.

I think I'd fix this with a large, built-in, floor-to-ceiling wall unit for the TV. Placed between the living room and kitchen, it wouldn't be a whole "wall" . . . but it would eat up some of that space, and it would provide a visual barrier. You'd be able to walk around both sides of it, but it would define the rooms . . . and it would give you a more comfortable furniture arrangement.

I also like the idea of varying the ceiling height to define the living areas.

The two secondary bedrooms look narrow, but without dimensions I'm uncertain. I like that you reduced to one sink; double sinks are a waste anyway, but this vanity wasn't big enough to accommodate two.

I'm very "ehhh" on this kitchen/dining area. It doesn't look all that great, but I can't see a way to improve it in the confines of this space. The one thing I would say is that you could have more windows on that exterior wall. I'm not sure you don't have too much space in the kitchen/dining area. That is, too much space proportional to the rest of the house.

I like the garage entrance, its proximity to the laundry, and the pool's accessibility to the laundry. I like practical. However, you have excessive doors in this area. They're not really necessary, and they're going to bump into one another and just be an aggravation.

The garage-in-back is a bit odd and eats up your backyard space, but I'm assuming this fits your lot somehow? You're going to need an extra-long driveway too.