This is what I was basing the plan from.

With angling the garage - is there enough space to fit your lawn mower through the gap?

This might be easier to see.

Raqqasa, I am thinking we will need to use a push mower in there. I know it doesn't show on the plan, but we are going to have a covered veranda and a partial wraparound deck - so there will likely be a deck there.

Or we could close that area completely. I was told that could be a huge area for heat loss - and we live in Canada so I maybe should consider that.

I'd close that area in completely. Doing so deletes 4 corners of your foundation, and 4 walls of siding. And that area would make an awesome pantry/storage closet. Just increase that whole area of mudroom/laundry/powder room/pantry. You are trying to jam so much into that little corner it seems like this additional space would make a world of difference at close to no additional cost.

The rest of your spaces aren't labeled, and I can't read any dimensions, so it's hard to comment.

From what I can see it appears as if the stairs are in the kitchen that go to a basement? The current placement will create problems. It makes for a very awkward kitchen space.

Overall I like it. I agree that the kitchen needs work-- see what the folks in the kitchen forum recommend.

I would absolutely close in the area between the kitchen and garage. In addition to issues with heat loss and cost, the outdoor area would always be dark, since it's walled in on all sides, and I think you could have problems with too much moisture near the foundation since there are so many roofs converging on that space with just that one narrow space for water to get out. And as your fellow North-dweller, more storage for coats and boots and snowpants is never a bad thing.

Just my two cents...but the stairs leave a very narrow opening into the living room, especially with the door swinging in from the other room.

Would you consider a few changes? I had a couple of minutes, so I tried some ideas. Take what you like (if any) and ignore the rest :) {{gwi:2134349}}From Kitchen plans

This post was edited by lavender_lass on Thu, Dec 11, 14 at 14:40

The foyer is very large -- almost as large as the children's bedrooms; not a place I'd use up a great deal of floor space -- but, then, you're in Canada, and it might matter for heating in your cold climate.

If you turn the downstairs guest tub to the side, two good things will happen: 1) all your water will be in one wall, saving you money. 2) you can either increase your vanity size OR have a small linen closet /linen tower.

I'd move the entrance to this bath to the hallway and do away with the powder room.

At 13x17, your great room's more like an okay room. I fear that with that large hearth, you may not have adequate space for furniture placement. Draw in some furniture, and you'll see that your sofa will probably crowd your dining room doorway.

The great room might work better if you moved the fireplace to the far end of the house. This would allow you to place the sofa where the fireplace is now.

The upstairs hall bath has so much wasted space -- yet the sink area is tiny, and everything's jammed together in one corner! With this much space, you can definitely do better.

The vanity in the master bath isn't large enough to support two sinks. This means you'll not be able to use them together (comfortably), and you'll have no drawer storage.

The garage dwarfs the house.

This is a bit long. Hopefully I addressed everything - I will reread through the comments. Keep the critiques/suggestions coming - they help!

Yes the house plan based from the log house needs work (our house won't be log)! I just really liked that it had most of the things we were looking for.

1) We do need a bigger great room. It's impossible to read the dimensions on the little 1st draft- it was changed to 18×18. Is this a good size? We want it to feel spacious without being cold - literally (because we live in Canada) and figuratively for the overall feel of the room. The reason we like the fireplace on that wall is that my husband has a wood fireplace in the master bedroom upstairs on his wish list.

2) Yes the foyer is very large and it bugs me a little. Whenever I rework the kitchen it seems to make it larger. I hate crammed entrances, but this entrance won't be used as much as the mudroom. What is a comfortable size? I'd like to put a bench in there as well.

3) The stairs in the kitchen go to the second floor. I liked the idea of walking straight in the door (mudroom) and up to our bedroom. Since we will be doing stairs (we currently live in a bungalow), I didn't want to make going to our bedroom an even bigger chore. The stairs by the guest room go to the basement.

4) I'm definitely thinking we will close that area in by the garage. Our house is going to be facing north (kitchen side). And the kitchen doesn't need to be darker than it has to be, especially with a covered veranda. I'm thinking an extra window in there would be nice, but I'm not sure how much light would filter from the windows on the south side. I had originally liked the kitchen facing north so that we would have at least one well-used room facing the front of our home, especially because we have small children and will for some years to come.

5) I like your idea lavender_lass. It's not something I ever thought of. I think because I'm in love with a u-shaped kitchen that I found it will be hard to change my mind. I like how the rooms become more secluded in the way you organized the plan. And having the kitchen moved to the south side is actually ideal.

6) I hate that bathroom/laundry upstairs. I want those rooms separated. I think there would be enough space to stick a bathroom between the bedrooms? Especially if we switched the kitchen to make it more long than wide. It just still seems like a lot of space sort out up there. An exercise room?

7) I don't like the upstairs master bath in the log plan - we haven't drafted it yet, but a large vanity is on my wish list. And also a closet that you can enter from 2 ways - bedroom and bathroom. Since the master is currently at the head of the stairs, I don't want our kids/guests see me running from bath to closet from the stairs/kids' rooms.

8) The garage is big. My husband can use the 3rd bay as a shop without us building one. I like the look of an angled garage and with the side part facing the front, I don't think it would appear as large. Our driveway will be coming from the master bedroom/guest/office side of the house.

9) The reason I had wanted a bathroom in the mudroom is because I like a bathroom close to the outside of the house - close to the deck and right when we get home through the garage. Originally I had thought it would be the bathroom we use the most, until the architect opened up the guest ensuite. Should we open it up or keep it an ensuite?

10) The architect switched the guest tub to the side in our first draft. At first I didn't like it because I liked the window in that bath. But if it saves us money with having all the water on one wall and gives us more room for a bigger vanity, it might be a good trade-off.

This is more or less the look of a home we are going for, minus the extra 'jutting out' on the left side there.

I am also posting the kitchen I really like. We will obviously have to make changes to cut.cost, but I like this general idea.

I also was a little concerned about the opening of the living room being small through the stairs/dining room. The first draft gives us a 12x12 dining room. Would a 14 ft length be more appropriate?

lavender_lass, I LOVE the window seats. There was a different plan that had a couple and I had considered working some in. The only thing (we will meet with a builder soon) is that we need to see exactly how much extra exterior corners will cost us. I love the charm they give to a place, whether they get used or not:)

You could build the window seats without the bump outs. The seats would stick into the room 6" to 8" rather than being flush with the bookcases.

I like the charm, too! And, they give you lots of storage and a cozy place to curl up with a book :)

The cabinets on the right (dining room) side of the stairs are shallow pantry cabinets. You could add deeper built-ins for dishes, etc...but I would try to keep the table centered on the window seat.