Second floor

This post was edited by lzhwong on Thu, Jan 9, 14 at 14:15

Well thought out plan. Here are a few things to consider:

1. You have a 5200 square foot house- please find room for a water closet in the master bath! You can possibly put in a pocket door and leave the toilet as is. The master bathroom is one room that I think could use some work. Is that a window above one of the vanities? It feels cramped while the bedroom is huge.

2. The 3 car garage sticking out in the front may negatively impact your front elevation. not sure if you can change it based on lot size or other restrictions.

3. I would want a door to the Mudroom from the outside and maybe a small covered porch there.

4. the stairs may be dark upstairs( we have this problem, so lean from my mistake!). can you put a sky light or solar tube?

Good luck!

Three sets of stairs? I think you could save a lot of space and walking if you had a more efficient vertical circulation system.

Good luck on your project!

pps7: Thanks for all of your comments. We specifically did not want a WC as it feels claustrophobic to both my husband and myself. The window above one of the vanities is a transom window. I wanted to get as much natural light as possible. There will also be a skylight in the master bath. I was also concerned about the back staircase being dark so there will be a solatube there. I'm not a fan of the 3 car garage but there is nothing we can do about it.

virgilcarter: There are two staircases. One in the foyer and one near the kitchen. The third staircase that you see on the second floor is to the attic. We wanted a walk up attic instead of one of those stairs that you pull down.

Thanks again!

"virgilcarter: There are two staircases. One in the foyer and one near the kitchen. The third staircase that you see on the second floor is to the attic.

LOL... so there's three sets of stairs, as virgilcarter said!

For a long time, it has been quite common for multi-level houses to have stairs that are combined in one location to provide access to 3 and 4-level houses.

The space and expense saved by eliminating seperate stairs is often better used in living spaces. Perhaps in a 5,200 SF house economy of means is not an issue!

Only a thought!

You could do a cat walk along the edges of the open foyer and then stack the attic staircase over the foyer staircase. Make it a bit curved and it looks really cool when looking up from the ground floor. Center part of foyer will still be open.

You can see your powder room/toilet from the breakfast area. Maybe flip the bathroom appliances around so you won't have to look at them from the table.

I agree with Kirkhall. This is a layout flaw in our new build we did not catch and it drives me crazy. We always keep the door closed and have EZ close lids on every toilet in the house. Guests always leave the door open and the lid up. Yuck! I am forever closing both.

Shift the bath fixtures and the door.

I like it. If you were looking to cut square footage, I'd consider getting rid of the sun room, because I think it robs the breakfast area of light and blocks views from the family room, while duplicating the purpose of the upstairs playroom (which I could see being a pretty wonderful place).

It looks like the bathroom next to the playroom is going to be for the exclusive use of bedroom #4. I think it's unfortunate that they can't be connected so it's ensuite.

What is the primary way you see kids going out to play-- is it through the sunroom? I think I'd want some kind of closet in that area so they don't have to tromp across the house or leave piles of shoes/coats near the back door.

If it were me, I would forgo the bonus room in order to make the garage part of the house smaller, and the main house more prominent. I don't know what you have planned for this house, but it seems like the bonus space is pretty unnecessary.

Thank you for all of your awesome suggestions! I am definitely going to be flipping the bath fixtures in the powder room. I never even thought about that! Do you guys think I should move my prep sink so it faces the main sink instead of the oven?

zone4newby: The bonus room is actually going to be my husband's "mancave," where he will play his games and watch tv. Originally, his bonus room was much bigger but he gave me a few feet to make my laundry room bigger. In terms of the sunroom, it will be an area where the children can play while I cook. I have a 2 year old and a 2 month old so they will need my supervision for a few more years. When they are older, I envision them using the playroom more and the downstairs area will be converted back to a sunroom.

Thank you for all of your awesome suggestions! I am definitely going to be flipping the bath fixtures in the powder room. I never even thought about that! Do you guys think I should move my prep sink so it faces the main sink instead of the oven?

zone4newby: The bonus room is actually going to be my husband's "mancave," where he will play his games and watch tv. Originally, his bonus room was much bigger but he gave me a few feet to make my laundry room bigger. In terms of the sunroom, it will be an area where the children can play while I cook. I have a 2 year old and a 2 month old so they will need my supervision for a few more years. When they are older, I envision them using the playroom more and the downstairs area will be converted back to a sunroom.

Would it be possibe to add a pass-through kind of openining between the master bath and upstairs laundry room? I know there is a bit of height difference between the levels but I don't think the variation would be too much. It would be nice to toss dirty clothes right through the wall and into a laundry room hamper right before showering instead of having to haul them through the master and down the hall. Kind of like a laundry chute... but with no verticle chase.

This post was edited by nicke360 on Tue, Dec 11, 12 at 22:08

Have you lived in a house this large before? We are a family of 5 and are downsizing from 3800 sq.ft. to 2500 because we have discovered that much of our current home is rarely used, and we're tired of cleaning/maintaining/heating/cooling more house that we actually need.

I hope, at the very least, you will be able to hire some cleaning help while your children are so small.

If I were building a 5200 square foot house, I would want my kids closets to be bigger. I have a 9 and 11 year old and in our new build I am making room in their closets to store toys, stuffed animals, more clothing, shoes, etc. This may not bother you but just a thought.