Thanks Karen15! Yes, it's a little out of the way, but good point. Our current powder room door opens to our kitchen dining area and I can't understand how the builder wasn't blatantly aware of how bad of an idea that was. You have to turn on the fan so people don't hear you pee - let alone anything else. And when you have a 3-year-old boy, you often get to see him standing nude, peeing in the toilet while you eat. lol. He's still trying to remember to close the door - haha!

And since you mentioned the island, I briefly looked at some bigger-sized islands on houzz - this might work (see link)

Here is a link that might be useful: [Island -seating for 6[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/studio-city-canyon-residence-traditional-kitchen-los-angeles-phvw-vp~2700731)

or this... a big, fat island isn't so bad.... it's 6 feet wide like my sketch.

Here is a link that might be useful: [big island[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/the-ladue-house-traditional-kitchen-st-louis-phvw-vp~1920120)

I like your plan too. I'm not sure I understand all the changes you are thinking about to the laundry room/locker area, but here's my thought - I like the fact that you have a small closet right by the garage door IN ADDITION TO the lockers, BUT there is such a teeny tiny space right in front of the closet and the door.

Is there a way to make that space any bigger as you rearrange the laundry? It looks like it's only 3 x 3. One person standing there searching for a coat is going to block the way for everyone else trying to go out the door at the same time.

What if you reworked the bathroom to something like this? If you put the toilet right at the bathroom entrance where the W/I Closet is, it would be closer for the middle of the night and create some separation. You could also eliminate the jogs the toilet itself makes. If you put hour husbands closet in the corner, you could do some drawers or shelves in the space behind the toilet. Since I sketched this freehand, I'm not sure of the dimensions, but maybe something to work with? If the vanity bumped up in the corner, a nice tall corner cabinet would be wonderful!
My kitchen island is 4 1/2 feet deep, and it is a wonderful size for rolling out 100 cinnamon rolls ;). Shorter stools like your first Houzz photo would definitely make the extra large island work better. But if you want nice high backs on the barstools, you can still get a lot of cinnamon rolls on a 5 foot deep island. And shouldn't we base our island size on the number of cinnamon rolls it holds? (Then multiply our exercise room by a multiple of that!!!).
Love Love your Lockers! Those will look fabulous in that long hallway. Your paint color in that room looks like my BM Hampshire Grey in my kitchen...such a pretty color...my mother even stole it for her kitchen!
I really like MrsPetes suggestion of putting the Washer/Dryer closer to the door.
I like your two decks. If you have a good view, you will spend more time outside. I am finding that so many stock floorplans aren't made with any views in mind. Makes it pretty hard working on a floorplan when you have views to take advantage of ;).
Are you going to get a floorplan made for the basmenet, even if finishing later? My father suggested we know our basement floorplan ahead of time so we could plan HVAC vents accordingly and have any drops where they would add to the rooms rather than take away :)

Love this house plan, but agree that the laundry room and bath area needs a lot of work.

First off, if this study will be used for elderly guests, I think it will be wise to make this an elder friendly bath. I would utilize the space the current washer and dryer occupy, as well as that closet in the study for this bathroom. This will also free up a little wall space for furniture in the study.

Then, I would rework the laundry area so that the washer and dryer are closer to the door.

I would also try to bring the master toilet closer to the master bedroom. It always amazes me that architects draw the toilet about as far away as possible from where we sleep; yet late evening, middle of the night, and early morning are when we will most utilize the master toilet. (This is a real pet peeve of mine, since I use my powder room in the middle of the night since it is actually closer to my bed than my master toilet. UGH)

One more thing. Although you don't have a formal dining room, you might still have "pretties" that you want to display. In that case, I would include a single glass door (for visual and light) to the porch, and move it closer to the kitchen to make space for a cabinet. As I've gotten older, I've developed a love for pretty dinnerware, even if we aren't a very formal family, and the display adds a lot to the room.

Good luck. I really love this plan overall.

Hi Melissa,

If you make the screened in porch a keeping room then that will be considered finished sq footage- making your plan 3000+ sq ft. Something to keep in mind. Since you are building a walkout, they will both be 'raised' about 9, 10 feet off the ground. The decks (screened or otherwise) will either require steps (one or the other or both) or become deck 'islands' with no access to the backyard and pool.

If you really want a screened area and non screened area, I'd make the one labeled 'porch' the screened island one, that would be covered and look like an outdoor room. the other one can be an open air deck (with no overhang), and including steps- giving you lots of light in the great room and kitchen, and giving you full access to the yard. Is that what you were thinking?

Screened Porch Like this:

[

[Traditional Porch[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-porch-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_726~s_2107) by Johns Island Architects & Designers Christopher A Rose AIA, ASID

"Walkout" Deck like this- with the stairs. Remember you'll have more patio space downstairs as part of your walkout. So that is 3 different outdoor area (screened porch, upper deck, and lower patio):

[

[Traditional Patio[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-patio-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_725~s_2107) by Santa Rosa General Contractors JMA (Jim Murphy and Associates)

Just want to add- Make sure your island countertop material comes in the size you need or if it doesn't make sure that you are ok with a seam.

Looks like a lovely home and I really like your mudroom lockers.

Thanks everyone!

littlebug5 - not sure how to move that closet. But it made me think - what if we didn't make that a closet, but rather a little niche with some hooks for quick access items. Would it look weird to make that a little hook area? The back wall could be back even further.

nostalgicfarm - I couldn't quite get what you sketched to work. But how does my revised mater bath work? I tried putting the WICs in the front of the house like someone suggested earlier, but the windows ate up too much shelf space. Plus, not sure I want to access them through the bathroom. My question with the current layout is about the front window. I'm not sure how the shower and tub can work with it there since the shower overlaps it and the tub isn't centered under it - seems like it is in most plans!

OK, revised my island. It's 4x7' with the 18" bar for seating on two sides. I made the bar 18" (a little deeper than the norm) because we're all very tall. How does it look now? It appears I can get 5 around it comfortably. And yes, cinnamon rolls are important :)

bird_lover6 - took your advice. How's the laundry room now? By the way, it occured to me that there's no where to let the dog out except the front door and the stairs on the porch off the great room (not pictured). Fine for now, but when our dog gets older, she won't be able to do all those stairs every day. Is it weird to put a door and a smaller set of stairs where I have them shown in my revised sketch? Alternatively I thought that maybe we could put a dog door in the back of the garage (back people door) so we could let her out via the laundry room garage door. However, she's great dane and I'm thinking a dog door that big will invite unwanted guests - critters...even people - yikes! Unless she had a collar that activates the door. I don't know - where do you all normally let out your dog?

Also, I have to disagree with you on the master toilet location. This layout is very similar to the one we currently have (distance wise) and I like the privacy of it being far from the bedroom. Even in the middle of the night - you're less likely to wake each other up :)

nepool - thanks for the advice and visuals. Something to think about for sure! Love the fireplace on the bottom :)

xc60 - thanks!

Oh, and I made the guest shower a little bigger, a nice 4x4. I suppose I could use up a little more of the utility closet by pushing the shower down a little and therefore creating more space to move around in the guest bath. (making the front of the shower line up with the toilet or even the sink)

Wow, I can't believe those lockers are moveable. They definitely look built-in.

I like the revised laundry room -- the machines are more convenient to the doorway, and I think you'll like being able to hide away the vacuum, etc. in that closet, which is using up an odd little corner.

Wow, I can't believe those lockers are moveable. They definitely look built-in.

I like the revised laundry room -- the machines are more convenient to the doorway, and I think you'll like being able to hide away the vacuum, etc. in that closet, which is using up an odd little corner.

Is the laundry room door / little stairs in the front weird? If so, what other options do I have to let the dog out besides the front door (which I don't want to do because I'd rather her come in and out where a little dirt doesn't matter)

Make sure you will have good sunlight into your Kitchen and Greatroom

Just as a word of warning, coming onto this site and asking what you hate is sure to garner weeks worth of negative criticism. In contrast, asking what you like would have only led to a few days of negative criticism. Best of luck.

Are you sure you want to let the dog out the front? Maybe out the back door of the garage? Could you have a little play area out there, for the dog? Or will you be able to let her run loose?

Just a few suggestions...perhaps dividing the 'family bath' into a powder room and universally accessible bathroom, off the study/guest room. This would accommodate older relatives and also give everyone more privacy...rather than cutting through the kids' rooms to use the main floor bathroom, when you have company.

This meant I changed the laundry just a bit...I don't know about that second set of stairs. Everything is so balanced, they just look a little out of place.

Love the new kitchen island! Are you sure you want fridge so far from table? If this has already been asked and answered...sorry I missed it.

The master bathroom...I like the layout, but the window over the tub now seems more centered. Maybe that's there for a reason and I didn't see it.

Hope this helps....again keep what you like, ignore what you don't :) {{gwi:1518339}}From Kitchen plans

Ibewye - that's what I want people to do - critque it! ;-) And let me tell you, everyone has been so amazingly helpful. THANK YOU EVERYONE!

lavender_lass - I like your suggestion about the powder room, thanks. I grew a little attached to my new utility closet, so I'll have to think about it! :-)

Yeah, I thought the stairs were weird. But I'm just imaginging letting the dog out through the back of the garage and that is so unnappealing when I think about having to go outside in the cold garage to do it. I'm actually going to look into the electronic dog door. It's the only solution I can think of! And yes, she can run free - we're on 8 acres and she's a great dane, which means she has an unhealthy attachment to me and wouldn't dream of straying too far. lol.

As for the frig, I have no idea. This is one area I haven't had time to research yet, which means I know nothing about where the oven, sink, refrigerator and stove should go! So all suggestions are welcome!

Master bath - love the two windows. Will that look right on the front elevation? I can't picture it...

Your garage entry and the closetdoorrightbesideit is still bothering me. Just looks like a major bottleneck to me.

How about moving the closet door to the other side of the closet - right about where the word "up" is printed just before the stairs start? Then maybe you could make use of just a bit more of that odd triangle space in your closet.

Will you use the master tub? If you think it won't be used a lot you could have a huge shower there and it will center your window. We opted not to have a tub and now have a 4x 7 shower. Just a thought.

Did you decide if you were keeping both covered porches?

Re: the dog- once your walkout is finished, you can take him out through the downstairs patio. Still stairs to deal with though, at some point. That's the thing with a walkout- there is no free lunch- if you want to be able to walk out from the bottom floor, then the only way out without stairs from the upper floor is the front.

I've seen houses with a 'front side door' on houzz and it looks nice. I'll see if I can find one to post.

duplicate post

This post was edited by nepool on Tue, Dec 10, 13 at 21:40

Littlebug5-- I actually made that triangle space an open area with hooks for quick access items. Your comment made me realize that there was space before the stairs - hadn't noticed it before! I will post a new layout this afternoon when I get home.

Karen- yes I'm a tub person. But I don't want another jacuzzi tub. Yuck. I just want a modern looking free-standing tub, so at least it won't take up as much space!

Nepool- not sure about the porches - but we have time to decide right? At this point I just want a solid footprint so we can get the building permit submitted!

I would love to see the front died door you're talking about. Thanks :)

Front *side* door - not died! :-)

Regarding the dog issue - instead of or in addition to stairs from the porch to the yard, put in a ramp. That way the dog will be able to use it when she gets older.

Also, will the house be raised the same amount on both sides? We have a walk out basement, but only on one side of the house. Our land slopes back to front and side to side, so the family room side of the house has a deck off it, but it is only six steps down from the deck to the yard.

I like jack and jill bathrooms and I like the two sinks
if you've ever had two girls trying to "get ready" in the same
bathroom you quickly discover they are good thing to have

I like your plan a lot (regardless of which of the offerings you use)

I really like this plan and will file it away in case we decide to build again. Have you considered flipping the mbr and master bath? We did and love it. Our closets are identical to yours. My regret is not downsizing the on on the common wall with the fireplace. In hindsight we would have recessed the fireplace into the closet. It takes up so much floor space in the living area and reduces usable space.

DH and I are tub lovers. We opted to not have a whirlpool and got a deep soaking tub. We love it but it is deep and difficult to get out of with my arthritis.

dekeoboe - I'm not sure - we'll find out this weekend when our surveyor stakes out the house shape!

Thanks okokok - I've spent a ridiculous amount of time revising this plan. I'm very happy with it now!

motherof3sons - spacing out - what are you referring to with the "on" on the common wall? I think it's a typo, but I'm not sure what you mean?

duplicate post.

This post was edited by melissa1117 on Thu, Dec 12, 13 at 10:59

OK littlebug5, here's the revised mud room version. What do you think about the area by the garage door now? I like having the hooks for quick, easy access items.

duplicate post.

This post was edited by melissa1117 on Thu, Dec 12, 13 at 11:00

I like the hooks! That will be so practical.

Everything looks good...my only concern would be width of the doorway from study to bathroom. Looks a little narrow, but difficult to tell without measurements.

Last question...can you keep the windows as is in master bath or will they be in the way of wall between shower and tub?

Best of luck on your build! Don't forget to post pictures :)

Love the overall plan! Hooks just inside the garage in that nook will be so nice :). How cool is that that you are moving along so quickly with a surveyor this weekend! At that rate, you will have a basement poured yet this year! OK, so maybe not, but still cool!

Well, it's better. If the hooks suit your needs, I think that's great.

I just think you need plenty of room for standing and/or moving around, gathering your stuff/kids/keys/handbag/coat/boots as you go in and out that door. And the closet door as previously drawn was going to be in the way. Our last house had a closet like that. If the first person coming inside wanted to take off their coat and hang it up immediately, the second person coming in couldn't even GET in.

Hi! Here is the latest - it's in progress, but shows some changes since the last version - mostly in the laundry/mud room area. After seeing the house staked out on the lot, we decided to open up the garage angle to 45 degrees. It looks/works better.

The hallway where the lockers are is 4 feet wide at its narrowest. Most of the hallway around the lockers is wider. Do you think it works? I think it does but wanted other's opinons. Remember, the lockers have doors (as you can see in my photo if you scroll up to earlier posts).

Oh - the architect put 8 foot garage doors on there. They will be changed to 9 ft - otherwise my suburban won't fit through the doors! :)

I was thinking it would be nice to add some stairs down to the basement from the garage. Maybe under the stairs that go up to the bonus room above the garage? Not sure if there's enough room??

Most of the furniture shown displays the actual dimensions of the stuff we own now.

Comments? Thanks :)

hmm - can't see it too well, can you? Here's a cropped close up.

How many sq. ft are you at? Your master walk-ins are huge (jealous)!!!!

I don't get why you'd want another set of stairs- the basement stairs are right there......

There must be a door to the bathroom adjacent to the study, just not sure why its not drawn in.

With the laundry room no longer angled, you have a little weird angled spot there behind the mudroom door. Why is it better to not have the laundry angled(curious also since mine is going to be angled too- want to make sure I'm doing the right thing)? I thought your previous laundry design worked well....

I think the 4ft in front of the closed lockers is fine- its such a huge wall of closets you won't have multiple kids piled up putting their stuff a way blocking the space- it will be fine.

nepool - oh the possibilities! When the garage angle changed, it made the way the laundry was a little awkward. There are actually a lot of ways it can be. I'm psycho enough to explore them all. Take a look at these. Can you see it? Which is your fav? All of these options have a pocket door.

Btw - I was planning on putting a little 2 foot closet in that awkward space in the last verion I posted. Maybe I'll just go with how I had it! I don't know. Now I've thoroughly confused myself - lol.

Leaning toward B, C, or D for your laundry room. Are you putting in a built-in ironing board? If so, that might drive your choice, leaving room for that. I'd probably say B and you could put it on the one spare wall space adjacet long cabinet and still have room to maneuver. It still gives you some floor space to put a hanging rack if you need one. Choice A would do the same but it seems like the W/D are squished into the space available.

To throw somethign else out there--
can you change the direction of the "straight" stairs that right now are between the kitchen and the guest bath?

The trouble I've had all along with your plan is that that guest bath (as others have pointed out) is really inconvenient to any of your guests (except those sleeping in the den)... And, you have continued to keep the J&J as a J&J rather than open it to the hall for your guests.

So, my question is, can you change the straight run stair direction (by 90* or put an l shape or switchback stair in and open your guest bathroom to the hallway (almost like with LL did when she added the powder room, but instead, change the stair orientation)...

Something to "fix" that bathroom's accessibility.

Of your other layout choices--I'm more for A or F.

I'm concerned about access to your little closet in the corner with the other options. I like having the machines all by themself in A.

There is a pinch point in B and C between the corner of a machine and the counter across. That is "fixed" in F, with the larger depth of the room (and the machines are to the left more).

First I want to say I love your lockers! Just what I want in our new home but maybe fewer as there are only two of us. I want a huge mudroom/laundry between our garage entry and the rest of the house.

Looking at your plan I see no guest closet in the front entry...

Outsideplaying - I haven't thougt about an ironing board! I work at home and it's incrediby rare that I need one. And my husband wears all those wrinkle-free shirts. So it won't be a problem to grab it out of the utility closet!

kirkhall - not quite follwing you with the stair suggestion. Funny though... the guest bath access doesn't bother me one bit. My dad has a similar setup in his house and I love it. It's nice and private. I feel like the jack and jill bath is equal distance from the kitchen/great room. You just have to hang a left. And I don't want to have to clean up the kids bath for guests - rubber duckies and toys everywhere now and a gross teenage mess when they're older. Having our powder room next to our dining room table in the kitchen in our current house might be influencing me as well. We often listen to people doing their business in there... while eating! ugh!

kacee2002 - thanks, I love them too. They're a dream come true for a neat freak like me. Everyone's crap gets stuffed into them. And I've got all the kids trained now - it's the first place they go when they come in :) Guest closet - no worries. We have one now and we never use it. Ever. We just store off season coats in there. Same with the other closets. We just don't use coat closets. We use the locker and hooks and guests coats are typically put on couch or bed! Worst case scenario, they can hang them in the study!

Thank you so much everyone for your opinons on the laundry room setup. Unfortunately, I'm still undecided and have no idea which one works best! Maybe I'll sleep on it!

Considering these 2 practical issues may help in the laundry:

you need to vent the dryer outside - that fits in with A, D, E

it will save you money to have all the 'water' items sharing a wall with the bathroom: That's F.

One you haven't considered (sorry to continue the madness :) is F with the sink as you have it, the washer to the left of that, and the dryer right across the way on the exterior wall so it can vent. Makes moving the laundry pretty easy since the distance is close. May not look as cute as with the washer and dryer side by side, though.

Good feedback. Thanks.

Question - In A, D, and E, if you draw a striaght line from the open door coming in from the garage to laundry room wall, the corner of the laundary room extends past that line to the left a little bit. In the others, it's aligned or more to the right. Does it matter in A,D and E? The wall is about 6 feet away from the door - not sure if it matters.

Also, knowing that I want the washer and dryer next to each other, do you save more money with them being on the inside wall (like F), sharing the wall with the bathroom plumbing? Can't the dryer be vented from that wall? Our washer and dryer now are in the center of the house. I might prefer them on the outside wall (like D) simply because they stick out past the countertops on the inside wall (F). Forget B & C - I don't like the pinch point that Kirkhall pointed out!

And to add to the madness as nepool put it - here’s how I had it before the multiple options. I added a little closet in the “odd” space. Given that it won’t be needed on a regular basis as people come in and out (maybe a dog closet with leashes, coat, treats, etc? haha), how does this option compare with the others above?

I like this latest option--but you have to decide!

One consideration for me would be...where will all the shoes be? And, do you want to be tripping over all the shoes to let the dog in/out?

I know, right? Very indecisive right now. Sounds like any will work. No one pointed out glaring problems.

There are baskets in the bottom of the lockers that everyone is good about using. I also plan on putting a big basket in the hooks area for overflow shoes.

Hi Muffn! Did you end up building this house? I really like the look of the plans and would like to know how it turned out for you. Is there anything you would change in hindsight? If you wouldnt mind sharing pictures I would be super grateful! Thanks!

It will be fat and dark. His plans are overrated. Begin again please.