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bkamen

Looking for input on my floor plan

bkamen
9 years ago

My husband and I are building a new home and we are looking for input on the design. I would really be interested in feedback.

I have attached the first floor layout here (fuzzy and hard to read), but you can download the detailed .JPG files through these links on my Amazon cloud storage:

First Floor
Second Floor

Likes? Dislikes? Concerns? Ideas? What do you think?

Thanks

Bea

This post was edited by bkamen on Tue, Sep 30, 14 at 20:57

Comments (6)

  • finallyhome
    9 years ago

    2 bathrooms on the 1st floor. Are you going to have a backyard with a pool that would need that second bath with outside access?
    Pet peeve of mine: I would not want to take my dirty clothes anywhere near my food (i.e. through the pantry.)

    Will you need to go around the dining room table to get to the family room?

    Where will you be putting the TV?

    Where Is the kitchen sink?

    I would like a window over the sink in the kitchen.

    Upstairs:

    I would like an openable window where my toilet is in both the master and the 1 secondary bathrooms.

    Is that a stackable laundry upstairs? I would want the larger laundry room upstairs near the bedrooms.

    Closets might be on the small size in the secondary bedrooms.

  • bkamen
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi finallyhome -

    Thanks for the feedback. Here are my answers to your questions (and keep them coming)...

    Downstairs:

    1. The house is situated on a lake (at the rear of the house). So, yes, the bathroom on the side is for folks who will be using the amenities from the outside.

    2. That's an interesting point about the laundry. Didn't think about that *laugh*.

    3. Yes, it will be necessary to walk around the dining area to get to the family room. What are your thoughts on that?

    4. The TV in the family room will go above a low fireplace on the right hand wall at the box out. The fireplace is quite low so we don't strain our necks.

    5. The kitchen sink will be in the island. I see what you mean about the window. Hmmm...

    Upstairs:

    1. Having openable windows in the bathrooms is something we like as well. The plan is to make the one over the master bathroom tub a casement window, but we would need to think about the smaller bathroom which isn't near an external wall.

    2. Yes, that is a stackable laundry. I was thinking this one would be most useful to our house guests. Your thoughts?

    3. Good point about the bedroom closets. We are just the two of us so we were thinking these would mostly be used for guests, but you raise a valid concern.

    Anything else? Keep those ideas coming :)

    Note: I have attached the layout for the second floor here as well for anyone who cannot access the links.

  • dilly_ny
    9 years ago

    What an amazing dining room and family room. I can see that's been your focus.

    There's a few things that glare at me. The powder room opens directly into your beautiful dining room. Laundry gets carried thru the pantry.

    The L shaped island seems awkward. Where do you plan to put stools?I don't think the sink in the island is ideal for your space. If you place the dishwasher on the island next to the sink, facing the pantry, you will have major traffic problems when the dishwasher is open.

    I can't tell where your fridge is- what is to the right of the pantry door?

    I suggest you post your layout in the kitchen forum and I'm sure you'll get some wonderful suggestions.

  • bkamen
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi dilly_ny -

    Thanks for the feedback. You're right! The dining and family rooms are something we wanted to keep open, but we're also open to suggestion :) Let me see if I can answer your questions...

    1. We've heard a number of folks mention the laundry/pantry being a concern for the same reasons so it sounds like that's going to need to change.

    2. We designed the L-shaped island so that we would have a serving area (the small part of the 'L') face the rear door. We were thinking stools would go inside the 'L', but I can see it could be a bit cramp.

    3. That's an interesting point about the dishwasher. We actually have the dishwasher in this location in our current house and we have noticed traffic issues when the dishwasher is open.

    4. The fridge is currently to the right of the pantry door as you indicated. I don't think it is to scale at the moment.

    That's an excellent idea about posting to the kitchen forum. Will definitely do that!

    Bea

  • PRO
    BeverlyFLADeziner
    9 years ago

    I would eliminate a portion of the island that appears a bit awkward.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    9 years ago

    First comment is the balance of the house seems off to me...by that I mean, there is excess space devoted to storage and utility functions (large pantry, large laundry, extra laundry, extra baths, oversized garage, 2nd staircase) and a lot of "cubic footage" (lots of "open to below" which is cubic footage, not sq footage that all needs to be heated and cooled) relative to the size of the overall house.

    I too question the kitchen layout and the sink location.

    The dining room is not only in the middle of the traffic flow but will not feel very nice for dining as it's far from intimate or cozy...rather it's like eating in a foyer. I know you want wow factor, but think about wow when you see it, and then wow when you have to live with it...there are ways to be more subtle with your wow that you may find more livable, and I'm thinking you want to maximize the lake front view....

    I see a deck off the back. Will there be a lower level? If so, the deck will make the lower level rooms much darker...

    I wouldn't want to carry groceries that far from the garage to the kitchen. I'm also not a fan of sending guests to the garage to use a powder room...or through a store room to get to the other bathroom. I'm also not a fan of doors to the outside being part of a bathroom if it can be avoided.

    Upstairs, for my DH, the pot is too far from the bed and who is going to get bumped in the butt when someone is at the sink while someone else is going into the pot.

    Think too about noise transmission from below to above with all the open balcony space...