Feedback Wanted on 2100 Sq ft Home Design

11 years ago

Hello friends,

I'm building a new house and would like some feedback, suggestions, criticisms of my current design.

Few things:

-We live in a 1200 sq foot condo now that is open concept and only one bathroom. We're used to being together in every room.

-DH is a hobby musician and will have his man cave fully soundproofed in the basement.

-It's just DH, our chihuahua Tele and me living there. DH's child from a previous marriage in town once a month.

-We entertain a lot and have sizeable families. The living room is sunken, so assume that will make for some quiet in there.

-The flex space in the plan is negotiable, I'm thinking of making my ensuite bigger, so may reduce flex space.

-The study will be ground zero for our computer network.

-Cabinet maker in the family, so there will be plenty of built ins for storage throughout the house.

-Thinking of using a coat tree at the front door in the absence of a closet, we have a really nice one that serves as a decorative feature also.

-Parlour is a flex space and could be closed off to accommodate a third bedroom above grade.

-Living room will have a built in wet bar and sliding doors to bring the indoor and outdoor spaces together for summer entertaining or for after work pre-dinner cocktail hour.

Some concerns I have:

-Kitchen - I'm not sure about the sink in the island. I think it may be a bit crowded with the fridge, wall ovens, pantry, sink and d/w all concentrated in that area, but would also like to retain a symmetric line of cabinets as a feature. Open to suggestions.

-Best way to configure the mudroom - the closet will have hangers and cubbies to hang coats and drop keys, sunglasses, work bags, gym stuff, outgoing dry cleaning/tailoring, etc.

-Will also have cubbies or closets for sports activities - skates, skis, rollerblades, gym, etc.

-Need a built in ironing board and position W/D effectively to make it easy to fold

-Ensuite in the master seems tight to me. There doesn't seem to be room for robes/towels. It will house a spa shower (steam) to help our skin and bones through the cold Canadian winters. DH is up and off to work 1.5 hours before me, so bathroom sharing doesn't happen much. Need a beauty bar beside the sink that will also house built ins. May build out the master b/r wall more to reduce the flex space and increase the size of the bath. Would have to shrink the second bedroom though likely.

-The dining room will have an 18 ft open area that can be looked down upon from the study area. This is to capitalize on the afternoon light and is a design feature. Though we have an architect designing this, he still has new car smell.

Interested to see what folks think...love to hear your opinions!

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Comments (6)

quartz_crystal
Original Author
11 years ago
the second floor schematic.
CamG
11 years ago
Some initial thoughts:
-with informal dining room table where it is, traffic from front door to living room will often go through kitchen, weird route. Consider rotating island 90 degrees so it is along the long wall of kitchen, then there will be a path between informal dining table and living room?
-Powder room door is open to main area. This will make guests a bit uncomfortable using it.
-No coat closet or anything near front entry--I'm okay with this personally, but make sure you are.
-Why not put sink on exterior wall of kitchen?
-Master toilet has no wall underneath it, so there will have to be a long horizontal pipe. I'm not even sure if you can do that and meet code, but assuming you can, it will be very loud downstairs anytime someone flushes upstairs toilet
-It seems strange to have a 2100 sf house w/ 2 bedrooms. What if you bumped the right exterior wall out and made a bedroom where there is currently space to below? I'm not sure a dining room needs a 2 story ceiling. It really won't add much cost to add the extra bedroom, will help loan/resale/etc.
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Elraes Miller
11 years ago
Two things that bother me. No foyer in reality, just an open door to see the kitchen first. And the powder room open to the kitchen. Guess this is 3, I wouldn't want the kitchen to be the first view when opening the door. This is something smaller homes wish they could do away with or change. Few options to do so, but you have the world at hand to design around this.

Agree about utilizing the outside wall for a working area with the sink.

Looking at the size of rooms it is difficult for me to feel 2100 feet. What other plans have you looked at? A lot of our very smaller homes have the same size as your rooms. Maybe it is the closet and bath upstairs that changes my view of sq ft.
desertsteph
11 years ago
I agree with the sink on the outer cabinets with the fridge at the end (by the LR). you can put a partial wall there to cover the side of it.

turn the island as posted above

build the wall between stairs and PR out to meet the parlor wall, put the door to the PR facing toward the mudroom and use the 'end space' of that extension for a coat closet.

I also agree with adding the 3rd bdrm upstairs - even if it's small. You might not plan on ever moving but sometimes life changes our plans.

you want your mstr bath toilet flushing overhead in your kitchen? I wouldn't. Since there's no pipe going straight down there - where will the pipe for it be?

and I think the DR is a tad small - unless you don't entertain and it's just for the use of the 2 of you.
quartz_crystal
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks so much everybody! Great suggestions and helps me see the forest through the trees. I kind of agree with the extra bedroom upstairs also, if nothing else it could be an office.

The dining room is quite small and I never even thought about the PR being adjacent to the kitchen. I grew up in a home with a washroom right near the kitchen and it wasn't such a big deal, however there was another bathroom on the bedroom wing for the louder visits.

I think I like the turn of the island also, it seems to flow better.

The toilet positioning needs to be revisited, in fact the whole ensuite, w/i closet needs a do over. There's too much space under-utilized in the plan and I feel I'm sacrificing function in a number of areas.

Off to drive my architect crazy!
krycek1984
11 years ago
Honestly, I would start over from scratch. Its hard to see where the 2100 sq feet is going.

The dining is far too narrow. Should be at least 11 feet wide for comfortable seating. When you take into account any furniture like a china cabinet or buffet, the space basically becomes unusable.

And it is odd to have to walk through the kitchen to get to the living room.

And two bedrooms is unacceptable for a 2100 sq foot house.

The master suite looks fine to me.