What do you think about this floorplan?

[ruthie7532]

I'm just dreaming a bit. I know it will be a while before we can build, but I've been looking hard for our perfect floor plan. This one really captured my attention. The things I love about it are the den we can close the door on (would make a great play room, I think), the morning room, and that all the BR are upstairs. I also love all the built ins. It's a bit of a con that the DR isn't directly attached to the kitchen, and I kind of wish that the layout of the upper bedrooms was a bit different. At least in the beginning, we'd probably have DD's nursery closest to our bedroom, which means the GBR would share the jack-n-jill bathroom. But that's just temporary, I guess. Any other cons?

[tarheels]

Hm, it's not the most efficient plan IMO. I feel like there's too much wasted space through the middle of the house. When you build, you pay the same price for every square foot, whether it's useful space or not. So all that open space in the middle will cost you the same $200/ sq ft or whatever to build that your kitchen will cost. Do you really want to pay $10k for that hallway business? I wouldn't.

[ruthie7532]

Our current house has the master on the ground floor, which we thought we loved. But since having DD we've realized that it's a bit of a pain for us. We were planning on putting a pull out in the den/playroom, and if we ever needed to, I guess we could make it a full bedroom. I do worry a bit about the second floor laundry, but I also hate climbing up and down stairs with laundry baskets. It will be something to think about, for sure. Maybe I need statistics on how often laundry rooms flood. No one in my immediate family has ever had that happen, but we may just be lucky  .

The front elevation is OK, but not my ideal. 

Here's my ideal:



I wonder if I can work with an architect to combine these, somehow! 

[InBetweenDays]

Overall I like it, but I agree with nursecramer about the garage issue. I've heard them referred to as "snout houses" when the garage is so prominent and out front.

Another thing I'd consider changing is the door to the back. Rather than one small door I'd prefer double French doors off the morning room or great room (or both). But we live in a mild climate so we love to have the doors open wide in the summer.

[InBetweenDays]

I also agree with SBP about none of the second floor bathrooms being accessed from a hallway.

We have second floor laundry and I LOVE it.

[moolarkey]

I don't like front load garages, I prefer sideload with windows on the front so it blends with the rest of the front of the house.

We have a sloped ceiling in our family room. The interior wall is 17' high. The exterior wall is 12 feet. Keeping the 17' side near the ceiling is a pain. We have to bring a ladder in and use a dust mop with an extended handle to clean up there. I like the room but it's something to think about.

[ruthie7532]

Yes! I think the "snout nose" is the thing that's bugging me most about this plan. I wonder if the plan could be modified so that the 1 car part of the garage was in the front (still opening to the side, though) and the 2 car portion would be in the back. DH insists on a 3 car garage so he'll have space for a workshop. Spatial relationships are my weak point, so I'm not sure if this is even possible. We definitely would want some french doors, probably off the great room.

[cajungal]

I really like it except that there is not a full bathroom downstairs. My cousin's house has all the bedrooms upstairs and a half bath downstairs. It was awful when her mom was living with her and couldn't take a bath because she couldn't get upstairs. That's a huge must-have for me now as you never know what the future holds with injuries and what not. Otherwise, I think it's nice and the garage doesn't bother me since it's a side loading garage with the windows. It blends more with the rest of the house.

[stephm0188]

I like it a lot, with a few changes.

I'd eliminate the wet bar.
I'd eliminate the smaller linen closet in the upstairs hallway, and flip the bathroom layout for bedroom #4. It would allow you to add a door from the hallway. You could always do a pocket door for bedroom #4 to the bathroom to save space. You could also check into eliminating the two story foyer and creating a walk-in closet for that bedroom instead.

I love love love our upstairs laundry room. I'd maybe see about doing a pass through from the laundry room to the master closet if possible.

[ruthie7532]

May 28, 2013 16:48:52 GMT -5 stephm0188 said:

I like it a lot, with a few changes.

I'd eliminate the wet bar.
I'd eliminate the smaller linen closet in the upstairs hallway, and flip the bathroom layout for bedroom #4. It would allow you to add a door from the hallway. You could always do a pocket door for bedroom #4 to the bathroom to save space. You could also check into eliminating the two story foyer and creating a walk-in closet for that bedroom instead.

I love love love our upstairs laundry room. I'd maybe see about doing a pass through from the laundry room to the master closet if possible.

Great ideas!

[ktzmoh]

the den seems like wasted space to me. how often do the kids like to play in isolation from the rest of the house? IME they like to play where the other people are - and i like to see them play as opposed to having their stuff in a separated play room. Also I don't like that the DR is in the front of the house separated from the kitchen. Also, what is a morning room used for? I've never heard of that before - is that a less formal dining area?

If it were me building, I'd downsize and go smaller square footage-wise, ditch the den and integrate the dining room. Also, I'd eliminate one garage. Why 2 garages?

[boiler717]

Our floor plan is very similar, but with some key differences that overall make it much more livable.

- our wetbar is in between the kitchen and dining room (which are connected)
- we have two staircases, but they aren't combined and one goes from the mudroom directly to the upstairs bedrooms which is awesome for coming home from work
- we have one big, huge kitchen island
- our study has glass French doors
- our powder bath is over by the den and closet so it can easily be made into a bedroom someday if needed. Right now we use it as a workout room and plan to use it as a first floor playroom once we have kids. Having doors to close off a playroom but still be close to a main living area is awesome according to my friends who have kids with similar floor plans.
- we LOVE the morning room. It is the best room of the house. Absolutely gorgeous.
- our porch is very deep and goes across the entire front of the house which makes the front not stick out as much. I love a big front porch.
- I love the carriage garage look, we don't have it but it looks great and is not a front load look at all.
- I'm not crazy on the wasted space into the master or the shared closet you have
- we also have a bonus room upstairs
- all 3 of our secondary bedrooms are on one side of the house and the master is by itself which I prefer

[ruthie7532]

A sunroom or morning room, or at the very least a screened-in porch, is one of my non-negotiables. The neighborhood we'll probably build in is mostly 3-5 acre lots with woods or lake views. I envision lots of cups of tea back there, reading and watching all the wildlife.

As for the play room, I really don't want to have all the toys in the common living areas. I love the idea of having a room where all the toys can be that I can close off when company comes. A lot of the house plans I've looked at have rooms upstairs that could be play rooms, but I like the idea of an area where kids could play independently but I'd still be able to hear arguments and problems without having to run upstairs to check on them.

I can take or leave the two garages, as long as it doesn't open to the front and is either a 3 car garage or a 2 car with a dedicated workshop area. That's just about the only thing DH is really adamant about, LOL!