Must haves If you were designing a 2000 sqft hpuse

[sonrisa]

I loved all the house feedback in the other thread so I’m doubling down.

If you were designing a 2000 sqft house for a family, what are your must haves? That 2000 sqft is the total limit on how many feet of land may be developed on the lot - not just living space nor just indoors. It includes porches, garages, sheds, patios, utility room, everything. two story homes are banned. Thoughts?

[fumbalina]

I would need 2 or more bathrooms, at least one with a tub. I prefer a garden tub. I would want a walk in pantry, a double oven, wall space in the kitchen, and probably large enough for an island. A two car garage and a shed for storage. A living room/den large enough for a dozen people. A laundry room large enough for a table. Walk in closets for every bedroom. I would love to have a master suite and not just bedroom. An office. A good sized yard would be important too.

I would then have top do the math and see what does not work lol

[WOT?*]

Great room/open concept for good flow and no unnecessary wasted space. Kitchen requirements would include island, pantry, double oven and plenty of storage and counter space.

3/2 Bdrm/bath. (One bdrm/bath would be master suite.) Split floorplan so that master is on the opposite side of the house from the two bedrooms. Bathrooms would need adequate storage.

Walk-in closet with organizers in master. Reach-in closets in other bdrms, also with organizers.

Office space.

Laundry with laundry sink (laundry sink is an absolute necessity. I never realized how much I would miss mine until I didn't have one.)

2+ car garage with storage.

Covered rear lanai/patio for outdoor living (the ones we have here are open on 2 sides with a gas fireplace for winter/rain)
Front porch.

Mudroom area (weather/location dependent)

[sent]

I would love a one story house! I hate stairs, especially after I became disabled. Here are some things we have on our house wishlist. It probably all won’t fit in 2000 sq. ft.

Mud room
Reading nook
Kitchen large enough to have an island
First floor bedroom with full bath but that’s already covered here
Wrap around porch
Patio in the back
Fire pit
Outdoor kitchen to incorporate the grill
Fancy ice maker not inside the fridge/freezer
3 or at least 2.5 car attached garage. The 0.5 is to store the bikes and stuff.
4 bedrooms ideally
Stained glass window accents somewhere (that one is mine LOL)
Finished basement (basements don’t count in square footage here)
Taxes under $20K

@@@@@
A freezer just for ice cream.

[ECB]

Yeah ... 2000 sq ft that also includes outdoors/garage/storage isn’t a lot. Some of these lists are making me lol a bit.

Id probably create one good storage option. If you want to say a garage, fine, but i wouldn’t plan on being able to put a car in it.

Outdoor space is important to me, but I’d probably try to be very smart about putting down one small patio that provides space for a couple chairs abd maybe a grill.

Inside - layout is going to be so important. One absolute rule i have - there must be at least 2 toilets. 😉 a 1 1/2 bath would meet that need. Probably open concept to make the living area as large as possible.

I’m trying to imagine what would be cut from my 2100 sq ft house if i had to account for outside.

[secretagent]

Priority to living space not bedroom size. Can we have a basement in this 2000 sqft ? If not, 4 beds (one to serve as a guest space/office). 2.5 baths. Ideally one would be a (small) en suite with walk in shower. Large double vanity in main bath. Maximized cabinetry in kitchen, large pantry cabinet. Big island with seating for 4, open to main living space which opens to backyard, separate dining area. Secondary living space. 2.5-3 car garage (this is my pipe dream). Patio or deck large enough for a dining set. Double closets in each bedroom and entry closet. Mud room/laundry off garage. Powder room near main living. Can we have an attic for storage?

Including the garage in sqft is less than ideal since it really limits you to 1500 sqft. But, we had a 1400 sqft house that with a different layout could have accommodated this based on room size so I know it’s possible (we had all the rooms I listed just in the wrong spaces to be what I’m picturing. No powder room though and I would nix that for space thinking more). I may have to concede and do a one car garage too just for storage to get the living space.

[penguingrrl]

Separation between living space and bedrooms, which is one of the things that sometimes turns me off to single floor living when the design isn’t done right.

Two living spaces, one family room, one formal living room, that are separated enough for sound insulation (one of my favorite features about my house is that the tv being on doesn’t impact being able to sit and read or socialize in the living room at all).

At least 1.5 bathrooms

[penguingrrl]

And I have no interest whatsoever in a garage, so that would be nixed. A small shed will hold what I need and not take up a big piece of the square footage.

[bonnie]

Do you want a garage? That's gonna make a huge difference since a small, two car garage would be 400ish square feet.

I think a website like this would be fun to play around with since you can filter by square feet, but also the overall footprint's length and width which could help you accommodate for garages and porches.

www.houseplans.net/

[maudefindlay]

How many people/how many bedrooms will be needed?

[Velar Fricative]

My house is almost exactly 2k square feet but that’s with the finished basement and doesn’t include outdoors (which isn’t huge anyway since it’s a rowhouse). I would definitely do the following:

1) No garage (ditto the suggestion for a shed instead)
2) More than 1 bathroom but they don’t need to be spacious
3) Keep the bedrooms as small as you can make them
4) Prioritize closet space to hide things where you need them, but small and/or reach-in is fine
5) L-shaped kitchen with a peninsula that opens up into the rest of our main floor
6) Office/desk corner (not its own room)

[Wallflower]

If you're in an area where this would matter, build one closet that is cedar lined against moths.

An entry that gives you space to put things down ... I never thought about it until my house, but you walk in and you're walking straight down the hall to the kitchen, up the stairs, or into the living room. I don't have space for a little table where I can drop my purse/keys. If space it tight, this can e a challenge because it's space that is *only* used for this. Brought to you by the fact that my keys "live" sitting on the edge of my stairs between he spindles of the bannister.

Overall, if space it tight (e.g., a garage taking up some of that 2,000 sq ft), be careful about sacrificing storage space for living space. Easy to do and then regret.

[cap]

Are basements allowed? If so, that drastically changes my answers. Is the "no two-story" thing just above grade?

[ssmjlm]

Open kitchen/dining - no formal DR
Master suite, but not huge - shower only in bathroom
Hall bath
Built-in desk area/nook
Laundry not in garage

I would really want a powder room, but those can be pretty small.

This plan looks like a decent start, you could take off the garage easily:

[icedcoffee]

Garage/mudroom/ laundry room entrance are the keys to my house running efficiently..

[Wallflower]

I'd also chime in that you *can* do a garage and still be within your goal. My 1,500 sq. ft. house has 4-bedrooms (one particularly big bedroom but all very comfortable), a large living/dining room, an eat-in kitchen. The only thing that isn't in the living space is the laundry (it's in the basement) and the utility stuff (furnace, water heater). An average 2-car garage is going to be 400 sq. ft.

[ECB]

Yes - I wonder to about the possibility of a basement and/or an attic. Either of those are game changers IMO. At a minimum, if they simply provided storage space, that would be huge.

[thelurkylulu]

Laundry room near the bedrooms. I get so tired of hauling laundry across the house.

[sonrisa]

May 12, 2021 6:59:18 GMT -5 cap said:

Are basements allowed? If so, that drastically changes my answers. Is the "no two-story" thing just above grade?

i don’t know that they are technically banned, but they would have to be within the 2k limit. since no one has them there may be a soil /earthquake issue with trying to put them in.
All ‘basements’ around here are a result of steep lots and this lot is flat. Attics and any roof line over 13-14 feet is completely banned by the town. Eaves or roof overhangs also count in sqft.

[konapoppy]

I kept wondering what you meant by soft - I was envisioning all soft furniture 🤣

This is similar in size to my house and I really like the layout. We have a kitchen that leads to a family room, a small formal dining connected to a living room, 2 small bedrooms, 2 medium bedrooms, and 2 baths.

This sounds dumb, but I really wish we had one tiny bathroom not connected to a bedroom. Like, it would be nice to have just a toilet and a tiny sink before the laundry room in the garage.

I think we have 1700 sqft not including the garage.

One thing that really helps - the common space all has vaulted ceilings. It makes the house feel so much bigger!

[sonrisa]

May 12, 2021 6:37:51 GMT -5 maudefindlay said:

How many people/how many bedrooms will be needed?

four people. 3 bedroom minimum.

[ssmjlm]

sonrisa , I searched 1800 sq ft houses figuring then you would get to 2k with exterior stuff and there are quite a bit. I went down a rabbit hole and there are many that seem laid out well and have most must-haves.

ETA: This website even has some real life photos of the plans, which might help.

www.theplancollection.com/house-plans/plan-1719-square-feet-4-bedroom-2-bathroom-country-style-30897

www.theplancollection.com/house-plans/plan-1519-square-feet-4-bedroom-2-bathroom-ranch-style-27433

www.theplancollection.com/house-plans/plan-1748-square-feet-4-bedroom-2-bathroom-ranch-style-28893

[sonrisa]

May 12, 2021 5:25:20 GMT -5 sent said:

Wrap around porch
3 or at least 2.5 car attached garage.
Finished basement (basements don’t count in square footage here)

im amused by your list because the first two things I quoted - large garage and wrap around porch would halve the amount of building space. Adding a finished basement (even unfinished counts for sqfootage for the town) brings the bed/bath/kitchen/living space down to around 500-600 sqft. So probably not the route we’ll go

[rupertpenny]

I'm used to living in less space with more people, but with a bit less than 2k sq ft I would want:
-a primary bedroom suite with enough size for a king bed, a big closet or space to build in a wardrobe, and a bathroom with a walk-in shower and a tub (although I would scrap the tub if necessary)
-2 other bedrooms that are equal-ish in size
-a second full bath with a shower/tub combo
-kitchen with plenty of storage
-a large enough living area that you could make two "zones" within it
-a coat closet and a linen closet
-laundry somewhere, don't really care where

Nice to have:
-one more bedroom to be used as office/guest space
-a second public area, a den or dining room or something so I can have one space without a TV
-a back patio with enough room for a grill and seating
-half bath close to living areas

ETA: I've never in my life had a garage and don't really think they are necessary? If you have a small lot you probably don't need a lot of yard stuff, and if I were starting from scratch I'd try and make the yard as low maintenance as possible (not much grass).

[shauni27]

mudroom
kitchen storage
bedrooms fully separate from living space
2 bathrooms

[mbcdefg]

An easy way to get out to the backyard especially if you’re holding trays of food or whatever. I currently have a small side porch where you need to open a door, do a 90-degree turn and then open a second screen door and go down a few stairs, and it drives me nuts.

[iheartthe90s]

A mud room!

[pixy0stix]

It's very clear some of you have never lived in small houses. LOL! You'll save some space if you get rid of the idea of a master bedroom/bath to put elsewhere, like into a living room, keeping all the bedrooms the same size, with communal bathrooms. One bathroom is very doable for a house that size, but two is very nice.

ETA: 2000sqf home is a decent sized house.

[rupertpenny]

May 12, 2021 8:39:58 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

It's very clear some of you have never lived in small houses. LOL! You'll save some space if you get rid of the idea of a master bedroom/bath to put elsewhere, like into a living room, keeping all the bedrooms the same size, with communal bathrooms. One bathroom is very doable for a house that size, but two is very nice.

ETA: 2000sqf home is a decent sized house.

I've lived in some SMALL spaces (580-1000 sq ft) that had a master suite plus two more bedrooms and a hall bath. But I sure as hell have never had a double vanity, lol. 

[sent]

May 12, 2021 8:28:44 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

May 12, 2021 5:25:20 GMT -5 sent said:

Wrap around porch
3 or at least 2.5 car attached garage.
Finished basement (basements don’t count in square footage here)

im amused by your list because the first two things I quoted - large garage and wrap around porch would halve the amount of building space. Adding a finished basement (even unfinished counts for sqfootage for the town) brings the bed/bath/kitchen/living space down to around 500-600 sqft. So probably not the route we’ll go

I just put it all out there. I did say it probably wouldn’t fit in 2000 sq ft. That sucks all those things count for square footage where you are. Anything outside and basements don’t count for us in square footage but see also where I wrote we’d like to keep taxes under $20k because they do tax all that stuff.

But perhaps you need a reading nook and had not thought of it until I posted LOL.