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Are you formal people who need 3 places to eat including a formal dining room? A living room with plastic covered furniture and an office for away rooms? How away from each other do you need to be? Most people could lop off the entire left hand side of the plan and never notice the difference in everyday life.

The spaces you are concerned with are sized appropriately. They just arent hugely bloated like the trends in the last few years would have them be. You would only need larger if you were housing battalions of children, not your average 2.3.

I guess I"m just not seeing the cons you see in the plan OP.

What is the problem with a square room? It's easy enough to eliminate the squares with the small interior walls.

As for the kitchen size--it's more than large enough for a house this size especially considering the size of the pantry. I don't see a lack of counter space given the large island unless you're constantly baking hundreds of cookies or something. Most cooking doesn't require a lot of space. I have a slightly more counter space and find there are sections that go unused or collect junk.

I don't like the location of the mudroom and garage, but the size is fine. It's just not "finished" in the plan. I prefer the garage and mudroom near the kitchen. It's a personal preference though.

Seven separate tiny closets spread across the house. What will you do with them? Especially the ones in the dining room? I'd rather have a couple nice-sized closets in the right spaces.

I think the kitchen counterspace is perfect. I agree that it isn't bloated like so many plans these days (until recently, 10x10 was considered standard). What you really need in a kitchen is storage space so you can keep the counters clean -- and your pantry gives you this. I like the kitchen space. The one thing I would change is the location of the sink.

I don't like the entry. People come in, they have the nice stairs as a focal point, but they're kind of trapped in the hallway. There's no obvious "come this way", welcome!

I agree that the mudroom needs work. I think the answer is to move the closet against the back wall so that the parts the kids will actually use is most convenient.

I think furniture placement will be tough in the office. Between the window, multiple doors and the angle, you don't have much wall space. I'd want bookshelves in an office, but you won't have much space.

Lots of space is lost to the hallway.

I like having the built in storage in the dining room, but wonder if you'd consider upper and lower cabinets, with a counter you could use for decor or for wine/dessert service, or low cabinets topped with a post? There's a name for it, can't remember now, it would take away a boxy feel if that's your concern with a square dining room...but I think a square DR is just fine, makes A lot of sensel the closet next to the pantry, though, should definitely be a cabinet with countertop. You will need to set things down.

For the hall bath, consider putting the shower behind a pocket door. Your company doesn't need to see a shower when they use a powder room. When you use the office as a bedroom, the shower is still available.

I like the kitchen.

We had a house similar to your plan. The DR and Study were switched in ours. We used the front closets as well as the mud room closets. I assume the DR closets are actually areas for built-in cabinets - china, serving, wine, etc. The kitchen would work for me. The pantry will be wonderful. The LR is nice off of the DR if you like formal entertaining. But, I am not sure how it would work for less formal living in between entertaining events. Maybe a music room?

Thank you all for the advice so far. It is greatly appreciated.

Really like to hear that the kitchen is large enough...was really worried about that.

MrsPete; I really appreciate your feedback about the closets. i agree, although i want a lot - there are too many. Also agree about the issue with the mudroom, but putting a closet against the back wall blocks the window...Also I completely agree with your statement about the entry:

"They are trapped in a hallway and there is no come this way entrance"

I fear this too - any advice. It is my biggest issue with the current plan.

bpathome: I agree about the dining/living separation. Instead of closets, having a 3/4 ft level type cabinet with a granite counter. I like this idea a lot. Good way to avoid the box feel but still create a separation of room.

nightowlrn: I agree - we don't know what we will do with the living room. Everyone says we need one though. We made it small (compared to similar homes) for this reason.

any suggestions for how to change the entrance to be more welcoming and not feeling trapped?

Any other advice? Again, thank you so much your input

Hello all,

Still hoping for some insight on the 'trapped entry'

also, I changed our draft a little bit and redid our kitchen. It doesn't solve the entry problem, but is another way of doing the kitchen. What do you think about this plan vs the last one? I moved the fridge, put the sink in the island, but most notably moved the pantry. Any feedback is soooo greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.

I don't think your entry problem can be solved without moving your kitchen. We have similar "wants" in a house plan, but my house will be quite a bit smaller...around 2700 sq ft. Below is the floor plan I've come up with so far for myself. In contrast, I don't want the kitchen open to the living room because the kitchen is noisy....I know I'm in the minority as most people want these two rooms connected. We have that layout currently and hate it. I guess I'm a noisy cook.

Could you increase the size of the nook and move the kitchen into the nook with the island in front? This wouldn't be such an eyesore if you open up the entry and differentiate the spaces with strategically placed arches.

{{!gwi}}

This post was edited by Kinsley7 on Mon, Feb 10, 14 at 13:35

I do agree with the foyer entrance being a problem. I'm not an expert, but I like the kitchen, and I love all the windows in the kitchen nook. It will be lovely to eat there. :-)

Just reverse your front door swing. Then, when people enter, they will see the hallway and where it leads (esp, if you can make your hallway a little wider)

Here's another thought...people usually don't come in unless someone answers the door. You can just show them where to go when you let them in;)

HiHo,

It is easier to sketch something to give you an idea of what you could do.
This is not meant to be a floor plan.
I did not change size. The only change was shifting the breakfast nook.

It does not make sense to have 3 eating areas in a house this size so I used a bigger island (bottom option).
I'd get rid of the breakfast nook, place a window in the kitchen and use the money I save on 2x6 exterior walls, specially if you are in NY.

See attachment.

Here is a link that might be useful: sketch

Totally agree with naf_naf's ideas. The problem with the original plan is in it's bones. It needs a bone transplant, not a bandaid.

The plan appears to me to be taken from another design and changed enough to lose the advantages of the original design concept.

The best architect I ever worked with would have called this plan "chewy" because it looks as if something tried to eat the corner of the entry foyer and left a hole between a chamfered office and the door to the basement thereby providing a peek into the Family Room.

I see no way to correct this without reorganizing the front spaces and possibly reconfiguring the stair. To do that would require a lot more information about your family, the other spaces in the house, the site, the climate, etc.

Thanks for the additional feedback.

It is true that we changed another design. The change we made was we added a big pantry. We couldn't figure out a way to do this without messing up the entryway. The rest of the design is basically from another plan.

Although I like Naf Naf's sketch, I prefer having the dining room off to the side. We will use it only during holiday times. I see us eating most meals with just our family in our nook, while the island is more for a solo or two person meal.

I know it seems silly having three dining areas. But it is almost the standard in this development.

I wouldn't mind reconfiguring the stairs, but it is beyond my knowledge on how to do it. Our drafter, seems reluctant as it changes up the entire home plan (at least that is my guess).

I'm a little confused. In our area of NY State (and North Jersey), all the homes we looked at have a formal dining room, a kitchenette, and an island. Is this a regional thing? The island is usually used for a quick bite, the kitchenette is for family meals, and dining room for formal occasions or large groups. Is this that irregular?

Hi Renovator8, we live in NY State so cold and snowy winters and moderately hot summers. The lot is pretty level and is 0.75 acres. This is in a new home development all with 0.75 acres and average 3,500-4,000 sq ft homes. We are a young family. One kid now, but planning to have more and want this to be our home for the long term. We don't really care about the design of the entry way or stair configuration and are open to change. Things we do care about include a large pantry, an open floorplan (where kitchen opens to family room), office on main floor (this will be used regularly as an office), a full bath (near office in case we ever need to convert to a bedroom), a large mud room, and we really like the idea of an adjoining living/dining room (so we can host a lot of people if necessary for dinner). Can you think of any better ways to achieve these goals? I think we are close with our plan - but recent comments are concerning. Are we completely going in the wrong direction?

Thanks.