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kats_meow

Plan Feedback - Take 2

15 years ago

Revised plans for the house we are building. This is planned to be a close to forever house. We still have 2 teenagers at home. Bath 2 is made handicap accessible in case my 87 mother moves in with us at some point and needs it.

DH and I are also making the shower in our bathroom handicap accessible, just in case.

I am fairly happy with it. Concerns: Think the master bath shower (which will have no door and will not have a raised edge) needs to be a bit larger to be comfortable for two people to use and to be sure water doesn't come out.

Kitchen has been changed quite a bit from lost version. I like this but will probably move it about 6" closer to the breakfast room to have more clearance in front of the refrigerator. The bar in to be counter height, not raised.

The entry to the secondary bedrooms is off the breakfast room. The alternative would be make it off the kitchen at the bottom on the left of the refrigerator.

In the utility room, the open under the counters area is really to be the area to the left of the sink (this is to have a place for cat litter pans and food bowls.

We had hoped to keep it below 2700 SF but with the larger shower we will probably be over 2800 SF. I could perhaps make the large master closet a couple of feet shorter. Maybe make the study a foot shorter. I was making it that size to have room in there for a recumbent exercise bike and an armchair or recliner.

I wanted the breakfast room 12 x 12 but with having the entry there and the angle that added more square footage than I expected.

{{gwi:1448578}}

Comments (15)

  • 15 years ago

    Do you really need BR4 & BA3? Why not make study just a little larger instead, and have that as a guest room. teenagers won't be there forever, eh?
    BA2 looks like it will be dark. I would try to wiork in that area to remove the hallway, perhaps put the BA2 under the skylight. This might also involve changing layout of Utility / drop zone. & having entrance to BR3 next to fridge.
    Mbath is very large. Are you sure you need all that (especially if you keep BA3)?
    just my 2 cents, FWIW.

  • 15 years ago

    I think it looks pretty good!

    Moving the kitchen island closer to breakfast nook is a good idea. Agree that otherwise your fridge is too close to the island.

    I agree that you might want the master shower a tiny bit bigger if you and spouse like to shower together. It's PROBABLY okay as it is, but another 8" to 12" of length wouldn't hurt. The bathroom is wide enough that it would not be a problem to have the two vanities directly across from each other. So, you could delete the linen closet in the master bath and move that vanity up allowing you to expand the shower up into the space vacated by the vanity.
    Or, if you really want to keep some linen storage in the masterbath, how about using a floor to ceiling linen CABINET instead of a linen closet. That way you're not wasting space on a 4" thick wall between the linen storage and the vanity. It looks like you have a 3' wide linen closet so I'm pretty sure you could fit an 18" to 24" wide linen cabinet (which will hold a LOT of stuff) in the corner and still have room to make the shower about a foot longer.

    You might consider moving the washer/dryer away from the shared laundry/bedroom wall. The bedrooms aren't all that big so your teen could easily wind up with his/her headboard up against that common wall. Better to not have the dryer right next to the wall!

    BTW, given the situation you've described, I disagree about getting rid of bedroom 4 and bath 3. Kids are continuing to live at home longer these days (often into their mid to late 20's and sometimes even into their early 30's) and an 87 y.o. mother could easily need to move in with you within a year or two. I'd lay odds that your kids won't be grown and out of the house before Mom needs assistance.

    I WOULD suggest that you see if you can't put a pocket door between the breakfast nook and the back hallway. (Might need to make the closet for bedroom 2 a few inches smaller). If/when both kids do finally move out, the pocket door could be closed and water shut off to bath 2 allowing you to stop heating/cooling that section of the house.

    On the covered patio, see if you can't move that support post that is right in front of your family room window. I'd use three supporting posts. One about 5 ft from the nook wall, one about 5 or 6 ft to the right of where the middle post is now, and one at the end. You want to position them so none of them are directly in front of your great room windows blocking your view. Besides, three posts would rather naturally create two "zones" on the porch which could be reinforced by your outdoor furniture. You could have a more private-seeming conversation area down by the master bedroom and a more "public" one in front of the great room. Just a thought.

    Now, if you've been on the forum long enough to notice how much I USUALLY write, you'll be able to tell that, as nit-picky as these few comments are, I really do like your plan!

    Good luck with it!

  • 15 years ago

    Bedroom 4 is actually going to be my husband's study (we both want our own study since we do a lot with our computers -- both have dual monitors and so on). Bedroom 4 will also have a futon so can be used as a guest room (at least until our kids are gone). Also my mom is in her late 80s and may need to move in with us at some point so if that were to happen she could used Bedroom 4 and DH would share my study until someone moved out and we could convert a bedroom to a study.

    Bath 3 we did add. We were originally just going to have a powder room but we didn't want a tub in our bath and the kids preferred a shower and we wanted Bath 2 to be handicap accessible so we added the tub to the powder room so that we would have a tub in the house in the case of ever reselling.

    Good point about Bath 2, I'll add a window. There is no skylight. You may be thinking the attic access is a skylight.

    I've actually entirely reworked the master bath to suggest that it wrap around the master bedroom. I wanted to make the shower larger. See attached sketch of what I have in mind. This change also allows the smaller master bedroom closet to be larger and rearranges bath 3 a bit.

    {{gwi:1448580}}

  • 15 years ago

    Totally new and never built a house, but it looks good to me!

    Just wondering if the wall next to the fridge will get in the way of opening the fridge door fully when you need to remove the shelves for washing. Perhaps making that wall a tad shorter (ending just before the fridge door) it would eliminate that issue.

  • 15 years ago

    Bevangel -- thanks for the comments.

    I agree about the linen cabinet. I actually had suggested it to the designer but he drew it as a linen closet. In the revision that I did (it is a sketch and some of the clearances and dimensions may be a bit off but it gives an idea of what I want) I told him that I wanted a linen cabinet.

    I like the idea on the posts. We are going to make the master bedroom about 2 feet deeper so that will take up a bit of the space on the covered patio (that is in next to the master bedroom it will be 8 ft deep instead of 10.

  • 15 years ago

    I agree with April-L re: the wall next to the fridge. It will get in the way of opening the door all the way. I'd remove it all together and use cabinetry around the fridge. Looks better and won't get in the way.

    I like angled corners too, but eliminated them in my new great room because they really impacted furniture placement. Turns out the angled corners made the roof more complex and therefore pricier, too. So unless you really want that angled corner in the breakfast nook, I'd try squaring it off to see if your table placement is easier and your rooflines less complicated.

    That triangular closet by the MB door... it looks like the closet door and MB door are going to be smacking into each other. I'd consider reconfiguring the closet or changing the MB door to swing the other way.

    Your kitchen sink and range are almost butt to butt. I'd consider swapping the DW and sink (unless you are used to the DW on the right of the sink) or moving either the range or the sink a bit so they're not back to back. I strongly recommend posting your layout on the kitchen forum too, both the overall layout and a closeup of the kitchen. The folks there give really good advice about setting up a functional kitchen layout.

    Can you get a closet near your front door? Maybe carve some space from the study. Even if your family uses another entrance, you'll want a spot for coats, umbrellas, etc. for your guests.

    Can you put a bigger window in BR 3? More daylight is nice.

  • 15 years ago

    I am not sure what you and April-L mean by the wall next to the fridge. There isn't one. There is a wall behind the fridge but not a wall next to it.

    Oh. Maybe your are thinking the oven is the fridge? The oven is at the end of the counter that the cooktop is on. The fridge is at the "bottom" of the kitchen next to the entry to the kitchen from the utility room area.

    I agree about the doors in the entry to the master bedroom. I play to actually move the doorway to the master bedroom down the entry hall a bit. The closet is going to be changed somewhat and will be bigger (see my sketch).

    I did post the last version and this one to the kitchen forum. This design came out of that discussion. This version was also posted but unfortunately hasn't gotten much comments. Typically only one person will be cooking however so not too worried about it.

    Yes I think you are right about the size of the bedroom in bedroom 3.

  • 15 years ago

    Is there anyway to line up the kitchen aisle, opening to mudroom and door from garage?

  • 15 years ago

    That's a good question but I don't see a way to do it without adding a lot of square footage.

  • 15 years ago

    None of the bedrooms have cross ventilation.

  • 15 years ago

    I think it looks pretty good. Can you change the toilet to use part of the closet there so you have room to enter it if you have a wheel chair? Ours is much wider than what you have drawn. I think ours is 42" wide.

    Also here is a suggestion for the breakfast area and entry to the bedrooms so you actually could potentially use the square footage and not waste it with the angles that are there now. I think the drawback is you could see into bedroom 2 from the family room/kitchen area, but I think you see less of the hallway from the breakfast area vs. it being a feature view and you gain usable space.

    {{gwi:1448581}}

  • 15 years ago

    Hi Kats! I like the changes you've made. I agree that you'd be happier with the master shower a bit larger, especially if it's doorless. We're living with a small doorless shower right now in a rental while we build, and the splashing out is considerable, even though it's sunken by 3".

    I also agree that if at all possible, find a way to put a door across the hallway. I remember you saying that you entertain a lot, and if your mom moves in, I'd think you want noise control. I got the impression you were planning Bedroom 4 to be her room, but if Bath 2 is the handicap accessible one, odds are that she'll be in one of the bedrooms near it or be very inconvenienced.

    I also agree that you should move the bar 6" toward the dining room. You definitely don't want your fridge doors impeding your walkway. Like Chicagoans mentioned, this will put your sink directly across from your cooktop. I personally prefer them to be slightly offset, but I remember several people on the kitchen forum suggesting that you line them up. Clearly, it must be a matter of personal preference. :-)

    I like Bevangel's idea of positioning the posts carefully.

    You COULD shrink your study a bit, but I like it large because it facilitates a sitting area if you want a peaceful spot (especially if your mom moves in), and like you said, you'd like a place for exercise equipment. I'd keep it the size it is, personally.

    It looks like you're moving along and really taking time to get it right. Good luck!

  • 15 years ago

    All good comments. However....we've decided to switch plans. We started out wanting to build a roughly 2500 sf house, willing to go to 2600 and absolutely not over 2700. With the bathroom changes, we will be at over 2800 sf. Right now that is fine. If my mom moves in (she would have bedroom 2 or 3 and one of the kids would move to bedroom 4)...it would be great.

    But, our kids are 17 and almost 15. They won't be at home that long. Once they are gone then we have a lot of unused space with this house. Right now, my mom is living independently with no problems. If she needs to move in once one of the kids are gone, then there is room for her to move into that room. We really only need the 4 bedrooms if she moves in between the time the house is built and the 17 year old goes away to school. Definitely could happen but it is a small window in time and building this house versus a 3 bedroom/2 bath is about a $50k difference.

    So we've decided to change to a different design (modifying another design)) that is 3 bedroom/2 bath and ending up about 2450 sf. If my mom does move in while the 17 year old is still at home we have several options in mind for how to deal with that.

    I'm going to post a separate thread on the new plan.

  • 15 years ago

    Really glad to hear you're not going with this. I didn't comment before because all I could think of was that this was 'way too much house for what you said you needed!

  • 15 years ago

    Well, it's all relative. We just sold a house that was almost 4500 sf....plus a guest house and two double garages. When we bought it we had 6 people living in the house and were using every bedroom with no wasted space. My mom was 81 then and we liked the guest house in case she needed to move in. At the time it looked like her health was such that it might happen sooner rather than later. Six years later, she is thankfully still going strong and we have 4 people in our house now and that will soon be 3 and not all that long to be 2.