I like it. Do you need the wall that seperates the dining room from the living room? I'd have to get my tape measure out again, but if I remember right, ten feet is kinda tight for a dining room. Eliminating that wall would solve that problem and give an open feeling.

Maybe even eliminate the wall that seperates the entrance from the living room.

I see that you are planning a corner sectional couch. That kind of furniture goes well with open plans.

If your bed is pretty and if you think you'll like showing off your home, you might consider hanging the bedroom door to hinge so that the bed is presented when you open the door.

Terry

IMO, everything is out of proportion. I'd scale down the MBR so it has room for a Bed, Nightstands, maybe one chair.

I'd enlarge the MBR closet and put the washer/dryer in there. (You have no room for laundry supplies, folding, sorting, no laundry sink in that kitchen corner.)

Will you never have guests use the screened porch? (Only access via the MBR?) It looks a bit shallow to me.

Is the very small deck off the kitchen solely for a BBQ'?

Will you be entering via the front door? (BTW, entry door should swing other way.)

I'm thinking you can do better than this in the same space.

I think chisue has some very good points. The whole plan just seems odd. Sorry if that is a bit blunt, but it is what I get from it.

Thanks very much for the comments, all of which are heard and well taken.
After some rethinking and tinkering with the design intent.....posted is
a revised version.

The open deck off from kitchen would have a BBQ and it is sort of a mini
porch that lands on the ground, one or two steps.

Look forward to hearing additional comments. Thanks.

BTW, the door at the stair case leads down to basement.

{{gwi:1482613}}

I think the master bedroom needs another tweak. There is some wasted space in front of the closet.

Terry

I agree that the master bedroom, bathroom, and CLOSET (Where did it go? Way too small!) need adjustments. The rest is better, although it is still an odd plan. I usually love open floor plans, but this one is both too open and too closed all at the same time. Are you planning to work with an architect or a designer? I think it would be beneficial. Good luck!

Too open and too closed at the same time is well put. I agree with that sentiment. There is a lot of wasted space, IMHO. For example, despite over 1,200 sf on the first floor alone, and with only one bedroom down there, you are more or less forced into a stacked washer and dryer pair. That shouldn't be.

Better, but still not good.

The MBR closet is WAY too small.

Why would you have a sink in a pantry?

Do you want to take guests past an open laundry room to the porch? Where's the laundry sink?

Many small house plans have too-small kitchens; this one seems outsized.

Sorry...don't give up!

Have shower run along outside wall so that the toilet can move over and you can have a sink cabinet and/or storage in the MBath.

I wouldn't put a sink in the pantry.

Once again, your comments and insights are appreciated. Revised plan attached (very revised)....

The pantry serves as not only a storage area for canned goods and other "stuff' but we can goods, do potting and otherwise... activities that might be too messy for our kitchen sink...so we keep those activities separate.... it's kind of like an old "new england style" pantry. Thus the sink in that area.

Thanks again very much for your comments.

{{gwi:1482614}}

What is the reaosning behind the L shaped footprint? It might be easier to your goals with a different shape but I'm not sure.

I see a couple of issues of concern if it were for my family. One is coming directly in to the house and not having a closet or entry space for shoes etc. It's unlike in any of your designs that you will want to walk half way across the house to take off dirty boots or jackets at the closet or bench.

Another concern is the hallway. I don't see that it serves a purpose except maybe to shelter the washroom from the kitchen which can be done in other ways. For a small layout like this the hallways seems to take up too much space.

I'm assuming you're married to the footprint b/c you keep using it and the location of the doors, stairway and decks? If so, why don't you let us know exactly what you want to fit into the space and what feeling you are going for and see if yuo get some original ideas.

I agree with ajpl. It seems like in every iteration there is just so much hallway space relative to the overall size of the first floor.

Is this a renovation project or a new home? Are you restricted to this exact footprint for some reason? Will there be a garage? Where?

I think more info is needed.

Have you looked online at plans? I think I would start with one that has most of your wish list and then modify from there. This one still has issues with the Master bedroom/bath layout and the hallway space. I was going to ask about a garage but solie beat me too it. It's hard designing a house.

I thought there is no need of a double hallway
If you are married to the exterior shape, this is an idea:

I think MarthaElena's plan makes great use of the available floor space. An option if you really want to have a sink in the pantry for canning is to switch the laundry and pantry in the above plan and then make the opening into the half bath to reduce noise in the living areas.

Good luck!

WOW!.... Marthaelena that is so nice of you to take the time, share your thoughts and draw that up. I'm not sure what to say, but thank you. I will ponder this....it looks really great! Thank you.

This is new construction. In general, for reasons I won't go into, we are... more or less married to this shape. No need for a garage.

I've looked at a few plans online, for the most part, I'd like something a bit more eclectic than what I've seen.... but I see now what most of you have been commenting about regarding the lost (or wasted) space created by introducing hallways (although I like hallways....I can see they take up space which, because of my limited sq ft size, I don't have a lot of "real estate" to spare).

But thanks to you all again for the comments and thank you again, Marthaelena, for your thoughts and drawing. I'll keep pluggin' away.

yes, that is a great thought, HomeAgain, to switch the pantry with the Laundry area (if that move didn't create issues with venting the dryer). I think I'd move the fridge also, so it doesn't hover over the dining area.
This is looking good.... I'm getting happy now :-)

Marthaelena...I've seen you draw up some plans before. You have a real knack for it. Are you in the business? Great job!

Cedar,
You are welcome!
I actually had the washer and dryer where the pantry is, and the pantry was where the laundry is, plus I had another closetthere, and then I thought that is easier to vent the dryer on an exterior wall.
I did not like the hallway from the door to the back wall, I also do not like a kitchen that is sooooo long and narrow. I prefer the basic kitchen triangle.
I also placed a french door in the dining so you do not need a window. I think is better to have more windows up front in the living room and have a wall with no windows so you can hang pictures and place furniture.
I think the masterbath needs 2 sink bowls.
If you like this plan you also have an option of having one closet where the niche is (by the stairs) and have another closet or mud bench in the back. Personally, I do not like a door for a closetin the foyer, I prefer a wall or a niche to place some art , mirror, etc.
I will not feel offended if you change this plan. I did it for fun!
Good luck!

I'd like to know which way is North on your plan and whether you have 'views' to consider. (I like giving the laundry a window.) If you want a room you can mess about in (potting, etc.) maybe you need a 'back hall' with access to the outdoors. My back hall contains: laundry (w/sink), big closet for bulk goods, half bath -- and a window.

Lindybarts,
Thanks for your nice words, yes, I work for an architect.

Cedar,
Here is my initial idea. Thinking better, it is not too far to vent the dryer and you mentioned that you will have a basement so is easy to place the duct thru the joists.
You could place the refrigerator where the closet is or next to it but I think it is nice to have that window there since it is centered with the entry to the kitchen.

Marthaelena, I made a couple of revisions also... attached. Still need to be tweaked... but I feel I'm on the right track here.... again thank you so much.

I'm not sure we need two closets in master bedroom..so I moved the powder room back into that closet space and moved the washer dryer... although I just noticed I somehow lost the toilet in the move.... hmmmm...oh well......

Looking at what you came up with...I can't believe this is the same footprint. You're a good architect/ designer :-)

thank you again.

{{gwi:1482617}}

Martha Elana, why not switch the powder room sink and toilet to the other wall, so that the powder room and the laundry have a common plumbing wall.

Frog hopper,
that is a great idea! I was trying for the doors not being together.

Cedar,
Thanks for your nice words!!! did you see the second post I made? the washer and dryer fits ok in that closet without making it deeper. Is your basement 8' tall? if so, it is possible that you will have a little room to place the hooks there, you could "overlap" about two steps and have a recessed area for the hooks on the first floor betweek master door and closet backing the stairs.
By the way, when I scaled your picture, it appears that your steps are almost 10" and I made them 11"; same with the width, I made it 38" and your drawing showed about 34" W.

Yes, good suggestion Frog.....

MarthaElena.... yes I saw your second post. Thanks. I'm still tweaking (seems like my second life is tweaking).....The basement will have tall walls... just shy of 9 feet. My drawings are not so to scale... probably close but not on the money.... I was more interested in trying to get a floor plan concept I felt good with... which your suggestions and plans surely do.

Early on someone made the comment of why would I want guests coming through the bedroom to get to the screened porch...(good point) that's when I had this idea of switching everything around and locating the kitchen -dining area in the ell. I really like your suggestions... but I'm also weighing in on the kitchen-dining area in the ell.

someone else in this thread said "designing a house is hard".... this is becoming very clear.

Cedar,
That is a good point about the screened porch location!
And yes, designing a house is not easy, specially when you want to keep under certain size.
The main thing is for you to be happy with the design. Looks like you are just starting but you will get there.
The GW community is great at giving ideas!

Designing isn't hard; it's getting the design *right* that's hard! It's easy to slap a few rooms into 3K sf, but doing the same with half the sf means making every inch count and that is difficult.

Keep on going, y'all are doing good and it looks like every change has been for the better. This is getting to be a very liveable space.

Cedar, if you decide to move the kitchen to the other side of the ell, here's something that may interest you. The kitchen could be configured a few different ways, even to incorporate a small peninsula, yet you would need to move the refrigerator location to do this and it may not be as open as you'd like. It could also be done with the doors to the washer/dryer area in the kitchen, with the powder room separate - it's just a matter of preference.

As for your earlier comment saying that you didn't think two closets were necessary for the master bedroom, let me urge you to reconsider!! Closet space is ALWAYS desirable, and only six feet of hanging space for a married couple is just not adequate! Think about resale, too, and what features other people would expect in a home this size.

I put a 6' slider in the dining room to the screen porch. You could do that or french doors, and that would serve as your porch access. Have fun with this and tell us what you think.

I meant to add that you could put a counter along the open wall in the kitchen, giving you lots of additional counter space. It would reduce your walkable area to only a 6 foot width, but that's enough for some folks - it's just a matter of what you feel comfortable with. It would be a great place for storage and for a microwave location.

Nanny,
I love your work! It is clean!
Is it ok if I suggest a little change? there is just one minor issue that I see (IMHO). Is it ok to make that suggestion in your plan?

Cedar,
It is definitely better to relate the dining and kitchen to the screened porch. Now, could the screened porch be on the right? that way you can have direct access to de porch from the Living room and from the master. It can not get better than that unless there is a good reason to keep the porch on the left.

cedar - you keep making a smaller closet everytime - What is your current closet size? MarthaElena had a decent size in there. Not big by any means, but then you went to way small again. What you have appears to only be enough for one person with very little clothes. A master generally will accomodate 2 people.

Marthaelena, thanks for your nice comment on my work. I agree that having the screened porch on the right of the plan would seem preferable. Yet since this wasn't even optioned at the beginning, when the kitchen, dining and living room were all on the right side of the house, I assumed there were specific reasons it was necessary to be located on the left. Elevation, perhaps?

Nanny2a, Thank you so much for your drawing. Between you and Marthaelena, I can't thank you both enough for taking the time to give thought to our project. I'm sure we will come to some resolution with our plan thanks to your suggestions. I was out of town for the weekend and just now am having time to see your drawing, Nanny.

Yes, the plan is configured the way it is due to topographical issues. I'm thinking now the kitchen and screened porch are good next to each other. That configuration makes sense. Regarding closet space.... I understand other's comments regarding more is better... we use furniture for clothes, and really need only limited closet space... although we are considering built in drawers if we do go with a "larger" closet in BR.

Will keep you posted .... when we come up with (what we think) is the final rendition. Thank you all again for your good help, suggestions and insights.