Here is a link that might be useful: link

Why do you have the door in the middle of the hallway leading to the master bedroom (before you get to the pantry and laundry room)? I would do away with that door just for traffic flow reasons. Is there any way to add a second sink the master bath? Could you put a tub/shower combo in the hall bath instead of just a shower? You may not need it now, but for resale value it would come in handy. Just my two cents....

Where's the front door?
Is that it opening directly into the Living Room? (I'd much prefer an entry foyer)
And where would you eat?

Working my way across the plan from upper left to lower right as oriented in Macv's post:

I'm not crazy about having the water heater in a closet opening into a bedroom. I seem to recall reading somewhere that code won't allow a gas-fired water heater in a bedroom so unless the water heater will be electric, you may have to move it. Plus, with the door to the water heater closet where you have it, you can't put your light switch in the most natural location which is on the wall immediately beside the bedroom door.

If you're using an electric water heater and want to leave it in that location, at least move the bedroom door 3' to the right creating a short, entry hallway for that bedroom. Then put the light switch on the short hallway wall you create.

I would second the suggestion that you go ahead and use a tub/shower combo in the secondary bathroom. If you ever try to sell, anyone with small children will want a tub as kids often are either uncomfortable with showers until they are at least 8 to 10 years old ... or make a big mess spraying shower water all over the room.

I also second the suggestion to get rid of that extra door in the hallway. It is totally unnecessary and, when open, actually partially blocks the entrance to the laundry room.

Once you take out that door, consider flipping the entire laundry room so that the washer and dryer are up against the master bedroom closets instead of right against a bedroom wall. Less chance that someone doing laundry late at night or early in the morning will disturb someone sleeping in bedroom 2... especially as it is likely that the bed will be up against the laundry room wall.

In the masterbath, I'm not a huge fan of closets opening off the bathroom but some people love them. Seems to me tho that the closet door needs to be hinged on the other side. That way, if spouse #1 is in the closet picking out an outfit (and left the closet door standing open like we all do), spouse #2 isn't blocked from coming in to use the facilities.

Also in the masterbath, have you considered putting another window on the other wall by the corner jaccuzzi? It would help brighten up your master bath and make that tub look more luxurious.

The dimensions on your plan are too small to read but the front porch appears to be about 6 ft deep. I advise adding another couple of feet if you want the front porch to be really useful. With your design, the additional cost to build it a reasonably useable 8 ft deep would be negligible.

Also, since you have dispensed with having a foyer (I actually did the same thing so that is not a criticism), you'll want to pay extra attention to having your front porch act as a good transition from public outdoor space to private indoor space. A little extra depth on the front porch would help it act more like an "outdoor foyer"

Not sure if family members will generally use the front door or enter the house through the laundry room or the back door. But, no provision seems to be made near any of these doors for coats/boots/hats/umbrellas/car-keys/mail etc. Even those of us living in warm, dry climates need a place to stash varous bits of "stuff" when we first walk in the door. And we usually want that stuff to be near the door so we can pick it all back up again when we head back out. I won't go so far as to insist that you have to have a closet near your front door and another near the main family entry, but you do need some provision for such "stuff" or it will all wind up stacked on whatever flat surface is nearest to the door.

Your kitchen seems to have very little room for upper cabinets. This may be exactly what you want but before you commit to it, do think about how YOU actually use your current kitchen. Where do you store your most used items? I use my upper cabs for all the stuff I reach for constantly... like drinking glasses, coffee cups, spices, flour, salt, sugar, cereal boxes, bread, etc. Seldom used items like the fondue pot and crystal punch bowl get relegated to lower cabs simply because I don't like getting down on hands/knees to find stuff down there. (I am putting mostly drawers into the lower cabs in my new house and am hoping that'll make those spaces more useful - but I suspect upper cabs will always be premium space for me.) You do have a pantry so maybe storage won't be a problem but do think about it. At the very least, you'll probably want room for drinking glasses in an upper cabinet.

I can't comment on the powderroom/pantry area till I see how you redo it. I definitely agree that you want to move the PR door so it doesn't open off the kitchen! In fact, I can't imagine why anyone would ever even roughly sketch a design with a powderoom opening directly into the kitchen. UGH.) I do like the idea of having a door to the PR opening out to the back porch though and hope your architect can figure out a way to keep that feature.

Are you planning to have a dining table in your great room? If so, how far away from the serving bar will the dining table be situated? Do you want a chandelier or ceiling fan with light to be centered over the table? It's evident that symmetry is important to you so I think you may find it disconcerting to have the ceiling fan located at one edge of your dining table and I think that is about where it will fall. You might want to ask your architect to do a rendering showing placement of your major furniture pieces and see whether the position of your overhead lights and ceiling fans need to be adjusted.

The great room with all those windows is going to be a gorgeous space! I see that you're also planning a cathedral ceiling but can't read just how high it will soar to. With such a large room, you're going to want to carefully arrange your furniture to create cozy conversational seating areas. Otherwise the room could wind up being gorgeous to look at but uncomfortable to live in because scaled too large.

Finally, it bothers me that the front door and the back door in the great room are DIRECTLY across from each other. I'm not sure why but it just doesn't "feel" right. Maybe others will comment.

Oh, one last thing. I can't read the dimensions on your plan but I'm pretty sure you need more electrical outlets in some of your rooms just to meet minimum NEC codes. - And in this day and age when everything we own needs to be plugged in and recharged, you'll want MORE than just the bare minimum number of outlets. Extra outlets are cheap if installed while building but ridiculously expensive to add in later. Also, since it is unlikely the furniture in your great room will be pushed back against the walls, you might want to have some outlets installed in the floor to avoid having lamp cords running where someone will trip over them.

Here is a link that might be useful: helpful article on spacing of electrical outlets

This is a beautiful plan. Of course, posters here have brought up very valid points.

Also, from the picture of ceiling fans everywhere it seems like this house is in a tropical or warm climate. If so, there will be lots of open doors and indoor/outdoor living.

While the general comment on tub/shower is true, if you really do live in a warm climate then I think tub is a non-issue nor will it be needed for resale. Regarding this aspect you might want to check out your local homes to find out how common it is to have that combo. Just my 2c.

In general I think that Master Suite layout can be improved. Needs to undergo more discussion.

Also, regarding powder: since you are relocating the entrance to the hallway, how about trying to convert it into a full bath, ie. with a shower? I know that you are very keen on keeping an entry from the deck; however reclaiming the pantry space just gave you additional space...sadly I cannot tell you how to, just yet. But just a thought.

Thank you macv for posting my plan directly on this site.

Thanks sweeby for your input. I agree the door in the middle of the hallway leading to the master bedroom...it is being removed. The 2nd sink is not an issue for us -- we are never in the master bdrm at the same time. I like my shower in the 2nd bath.....this is our retirement home...not worried about resale. My son will one day when he inherits this place...ha ha. I think we will be okay with this should we have to resell. Thanks again.

WOW bevangel thanks so much for all the great feedback.

The HW heater is electric. I will definetly check on the light switch location -- I agree with your comment. I do believe and totally trust my builder who has been in business for 20+ yrs would not overlook this. Again -- I will check on this. Concerning the 2nd bath tub....see my comments in my previous post. We have the garden tub in the master bedroom should you need (i have 2 grandbabies ages 2 & 18 months that will use my garden tub). Again see my previous post concerning the extra door in the hallway -- already planned to remove it.

The entire laundry room is being flipped due to relocating the slider bathroom door into the pantry (pantry being moved). I hadn't thought about the laundry activity against the bedroom wall....

In the masterbath, your comment about the closets opening off the bathroom is confusing to me. Do you mean the doors opening out into the bathroom or into the closets?

I have thought about the 2nd window by the corner jaccuzzi and love the idea about it be more luxurious. -- waiting to see where my hubbie puts his 30 x 40 workshop?

The dimensions of the front porch are 6 ft deep. It may be used for a couple chairs / rocker but not a real living area like we will have on the back patio.

I plan to place a bench with hooks, etc. that will take care of the the coats/boots/hats/umbrellas/car-keys/mail etc. We are in San Antonio, TEXAS.....a warm climate. Harldy ever use jacket / almost never coats.

As far as the upper cabinet space -- I have 2 pantries. 1 in the kitchen and the 2nd around the corner from the kithcen. We also plan to build an outdoor kitchen...so bigger outdoor stuff will not be stored in the house. My hubbie said we just need a picture of the kitchen in our house and the REAL kitchen will be outdoors.. he does most of the cooking.

I will repost my plans once I have the redo with the 1/2 bath/poweder room and pantry area. The 1/2 bath entrace to the back patio is important to us.....we live outdoors 95% of the time...

Our dining room is included in the great room - we are adding 3 to 4 more feet to this plan to make sure we have enough room. i was not aware that architects show placement of major furniture pieces. I will check into this. I do plan to have a ceiling fan in the LR and a chandlier over the dining table. I will need to pay close attention to the placement.

Thank you for the great room comment about all my windows -- I agree this is going to be a gorgeous space! My cathedral ceiling but can't read just how high it will soar to.

I hadn't really thought about the front door and the back door being DIRECTLY across from each other. I will check into this. I do hope others will comment.

Thanks for the outlet comments....I will definetly need to check on this.....seems we never have one where we need it. I already know I need some in the middle of the great room for the sofa area.

THANKS SO MUCH for taking the time to provide so many comments....its been GREAT!!

Hola, one more thing I forgot to add in my previous post. I think your current hallway might be just too narrow. Especially in comparison with the open and large great room, entering in the hallway might give a claustrophobic feel. It's also quite a long hallway thus skewing the sense of proportion.

I'd suggest making it at least 4.5'-5' wider. In fact other folks around here might be able to offer better advice on the width.

Re the issue about the masterbedroom closet door being a barrier. Sorry I wasn't clear. Picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words so...

I'm in Austin so I know what you mean about not really needing an entry closet. I don't have one either but have learned to mention it b/c folks in other areas really need a spot for coats and boots and it is amazing how many times they forget to put one in. Down here our big problem is how to orient nice big windows to take advantage of views while not turning our homes into swealtering greenhouses! Nice big porches to shade your windows are just the ticket.

And BTW, I want to know how you trained DH to do most of the cooking??? Can you bottle the secret and sell it? LOL!