Oh, and also - we are going to have them add in a linen closet in the master bath - either between the sinks and tub or move the sinks down and put the closet between the sinks and shower. We can't decide which is a better idea.

A couple of comments from my initial observations--
I'd switch your cooktop and sink locations. People always like to do dishes at a sink, but I find I prefer to see the family inside. Also, a cooktop in the island is a safety hazard if you plan to have island seating, in particular.

I would not put in french doors on the pantry. I have a pantry of your size. If you put french doors on it, you will always have to open both sides of the doors to get in there. With the single swing door, you will only need to open 1 door (and close 1 door). It will be easier to open, reach, grab, close all in one fluid motion than it will be to open both doors (2 hands), grab item, set down item, close both doors, pick up item and go on. The door swing really won't be noticeable right there since it really isn't a standing spot right next to it. Anyone standing in front of the fridge will be out of the way of the open door anyway (90* open). So, maybe reconsider that.

Masterbathroom--I'd consider either a pocket door, or reversing your doorswing to the bathroom itself. And, then of course, doing a pocket door or outswing door on the WC (this is a safety thing). The reason for reversing the door on the entry is so that you aren't always walking around the door to get to the toilet. Accessing the closet from the bath is a personal preference thing. I prefer to access from the bedroom, but perhaps you prefer from the bathroom. Give consideration to this. Your plan allows you to choose either option easily. The direction and whether in- or out-swing bathroom entry door will be affected by that final closet door location decision.

The view the long way in your house is straight into your drop zone (without a door). Do you want that?

French doors or pocket doors to the office might really affect your budget. It appears your office wall *could* be a support wall. If so, putting in double french doors will require a much longer structural header than the french doors would. One way to get around that, if you are okay with the look, is to use the "sliding door"/"barn door" hardware with whatever decorative door you had planned for that space.

Thanks for the great resposne Kirkhall!

We were thinking having the cooktop in the island would be nice to be able to cook and keep an eye on what's going on in the living room. We had thought about making the overhang bigger so that people/kids would be further from the cooktop. Do you think that would help?

I will have to think about the opening/closing bit of the pantry. You are right that one door would be easier, I was just thinking french doors might look nicer.

I agree about reversing the swing on the master bath. I didn't think about walking around it. My husband really wants the closet to be off the bathroom, so I'm letting him "win" that battle. I think an outswing door on the closet would also give more storage space, so that's a good call - but for my own knowledge, how is it a saftey concern?

I was thinking of asking them to make the wall on the sides of the drop zone bigger (at least as big as the wall to the laundry room) and then the lockers would be recessed between the two bits of wall so that most of that should be hidden from view.

Thanks so much for your input!

Sorry, WC (water closet/toilet room), not WIC (walk in closet).

With a small WC (or any small "room"--WC/shower/etc), you want to avoid inswing doors. If a person were to become injured (in the case of a fall in a shower) or have a medical emergency (stroke, etc in WC) an inswing door becomes a "wall". Because the hinges on an inswing door are on the interior of the small room, and because it is a small room and therefore, only one place for a body to fall (in front of the door), EMTs or anyone trying to provide emergency assistance cannot get to that person. They cannot push the person out of the way of the door swing and cannot access the hinges to remove the door. They will eventually get to the person, but at the expense of the door, but more importantly, TIME. Time can save a life.

How about a pocket door on the powder room in the front hall? Then you won't have contention between 2 swinging doors, and it would be nice not to have an open door potentially taking up space in your foyer.

I'm not a fan of the powder room in the foyer. If you need to keep the powder room, what about shifting the laundry room into the garage storage space and putting it over there? You could also add a side entrace into the house there too.

I agree about the pantry door being a single rather than two. It'll look just fine and be much easier to use as one door.

Just to be contrary, I really like a powder room in the foyer-- I wouldn't want guests to have to go through the drop zone to get to the bathroom, and having it in the foyer makes it easy to direct people to it, while it's likely no one will be right outside the door, if acoustic privacy is needed.

I'd consider adding a closet to the office. It would probably come in handy, and then the office counts as a bedroom.

Something they like to point out in the kitchen forum: very little of the time you spend cooking is actually at the stove. It's almost all prep and clean-up. So if your goal is to be able to chat with family while cooking, putting the sink in the island makes more sense.

I have been looking for a house basically like this one for a while. Do you have a better copy so I can see the measurements? What is the square footage?

Thank You,

Something to be aware of that we learned the hard way with our build. Pocket doors don't work well as a wall for a shower or bath.

I am not a fan of the PR in the foyer and I'm not a fan of the office opening to the FR...I would open the office to the foyer and then have the PR open to the FR, taking a notch out of the office for it....even if you had to enlarge it so the fixtures were not visible from the kitchen.

Which way is north and how much light to the kitchen will be blocked by the MBR jut out?

Also, my req'mt was for at least 2 walls with windows in the bedrooms for cross ventilation, but your MBR doesn't have that.

I also want to get to the closet from the bedroom, not through the bath....

In the main bath, I'd swap the sinks with the linen closet....DH always had a thing about not getting whacked in the butt with the door when you're at the sink...

Just my 2 cents...take it FWIW.

Thanks everyone for your input! I'm going to make note of several of your ideas/suggestions to our GC.

Kathi67 - This is the original floor plan that we started from. http://www.thehousedesigners.com/plan/the-pecan-orchard-6262/ Hope that helps!

Jetted tubs - I wanted one . . . 'til I stayed in a hotel that had one. I wouldn't build without a tub, but I am not a fan of the jetted models.

I am completely ambivalent about powder rooms in the foyer -- except that, in this case, you don't have any plumbing nearby. Given that you have a full bath that'd be available to guests on the first floor, I don't see the point in spending the money on the half bath at all.

I do like the idea of glass doors for pantries -- especially if they're opaque doors -- but I'd go with a single glass door for the reasons mentioned above. Also, a completely different note, I'd use a motion-triggered light so that you never have to turn the pantry light on or off. And I'd go with big lazy susans in the corner for efficiency.

I would do whatever was necessary to avoid a pantry between the range and the refrigerator.

I looked at the original plan, and I really like it. However, I like your kitchen alterations better.

One more thought: That garage storage is awfully skinny -- almost useless skinny. I'd consider losing that garage storage and pushing back the laundry room to make it really nice and big, and it could function as a secondary pantry for things like big stock pots and other large items.

Is that storage area in the garage large enough to be useful? I would continue that garage bump-out all the way past that storage area to make it larger. The resulting corner adjacent to the master bath window will also provide a bit of privacy to that room, preventing a direct sightline into it from the driveway. That is cheap square footage to add, and it adds no additional corners, just moves one.

Do you have a copy of the elevation, front and back of this house? I really like it. You can email me at reldas67@gmail.com if you would, please. I would have emailed you but your email is not set up through the site.

Thank You,

Kathi

How are you coming along with your final plans?