Are coat closets not necessary in your climate? I don't see one near the front door or the garage entry... or am I overlooking them?

Are you located in the deep south where you are trying to keep the sun out of the main rooms? Which way is north? Due to the covered porches and pantry across the front, it appears the kitchen and great room will not get much in the way of natural light.

Large, bulky plan may create large bulky roofs and exterior massing.

Good luck on your project.

Thanks all,

To answer a couple of questions - we are in Texas, and house is situated facing NE (no way to change that due to the lot) - so the back of the house needs to be covered so that we can actually enjoy sitting on the porch. The ceilings in the great room will be tall with transoms to let in more light, but without shade it would be unlivable.

We don't often wear coats here, but I do think a coat closet would get some use - will see about adding one somewhere in that hallway to the right of the foyer. There will be a bench and hooks when you come into the garage in that mudroom area. At most, we are talking about shoes and lightish jackets though. :)

I agree with VC, and there are a lot of bump outs which make for one heckuva foundation. Are you limited by your lot in any way? I really don't like how the prominence of the garage dwarfs the front door which should be the most important part of the front facade.

I also don't like having to go through a bath to get to the closet. And for me, there's just something that makes me feel insecure that someone can come into the master suite from the foyer through the laundry room. Just too many doors.

Also, I'd suggest you try furnishing the great room on paper to see how the layout works. It seems like a lot of space to furnish to make it feel cozy. And it may help you decide if you want a corner fireplace or not.

Depends entirely on your lot, but I would consider taking that whole right rectangle and flipping it over, putting your garage in the back and on the south elevation, the media room still in the middle and the study on the north side where it'll be more comfortable to be in there at all times of day.
I'd also recommend talking to your builder before you start on exterior elevations, since you're undoubtedly going to end up straightening out a lot of those bump outs. We did. Builder took one look at ours and got out a pencil and drew lines across straightening foundation walls. You can do what you've drawn, if you have an absolutely unlimited budget.
You've really thought about your storage needs for equipment, but you need to think about linen closets, coat closets, games, books, etc. I only see one linen closet, which is small and totally inadequate to the number of bedrooms and baths you've got.

I actually like the way you've set up the master bedroom/bath/laundry situation to be able to leave in the AM without disturbing anyone else. Love the door from master to covered porch too.

You should isolate the kitchen part of this plan and post it over on the kitchen forum. You have enough room to have a prep sink and a clean up sink, and to get your cleanup sink off the island. Your stove is directly across from your sink, a bottleneck waiting to happen, and your refrig is too far away. The TKO's on the kitchen forum can really help you make this function better.

And lastly, try Annie's suggestion of arranging furniture in your GR. I have a similar open plan concept on a much smaller scale in our new build, and I only recently started to arrange the furniture on the plan. REalized I left myself no walls to put furniture against, and it's a challenge. You can do it on paper, or it's really easy if you upload as a background image your plan into the free room planner software you can use their icons and figure out plans and options. You don't even need to draw your walls in then.

Here is a link that might be useful: RoomPlanner

Great pantry, but the others are right, the "general" storage closets are limited. Where will you keep a vacuum, brooms/Swiffer, floor cleaner/mop, beach towels? There is lots of great storage in the utility room (I'm drooling over it!) but there are things that need height and floor space.

Great feedback everyone!

There is a broom closet in the pantry (I figured the kitchen would get the messiest, so cleaning supplies should stay there) for the vacuum, brooms, cleaning stuff. Hard to see, but it's right behind the fridge.

I do think the linen closets could use some work - there is a tiny one in the master bedroom across from the WC. It's hard for me to visualize if this is the right size. We'll also have room in the laundry for beach towels (at least that's the plan - I don't like having them in the bathrooms because then they get used!). I suppose we could store linens for the front 2 bathrooms in the laundry too, or perhaps get rid of the porch bump in and put a linen closet there - just outside the 2 rooms? There is also a linen closet in the bath by the media room - between the sink and toilet. I'm not crazy about the location though...

I think a coat closet off the foyer is a good idea - maybe backing up to the fireplace? Not sure if there is enough room there - we could possibly squeeze one in across if we reconfigure that porch area a little.

No way to reconfigure the house since it is in a neighborhood and needs to face the street. :) The lot is an acre, but is narrow, so the garage is limited by that. I'd prefer to put it at the back, but we have a decent view from back there, and I'd hate to block it all with a garage!

The designer actually works for the builder, but I'll definitely ask about straightening out bump outs. I can see that would make for an unweildy roof!

I'll play with furniture in the GR - good idea. This seems to be the trend here (not that I'm a trend-follower necessarily, but I do like it), of the furniture floating in the GR anchored by a rug. We actually have that configuration now in our rental and like it.

I'll also head to kitchen forum for more input.

Thanks all - keep suggestions coming if you have them please!!

Your floor plan is beautiful. The only thing that would bug me is having to walk through the bathroom to get to the walk-in closets.

"I actually like the way you've set up the master bedroom/bath/laundry situation to be able to leave in the AM without disturbing anyone else. Love the door from master to covered porch too."

I agree. Obviously, leightx, you know what would work for your family, so please don't have comments against this feature discourage you. Our master closet opens to our laundry room (so we have a back exit, too,) and it is my favorite feature of our house. It works for us and makes our lives a lot easier relative to previous homes. I would have a hard time moving into a home that didn't have this feature after living with it... [DH works night shift currently, and I'm a light sleeper. I access our master closet or bathroom several times a day without ever having to go in our room where he is sleeping.] If you have that back exit, it makes sense for your closet to be off the bathroom because it's on your route to leave the room and/or it makes laundry easier. It doesn't make sense for it to open to the bedroom.

With all that said, if you could rearrange those areas and switch your closet and bathroom spaces, you would have less noise in the master. The closet would decrease/buffer the bathroom noise..... just something to consider. I like the layout, as is, but if you could make the switch work, it might be better.

If things stay as they are, you could put mirrors in your master closet (on the back of the linen closet wall) to use for getting ready. I would make sure you have nice light there for that reason.

In the master bathroom, are those little alcoves created by the cornered walls going to be wasted? It looks like one is. You could put cabinetry there w/ an outlet and then put your blow dryer, curling iron, etc. hanging there.

I would see about doing something about that little odd nook on the front porch. It will be the collector of everything that blows onto the porch and also a great place for a burglar to hide from the street and break in. Also seems like it would be simpler to just straighten that out and give you a wider hallway and better shape of the rooms there too.

Nicolesmithweb - you aren't the first to point that out! I wonder if this is regional though? I think it might just the way things are done in Texas! I don't recall ever seeing a master bath / closet that wasn't arranged like bedroom - bath - closet.

Lolauren - good to hear that the laundry exit works for your family! I've always had the laundry clear across the house from the bedrooms (why, why, WHY are floor plans designed this way!??), so that was a feature that I really thought out. I like the idea of mirrors in the closet - and I think drawers in here as well (so no clothes in bedroom). The little alcoves by the door in the bathroom are actually medicine cabinets for standing up stuff (toothbrush, hair stuff, etc) - just hard to make out!

Lyfia - I agree - I think we'll look at adding coat and linen closets there and straighting that portion out. The only bummer is we'll lose a window...

Thanks for pointing out the closets; I couldn't enlarge the plan to see...

So, maybe I'm just a little private about my family, but I don't think I'd like windows right next to the front door looking into the hallway where my children's bedrooms are.

In the study, is that a window in the closet? Perhaps you'd like more windows on that side for a terrace view, and move the storage to the other side?

bpathome - I think we will add a linen closet and close up that window in the hallway in front of the bedrooms - good point!

And I actually just asked the designer to figure out a way to move the closet so that wall in the study has windows to the backyard. Great minds think alike!

Ok - finally got around to playing with the furniture - and I see a couple of issues (which may or may not matter). I'd love your thoughts.

1) The chairs don't line up in front of the window behind them - big deal or no?

2) It is hard to align the armoire / entertainment center with the couch.

3) We might scrap the corner fireplace in favor of one of the "TV wall" (which would mean a dreaded TV over the fireplace situation). I would prefer no TV in here at all, but the reality is that we will have parties and those often involve football game watching and I am the only no-TV person in the family. So in the interest of not getting a divorce, there will be a TV in this room. And we also want a fireplace.

Thoughts?

You could move the FP out of the corner, onto the long wall.
Then either switch the armoire to the corner or combine the TV and FP along the long wall. Houzz has a good ideabook on the concept.

Here is a link that might be useful: [Ways_To_Rock_a_TV[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/7-ways-to-rock-a-tv-and-fireplace-combo-stsetivw-vs~5176882)

Hi, I found your plan quite interesting and unique. It could be that you should try for an extra rest room and avoid the structural repairs and maintenance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Structural Repairs

Mlweaving - I love that top pic in the link - thanks for the inspiration! Part of the problem with putting a TV over the fireplace is that I really, really want a hearth. I've always had a hearth, and we sit on it quite a bit. But that bumps everything up, including the TV. I'll have to poke around and see how other people solve that problem.

Here's the newest version - with added linen and coat closet, and reconfigured closets in study (might just do away with one). I'm also having her scootch the island away from the back wall a bit in the kitchen to allow for a wider aisle there. And we'll switch the FP back to the wall instead of the corner.

Any other thoughts?

Here is a link that might be useful:

Overall, a pretty solid plan. I don't really care for the sink being exposed to the bedroom in bedroom 2. It is not a shared bath, so I don't know why it needs a door between the sink and the toilet / tub. I would probably move the corner fireplace or make it so you have some 45 degree turns on the corners to create a 90 angle with the walls (easier to die the stone or brick into the walls and makes a cleaner look). The fridge looks like it is quite far away from prep space in the kitchen. Almost looks like you have some wasted space between island and living room. Might be cool to do two islands (more cabinets and prep space), or make your dining between living and kitchen. I would also get rid of the 45 degree wall with the door going to the patio and put some french doors there instead. If you have the elevations you should post them as well (would be neat to see).

MethodDesign - we could remove the arch and add a pocket door (or regular) on the 2nd bedroom sink area, then ditch the toilet door altogether. That might be better when it eventually turns into a guest room in 5+ years once the kids are gone...

We are also going to turn the fireplace and get it out of the corner - mostly because it makes furniture placement tricky! There is some dead space behind the furniture as I have it now - we might need to play with that some. I had thought about 2 islands but the general consensus with the kitchen forum folks is that it just creates an obstacle to walk around.

Regarding the 45 degree wall with door to patio - that was initially a 90 degree wall, with the door on the dining room side. I was worried it was cutting in too close to the table. Would you move the french doors to the great room side? I wonder how that would look with the large windows? I guess I'm having trouble visualizing that...

Elevations won't be finalized until I get over this hurdle, but I'll definitely post here!

If you are moving the fireplace to the wall and you need space to walk to the master, you won't be putting furniture under the windows. You could take away the windows and add a set of French doors with a fixed panel on each side. This way you would have a clear shot from the front doors straight through the back.

This post was edited by MethodDesigns on Mon, Nov 11, 13 at 19:47

Check the swing on your door to the toilet closet. It should be outward to eliminate blockage in case somebody has a stroke or heart attack while on the toilet so Emergency personnel can get in.

Hi Lyfia - yep - we will change that to outswing!

MethodDeisgns - that might be an option to consider, although I somewhat dislike the idea of having the doors right in the middle of the windows there - it seems like it might be tricky to access butted up to the backs of the chairs in the great room...

Also - we might be converting to a one-story, so the media room would take up the space where the stairs are now, and would also become skinnier. Any other suggestions for that space? Should we include a closet somewhere? We'd probably lose that storage area behind the stairs...

Leigh, french doors across the back are fairly common in this floor plan. Our floor plan for the main public space is very similar, albeit on a smaller scale. We have french doors across the back wall as well as a door from the bfst room.
I have to say, I really like your angled door to the porch. I wish we'd thought of it. We have the 90' angle wall there.
98% of the time we will use the door from the bfst room to get to the porch. But we want the option of opening up the french doors 6 months of the year when the weather is fine to expand our living area and open up air flow.

One more thing I noticed is that little jog in the exterior by the mudroom and pantry. I think I would avoid having that jog and just make it straight across. I'm not sure what you'd do with that little corner space landscaping wise as it will likely be hard to find stuff to grow there and will again be a collector of whatever blows in. I'm not even sure that it is doing anything for your façade either.

I like the 45 degree angle to the outside. Gives a bit more space to that area and won't be a bottle neck with people mingling and going in and out.

If you get rid of the stairs, I would make the storage in the garage a little bigger, make the closet off the entry from the garage a little bigger (extend it wider), and do some sort of built-in or closet in the media to store all of the components.

I recently joined GW and while searching past threads for feedback on ranch floor plans I came across several of your posts. I see you have uploaded two different ranch floor plans to âÂÂmy clippingsâ and was wondering which one you decided to go with and why? Have you started building and if so, did you find keeping all the jig-jags in the floor plan to be expensive? Both of your submitted plans have some of the things IâÂÂve been looking for in a home design. My husband and I are in the beginning stages of working with our architect and I donâÂÂt think he quiet understands my vision yet. My specific list of must haves that went into the design of this first draft follows: A split bedroom ranch floor plan with 10 foot ceilings and 8 foot door openings totaling a maximum of 3500 sq. feet. A formal entryway foyer. The master bedroom will be on the right side of the home. I would like a layout that allows for moving from the master bedroom to the master bathroom to the closet and then laundry room. I would prefer not to pass through the entire bathroom just to get to the closet. The guest bedrooms would be on the left side of the home with each having their own bathroom. The garage and kitchen would need to be on the left side of the home. I would like a 3 car garage and would be open to a 2 and 1 configuration. I would like a friend entrance located somewhere around the garage on the front or side of the home. We are looking to have a screened in porch on the backside of the breakfast area. The elevation of the home will be craftsman with a covered front porch and door. By the way, how do you get people to respond to your questions? I posted requesting feedback on my ranch plan and had a few give their point of view. When I typed in my response to them, they never answered back. Is it that once you post, they only visit your question once and tend not to return? Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you soon.

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