First floor:

First of all--beautiful!! For critiques, I'd say I'm concerned about storage in the jack and Jill (there is a wic closet near--but may be inconvenient to store much bathroom stuff there), i would put a sink and more cabinets in the laundry, and I can never get enough natural light, so I would probably put bigger windows or skylights in the upstairs bathrooms. Maybe you don't need more storage in the laundry since you have so many closets--wonderful!:)

In office, see about usable space under stairs to create a closet and that office could be potentially used a bedroom. If you got rid of that little closet behind powder room, you could create a small bathroom with a shower stall in case that office was ever needed by family who can not climb stairs. Just a thought.

In the whole foyer hallway area - I would probably swap locations of closets and lockers. When you have guests using the main entry, then you will have easy access to a coat closet by the front door. Also, the every day mess from the lockers and benches will be hidden behind the pantry and powder room, so no need to messy view from the foyer.

Consider two solatubes in the upstairs hall, especially where it opens up by the bonus room and bedroom; the stairwell window will bring in a lot of light, but much will be swallowed up by the stairs, and by the time you get down to the bonus room it'll be pretty dark. I'd put one in the laundry too, even though there's a window, and (danger of going nuts here) in the tub room of the jack-n-Jill.

In the master closet, I think I'd find a door to the bedroom used more than the door to the laundry.

I like your mudroom as is, with the window bench, I can already see it :)

Are in-swing closet doors the thing now?
Casey

I think the house would be more attractive and cheaper to build if you brought the front door forward to be inline with the front of the office and you eliminated the nesting gables. Nesting gables are trend-- without them, this is a really classic looking home.

It would also give you a little more space in the jack and jill bath upstairs, and I think an extra foot there could make a big difference.

For the laundry-- I would move the machines closer to the exterior wall and make sure the dryer exhaust isn't out the roof. I'm guessing someone has plans for that sunny spot, but a short, simple exhaust run is important.

Otherwise, it's a gorgeous house!

I'm a little confused by the number of materials shown on the plan, which is a little high if you've read 'What not to build'.

Is it correct that you have:
- stone foundation
- two differently-oriented sidings
- brickwork (which is heavy) in the upper portion of the house, above siding (which is a lighter material)
- a different (metal?) roof for the porch, than for the body of the house?

I would suggest simplifying the materials, perhaps to 2 wall material types, and a single roof material. In general, the 'heaviest' material should be on the bottom, for the aesthetics to work.

(and if I messed up interpreting your materials, my apologies!)

Ilikepie: After looking at the jack and Jill bathroom, I agree, additional storage space, such as a linen closet, would be nice. Any idea how we could squeeze one in? Maybe if we moved the toilet over next to the tub?

colleennc: The house is actually on a basement, so there will not be space under the stairs to add a closet to the office. I see your point about adding a tub on the first floor, but it might be challenging to pry that closet space away from my wife!

bpathome: I think a solatube at the end of the upstairs hall is a great idea! WeâÂÂll talk to our builder regarding cost and if itâÂÂs not too much maybe one in the tub room of the Jack and Jill will be possible!

sombreuil_mongrel: IâÂÂm not sure about in-swing closet doors, thatâÂÂs just the way the designer drew them. How are closet doors normally oriented? Is there an advantage to one direction over the other?

Zone4newby: We actually tried a single gable, but because the window in the Jack and Jill bathroom is smaller than the window in the bedroom, it looks odd from the front. The sunny spot in the laundry was supposed to be an area for a drying rack and ironing board, but I can understand the desire for a short dryer run. Would it be more important to have the dryer close to the exterior wall or the window while you are ironing?

Naween: It is a bit hard to tell the materials from the picture, but the gables are actually shingle siding, not brick. Therefore, we have three differently oriented sidings! Too much? I really like the vertical siding look on the porch along with the metal roof, but I also donâÂÂt want it to look too busy. Does the lack of brick change your mind at all?!

Your J&J bath vanity area only supports one person, so why have 2 sinks? Can you turn the sinks so they are linear and not butt-to-butt?

Also, it would be nice if that downstairs bath was a 3/4 and not just a half. If ever you have a (temporary) disability in anyone living in the house where stairs become an issue, having the ability to bathe on the main floor is REALLY nice (you could temporarily arrange sleeping quarters in the office).

I feel like there is a lot of room dedicated to hallway downstairs, but I don't have a solution to offer. When I looked at it some more, I think it comes at least in part, from a 4 car garage on the lower floor. It takes up a LOT of space of your footprint.

I think those "bricks" are shingles used as siding.

kirkhall: There is 4 ft between the two sinks in the jack and jill bathroom, i just measured out a 4 ft space at home and it felt plenty big enough to me, am I missing something? We are still kicking around ways to add a linen closet in that area as well.

On the first floor, we don't have much for hallways. Are you talking about the second floor?

Have you had a person stand, one at each sink, with only 4 feet between, then try to brush hair, teeth, or wash face?

Do you have a similar width area in, perhaps, your current kitchen where you could mock up doing these things?

Do you only plan to have one occupant of that J&J most of the time (for example, only 1 bedroom will be always occupied, the other is an office/guest room)?

If you can't mock it up with real life counters, then set it up in your garage with some large boxes spaced accordingly. Then, put two people there, butt-to-butt, and both bend down to "wash your face" or rinse you mouth after "brushing teeth". You'll find, the pockets will bump.

And, I mean the first floor. Your entire mudroom/hallway area is mostly just walking area.

The kitchen can stand improvement. Right now, it's a one butt space, with the main work being performed with your back to the family. Island cooking is more difficult to do correctly, with the correct clearances and ventilation. It's also much more expensive, and with a second floor above, might not even be able to be vented at all unless the joists line up correctly with open bays. Prep is the lion's share of kitchen activity at 70% while actual cooking is only 10%. A better plan would be placing the cooking station on the back wall, flanked by windows. It would also be beneficial to move cleanup to the small wall by the pantry, reconfiguring the opening to allow for more length. That would allow the island to add a small prep sink, and be the center of your work activity for that 70% of the time you spend doing prep instead of the 10% of cooking.

I totally concur about the need for a closet in the office and an accessible bath downstairs. Not just a bath. An ADA accessible bath. Yes, you need more room for that. It adds a huge amount of usability and resale value to a home to have a home be ready for aging in place without tens of thousands in alterations. And, just have a single broken leg or a back surgery, and you'll never take something like just using the toilet for granted again.

I have no advice, but I just wanted to let you know that I think your house is gorgeous!

This reminds me of more expensive model of The Wentworth by http://www.kingswayhomes.com/two-story/ ...

If you can stand blatant sales pitch there is a video that let you see the house.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOKTTZFDuhU

BTW I am in the midwest and have nothing to do with this company....

Brian

shifrbr: Thanks for sharing the video! Do you know how much that house sells for?

Dan-master bath door - the sink closest looks like it will not have enough clearance to open without bumping into the person standing there. You might want to look at that so you don't end up with 2 people using the far one and no one using that one. Very nice house! That is the only thing that jumped out to me but only because that is something that bugs me. :)