Thanks for playing with it, Seeing it I don't know that I would move the kitchen up that much, maybe utilize part of the coffee corner as a coat closet, expand the pantry into that space, maybe lengthen the counter top 2-3 feet. It just seems like such an odd space to me. I don't know about building the bonus space, it would be nice to use as a sewing room, or a man cave i suppose ;) it really just depends on budget. I'm not a shoe/purse person so that's not an issue. Boots I enjoy but don't have more than a few pairs (3-4 maybe) will likely have to incorporate a gun safe into the master space either in the closet or the sitting area. Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated!

So here is a link of a very similar floor plan house plan

my first instinct is to close off the coffee area and make it another room...personally, I'd move my laundry there, make the current walk thru laundry just a mud area...I HATE walk thru laundry. :) You could steal a foot off the new laundry space and make room for a bench/hooks on the other side by the entry door. I'd make the bay area bumped out that entire space/square won't really add that much square footage, but will make a better eat in area.

So I played with it a little bit more. Preserving the look in the front of the house. I am not sure I love my modifications But I thought I would throw it up here and see what you thought, if you hate it, not a problem, no harm done.

- I personally thought the tiny entrance area was a bit of a waste, so I switched the living room and the kitchen.

- I straightened the back wall. Since you indicated that price was a concern. this should simplify the roofline and reduce the cost. Additionally, I think it will make for a more useful screened back porch.

- Gave you a longer hallway which, which I like, but many do not. It allows for some architectual feature while preserving a coat closet somewhat near the entrance.

- This resulted in a nice kitchen space which can get you a good sized island, which will help connect the kitchen and the living space.

- In urban areas I don't like the great room at the front of the house (it makes me feel like my neighbors will all be looking at my pajamas). However, in more rural areas I actually like having a sight line from the front to the back of the house.

- If you straightened the stairs to the bonus room and moved them to the other side of the laundry room you will still have plenty of space to get your fireplace in on that wall that joins the garage.

- I think I preserved 36" doorways throughout and wide walkspaces.

I love the craftsman style (which I want to build but can't) and I started playing with your house a little bit just for fun. Then for no apparent reason I decided to look at other stuff. I found this house on the Donald Gardner website. It has a dining room instead of a fourth bedroom but the room is large enough to turn into a bedroom.

This plan is slightly larger than your original plan but looking at the plans side by side I think it would build cheaper. It also has less wasted space and some nice features. The roof in the plan could be simplified I think to get you some more bang for your buck.

Thanks Bry for looking at this for me! I appreciate another perspective! I appreciate the thought of building a cheaper house, and I like the plan you included, would change the exterior some, but other than that...You say you can't build a craftsman style home why is that? Is it that much more costly to build with the craftsman architecture, or just the area you are building in that it doesn't fit in?

meant to ask what you are using to do those graphics in Bry? I like them.

There are a few reasons I can't build craftsman, (1) it never really took off in this area, we lack the old growth trees that produce the large beams that were used in the craftsman style, (2) you sometimes find in small cities that turn into larger cities that one builder/supplier has had a huge influence on the area, we are mid-sized city (500,000 - 750,000) but one of the nations ten largest builders started in the area and he liked brick, (3) while the deed restrictions don't really prohibit it, they do make it a challenge, (4) I would be the only craftsman in the neighborhood, which is not something I really want.

I really can't answer on expense, I believe craftsman cost a little more per square foot, but I doubt it is prohibitive.

The plan I included could probably have the dining area/kitchen/breakfast flipped to the other side of the great room. Pull the bedroom forward a little bit and add a closet on the hall wall and you will have the EXACT same exterior. If the square footage is too much take a foot out of the left side of the house, your bedrooms will still be plenty big as will your guest bath. Pull a foot out of the kitchen/new bedroom/ breakfast area. Since you will not need the pathway to the dining room you will have a net gain of 2 feet of cabinets while giving up very little space. This will get that floorplan to within 100sqft of the other plan, while keeping simpler more effecient walls. If you want me to I can throw it in sketchup this evening and send it to you. I just don't want to do it unless you like the plan.

The program I did this in is the free version of sketchup. It takes a few hours of playing with it to get comfortable with it (there are hundreds of youtube videos to help you out). If you want to p.m. me your email address I can send you the sketchup files and you can play with them.

I've been playing in sketch up…not quite there yet. I'll get back with you on the design, thanks for the offer, trying to read this with my 2 kids screaming in the background makes for poor comprehension ;)