Do you need 3 bathrooms? I would cut one out and rearrange that bedroom wing.

No. Good point. We are planning on cutting that bath but I'm not sure how to rearrange. Do we just leave that area open or revise the closet? (Maybe a question for the builder, this is all very new to me!)

You could make the closet a long reach-in, move the bedroom wall in to keep the room the same size, and have a little bigger hall bathroom. It's pretty tight right now.

In lieu of doing a big retype, here's what Arial is talking about. Scroll down to my post here. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3887104/what-should-i-expect-from-my-architect-long?n=22 Get a creative person to sit down with you and any other decision makers and "brainstorm" for 4 or 5 hours. I do these all the time and call them "design charrettes". This house in the above example was conceptualized in that time. And this doesn't have to be time consuming or expensive.

And if there's interest read my follow up thoughts there on trust and preconceived ideas.

But the best of luck with your build. You're off to a new adventure!

I think that you would HATE that master bath. You use vanities and showers and the space that is dedicated to that tub is a huge waste - enjoy a big shower - something each of you use about once a day vs the once a week/month/year of a tub like that.

Also agree that you don't want that kitchen and eating room dark.

Keep looking

I have 3 kids 9 and under and I agree with the others. Having a mudroom (or at the very least a drop zone) with young kids in the family entrance is vital. Also, where do you plan on the kids keeping their toys? In this plan they will be drug to the living room (if not stored in the living room) on a daily basis and guests are walking directly into the dove your kids are playing. Also not a fan of corner tubs. Agree to eliminate a bath. Love the idea of having a screen porch but the location is going to block light and views from the living spaces.

I've seen that house -- and its similar first cousins. It looks like a simple, economical house. It's not a luxurious place, but it should function well. My thoughts:

I agree that I'd lose one bath. In an 1800 sf house, two bathrooms are enough. I'd scootch things around a bit in the girls' bedroom wing like this:

Two equal bedrooms ... a simple hall bath convenient to the bedrooms, but also accessible to guests ... and a long shared closet (be sure it's wide enough to support hanging clothes on one side, shelves on the other side -- the girls'd love their secret tunnel connection, and it'd be convenient for you to save hand-me-downs for the youngest in a shared closet).

Be sure to insulate the wall between the great room and the front bedroom; otherwise, that child will be able to hear the TV after bedtime.

I have had a greatroom with this very same layout. We always kept our sofa parallel to the fireplace, so it sort of formed an entry and worked well. If space by the front door allows, I'd do a full wall of bookshelves on the wall to the left of the front door -- it'd look great and would provide so much storage.

With five acres, I would not worry about privacy or breastfeeding in the living room. The UPS man and Girl Scout troops don't come by houses on acreage all that often.

Definitely go with a door that includes some glass -- it'll get you some light in what could become a dark corner.

Your eating area is not spacious, and it's bisected by the only door to the back yard. I'd definitely go with a built-in banquette to save space. I'd investigate the possibility of a sliding glass door, which wouldn't require an inswing.

I don't particularly like that you must walk through the screened porch, then turn to reach the back yard. I'd lean towards making the whole thing one big covered porch ... and forget the screen. This, of course, is highly dependent upon your landscape.

Your laundry room is pretty generous. I think I'd move the garage door so that you'd funnel family traffic through that room. Bring the coat closet into this room so that it becomes a laundry /mudroom ... and that'll keep your "coming home mess" in that space instead of in the hallway. Bonus: This would eliminate the problem of the basement door and the garage door hitting one another. Bonus #2: With the garage door out of the hallway, you could move the basement door/stairs farther right, meaning your steps could be less steep -- not that I know they're too steep now, but it's a common issue.

The garage is okay, but it'd be nicer with just a few more feet of width -- 20x24 would be great without making the garage look "too forward" -- and it wouldn't affect the overall roof.

I don't have much love for the master suite. The bedroom is interrupted by three doors, all far apart, which will limit furniture placement. The closets are too narrow to allow clothing on both sides, and the overly-complicated bathroom doesn't look like it'll function well at all. I'd say simplify the master bath. Something like this:

Completely different thought: If you could flip the bathroom and bedroom, you'd have windows on two sides of your bedroom.

Depending how visible your house will be from the neighbor's, I'd want large windows on three sides of my living space and double exposure windows in the bedrooms. why put bathrooms in exterior corners?

to access the back yard you have to walk between the island and dining table. With bar stools and dining chairs, it looks like that walkway is too narrow.

Do you have to have an attached garage?

On so many acres why is the garage attached to the front of the house?

Where are the best views on your lot?

What direction does the house face?

Are you ok with the front door opening directly into your living room with no buffer?

Are you ok with your living room being at the front of the house?

Wouldn't you prefer windows on more than one side in your master bedroom? Why should the bathroom get the best space? Plus now you're getting the noise from the kitchen and instead of your plumbing backing one another in terms of using the same walls, they're spread apart by the bedroom.

Both closets are listed as the same size, yet in the drawing they are definitely not the same size.

One of you has to get your clothes from inside the bedroom and another has to walk through the bathroom to get dressed.

Same thing in bedroom 3? Why would the prime space (the exterior walls) be given up to a closet and a bathroom?

With children, don't you need a good sized mud room?

Where will you go if you want to get away from the kids? You have no den, office, or anything that is an away space.

I think you got some good advice from arial, jannicone, lakeerijamber and architectrunnerguy.

Plans by Marcy

Unless you need that 3rd bath in bedroom #3, I'd delete it, and rearrange the bath room, turning it perpendicular to its current placement, then stick what is now the flex space back to back with the closet in bedroom #2. (mspete has laid out the concept above to a degree, so I won't repeat it here).

From there, you could either nix the square footage used for the existing 3rd bath and closet as shown on your original plan, or increase the size of your two minor bedrooms by leaving your exterior walls as is, and bumping the hall bath/closet scenario up as required to divide the additional square footage between bedrooms 2 & 3.

Should you want to reduce the heated square footage of the bedroom wing by simply removing the bath/closet on the rear and shortening the length of the wing as shown, but would like to leave the screened porch as is, you could use a double A on the rear of your home to accommodate the differences in spans.

Other than that, I love the plan. If it were me, I'd leave the master suite as is. I think, over the years, you will love those his/hers closets.

Nice plan layout, overall.

I'm sorry, but I just don't like this plan, not even a little bit. Why?

--A 5' deep front porch simply isn't deep enough for function or much weather protection. 6' is minimal and 8' is much more appealing.

--Why open the front door and step immediately into the "great room" and be standing in front of the coffee table or recliner?

--The great room isn't: 14'-6" isn't great and a through circulation space 4' wide will be required to get from the front door to the rest of the house, leaving 12'-6" for furnishings;

--The 11' dimension in the eating room is barely large enough for a table with chairs on both sides; and there's no circulation space to get to the screen porch and backyard. Any chairs or stools at the island will make things worse.

--The master bath suite is another of those HGTV spaces which try to cram everything into one space. Combined with the bedroom, the proportion of the house devoted to the two adults sleeping and clothes storage is much more than enough in a modest house.

--If one wants the two secondary bedrooms to each have their own bath that's fine. A more economical approach would be to have a single compartmented bathroom with two lavatories and a separate space for WC and shower/tub.

--Where are all the systems? The HVAC, the electrical main and any subs, TV, Internet router, alarm system, etc. Are they in the basement? Is there a basement? For the cost of a basement, it seems like a larger, more usable slab on grade house would be cheaper and more useful.

Other than that it's really a pretty thoughtful design. Good luck with your project.

The island needs a prep sink in order to make the kitchen functional. Fridge to sink to stove. Without the prep sink, you would be crossing work zones.

Meet with a local architect and have them create a design based upon your wants and needs and your site. Do not show him your floor plan. Only share with him the way you live, what spaces you want, what "statement" you want your home to make, survey of your property, and any other information they ask for.

Compare the your plan with their design and see which one you like best. It will be a good investment in your future.

i think you'll find the great room too small after you take out the entryway you're going to have furniture space of 15x14 ish i like the layout of the rooms

My LR is same layout except 22.5 (wall to wall vice wall to cabinet face) x 18. It's plenty of room to float a sectional with a buffet on the wall opposite fireplace to create an entry. If you want more furniture than that (or more floor space for playing), you might reconsider; otherwise it's plenty.

I agree with others to lose the third bathroom, rearrange the master bath and closet, and relocate the garage-to-house entry.

I would do everything in my power to make the screen porch bigger...10 x 10 isn't really big enough to do much of anything with. Not big enough for a dining set, and any type of lounge seating area will be tiny. Since your other public spaces are on the small side, I would want a large back porch to host family get togethers. Honestly, if you can't make the screened porch bigger, I'd rather have the whole thing be a patio.