Try posting in the small house forum. Have you looked at Sarah Susanka's website? I believe she has some small house plans. It absolutely can be done and done well, but it takes a lot of thought and planning and lots of built ins.

Another thought is to look at the old Sears kit houses from the 1900's-1920's. They were the model of efficiency in planning a small workable house. I know because my first house was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath house with about the square footage you mention. Our master actually was larger than you seem to need and had a built in closet and a full bath. There was a second bath between the two bedrooms, an entry/den/foyer area in front that was 7 x 25' (the width of the house), a living room/dining room combo and a small eat in kitchen with laundry in back hall on way out to back yard. I've lived in quite a few homes since, and that one is still probably my favorite.

Any of the large house plan sites ... use the advanced search to restrict the square footage to less than 1500 (yes, it's larger than you want, but you need a good selection.

And I second the Kit house suggestions. they were awesomely laid out, and could be adapted for today easily.

We have a minimal 30x40 house with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths (Laundry is side-by-side in a bathroom closet) and I honestly don't see how a family of four could live comfortably in anything much smaller (however, we do homeschool and work from home.) Are you thinking only 2 bedrooms and maybe just 1 or 1.5 baths?

Personally I wouldn't do less than 1.5 baths but then again I've lived at a time when both kids had stomach flu.

You might look at a few "tiny house" forums/shows/books. They could serve as inspiration, or help you discover where you want to run in the opposite direction. (Some of the houses look great and are technically functional, but don't even allow the owners to store extra paper towels. Or -- seeing a urine jar and several toilet/shower combos really made me cringe. Now I've planned a 3.5' aisle between my shower and toilet, and a 5.5' space between the toilet and vanity.)

P.S. - Adorable puppy. A space on my plan is labeled "pet bedroom." :-)

lazy - I have done that in the past. It works with some plans as you can just shrink room sizes while others it makes it too hard to fit in a staircase as I will have a full basement.

benjes - I believe our difference is I would have 2 bed 2 bath on the main floor with 2 extra bedrooms in the basement. I assume you don't have a basement so I would have the added space a staircase takes up which is a little less than a bedroom since most basements are 9' deep the stairs sure take up a lot of floor space now to get to that 80" headroom. I would only want 2 bath not 1.5 I may consider 1.5 if there is a basement bathroom but that isn't too easy around here. I definitely want two bathrooms for getting around in the morning assuming a family of 3 or 4.

cpartist - I agree, that would be a very big game changer.

dauglos - Unfortunately most tiny houses are not for families. They are great for a single person or even a couple who love to be with each other ALL the time ;) I like the efficiency of some things, but for example the kitchen and those appliances - They are costly to buy quality and then repair / replace is outrageously costly because they are not standard. I'm talking the nice kitchen that is a stove top, fridge, oven....etc - Not the camping stove.

I believe the most basic feel I am going for is a hybrid between the old Sears (or craftsman) homes that make bedrooms smaller and the cottage that makes bedrooms a bit bigger but have a master where as the old kit homes were all about 1 bathroom for cost and I'd like to have 2, preferably a small master and a big main bathroom with laundry as I have build my current place.

I think I will just start doing another custom design and taking ideas off plans I like and moving it around, this seems to be the most practical way. If any of you are interested in seeing what I draft up let me know. Maybe e-mail would work best?

Been doing a lot of browsing and research. Few things I wanted to bring up and hopefully collect additional ideas. The Sarah Susanka homes and Frank Lloyd Usonian homes both share the 'modular house' footprint. They take a house that is square or rectangle and turn it into a line. I do not like having a long row of rooms with a hallway. I like having a small hallway, or no hallway at all if the bedroom's doors are not in common living areas. Normally this is not as easily accomplished when going for a minimal square footage plan, so I am willing to work with it.

Using online search sites and sorting by square footage has been good for collecting ideas but it's surprising how many of the homes do not have stairs. I realize if you build small you probably don't have the desire or funding for a full basement. But that is the exact reason I want to build small, because I can have the extra large family room in the finished basement, along with a couple spare rooms, and the utilities.

Is there a certain house style I should be searching that typically always has a basement or upstairs to get ideas on staircase location and size? If I search two story, a lot of homes have the living quarters upstairs and I am wanting the main floor to house all living essentials.

Look for "cottage" plans. Many of them are 1.5 stories. Rather than going up for that half story, you'd go down, for your basement.

You could also look for stand-alone garage dwellings (where there is an above the garage living unit). They have stairs from the garage area to the living area. You'd take the living area as your main floor, and use the stairs to go to the basement.

Finally, you can search by putting in dimension parameters, not just square footage.

Hope this helps!