where are you located? if you're anywhere with a winter, you'll probably want the closet close to the front entry. if not, you have more flexibility.

You should have at least 10% of total square footage of home consist of storage. I would add a coat closet across from the entry bench, add a storage closet tucked under the 'up' stairway for the den, add a large floor to ceiling pantry to the right of nook in the family room to the left of the sink counter in the kitchen.

Thanks all!

1. Yes, we do have mild winters. We considered entrance originally but we did not have enough for the closet and thats we have a bench showing there. And there will be an entry on top of that.

2. As for the storage under the stairs, we would love to use but unfortunately there are stairs going to the basement right those set of stairs going to the upper floor so those areas are completely out.

3. Right now we are thinking about extending the living room wall by another 2 feet so we can put the closet there .. its opening will be facing the staircase.

Please keep the ideas coming .. much appreciated!

BAD plan, and what's with the location of the powder room bath? There's a lot more duh here than closets, sorry to say. You have no sense of entry, cut the living room space back, add wall and entry closets Shrink the "den" to a small room with built ins, create a hall, and get the powder ROOM..... minus a shower out of everyone's sight line, and give it some privacy at the very far left of your plan.

Your fridge is too far from sink and cook........ Needs WORK.

Your plan to extend the living room by a couple feet is a good one, especially since the open space in the center isn't really being used. The only concern is that the first thing you'd see upon entering is a closet door. That bothers some people; others don't mind. If you fall in the former camp, consider adding a closet right between the entry door and the living room windows, as this is close to the door without compromising the open nature of the design. Another idea would be to steal a bit of space from the porch, though this would mean shifting the door location, which may take away from the home's curb appeal. Just my $0.02.

I rearranged the kitchen to make it more functional. This frees up one entire wall for storage if you like.

Post on the Gardenweb kitchen forum for the best ideas.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitchbath

I'd add a wall shown in red to shield the bathroom.

The area in front of the stairs is completely wasted. You could move them to the right 4' and still have plenty of circulation space.

Why a living room and family room that are open to each other?

YOU CAN'T HAVE everything........ sorry it's ugly , gotta run : ) Powder room far LEFT with privacy, no shower

Building on Jan's idea. If you moved the bath, and the stairs, that would give you access to more storage behind them.

Please consult a kitchen designer re: your kitchen floor plan if you haven't done so already. While not every kitchen has to have a close work triangle (steps between refrigerator, sink and cooktop/oven), the work triangle of this kitchen seems quite large to me. Also, the long sides of your island are in the traffic pattern and it isn't clear to me there is enough space to comfortably use them for seating without getting in the way of work triangle activities. And I like my dishwasher right next to the sink so I don't have to step or reach to put the dishes in or put them away. (If you are tall this might not matter as much to you). A kitchen designer can help you use the nice space you have most efficiently and integrate the floor plan and the cabinets. You will likely need some iterations of the floor plan and cabinets before you finalize both.

What is the difference between den and family room? I always thought they were the same thing. Maybe it's a regional thing. As noted by others, your plan could be made more functional. Kitchen is sprawling, but appliances are too far apart. Do you have pantry storage accounted for? Or is that not shown on the plan? Where do you enter from the garage? Is laundry room upstairs? The central circulation area could be better allocated. The combination of lack of dedicated front entry and very open floorplan is troubling, at least to me. Even with mild winters, the moment the front door is opened, everyone in the whole house is gonna feel the chill. Hope this helps.

You could split closets on either side of the living room with an equidistant entrance into the living room. The den could have a closet built to utilize under the staircase as could the family room. Also pantries could be built in one of the corners in the kitchen, or a pantry on the open end of the stove cabinet run. Do you have any upper cabinets in your kitchen?

Can't imagine having a full bathroom at the front of the house. I think a half bath situated closer to the kitchen and family room would be much more user friendly.

A half bath is better FAR from the kitchen. My heavens...... I would LEAVE before I used one off the kitchen : ) or near any living dining area. They have no mud entrance of any size that I can see, that would offer any privacy for a guest. The family can walk that far, I am sure.

Read....... " there is no room under the stair, for any storage".........

PPF idea creates storage but I'd not. SPLIT shared wall to provide access to living room or you will turn the living room into a DEAD ROOM. On a resale, someone may want it as a dining space, so even more reason to create an opening in shared kitchen wall.

Folks, thanks for chiming in. This is a work in progress plan (so don't freak out!) and the kitchen layout is not reflected correctly (it is being worked on by a kitchen designer). As for the powder room, ignore the shower there.

Back to the REAL question for this thread, i was looking for suggestions on the closet/storage.

So will the den be used as a guest room/den?

I also feel as if you would need a closet in that room (plus then you can list it, when you sell, as a bedroom/den).

If the shower isn't there (sorry, you weren't clear when you said "ignore the shower") then can you use that as closet space?

I have had a coat closet and not had a coat closet. You really need a coat closet :-/

Also, out bathroom downstairs (also has a shower) has a door that opens so you can see the toilet from the kitchen and family room. I damn the builder every day for that.

Just some things to ponder....

hi pennydesign.

the den is going to be used as an office room. We have some cabinets planned for that but yes it doesn't have closets. we have a separate guest bedroom with washroom in the basement level.

Even without the shower, there was only enough space for a seat and a decent size vanity.

Lol .. no this toilet seat is tucked into the corner so won't be visible from our family.

Which closets are you hoping to add? Coat closet? Utility storage? Game closet? Want to help you get the closets you need, and not just throw in closets willy nilly. :)

Fair question simstress. Mostly the coat closet and some utility space (guess we can use the upper rack for that :-)

Steal from the living room for closet . Bath is in A HORRIBLE place, sorry. No matter the toilet placement. You'd be better off with the entry to it in the darn foyer! , facing closets, if it must stay there. Just as handy for coming and "going".

Just something else from someone who's been there, done that:

Consider your furniture placement in the living room (I know you didn't ask...sorry) I see you're lucky enough to have plenty of windows and fireplace so that uses up 2 of your walls...so I see a little trouble with where your furniture will go...

You're doing the right thing posting....It's all just information gathering and considering.

Would you be able to extend the wall between the family room and stairs, steal a little room from the family room and have a closet on the stair side and built-ins on the family room side?

" ... steal a little room from the family room and have a closet on the stair side and built-ins on the family room side? " ... thinking about that now. Just visualizing it in my head but seems weird. I preferred extending the living room instead and closet facing the stairs. And may be even achieve that storage using the same cabinets as kitchen and not extend the wall. Although this would mean that the side of the closet lining up with living room wall will be different. Don't know if it would look that weird!?

All good points to bring up with your architect. I like my storage in the family room, so that's what the "split" closet idea was about, plus the new "wall" would be flush with the kitchen cabinets on that side...you would need to shift the fireplace over to be centered on that wall though...

You will probably find that people will congregate to the kitchen/family area, so it probably suits you to take away from the living room (which most likely won't get used much). If I built again, I would do away with my formal living and dining rooms...They're a waste of space to me and if you're thinking (as you should be) the cost per square foot that is USABLE space..it's money wasted, and so that adds to my cost of the space I AM using. Just my opinion, though.

Thanks Jan! Have made some minimal changes, using your input. We wanted to have family and living separate (functions better for us than having one great room).

1. Split the shared wall; we are just losing one set of drawers. Plus we get additional light into the kitchen as well now.

2. Bathroom indicated in the layout is a powder room; Entry to the bathroom has been changed. The earlier door is now the wall towards which the door opens. So the bathroom opening is shielded now.

3. Shared wall between kitchen/living extended for 3' X 2' closet; not sure about how closet to the right of the entrance would look (as suggested by yourself).

4. Kitchen is in the hands of the designer now (she is finalizing it) but appliances have been finalized based on our functional usage.

Just a user, not a professional. If you like the open floor plan because you entertain, have big parties, then I think it would be best to switch the kitchen and family room areas, and maybe put French door between the formal living and family room. This way, you have a big open space for entertaining, but also the kitchen is a little hidden away, although still open. I think you do have lots of areas where you could put a closet. Under the stairs in the den side would be one- do not imagine that that space is utilized for your basement stairs, and I agree that you can take some space from the formal living a put a nice coat closet there by the entrance.