I fixed it.

I'm no architect, but a window needs to go there.
I brought in the right window a bit, so they're evenly placed, and the left window should clear the toilet room. Leave the blinds or curtains down, but a window's gotta go there.

Yay Matt : ) .

Yeah, I would just do what Matt M suggests. You can frost the window or put up a privacy blind or curtain, but that seems like the rather obvious solution?

Great idea, Matt. Every bathroom should have a window!

I was thinking that too, but it then makes the placement of the windows from inside the master bedroom not equally spaced. We had planned to put our bed between the two windows. Oh well, I can just hang drapes in such a way to give the appearance the windows are even on the wall.

As for privacy, we really don't have to worry about that. We are building at the back of 34 acres :)

Beth, bear in mind that the current window placements in your bedroom -- right up against the corners of the room -- will make it difficult to hang curtains easily and nicely in the bedroom.

Ideally, you want the curtain rod to extend beyond the window, including casing, by at least 4"-6" on each side (of course, more is even better). Otherwise, the hanging curtains obstruct much of the window and light, and also just look generally squashed.

I didn't think of that Becky. Thanks!

Did your architect give you an interior elevation for the bedroom so that you can make a furnishings plan?

Hop over to the Home Decorating forum and search for curtain questions, and you will find oodles of people trying to fix this problem, which in a new build shouldn't even be an issue.

If you're planning on something like Roman shades/blinds, then you're okay. But if by drapes you mean actual curtains, that could be tough.

Oh well, I can just hang drapes in such a way to give the appearance the windows are even on the wall.

In a new build that's costing you money and time, and where you're working with an architect, this is not an area where you should have to settle and come up with an insufficient retrofit after the build. Especially when part of the problem is a design that makes the exterior look unbalanced.

He was just providing floor plans and external view for our adjustments. As soon as we finished with any changes there, he was going to provide the rest of the plans (interior elevation, electrical, ceiling, roof and foundation plans).

Are you ok that your kitchen and great room will be dark and have absolutely no natural light? Notice here I put "light" from the windows into each room and see how the light will never penetrate to the great room or most of the kitchen? This is because your "architect" drew the house with rooms deeper than 1-2 rooms deep. (Are you sure it was a licensed architect and not a draftsman/designer?)

If it were me, I'd want my main rooms, (dining, kitchen, great room, sunroom and office) to all get natural light.

And I drew this not knowing what direction is north. If the rear is north, that means even less natural light. Or if it's facing east, it means it won't get natural light past noontime.

Another problem I see is how will you do furniture placement. Below I did pathways between rooms and to outdoor spaces, etc. Even though those spaces are not "hallway" they do act as natural pathways between rooms and doorways, etc.

He was just providing floor plans and external view for our adjustments. As soon as we finished with any changes there, he was going to provide the rest of the plans (interior elevation, electrical, ceiling, roof and foundation plans).

That sounds like a draftsman, not an architect.

I am not worried about light. We took two sets of plans and mixed them together because we liked parts of both of them. Granted we've changed a fair amount since those plans, but they should still have the same amount of light coming in as windows, doors and sky lights have not changed. We have also seen plenty of pictures from builds of both floor plans and light is not an issue.

We are okay with the living room furniture not being shoved up against walls and are planning accordingly for electricity sources for lighting in the living room.

We have also seen plenty of pictures from builds of both floor plans and light is not an issue.

That's because everything is artificially lit for photographs. They turn on all lights and then the photographer brings in daylights on a pole and lights up the place so it looks like there is more light in the house than there is in reality. So what you're seeing is not reality.

As long as you're happy, great but I know I'd be miserable in a house where my living room needed lights on in the middle of the day.

Honestly, for a house on 34 acres, it seems you can do a lot better. And the fact that you said you took 2 sets of plans and combined them tells me everything I need to know about the fact you used a draftsman and not an architect. I'm sorry but it does show.

Snark much cpartist? We like our floor plans, and I was asking about placement of a window. If I wanted feedback on floor plans I would have posted about floor plans in the appropriate section. I have not included all the extra plan information/images in the original post because I wasn't asked about anything beyond the placement of a window. We have skylights in plenty of areas of the house to bring in additional light.

We bought 34 acres because we have horses and want a farm, not because we need a gigantic, oversized, overpriced house we'll never use.

Beth, I think adding that 3rd window on that side of the house will make all the difference on the exterior. Even if it's just a fake window.

We bought 34 acres because we have horses and want a farm, not because we need a gigantic, oversized, overpriced house we'll never use.

Who said anything about a gigantic, oversized or overpriced home? Why does a well designed home have to be gigantic or oversized?

I talked about a well laid out home that would allow lots of light to enter. And if actually designed well would probably wind up with LESS square footage.

Cpartist isn’t being snarky—she’s being helpful in pointing out that the middle of your house will be a dark hole, regardless of what the “photos” show (how are there even photos if you’ve combined two internet plans?). You can either choose to take the constructive criticism offered here and better your plan (which has a huge expensive fat roof) or build a dark house with a whole wall dedicated to a dark garage and a windowless kitchen with a strange elevation. Good luck.

Are those Romanesque columns on the front? It doesnt seem right for a farmhouse.

I'd think about adding a bathroom to the office so it can be used as a guest room. It's a long walk to the restroom otherwise and the shared Jack/Jill bath is closed to the public.

I'd also add closets to the foyer. It looks like there is room at the wall indentations on the left.

I agree the kitchen will be dark.

I agree with the others about the home. I think you could design something nicer for your property and still be in the same price range. No one is being snarky. They are trying to be helpful!

Just saw architectrunnerguy's home - now that's a nice looking home!

architechrunnerguy that is not snarky at all. I appreciate your feedback and will take your illustration to my fiance to look at. He definitely had a more modern style while I am more classic farmhouse. We were trying to keep the "farm house" look with minimal simple lines.

Rockybird, we have gone rounds and rounds about the space off the office, but we ultimately decided to make it into a tornado shelter/safe room because we are in northern AL and that is a definite possibility for us. That is also why the small window that architechrunnerguy added in the middle of the house can't be there because you can't have windows into a tornado shelter.

We also have a bonus room above the garage that has a closet and bathroom that would be our additional bedroom if we ever needed it.

We hope to have this "look" when it is built, but compared to this house we flipped the garage and master to have our master on the front (hence the window change).

I would also mention to your “architect” that you will have issues with your fridge door always hitting your pantry door.

Bri already on my list, but thanks for catching that though! We are making the pantry into a pocket door and I have decided to move the fridge anyways since this version of the plans :)

Good idea, there was just a post recently about issues opening a corner fridge door. Glad you’re addressing that.

I'm sorry if it came off as snarky. However I stand by my comments.

I'm guessing you have spent hours upon hours working on this plan and adjusting it. I spent over a year on mine looking at it for hours every single day. Unfortunately what happens when we look at something so long, we sometimes lose sight of what works and what doesn't work. We become enamored with what we've created.

All advice here is given freely because most of us care deeply about good design.

Also on the light subject again, the "room" off the back of the living room is a sun room. The entire outside wall will be a set of Panoramic Doors (http://panoramicdoors.com/) and all the double doors coming in from the sun room are french doors as well.

All advice here is given freely because most of us care deeply about good design.

Yes, yes, yes. We want everyone to have the best possible house they can build, and that means both form AND function.

I will also say that I have a much greater appreciation for lots of natural light now in my early fifties than I did 25 years ago when I got married : ) .

Also on the light subject again, the "room" off the back of the living room is a sun room. The entire outside wall will be a set of Panoramic Doors (http://panoramicdoors.com/) and all the double doors coming in from the sun room are french doors as well.

I realized that was a sun room and also figured it was filled with windows and either french doors or sliders, so my comments still stand. The great room will be dark. (And so will the kitchen.)

This is somewhat related to the windows, how many different roof pitches does the house have?

I miss the window on the piece of the house that connects the main part to the garage. Also - please extend your porch full width of the front of the house to look more integrated instead of stuck on.

I think your architect needs to pay more attention to details.

Beth- I have been through a similar experience to what is going on here with a simple question ([mine[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/looking-for-feedback-on-ikea-kitchen-plan-for-new-construction-dsvw-vd~5253147) was on the kitchen forum) turning into a thread where suddenly you are inundated with critiques on a plan you loved. Our plan was very, very similar to yours. At first my husband and I just wanted to dig in our heels and go forward. After all, it wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough, right?

After a few days we started trying to make some additional changes in order to address the issues mentioned here. Inadequate light, too much space devoted to walkways, etc. We had already had our plans engineered, and we really did not want to start over. I even started a [thread[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/i-didnt-realize-farmhouses-were-such-a-big-trend-dsvw-vd~5269101) in this forum as a sort of last ditch effort to convince myself that it would be ok. I did not post the floor plan this time because I was too afraid of what the feedback might be! I received a lot of helpful advice regarding farmhouses in that thread, by the way, so you should definitely check it out.

These forums can be brutal, but you can also learn a ton by using the search tool and coming up with a list of books that are recommended here to help you as you undertake this enormous commitment. Some of them (A Pattern Language, The Not So Big House) I had read a few years ago, but went ahead ahead and re-read (or skimmed).

Ultimately I came to the conclusion that I just could not go forward with the plan we had. It didn’t fit the lot. We could “do better,” as is said so often here.

Is it painful to think about starting from scratch, especially since we have sold our home and moved into a smaller duplex already? Yes. Have I spent restless nights rearranging our house plans in my dreams (not to mention all day long in my head) trying to come up with a way to just make it work? Yes. But I feel like the thing that I would regret the most is going forward with a house plan that just wasn't right because I didn't want to spend the extra time and money upfront to get something that is "right."

I am not saying that you have to come to the same conclusion, but I do hope you give some serious consideration to the comments on your thread, because they truly are trying to help you build a house that you will love for years to come. Often we "don't know what we don't know," and the posters here can bring issues to your attention that you may not have even considered. If you consider them and decide to go forward with your plans, at least you are going forward with your eyes open. Best wishes with your house!

Are you sure you want to put the bed against the wall with the windows? It just seems to me like sleeping the wrong way and in my head it is not a comfortable location. Plus it seems like it will be much tighter walkways around the bed when placed there. If you instead placed the bed against the wall that backs up to the pantry and office closet you'd have a a more spacious feeling room and the windows then become less of an issue and the placement can be changed to work better with the facade.

My bedroom is the same width as yours and we tried putting the bed (king size) on the short wall to create a sitting area on one end. It just ended up being tight on the sides and looking cramped and we really didn't need a sitting area.

A screened in porch is still another barrier to letting light into the kitchen and living room. You have no windows looking directly outside from the kitchen or living room.