In a place where it snows, I'd want the garage facing south

At least I had that originally lol!

Just thought I'd mention. Get crank out/casement windows above your kitchen sink. My mom did this when she had her windows replaced and so did I and my sister. So much easier to open when above the kitchen sink than double hung or sliders.

Agree about driveway facing south, or even west or east. North driveways are cursed in Minnesota because they don't have the advantage of sun helping clear them. Also really a asphalt/black driveway over a concrete one.

Good luck with a designer. Mine was little more than a draftsman. If you find they are only spitting out your ideas, I suggest you find an architect. There is an excellent one here on this site who does remote plans for people who are truly open to new ideas. That's architectrunnerguy.

And if you want another perspective, I highly recommend you read through my saga.

Mrs Pete thank you for all the lovely referenced advice. Cpartist I started reading some of your building posts and your house sounds like it was very stressful But worth every hard moment and every penny. I‘ve kept most of my correspondence with my builder and lumberyard via email. (Not sure what your method was) They have both been very good at meeting my needs and being upfront about costs and sticking with them. I hope this continues when we break ground. My DH and I have never built a house, before getting bids I interviewed at least 5 people that had recently built homes. I would suggest this for anyone looking to build because they gave me their cost sheets and it has been so helpful having an idea of what things cost. Hoping to avoid costly mistakes but everyone I interviewed said there was at least one major hiccup.

Since we haven’t broken ground I am going to make sure our builder has the the land surveyed and sites the house efficiently. Avoiding one costly mistake! Thanks everyone for their help I will be sure to post as we go through the process.

I have to agree with RES's assessment. And the reality was to some extent I was just as guilty when I started except I had a flat piece of land with no distinguishing features and my land when I started was 6000 square feet. We added to it for a total of 9000 square feet. However with the help of those here, and reading some of the recommended books, my house became everything it should be. The one thing we didn't do is rush the process in the beginning and while it didn't help with our builder and our issues with him, it eventually helped create the best house possible for us.

Taking the time to get it right on paper is so much cheaper than having to fix mistakes after the fact.

The best things I did was add that land but even more important was how I reoriented the house to be north/south facing. There are multiple ways to create a north/south facing house even when it appears that it can't be done. That is why you hire a professional. (An architect) The expense is a heck of a lot cheaper than living in a house that doesn't work well for you. I know that because for the past 2 years before we moved into the house, we lived in a poorly designed condo, where everything we did was a chore. It was a large condo, but lots of the space was useless because of the layout of the rooms and pathways. (Which is one of the problems I'm seeing with your house.) Now because everything is so well laid out and thought out, even "chores" are not onerous.

Yes I know you spent a year making the plan and you're committed to it because of the time and effort you invested in it. But if the plan isn't really all it can be, is it really worth holding on to it or is it time to admit that you might be able to do better?

Poking around on Pinterest -- I do that way too much -- I saw this house plan, and it struck me as SO SIMILAR to your self-created plan, but it is tighter /more polished. The master bedroom is relocated, but if you were to add a mudroom and a basement stair, it'd be quite close to your plan. It's 1663 square feet.

Poking around on Pinterest -- I do that way too much

RES is correct poking around is definitely what got me in trouble!

i.e. you started with a photo you liked and ended with studying a topo map

Mrs. Pete that is practically the same! I like the covered porch too!

Sorry about your dad RES. I bet your house is lovely with lots of character. I plan to have little elements from the old farmhouse and wish it wasn't so far gone that we could have just renovated it.

i always thought larger doors were awkward. But I do want wider halls.

The porch is 8 ft wide so I think that's usable. I put my rocking chair out and measured how much space I need for others to walk around. Had some more time to mess with more. Added a window sit some builtins, moved the stairs again and etc... tried an angled hall.

Tried to keep in mind PPF's suggestions of eyesight into the bath and traffic flow. I have the large space in the mudroom because I am planning to put a rolling island in there for folding clothes, etc... and an entry bench for shoes and coats along the wall.

Forgot my door on the coat closet in the entry on the second photo. What I am thinking for the stair in between living and kitchen.

D E it's a free app called magic plan it's pretty limited but gives a general idea of spacing.

I still see more wasted space than usable space. I consider the red areas mostly wasted space.

I don't think a 12' x 15' master bedroom is unreasonable. I want some open space I don't want to fill it all up. I guess I didn't put all our furniture in yet. Maybe the bed picture isn't to scale I will check the measures

K H

D E it's a free app called magic plan it's pretty limited but gives a general idea of spacing.

thanks for that info. I'll check it out.

One of the great things I learned on this forum is to try to have windows on at least 2 walls of every room. You have done that on most of your rooms, but you could still add a window to the secondary bedrooms. It doesn't have to be a big window, even a small one will make a big difference.

Something else to consider KH. You have 10 foot wide doors in your garage. If you plan on parking a large vehicle in there, those doors will be like threading a needle. I have a compact SUV and with the big mirrors they put on cars nowadays, it's a squeeze getting it through my 9 foot wide garage door. Maybe go with one big door in the middle.

I really like how you have an easy passage between the master bath and laundry/mud room. So practical!

As you age, its more likely that you'll have balance issues than you will need a wheelchair so losing your balance or tripping when opening or closing a door is an important issue.

I'm with you on this one. I've mentioned a number of times on this board that I was always very close to my grandmother, and as she approached 100 years old, I saw the things that gave her trouble:

- She was in a wheelchair for a few days after she returned home from a rehab facility following a stroke, and in her last year of life she used a wheelchair when she left the house (was able to walk inside the house). The wheelchair fit through 32" doors just fine (and I'm sure because I still live in the house), but what she really needed was a place by the back door to store the wheelchair when it wasn't being used.

- Tripping was her #1 fear. The change from linoleum in the kitchen to carpet in the family room made her fall many times, and I'm only talking about a change in materials. Thresholds of all types were real problems for her. As such, my #1 aging-in-place demand for my new house is a completely flat floor /no thresholds and no flooring changes. Literally, the only internal flooring change in the whole house will be the showers (and we'll have nice grab bars on both sides of the shower).

- Opening doors was a problem for her -- partly because we're a family of short people, but also because her walker was in the way. Larger doors made this problem worse.

- Note: you said 32" or 34" doors ... I believe I'm right when I say that 32" doors are a standard size /easily available, whereas 34" doors are harder to find /might need to be custom made. From a budget point of view, it makes sense to stick to standard sizes.

Regardless of all the above, is the OP interested in aging-in-place?

The porch is 8 ft wide so I think that's usable.

Depends upon how you intend to use it. You mentioned a rocking chair -- if your goal is a couple rocking chairs with a table in the middle, yeah 8' is enough.

My covered porch is 12x30 ... we have a seating area on one end, a dining table in the middle, and grills on the other end. With 12' of width, a person carrying a tray of food to the grill can easily walk past the table, even if others are seated /chairs are pulled out. For this arrangement, 12' is perfect.

I still see more wasted space than usable space. I consider the red areas mostly wasted space.

Yes, this remains a problem. It's a problem of proportion -- it's not "right sized".

I don't think a 12' x 15' master bedroom is unreasonable. I want some open space I don't want to fill it all up.

I get that -- you want negative space, open space; however, going back to the above statement -- this house plan isn't proportional /isn't right-sized. Your sketched-in furniture is not true-to-size, and it's throwing you off.

To use the bedroom as an example, yes, I agree that 12x15 is a fine bedroom size; however ... well, to illustrate, here's a quick sketch-up of my current 13'x17' bedroom with all its discomforts. The themes here are, All space isn't created equal and Arrangement matters just as much as square footage:

Do note that you need to allot a little more than the width of the furniture. Why? Because headboards /sheets /bulky comforters will eat up some of that space, and you want to be able to comfortably fit your hands in between the bed and nightstand for bed-making purposes.

- The big bay window doesn't add any square footage, but it makes the room feel more spacious. We also have windows above the bed, which allow me to read in bed with natural light in the mornings.

- The double-doored walk-in closet is located by my husband's side of the bed ... we have three rows of clothing accessed by two doors ... I suspect the original closet had one door /a U-shaped layout, but the original builders opted for two doors, and it wasn't a good choice. The door is just too close to the wall because it prevents me from opening my side of the closet all the way.

Even ignoring the door, having the closet right next to his side of the bed is awful ... he's retired now, and I wake him getting my clothes out in the mornings. I try to lay out my clothes the night before, but I constantly forget my shoes or my scarf, so I'm in there in the mornings anyway.

Beds are MUCH BETTER if they don't have doors scoootched right up next to them. Since we are interested in aging-in-place, and we anticipate it's possible that one of us will be ill /want quiet for sleeping, this is a big deal to us.

- We have a ton of space between the bed and the triple dresser /bathroom door. We never use this space for anything except walking to the bathroom. Is it bad? No, but we are not hang-out-in-the-bedroom people, so it's space we're heating /cooling, but it's not space we're enjoying.

- We don't have a TV in our bedroom, but -- if we did -- we'd be watching it from 17' away. Not ideal ... think about needing to wear glasses while watching TV in bed /turning up the sound so you can hear it.

One of the great things I learned on this forum is to try to have windows on at least 2 walls of every room.

Yes, this is not something to ignore.

I really like how you have an easy passage between the master bath and laundry/mud room. So practical!

Yes, I like the flow from the garage door to the mudroom /master suite ... but the master bath is still a choppy mess /has no natural light. The master suite has plenty of space, but it needs to remain on the drawing board.

thats actually a pretty cool plan RES, but windowless master bath? also range hood and clothes dryer not on exterior wall? I know that's a pet peeve of yours.

Once again I want to thank everyone for pointing out areas that need correction. Mrs Pete, RES I think it was definitely a proportion issue. I adjusted the sizing of the furniture I plan to use in the house plus looked up some items we would like to buy from Costco like a sectional couch. Several things are kind of hard to tell what they are but they are the right size now for example the legal bookcases in the living room, the window seat by the window and the linen closet in the master bath. They also didn't have a very cute coat/shoe picture so I just used a bench to represent proper length and depth. The pocket door in the master closet is a barn door that my dad is making me but they also didn't have that feature on the program.) Still not happy with the kids wing but I feel like things are much better from where I started! Also it's hard to tell but the railing represents the open staircase that we are bringing over from the farmhouse (I doubt it meets code but we are in the country and don't have any codes, don't even have to follow egress if we wanted to but I love big windows so...) and the double door is a single door but with sidelights on both sides. They just didn't have that as an option in the program I am using but it is the correct width to represent the sidelights of the Masonite door we plan to get. Oh yes and the empty space next to the dining table is a built-in with walnut shelves to hold my little glass rooster, crystal vase, cookbook and a few other nick nacks like the kids ceramic things that they make in school. Haven't had time to look into windows. (Don't know if my DH will let me add anymore he thought this was a lot lol!)

Take a look at RES's last version. It's so far superior to anything you've come up with. Even your last version.

Res, you are obsessing about this aren't you :). I like KH choice A with the open stairs right in front of the front door. My parents house is like that, kind of, and even though they take up space with it being open it makes the room seem larger. Also, being able to get to stairs from front door without having to go through whole or part of house is nice. Their (my parents) neighbors home built exactly the same floor as neighbors house otherwise has enclosed stairs and makes the room seem significantly smaller. Also, op is planning on tv viewing area to be in basement family room.

Res your plan has too many doors, but like lots of easy to access storage. However, I think storage space would good in laundry room area. But with all the things going on in your floor plan there is hardly any wall space to hang a picture or two.

Nice effort!

RES thank you for all your insight your designs are beautiful! I guess I can pride myself with creating a house design that has been a challenging riddle wrapped in an enigma! Now you all know how my students feel when it’s challenge Friday! And RES you are right I’m sure the tv will end up in the living room.

BTW I appreciate the batmobile in the garage! My LO runs around saying BATMAN in the BAT voice all the time.

Husband needs to access shower when transitioning from cowboy to housebroken husband

This is hilarious! He just got in trouble yesterday because he put his coveralls in the dryer because they were wet from the snow. A few minutes later he says hmmm, smells like cow manure! So yes, he stunk up the whole house and had to clean out the dryer! Needless to say when I first read this I thought it said house broke (house poor) which is also hilarious because it is so fitting!

Well we have started building! This is the layout we ended up with. Thank you all for your help. We did end up changing the kids wing so we could have windows on both sides. Kids got step in closets instead and there was enough room for a linen closet facing the kids bathroom. Other minor tweaks have been made like getting rid of the barn door, but we are overall very happy. I’ve walked the space and it is roomy, open, beautiful views and I am so excited!

I really like your plan. Good luck on your build.

Any chance to reframe the two kids bedrooms so they have reach ins instead of walk in closets? A reach in would help with sound between the two bedrooms and give the second bedroom windows on two walls.

Cpartist this is what we ended up with, I remember that was an earlier suggestion so we did that with framing. Moved the door so it didn’t swing into the room too. I like it so much more. Thank you for the tip! I believe you were the one to mention it back in Jan! It’s a bit hard to see because we drew it on tracing paper.

Much better.

Did you change the master bedroom closets too?

We left those as his and hers but changed the barn door to a regular door. That closet did end up deeper because they messed up the concrete corner so it is a six foot deep closet

You will really like having windows on two walls. Good luck with your build! :-)

Hanging clothes are approximately 2'-0" wide. If you hang clothes in the closet as it is shown it will look something like this, the red lines representing the hanging clothes, leaving a 1'-0" isle. I normally leave at least a 3'-0" isle.

I see! It really feels pretty wide when I walk in it right now. I will go out and measure the width today. I don’t know what else I would do with this space. I suppose I could hang clothes in an L shape and then either set a dresser on the other side or shelving for shoes, pants etc... The only other option would be to eliminate the ”his” vanity and push out the wall. I don’t think I want to do that because my husband would like that space personally. The Master space, bath and closets have been the toughest area to fit everything in. I know our house is smaller then most seen on here but it is very large to us.

Just having 2 straight rods and nothing along the back wall will resolve the turning corner issue.

Congrats on getting started!

Thanks Janni!

Most dressers are 18"-20" deep, so putting a dresser on one side is only going to give you a few more inches. And keep in mind that it would be fixed in place, whereas hanging clothes you can push aside as you move around the tiny space.

You might be better off hanging clothes up the left side, and putting a small dresser along the back - leaving the right side completely open to move around

I would like to be able to dress in there so that might be the best option to put a dresser in the back and hanging on one side. I don’t have tons of hanging clothes. Thank you everyone!

Our walk in turned out to be too shallow on one side for hanging-we didn’t think about that when we changed to a pocket door which moved the engrave off center-so we did shelving on that side. Other side alternates hanging with ikea drawers, and we left the narrow arrow remaining at the back empty with a window. We will put a small bench there. The shelving is working really well so far for shoes and hats and folded clothes.

My closet is 5'4" wide x 8' long. I did an L shape which is not ideal. but works for me.

That's double laundry bags on lower left.

I would like to be able to dress in there so that might be the best option to put a dresser in the back and hanging on one side. I don’t have tons of hanging clothes. Thank you everyone!

Trust me the space will be too small to dress in there.

Cpartist do you have a door into your closet or is it just an opening? Sara could you send me a picture?

I measured the actual space since they made an error on the concrete footings measurement so I ended up with more house then garage which benefits this closet. The closet at question measures 6’3 1/2” deep and 5’8 1/2” wide.

Also at this point the door is centered giving about 18” on either side of the opening. I guess I could do hanging in the back and narrow shelves on the both sides. Or maybe I should have him move the door to allow for the 2’ L shaped hanging? But then the door swing may hit my vanity or bed table.

I have a very deep reach in closet (too narrow to be a walk in!). Like Sara, I have two rods for 'short stuff' and against one wall I have a narrow (12" deep) rack of shelves - great for folded clothes, handbags/purses, shoes, boots, scarves, etc. I do have another (small, but not so deep) closet for the 'long' stuff, i.e. pants, raincoat, longer skirts, etc. Difficult getting used to having two small closets when I previously had a very nice walk in with shelves. Really consider no more than 12" deep shelves along one wall.

Left side, with shelves, is 16” deep. Right side is 24”, for most hanging and Ikea pax drawers. 7’4” total width. Excise the mess-we are still very much mid-construction. Could you do a pocket door?

Oops forgot pics.

Drawers aren’t in yet-they’ll be in bottom sections of two middle areas on right.

Is it too late to consider moving the sink in the guest bathroom? I was thinking if you had the tub on one side and the toilet and sinks on the other, you would have enough room for a small linen closet, which is nice in the bathroom.

Sara Thank you! I think that is a great solution! I love your closet. Kathi I think I have enough room for a linen. This bath has the same dimensions as my childhood bathroom and there was enough room on the wall opposite the sinks for a tall linen cabinet.

I could move my husbands vanity to the right 6”. That would give me the space to do hanging on both the right and back wall. There would be that odd corner from the shower but that would stop the hanging rod from turning the corner. I already planned to have him shorten the water closet depth to 6’0, I thought that was the measure but when I looked more closely it said 6’8”.

To the left of my shoe rack is my door that swings into the closet.