I think it's personal preference. I personally love wide hallways, but it's ok to shave it off in spaces to utilize in better areas otherwise.

I think the half a foot wouldn't make much of a difference, but use a tape measure and a few boxes and simulate the hallway, see if you feel like it's enough room to reasonably navigate.

Thank you! I'm hoping it doesn't feel weird walking from a 4' hallway into a hallway that is 6" narrower. I don't think it will, but hard to say before it happens!

Without knowing how the two hallways interact with each other or anything else about your floor plans, it is difficult to make an assessment. That said, entries and main hallways are often wider than less busy hallways in a home.

Building codes specify 36" minimum which should include the trim in many jurisdictions, so 42" is wider than required already. Wide hallways can be a bonus if you need/want to add shelving or storage on the lower part of the wall or line a hallway with books but only you can decide where the added space would be most advantageous.

It's not so much the different widths as it is the narrow widths. We have only one hallway in our new house which leads to Master Bedroom. It was spec-ed at 38". Our builder caught this and we changed to 42.5". Thanks goodness! I wish it was 48" but that's all the space we had.

Is this a forever house? If so, aging in place mobility issues should be considered. A wheelchair is easier to navigate through wider hallways.

Is this an existing house?

Make all hallways four feet wide, unless you don't like the kids in bedroom 2 & 3.

Just an odd layout and too many pocket doors in my opinion.

Solicited comment - in this configuration - the narrowing hallway will feel like a "funhouse" where it feels like everything is shrinking as you move through it.

Unsolicited comment - that is possibly the strangest laundry room layout I have ever seen. Yes, it's close to the bedrooms - but holy moly - you will hear that washer and dryer every-freaking-where....

If you decide post the entire floor plan, be prepared for a lot of good suggestions on topics other than the hall.

Yes, not everyone's cup of tea for sure. We have a plan for the laundry room. Without seeing the whole house I understand the layout for the laundry room being odd, but as is shown in the above comments unsolicited is totally the way of the world so I kept my question, and picture, specific to the hallways.

I do appreciate the input!

Too much hallway.

To each their own! Little insight: hallways are playgrounds for our family. Great for rainy days, breaking the ice for new (foster) children, first attempts at skates, hallway bowling, tag, and basically filling our house with lots of laughter and opportunities for wall repair lessons. Works for us, clearly we see the amount of hallway we built into this home.

Then make them six feet wide.

Nah

An office/gym with no windows?

A laundry room where the only way to vent it is through the roof which adds length that can be a possible fire hazard?

Two bedrooms with only one small window?

I see you have a plan with the laundry room. But it does seem like you could get so much more out of the space by minimizing those hallways. You could probably double the space of the exercise room if you lost 2 of the hallways. Otherwise, I don’t think 6 inches is going to give you that much extra space in the bedrooms. I would want the 48 inch hallway for laundry access.

I don't think the 6" extra in the bedrooms will be noticed much at all. And it really only benefits bedroom 3.

You could easily gain much more room than that by changing Bedroom 2 into a reach in closet and add the extra room to the bedroom. I think that is by far, the bigger bang for the buck if you are looking to increase the size of one bedroom. And you don't have to compromise the hallway to do so. And, you lose almost nothing to the amount of stuff that can be stored in the closet.

Now we see the plan, yes it would look and feel odd. Such a lot of wasted space from

"hallways". Needs a redesign.

I think that since your hallways serve as playgrounds, and it looks like the around the laundry room loop is probably in part to accommodate that... I would say the extra 6" might be better worth it to the hallways than to bedrooms 2 & 3.

Not sure if you are thinking to include the hall on the closet/ bath/den side- Though the closet and den probably wouldn't lack, the bathroom might get too squished. If that closet is really 5'6" deep, you could trim 6-8" off the closet to add to the bathroom to make it feel a bit bigger and give the door nicer clearance.

If you think you could trim a foot off the closet- then you might be able to squeak in a shelving niche at the bath/den wall side at the foot? of the tub for some storage. Since it would be pretty deep, you can use half it facing the tub for shower stuff, and the other half facing into the room for other stuff.

Wouldn't a great playroom in the basement or attached to the house work even better than hallways and it would actually teach the children to respect property.

I really don't think your 6 inches is the biggest problem with your plan.

Pocket doors add cost.

Large window over a kid's bath?

That huge blank wall at bedroom 2 and its closet makes for a horrible elevation.

And the hallways - all that wasted space in a section of the house with small rooms shows lack of design experience or talent.

Forgot to add earlier- that wall that has the showerhead that backs onto the closet- don't forget to build in an access door to the plumbing on the back of the closet. Does not need to be fancy, even better if it blends in, but better to plan it it in now than have to break drywall there later.

If you can, build in some soundproofing/fireproofing for the laundry room.

I hope you do have a basement? Or at least goodly tall crawlspace? The plumbing layouts you have right now between the bathroom, laundry, and I'm guessing the kitchen on the north edge where the freezer is marked in and I don't see plumbing. That will want for space if you don't already have it planned.

Is this a one story house? Or attic space too, or second floor?

If the hallways were a straight run to bedrooms, then 3'5" might work, but that's at a bare minimum. It would still feel super narrow and people couldn't pass each other in the hallway without bumping into each other. We had 40" in our last house that was a straight run. My new house will have 5'0".

In your case, I would say absolutely don't go that narrow because you will likely have a hard time getting furniture in and out of the bedrooms with the odd angles the narrow hallways would present.

It's too bad you aren't open to suggestions on the entire floorplan. I do see lots of room for improvement with door and window placements. Have you considered what your safety plan is for your foster children and any other children in your home? I know you have gone to the training, but line of sight parenting is essential and all the hallways seem to create opportunities for that to be negated and for safety issues to become actual problems.

Keep all the halls 4’ and I will not comment on all the issues with that layout.

I would scrap this plan and start again.

. . . with a local architect.

I can understand some of your logic about hallways being "mini playgrounds" but from my own experience, LONG, STRAIGHT, and WIDE hallways are what kids need for skates, hoverboards, bowling, etc. Hallways with numerous corners are safety hazards. Outside corner trim on baseboards can split a head open in a second.....ask me how I know ;) Nothing hurts the bonding process of a new (foster or adopted) child and creates trauma worse than a trip to the ER for staples into the back of the head....ask me how I know that, too ;(

Thank you everyone who commented on the hallway width change. Much appreciated. We have talked to our architect and the final plans are on their way.

Awww, come on folks, let us not get this thread into bickering and negativity please.

If I'm understanding Casey correctly, the halls around the laundry room like that are on purpose, not an accidental design flaw. It might not be a conventional setup, but let's not get grumpy with each other about it. Work with it.

Shead brought up a great point- the point of the sharp corners around the laundry room. Rounded molding (3/4 round?) would be helpful there. Not perfect, but better. A bit of concave molding on the corners to finish out the U of the hall wouldn't be bad to smooth the look out more.

Well, @Casey G has deleted the image of the partial floor plan, so now no one knows what anyone is talking about.

Watch your stairway code compliance width please. I was just in a modern home that coulda got a red tag if the inspector was in a mood and fixing that would be a disaster.

Hey there, I've removed several comments here for not keeping in the spirit of being a welcoming and positive community. I invite you to take a gander at the discussions code of conduct, if you are not already familiar.

I will also say that asking for opinions on something as personal as your home is a big risk for people sometimes. If you can not be polite, even when you disagree, I will ask that you refrain from posting on those issues that might challenge you in that area. Certainly, if you feel your expertise is better placed on other areas, it is 100% okay (and advised!) to focus on those areas. It reflects better on your expertise here and as a professional.

Thanks.

So to be a positive community - and poster asks "is it a good idea"

we should say "yes", even though we think "bad idea". Perhaps you could clarify.

How do we say "bad idea" and be positive.

Why ask for an opinion - if you don't want an opinon.

There are certainly ways to give negative feedback without being rude to another community member. We see it all the time. :)

There are certainly ways to give negative feedback without being rude to another community member. We see it all the time. :

I agree with Emily here. The home crit responses on the forum could certainly be nicer without compromising the message. Some of the crits are just plain demeaning for no reasons that I can see. I’ve been looking at poor designs folks have been bringing/sending me for 45 years and found there’s always a positive way to deliver bad news that they may not want to hear with the result a reminder of the value of honey when catching flies.

ETA: Please don’t interpret this as the OP’s in these threads like this one are sinless either because most aren’t but maybe for different reasons.