I need a plan I can actully read . IMO the basement bedroom situation is not ideal with the bathroom so far from the bedrooms I think a bigger kitchen would be better than a walkin pantry . I much prefer pullout pantries to walkins. As for the basement if this is a walk out where are the spaces that are undeground? An 8 x 10 closet is pretty small for 2 people . The PR is okay but pretty tiny. I do not know about linen closets I tend to like the linens for the bedrooms to be near the bedrooms so the basement bedrooms IMO need a bathroom much closer and the linen storage in that bathroom,

It appears the house is on a possible slope? If so that means half of the basement or so is walk out and rest underground. Ours is same and it works great. Bedroom down there has an egress window and is rarely used but lovely for guests when needed.

Our master is smaller than your planned one and totally fine. Just get a good closet organizing system and you are set.

I don’t love the basement layout overall. Do you need all those different spaces with a small family?

Overall the main floor layout is fine for me but I would work on kitchen a bit more.

Upper floor:

1. Consider adding an actual foyer.

2. Kitchen definitely looks on the small side.

3. Putting your fireplace smack in the middle of that wall means it will be in no-man's land with your dining room there. It will be kind of split between the rooms. If you want it to be a focal point in your living room, you may want to reconsider the location.

4. We have a 7x10 master closet (with built ins) and it works just fine for us. If you have a lot of clothes, though, you may need bigger.

Lower room:

1. I would put an egress in the office and not the exercise room if you have to pick. Working in a dungeon isn't fun for anyone.

2. I would consider adding a doggie bath station in the basement somewhere. Actually, even better, do 2 laundry rooms, move the office upstairs and making the laundry room up there smaller with a stackable set (even combining it with the master closet) and putting a larger laundry room downstairs with doggie bath. If you do have kids, you'll be hauling laundry either way with the current set up, so if you have the space doing laundry on both floors would be my pick.

How many houses have you and your boy friend designed and built?

Do you think you would benefit from working with someone who has successfully designed and and built many houses?

What statement do you want the house to say about you?

We are not planning on having more than one kid, if any.

We plan on entertaining friends and family, but the only one who might stay with us for a week at a time is my mom from out of town.

With these needs, you have lots of unnecessary space in the basement.

Those basement bedrooms don't look comfortable -- the closets are minimal, and they're pretty far from the bathroom.

We have a dog and plan on getting another.

This doesn't look like a house that lends itself to indoor/outdoor living. Where will you let the dogs outside?

The living, kitchen, dining room is all vaulted ceilings, which extends to the covered porch.

The living room looks rather narrow, while the dining space is extra-large. Have you laid out appropriately-sized furniture in this design? Don't miss the fireplace and TV as a part of the layout.

Do you enjoy grilling out? I see your only outdoor space is the front porch.

Consider that your "taking the trash out" path will be fairly long, giving more opportunity for spills and leaks. Moving the kitchen nearer the garage door would reduce this path.

The fiance is pretty set in stone about the layout but I know for a fact it needs more tweaking.

As a first draft, it's okay -- but I think you can improve it pretty significantly. Keep at it. Changes on paper are free.

I know for a fact we need some more linen closets, but I am open to any more advice I can get!

The master bath is laid out rather awkwardly /wastes space -- you could easily work a linen closet into that same space.

You have plenty of space in the basement to carve out a linen closet.

Is it a bad idea to have the two extra bedrooms on the lower level?

Given that you're thinking 1 kid max and 1 occasional guest, yes, two bathrooms on the lower level sounds like overkill -- forget "more" and work on "better". More to build, more than will need cleaning and maintenance.

Does the powder room on the main floor need to be larger? Its just so guests can use it when we are entertaining.

My daughter has that half bath, and it's acceptable but not ideal. It's small and dark. I'd get rid of the toilet closet in the master bath /design a half bath (with two doors) that'd serve the master AND would be open to guests. Less space overall, cheaper to build, only one toilet to clean each week.

What else are we missing?

Ideally dryers are placed on exterior walls so they can vent directly to the outside. This arrangement is cheaper and more fire-safe. One option: Flip-flop the laundry room and the master closet.

In fact, I'd consider flip-flopping the whole first floor. This would allow you to have windows on two sides (improved natural light) in the master bedroom, and the living room makes more sense on the side away from the garage. You could funnel garage-entry traffic through the pantry.

If you keep the laundry in its current space, you can combine your garage entry /laundry room and have a much larger /more comfortable space for both.

Pull the master bedroom door "back" a bit so the door can "park" in the hallway and won't interfere with the bathroom door.

Note that a person coming to the front door will have a sight-line right into your bedroom.

That L-shaped stair hides a lot of space underneath -- are you harnessing it for closet space? You're paying for it; you shouldn't allow it to be wasted.

You're missing mechanical equipment and vents.

You've chosen a 30' wide space -- are you planning on using trusses?

IMO the basement bedroom situation is not ideal with the bathroom so far from the bedrooms

Agree. The overall plan is rather clunky, especially the basement. While all the necessary players exist, it doesn't look like a plan that'll come together as something really special /something worth the effort of building.

I think a bigger kitchen would be better than a walkin pantry . I much prefer pullout pantries to walkins.

I think the kitchen is one of the better parts of the plan. I'd like the kitchen better if it were turned 90 degrees so you could have the sink in the middle of the long cabinet run /have a window over the sink.

I very much like the idea of a small kitchen and a huge adjacent pantry -- I'd want a pass-through between the kitchen and the pantry. Walk-in pantries allow you to see everything at a glance, and they cost a fraction of the cost of built-in pull-out cabinetry. Additionally, pantry shelves are superior for storing large items like InstaPots and punch bowls. If this were my walk-in pantry, I'd want pegboard on the no-shelf wall. What's the closet-inside-the-pantry? I think your pantry shelves may be too deep for comfort /you don't want things to "get lost" in the back. I hope this pantry is at least 5' wide.

An 8 x 10 closet is pretty small for 2 people

I'd call that "just right".

I would put an egress in the office and not the exercise room if you have to pick. Working in a dungeon isn't fun for anyone.

Agree, and work-from-home space is likely to become more and more important in the future. Is this enough space for two spouses?

I would consider adding a doggie bath station in the basement somewhere. Actually, even better, do 2 laundry rooms, move the office upstairs and making the laundry room up there smaller with a stackable set (even combining it with the master closet) and putting a larger laundry room downstairs with doggie bath. If you do have kids, you'll be hauling laundry either way with the current set up, so if you have the space doing laundry on both floors would be my pick.

You don't necessarily have to outfit a second laundry room with machines -- now.

I just bought a new washer/dryer last month, and I was amazed at the size of the machines that're available these days -- they're all huge! By that I mean, the footprints aren't that much bigger, but ALL the machines are all taller /more bulky. Much more bulky than my old front-loaders.

If dogs are a priority, I would consider space for crates, food bowls, food storage and more -- you can find some really nice customs spaces online.

My living room is 17'10" x 21'4" and is large enough to have between 10-20 people in and my house for myself and my DH is over 2800 square feet. Our master bedroom is only 13' x 16'. It fits our king bed, two bedside tables, a dresser and a chair with plenty of walking space. Your master bedroom is 17' x 24'. Are you planning on spending more time than just sleeping there that you need a space larger than most people's living rooms?

When you enter the front door, do you really want the first view your guests see to be the door to your bedroom?

Honestly I see a lot that doesn't work well. The best houses have windows on 2 walls in all public rooms and all bedrooms.

They don't have a front elevation where the first thing you see is the side of the garage with no windows and just a big blank wall.

They have rooms that are human scaled to what is really needed and not oversized and undersized.

Do you or your hubby have design experience? If not, may I highly suggest working with an architect or person of design talent to create something really special instead of this.

Thank you for all of the advice.

I would like to downsize the master bedroom and include a guest bathroom on the main floor.

A few things I forgot to mention is that we are on a budget of 150K for the house build.

My fiance and I will be building this ourselves with the help of his father who is a licensed general contractor.

I work at a family owned lumber supply store and get amazing discounts.

We haven't budgeted to work with an architect but we know for a fact we want to keep this 30 x 60 with a garage to the side.

A garage underneath the main living area is a total no from us. Currently our bedroom is above the garage and it is annoying to hear the garage doors go up and down.

Realistically, we do need to get in with a designer/architect to fine tune this plan.

I do have some connections that could help me out hopefully.

Very helpful to hear outside input, you guys have pointed out things I have never even thought about.

Having lived in a house once that had a shared wall between the master and garage - I now prefer having the garage on the other side of the house. Even the quietest garage door opener is audible through the wall, regardless of which wall is shared - waking me (and the dogs) up when DH left for work early or one of us came home late. Never. Again. (And yes, one of you may not be a light sleeper now, but as you go through life, that changes. Especially for women. Oh to be young and able to sleep through any and everything again. Sigh.)

In your plan ...the garage doors in a big empty space that echoes ...is closer to the bedroom than if it were down stairs....also having all living spaces on one level is always more convenient and functional...nevermind bedrooms buried in the back of the downstairs space

Tiny bedrooms with very limited natural light

This may save needing a full bath downstairs and also the garage could also have extra space to use for your workouts...

Another factor to consider ..most of the advice you receive here is coming from people old enough to have to have lived in multiple homes...having seen so may issues and problems solved on this site ...knowing from experience on many levels ....what works and what does not......

Also....your walk in closet is 8x10...and you want your mom to sleep in a room 10 x13...?

Rooms with vaulted ceilings are very noisy. Also hard to control the heating/cooling, and difficult to light evenly. Lots of threads on Houzz from people who are having problems with this.

Especially since you are getting a good price on materials, don't go too far along the road with a plan before you talk to a pro. By giving them a rough draft, you're constraining their ability to give you what you need. As you've seen with your fiance, it's human nature to stick to your first draft and consider it your creation, and resist what the pros will tell you. Much better to go to a pro with a good idea of how you want to live in the house, rather than a rough plan.

Many people have found Susan Susanka's book "The Not So Big House" useful. Sarah’s best-selling first book, The Not So Big House has given homeowners the language they need to ask for the house that they want. There's are threads on Houzz of other suggested pre-reading for people in your situation but I couldn't find it. Maybe someone else can find it for you. This pre-work will help you define how you want to live in your house, and how to communicate your needs effectively to the person who will design it for you.