Yes. Rethink your interior layout

Thanks, cpartist. Here is the floor plan. All ideas are appreciated.

That is a very narrow entry and no closet or anything. Where are you located?

You need a window on the front for sure. I would tweak your layout and not have that be a closet. Which way does your home face? What kind of lot is it?

There are many more information bits needed to really assist.

Have you considered putting in windows but frosting them or with a black film applied to the inside? We have frosted (etched) and in daylight you can hardly tell (see attached photo). Also, on the wall of the porch, you could add some rock for interest. Al

Oops, hit post too soon - May I suggest a tweet to your floor plan? Instead of the entrance to the laundry room being off the kitchen, have it on the wall to the right of the entrance for the garage - it can be a combined laundry/mud room and it frees up that entire kitchen wall for storage/pantry cabinets. First photo shows rock cladding on porch, 2nd photo shows frosted window - the one on the far left is a bathroom window and is frosted.

The glass of the door (far right) is also frosted.

live in Florida. no coat closet needed. house faces west. lot is flat 1/4 acre with canal on back of property. not against a window in the closet as the sun will be blocked by porch just don't won't to interrupt the hanging area. I do like the idea of stone or brick for the porch. maybe some thin brick veneer.

sharon - I am not in love with the pantry/laundry combo either. anyway you could sketch you idea. kinda of a visual learner!

There are reasons architects exist.

You are building a one bedroom home with 1.5 baths as a rental property?

Is it an ADU (detached in-law type suite) being built on a lot where you have a home already?

You could swap the closet and bath. The bath gets a front window (frosted, or whatever), and the closet can be two closets on either side of passage to the bath, or a walkin on one side and passage on the other.

Yep, Mark! I feel the same way when I see a poorly designed interior. It is like thank goodness for interior designers. Some people just can't do it. I guess you gotta have a knack and if you don't, just ask for professional help,

To piggyback off of Sharon, combine the laundry and mudroom spaces. This actually works very well! In ours, the mudroom lockers are to the left and the laundry tucked deep on the right. ;)

I think 2 bedrooms would be easier to rent out. We relocated and one problem we had was finding a 2 bdrm rental. It seemed like there were 1 bdrm galore! An issue for a small family who needs a place too. We ended having to live in the "country".

Switch the bathroom and closet. Now you can put a window on the front.

Agree that moving door to laundry to the hall would be far better on many counts.

It never rains in Florida? You should have a place to hang rain coats and leave shoes at the door.

Remember, it is just a rental. Don’t over develop. Think functional and clean.

Hi dhuston99: unfortunately, I don’t have time to draw something up to scale but I’ve marked up your floor plan (attached). I too would switch the walk-in closet and the bathroom and replace the angled shower with a rectangular one.

You’d have to nudge the range down the wall a bit to enable an L-shaped cabinet configuration in the kitchen. Saw a lot of comments about only one bedroom - presumably there are more upstairs?

It is just a rental! Although I am trying plan with the thought of eventually selling. Also, with some thought of how it will be to actually live in the house. There is an upstairs with 2 bedroom and 2 baths. Hence the stairs in the foyer. The area has million dollar bay houses right across the street from DR horton developments. Not trying to build a house to grace architectural digest. Just trying to be better built than DR horton (won't take much for that) and better layout.
Switching the master bath and closet gives me a window but will still one that would need to be frosted or blacked out.

Just thought somebody may have some ideas to dress up the porch wall. definitely like the stone idea.

will definitely try and redesign the mud/laundry.

If the bathroom is in the front, it doesn’t have to be frosted or blacked, just a nice plantation blind on the inside.

OP, I have to say, this made me have a nice chuckle:

"Just trying to be better built than DR horton (won't take much for that)"

In your area, a shack would probably get you a ton of profit. Lol

DR Hortons in MD were going for $450k+ for a town home! Just can't wrap my head around it. It's like some sleezy person trying to dress to impress when you know what they are into.

Honestly OP, keep it simple and just add a transom window. It would allow light, give privacy and add curb appeal to your elevation. As long as you make smart choices(upgrade what is necessary) with the interior then it will sell. Honestly, all homes eventually sell. And don't worry about staging, in a hot market, it wouldn't matter. I think staging is overrated like open houses(way of the past). ;)

"DR Hortons in MD were going for $450k+ for a town home! Just can't wrap my head around it. "

They get what the market bears and the availability of existing homes effects this as well. If no one was willing to pay that they would reduce the price no? What are existing townhouses going for? What are existing homes going for?

That's not practical and wonder the long term market effects. I would NEVER pay $450k+ let alone as high as a $1M+ for a town home, period. Maybe this is the norm for coastal areas but not for middle America. If you told someone that from IA or OK, they would think you are crazy. You can get ACRES of land with a home for like $250k in middle America of course.

"They get what the market bears and the availability of existing homes effects this as well."

Yes, I understand Econ 101.

If you don't like the "area market" then you can move away (Like I did). There is a reason why all my NY buddies are fleeing to FL to buy homes. maybe because few people can bear paying $3k a month for a shoe box or half a million for an apartment. Don't see people rushing to Syracuse, NY Lol

Flip the bathroom and the closets in the master and make the closets reach in on either side of a hallway. If it's rental, they don't need walk in closets.

@cpartist, yep! We didn't have walk in closets with our first home; just two nice sized ones. When you are coming from renting an apartment with half that space, it is a step up! It will sell AND rent well with two nice sized closets OP.

Natural light and ventilation is essential for the health and well being of occupants of a home. You have approximately 1,250 square feet of living space with six windows in four locations. Anyone living in the house for an extended period of time could potentially develop physical or mental heath issues because of the lack of natural light or proper ventilation. A boring elevation is the least of your worries.

So, like everyone else, I say switch the bath and closet...I would move the wall between the now mud room and laundry, so that the washer/dryer can be in the mud room and you can have a walk in pantry from the kitchen.
Just make sure it has an HVAC vent, or it will be useless as a pantry!

@fissfiss, I don't think many pantries have a HVAC vent(I have seen hundreds of homes and haven't seen them). Something to consider but we have a vent right in front of the pantry door. Probably would have the builder modify this in a floor plan if going new construction.

mark - yes natural light is great! enjoyed it alot in college! seriously, double window in the bedroom and dining area, window over kitchen sink and eyebrow window in bathroom. Double glass french door and there will be two skylights in living room (not showing on plan). probably will switch closet and bathroom so it will have full size window. where exactly would you suggest adding more natural light? ventilation will be provided by HVAC. don't really open the windows alot in Florida for fresh air. maybe a few days out of the year.

fissfiss - I don't have a hvac vent in my walk-in pantry now and I have a deep fryer in there that gets used a lot without problem. I do have a vent right outside the pantry. also, the pantry has a pocket door that is very rarely closed.

the plans are missing a good bit of detail so far. the laundry was planned to be a walk in pantry laundry combo. will play around with making it a mudroom/laundry combo instead.

No you need windows on TWO walls in all public rooms and all bedrooms. That's how you design a bright house that feels good.

Also why do you need a 16' long foyer/hallway? What a waste of space in such a small house.

Why is there only one closet in the whole house? Where will you store linens? Brooms? Vacuum cleaner? Cleaning supplies? Umbrellas? Raincoats?

Why do you have to walk through the kitchen to get to the laundry? Where will you sort clothing in such a narrow laundry area? Every time you need to sort, you'll have to walk to the other end of the room?

Have you put furniture in? How are you going to arrange the living room?

Are you ok having to walk through the whole living room to get to the master bedroom? How do you think renters will feel seeing into the master bedroom from all the public rooms?

How big is the land you're building on?

What direction does the front face?

Honestly, I wouldn't rent this. Not because it's small. I'm ok with small and we rented a condo that was actually smaller than this house, but the difference is it was laid out much better.

I don't need a 16 ft foyer but that is how the stairs work out to second floor. The second floor is all the rafters so not a true second story. Not much room to maneuver the stairs.

umbrellas and rain coats can go in the mudroom. there is a space near the master bath that is marked hvac but I am waiting to hear back from the a hvac friend to see if I can out the air handler in the attic space upstairs (roof will be foamed).

I don't love them laundry near the kitchen and will try and change the mud area around to put it in there but then it is right when you walk in so not the best place either. my first house (condo) had the washer and dryer in a room of the patio, definitely didn't sort or fold laundry out there!

haven't laid out furniture in the living room yet.

my master is right off the living in my current home and it has been fine so far. just shut the door when the bed isn't made.

the lot is 1/4 acre. 75 ft wide and 125ish deep with canal at back of house. house faces west. road fronts the house on the west side and there is a road to the south side of the house.

thanks for all the input so far. just trying to do the best I can.

Wow!! Thank you so much!

Marks plan is lovely in terms of the windows out front and bathroom location. Depending on where you are and what is beside you think about windows but don’t fret. We don’t have windows on the side of any one of our rooms on any floor of our home. It’s gloriously bright and lovely. We live with neighbours not far off and I adore not seeing them. Large picture windows on one side work wonders

So, my folks had a walk-in pantry in Texas, on the outside east wall! ...the house was built in 1982ish, so insulation was a thing. Not the thing it is today, but a thing. And it was so warm it was unusable for food storage.