Landscaping.

Yes to landscaping. Maybe extend the front porch along the front of the house.
Possibly add French doors coming off the bedroom to the porch.
If you can, I would at least match the windows in the dormer...

Remove the large upper window and replace it with a unit matching the other upper.

I would make both bath windows the same size and try a gable roof over the entry and/or dormer. After that, landscaping will help.

Did you have a professional architect draw these plans or did you do them yourself? I'm not so sure things are to scale--the bathtub looks huge! Anyway I made some assumptions and moved some things around.

By the way, the windows will look less 'busy' if grids are omitted.

Just a side note: I think it is highly unusual that the master bedroom does not have bathroom at least adjacent to it. It's unfortunate that the owner would need to cross a hall to get to it.

How much design flexibility do you have with the modular house company?

I somehow missed this was a modular house. Sorry for the confusion, I am sure most everything I suggested isn't gonna work.

Misecretary's version is 100x better.

We are actually going to have the home stick built so we do have the ability to customize it more! The only constraints are cost so we're hesitant to make the porch larger...I do love the design you suggested misecretary and will bring that up to the designer

Making the porch go all across the house will cut a lot of light to all those windows, so be sure that fits with your goals/site/etc. I think that fixing the upper windows and doing the rest with landscaping will work better than you might think.

May be gable roof with dormers or no dormers on a sides?

Basing a house design on a modular house is not the ideal way to design a home.

Have you considered buying a plan online? Because your designer is scaring me.

Why does your plan show a chimney in the master closet?

I asked about that too...It's for the HVAC system apparently, and if the HVAC system doesn't need one, then the label "chimney" will be removed

I think that you can do WAY better. Have you looked online for plans? This front door entering on the corner, next to the refrigerator is one of the least desirable entry concepts I have seen - especially when there is no reason it can't be centered with the kitchen still in the front of the home.

And the use is space upstairs is bad. I had a townhouse with one bed down and 2 up that was about 1600 sq feet that would WAY better laid out than this

A house with a front shed dormer can and should be adorable. This, is not.

You can always hope your builder gets confused and builds the house backwards. You can then get the shed dormer on back and a more sensible front door...

Even modular homes should have some style and appeal. Would suggest you find another modular home company if this is the best your current company can offer.

A modern HVAC system doesn't require a "chimney". High efficiency gas furnaces are vented from the side - as opposed to through the roof.

https://www.farnendermer.com/blog/2017/november/4-things-you-need-to-know-about-high-efficiency-/

Side-venting gas water heaters are also available BUT, the best water heater is the electric Rheem Marathon model. It comes with a lifetime guarantee to the original homeowner. Electric water heaters don't require venting.

https://www.rheem.com/innovations/innovation_residential/marathon/

Can you make the windows in bed 2 the same as the windows in the kitchen? Everything else aside, the kitchen layout needs work. a range at the end of a run is never ideal.

*update, just saw you are not doing modular. In which case, scrap this and start over. Take your wish list to an architect.

If you have veered from doing a modular, there is no need to stick with the poor design that the modular designer stuck you with! That is great news!

A better architect would give you a much better designed home! I‘m not just talking about appearance here. Interior layout and external appearance go hand in hand. I know that its tough to hear to crumple this up and start over with a blank slate, but that is exactly what needs to happen.

You have hundreds of thousands at stake here. Putting it into that as an actually built home would not be wise. The end result would not aid you in maintaining the value of that investment. You want a home that is appealing to the eye and soul both!

I understand the appeal of a simple house. I am from an area where people often build simple homes on property that has some sentimental or family connection. However, I question the value of this house and its use of space. I have been in the Cape May kit home from 84 Lumber a few times and seen it modified in a few ways and all seem superior to this and I suspect the cost difference is not significant.

I am not shilling for this house, however, you are building a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, one great room home in a 42' x 24' envelope. The Cape May is a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 1 great room, 1 living room, and 1 dining room home in a 40' x 28' envelope. I also suspect it ends up about the same or cheaper to build because of the kit house nature of it. Again, I wouldn't build it, I am not praising the plan, but it is an economical build in a comparable footprint that provides a lot more bang for the buck. I am sure it is not the only option out there that accomplishes much the same thing.

https://www.84lumber.com/projects-plans/home-plans/1-12-story/cape-may/

There is nothing wrong with a simple rectangle- currently we seem to be in the era of bumpouts and extra gables... Look at the house Bry posted- simple and classic, great curb appeal. A simple rectangle can yield great results if they are planned for. As you are aware your current plan has no curb appeal- frankly it looks like several bad remodels.

I would change the roof style of the entry porch (and extend it to the edge of the house), enlarge posts and porch landing, and have the kitchen window match the height of the bathroom window. Then, enlarge all your window and door trim. Beyond that, I would focus on great landscaping.

Unfortunately, the builder/designer says that the windows can't be changed in size because of building code. The only thing he can do is make the single bedroom window a double window, but I feel like that won't help...

I don't have rendering skill, but could you flip the front door and the kitchen so that you enter at the center of the house with the kitchen to the right? I think then you could look at some different rooflines that would be much more attractive. I do not have any rendering skills, but I found some pictures of adorable cape cod style houses. I think a small rectangular house can be stunning if done right. I'm sorry I don't think your current design is attractive.

You need to scrap this very poor plan and either find a better plan or find someone with design talent who can create something wonderful for you. This is not it and I'm afraid your draftsman is no designer.

With all due respect, I do not think you will happy living with the current floor plan. Someone earlier suggested you look at floor plans on line. There are several sites. If you cannot find a home in the exact size, choose a larger one houseplan and ask a local architect to tweak it. You have plenty of unused room on the second floor, perhaps give serious thought to moving 2nd bedroom up there so you can have a nice master suite on main floor.

Does the designer even live in the same state as you? This person clearly doesn't have YOUR best interest in mind. You are putting in too much time and investment to have the 'designer' disregard your wishes. Please take the time to drive around your neightborhood and take a good look at window and door locations in newer houses. There are some seriously huge windows out there along with very small. I can guarantee local codes were followed.

A VERY simple change to the plan will accomplish many things. Flip Living, and entry is nested appropriately with circulation under the loft floor and a dynamic entry to Living instead of welcomed by a refrigerator. Living feels larger. Sink window is on back wall if views to the back is what originally placed Living there (don't worry so much about window symmetry on the side elevations). Turn bed with transom window behind (maybe do same to faux Master with king bed). Elevation takes care of itself. Loft doesn't have the glazing size reqm't so window can reduce equal to both bathrooms.