The first thing I would do is change the place for the laundry off the LR or DR is not good design

Yes. I agree, that would be ideal, but I'm afraid I'm stuck with the laundry room location. That laundry room was previously a porch that was framed up as some sort of sun room by the previous owner. I turned it into a laundry room years ago as that was a better place for the washer/dryer than in the kitchen, where it was previously located. That's also why there is french doors leading to the LR.

Thanks for the feedback. I know this house is a fixer-upper and in need of some updating. Trying to make best use of available fund.

A few quick thoughts:

1. The master bedroom closets need to be 7' wide for 2' hanging, 3' circulation, 2' hanging.

2. The other bedroom closet is too deep at approx. 3' deep interior. 2' is standard and you don't really gain any useful storage by making it a little deeper.

3. I wouldn't totally remove the wall and replace with beam because the bathroom door would essentially be in the dining/living room.

4. The wide hallway seems like wasted space and the space is awkward looking. The existing bath wall and office wall should align.

4. 6' wide office is very narrow. Have you measured and drawn the furniture in the space to see if it is workable? We had a 7' wide "away" space in our former house and it was a nice cozy spot for a small sofa sleeper but narrower than that for an office seems too tight.

Thank you so much for your thoughts Suki Mom. This is the type of feedback I was looking for!

I wasn't sure about those closet dimensions. I was thinking they would need to be bigger, but wasn't sure... But I don't understand what you meant by "The master bedroom closets need to be 7' wide for 2' hanging, 3' circulation, 2' hanging." Care to explain?

Thanks again! Will follow up with more when I get the chance. I'm going to put that hand drawing into CAD soon as I get the chance. That way I can take some measurements that are missing. Now that I am looking at it, that hallway is definitely too wide and that office space is too small.

Walk in closets with hanging rods on 2 walls that face each other need to be 7’-0” wide inside the closet so there is 2’ for hanging clothes along one wall, 3’ of space in the middle of the closet for walking, standing, reaching for clothes, then 2’ along thenopposite wall for hanging clothes. i figured the intent was for hanging clothes along two opposing walls since the closet door is centered on the wall.

. the 7‘ is from the surface of the wall to surface of the wall in the closet, not exterior of the closet to exterior of the closet.

Are you open to moving the kitchen and bathroom or do they have to stay where they are?

Ideally at 1st glance I would put the laundry and mud room together in the current kitchen. I'd then open up the wall between bedroom and bathroom and make that the kitchen with a beam opening it to the living room. You can turn the laundry back into a sunroom/extended porch or maybe an office space.

I would encourage you to plan how you would place furniture in the proposed plan. I don't see the expanded living room being of any benefit as it will be chopped up. Have you thought about roof structure?

Amy,

The original bathroom and the kitchen are going to have to stay where they currently are. It will be too much to change with the rest of the remodeling we want to do.

We are slready living here, so the TV and couch, etc is already placed in the living area. But it is a little small.

Im going to try getting that hand drawing into CAD today. That way I can put in our furniture and see how it lays out.

All your comments been helpful and gives me a lot to think about.

Seabornman,

Yes, we already tslked to our builder about the roof structure and we are good to go with the footprint you see on that 2nd CAD drawing.

Im going to work on a new CAD drawing that shows more detail. I see I'll have to redo those walk in closets, while im at it. Thanks for all your feedback!

Im trying to figure out why you are "stuck" with the laundry room but able to move about everything else? Of all the things to change it would be on the top of my list to get that to a practical location.

Also that very long narrow living room is going to be problematic for furnishing

idea

Thanks for all the feedback. Been super busy speaking with contractors. I realized that hand sketch had a lot of missing info. So I updated the OP with our first design rendered in Floorplanner. It shows our windows and the house layout how it currently is, plus the addition design.

We are most likely making the living room larger by moving the wall behind the couch further back. Its so narrow as it is.

Also contractor we talked to says we have space for a bonus room upstairs so I will have to find where we want to have a staircase. Will be working on that.

I know this needs a lot more tweaking and hope to come back with something more hashed out.

As always, any and all opinions/considerations are welcome! Thank you!

Don't have time to reply to yall's comments right now but will soon. A lot to considered and its greatly appreciated. Will be back hopefully soon with an updated rendering. It obviously needs more work.

What you have in your last rendering is just about as poor a design I've seen. I'm sorry but I can't say anything more.

The master bath is larger than the master bedroom and the living room?

The office has no windows?

The bedroom at the top right means walking down a hallway in full view of anyone in the foyer just to use the bathroom?

The kitchen layout makes no sense at all.

The laundry is off the living room with no relation to the rooms that use the laundry the most (bedrooms and bathrooms)

Have you considered working with a person of design talent because this last rendition shows you truly don't know what you don't know and need help with a professional.

I'm having trouble with this because your 'brief' is too brief. Currently you have a 2 bed / 1 bath plus a den. Your kitchen must be eat-in, since there is no separate dining room. Based on your family size, how many bedrooms and bathrooms do you need? Is the home office essential, and must it be closed off from other rooms?

If the house can remain a 2 bed / 1 bath, quite likely there are ways to improve without expanding, or expanding only a little. If you need a separate primary bedroom with bath, I would encourage you to keep the primary suite sized similarly to the other rooms (after renovation). Otherwise it will look like two completely different houses.

The house seems to be single story, but does it have a basement, crawl space, or slab foundation? What is the finished ceiling height? Has the house been updated at all since the 1960's? If not, it probably needs plumbing, electrical, and HVAC attention. You have exterior doors on three sides - could one be eliminated? Windows need to be added to the plan, and are windows in good shape? Is the roof in good shape? Does the roof have rafters or trusses?

Try to put the master suite at the back of the house and the 2nd bedroom where you have the master drawn. The master would hopefully turn out to be more private, and the 2nd bedroom would be closer to the bathroom. Also maybe the office could have the back door access? At least then it could have a glass door.

^^^So your solution is for anyone sitting in the living room to see into the two bedrooms? This isn't a small apartment. It's a house.

Yes it is. if Im going to have a room with little natural light I would rather it be the media area than the office I spend hours in.

Actually you need an architect not a bunch od starngers getting you ebven more confused then when you started IMO poor design is the first issue to be dealt with and if that is not what you are willing to look at all the rest is not going to help.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting is exactly right.