Is this an architect designed plan, or an off the shelf plan? How many people will live here? If children, how old are they? Are there views from any side that you want to frame? With a large covered porch on the back you will be substantially reducing the light in the kitchen and living room. Which direction will the house face on the lot?

Totally Architect designed. 5 people, myself, my husband and my 3 kids - 5, 1.5, and one on the way. No side views. The house faces N. We made sure the sunrise and sunset were going to take place on the sides of our home. Currently our house faces E and the sunsetting in our back patio/yard is brutal.

So when you say faces north, you mean the entry is on the north side? If so, your covered porches on the back face south and as mentioned will make the main living areas very dark. Where do you live that the afternoon sun is so brutal? Sun can be controlled with shade trees as well as strategically placed overhangs. If you have a lot big enough, I would think twice about orientation, or at least rethink the design of the porches.

Without fully studying the design, but just quick notes:

Kids space - bedrooms are fine, but bathrooms have no storage/counter space. Kids laundry is far from the laundry room. Why a two story living room? Will you have a TV in the living room? Where will it be? How will you place the furniture? That is a lot of garage. Where do the little ones play while you are cooking? Where do their toys go until they are old enough to be banished to the second floor?

The entry is facing north, yes. We live in Texas and will be on 2 acres. My parents have a very large patio where the back of the house faces west as well and also brutal which is why we chose a lot that entry faces N and back of home faces S. I will take everything said into consideration and chat with my husband though.

My first thought "walking" through is that it's very livable and the arrangement of rooms makes sense to me. I know the climate and sun where you live and my first choice is always the front of the house facing north and most of the windows and living area to the south. For some reason, tall rooms and big garages always get a lot of criticism here. Why not a two-story living room? They look great and the balcony will make it easier to yell at the kids when dinner's ready. LOL Big garages are awesome; room to store a boat, all the toys and sports stuff three kids will have as they grow, tools and machinery to maintain 2 acres. A couple of things jumped out at me. The kitchen will function much better with a prep sink on the island because the fridge is a looong way from the sink and you don't want the cooking zone between the fridge and sink. Search the kitchen forum for "ice water stone fire" and look at the really helpful fax that buehl compiled. FAQ: Kitchen Work Zones, What Are They? Upstairs needs a linen closet. I'd only have one sink in the vanity that has two; don't think the kids will ever need to use two sinks at the same time and if just one, there's more counter room and room for drawer storage underneath. The deep covered porches would be a problem for me personally because I like a lot of light and that living room and kitchen will be really dark all year round with the view of your yard or whatever there is to be seen, blocked. On the other hand, if that's what you like...it can be a great outdoor living space to hang out with the family (is there by chance a pool in the plan?) and when you have friends and family over.

Random thoughts:

- The first thing I notice is that the main living spaces (where you'll spend your waking hours) are sandwiched between the bedroom wing, a large garage, and a covered porch ... this means those main living spaces won't have the lovely natural light that MAKES a space.

- I've lived in a house with brutal sun, and I get it -- but you'll have southern light at the back, which is ideal. It's western sun that makes things miserable ... and you've wisely placed the garage on the west to take the brunt of that heat. Just don't cheat the rest of the house out of its light.

- Instead of one oversized porch that'll block all your light, talk to your architect about a breezeway, which would also set the garage apart from the house, allowing for more natural light. Talk to him about deeper soffits to give enough shade to ward off that brutal sun without creating a dark cave. Consider, too, trees and window treatments to combat excessive sun ... without cutting yourself off from natural light. This is not a small thing.

- The excessive jigs-and-jogs around the perimeter will drive up the price ... they'll also force you into a complicated roof that'll be expensive and more likely to leak. Yet they add nothing to the quality of life in the house. Simple is best: Simple costs less, it ages well, and it requires less work over the years.

- I'd like to see an exterior door in the master bedroom ... first for fire safety, second to bring furniture in (imagine bringing a large bed or dresser through that 90-degree hallway turn.

- I'd rearrange the master bedroom windows so the bed could go on the back wall ... this will allow each spouse a direct route from the door to his or her bed side + to the bathroom. The windows now are laid out for the bed to go on the left wall, and that means one spouse has a long walk around the bed.

- The toilet closet is going to be dark and claustrophobic.

- I'm ambivalent about closets in bathrooms, but this one is laid out so that you have to walk the whole length of the bathroom to reach it. But I do like the laundry connected to the closet, and kudos on placing the dryer on an exterior wall.

- You have pocket doors throughout this house. They're a good choice for doors that stay open most of the time ... like your laundry room, which currently boasts a hinged door. But they're awful for bathrooms, especially if kids are using them. The question isn't, Will my pocket door break? It's when will my pocket door break?

- Without direction, your plumber will almost certainly place the shower controls at the back of the shower /under the shower head. You want those controls by the door so you can reach in and turn on the water without committing your body to the cold spray.

- I don't see any place for shower towels to hang. Ditto for bath towels.

- The office is well-place for a home-worker. It's out of the way and should be quiet. The office could be better with another window on the left side ... natural light from two sides always improves a space.

- Could you open a small door in the office hallway to allow access to that under-stair space? You're paying for it, you should get something out of every square inch ... even under the stairs. Even a half-height or have-to-crawl-through closet is worth having.

- Similarly, I wouldn't box off the back of the coat closet by the door. Instead, I'd want that half-high space behind the coats to be accessible. Maybe for suitcases ... just push the coats aside and reach for them.

- Why two half baths? Remember that bathrooms are expensive to build, and cleaning them is a never-ending chore.

- The half bath at the back of the house doesn't work ... I think you were concerned about the doors bumping into one another, but what you've created is a room with a weird traffic flow. It also requires water in two walls, which is more expensive to build and allows for a second wall that could one day house a leak.

- Remove the wall between the garage and the storage ... the wall is just a barrier that makes it more difficult to reach your things. Just build shelves on that wall.

- Note the path you'll walk to bring groceries into the kitchen ... if you add a pass-through between the garage and the pantry, you'll save steps.

- Similarly, where do you anticipate garbage cans being placed outside? You want the shortest possible pathway between the kitchen and the outdoor trash ... first because taking out the trash is just no fun, second because you'll occasionally break a trash bag.

- Note that the kitchen sink is placed in a major pathway.

- The kitchen is large but disjointed ... three divided cabinet runs, and the refrigerator on the far end. This is going to lead to a lot of extra steps.

- Note that you'll have to carry food through the living room (or, I suppose, the bathroom) to reach the outdoor kitchen. Casement windows /a pass-through over the sink could make this better.

- In a hot state, do you think you'll use that outdoor fireplace? A fire pit beyond the porch would cost a fraction of what a masonry fireplace costs.

- Love the huge pantry! But with so much pantry space, why do you also need so much cabinetry /counter space? I think you're falling into the trap of "the kitchen is the heart of the home, so it should be BIG!" No, the kitchen should be efficient and well-planned. This one's just big.

- The dining table will be somewhat "trapped" in that smallish U-shaped room. If you open a cut-out between the dining room and the entryway, it'll visually open the space, and it'll allow diners another pathway in/out. The dining room seems rather "apartment-ish".

- How wide are those stairs? They kinda look narrow. Remember you'll need to bring furniture up /make that turn. The kids' bedrooms are a long walk from the stairs ... not well planned. Imagine carrying laundry up and down this twisted staircase, then walking the length of the house to reach the farthest bedrooms.

- Six bathrooms? A third half-bath upstairs? You'll have more toilets than butts. This is a great deal of expense, and (worse) it's a huge amount of cleaning every week.

- The two full upstairs bathrooms are tiny /the vanities are especially small. The users will have no drawer space, no counter space, and I don't see any storage elsewhere in the bathrooms. You can fix this in the J&J bathroom by downsizing to a single sink ... kids never use the sinks together anyway (neither do adults, for that matter), but ample storage beats duplication every time.

- Consider removing the wall between the tub /toilet and the vanity ... this split concept doesn't work: a kid by the sink still "blocks" another from getting into the back half of the bathroom, and the wall /door are another cleaning obstacle. Go with one comfortable-sized bathroom and teach the kids to take turns.

- I'd add a small up-high window above this tub for natural light.

- In all these bathrooms, think through where you'll store towels, toilet paper, extra toiletries. Think about where you'll place a hamper. Think about where towels will hang ... thinking through these things NOW will pay off later.

- Definitely flip-flop Bedroom 2's bathroom with the two closets ... this'll allow the bathroom to have a window /natural light.

- Flip-flopping the closets will also keep Bedroom 3's doors closer together ... as presented, this room has doors all around the room, which will limit furniture placement.

- Bedroom 2's shower door will block the wall where you'll want to hang towels. If you switch to a sliding door, this'll work.

- Why a game room AND a media room upstairs? Wouldn't it be better to combine these two?

- Bedroom 4 and the media room can have windows on two sides. Natural light from two directions always makes for a more inviting room.

- Going back to fire safety, these children's bedrooms are all far from any exterior entrance.

- With a two-story living room, consider that the noise that'll transfer between the living room and the game room ... we stayed in a vacation rental once with this situation, and every sound echoed. This was partially because the house was all wood /no carpet, few soft surfaces to absorb sound.

- With small children, it'd be smart to put up some sort of net or plexiglass in that opening overlooking the two-story living room ... otherwise it's a danger.

My overall thought: It's a big house with plenty of space for three small children, but it's not well thought-out. I see flashy things, trendy things that're popular in spec houses ... but I don't see details that'll make the house 'specially lovely or convenient /comfortable to live in.