My son is building a house and seeking some kitchen layout advice

Then your son should be asking and responding -- it's his house.

The only thing that is a definite at this point is the window/sink location, everything else is movable.

Why are those things definite? Is something already built?

if you see something that makes you go hmmmmmm.

The entire plan makes me go hmmmmmm.

Well he’s a truck driver working long hours & not in front of a computer. I was trying to help him out as I thought this may be a friendly place for advice. Never mind you can all disregard, I cant figure out how to remove my post.

This is a "tough love" kinda place, but you'll get good, solid advice. I assume this is something he created himself, and he's attached to it? Honestly, he'd probably be better off buying a pre-made plan.

Positives:

- The exterior is a simple shape, which will be more affordable to build. And it will have a simple roofline.

Needs improvement -- note that I can't read some of the dimensions:

- This house is about 40 x 38? So about 1500 square feet? Your living space doesn't feel like 1500 square feet.

- Most houses have back yard access. Is that not a concern here?

- Your front doors hinge outward -- they need to hinge the other direction. Why double doors?

- Kitchen aisles /walkways are too narrow. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and measure their sample kitchens -- see if they feel comfortable to you. Spoiler alert: They're 3 1/2' .

- Removing the island would give you a good L-shaped kitchen.

- The pantry is wider than is reasonable. Cut out a 2' deep closet that'll open towards the hallway to the master bedroom. That'll leave you a shallow 8' wide pantry -- still wider than is reasonable ... imagine 2' shelves on the left /1' shelves on the right /you'll still have 5' space between them, and 3' is enough.

- The master bedroom vanity cannot support two sinks. Cramming two in means you have NO drawers at the sink, and two people can't use this small space at the same time anyway -- they'd knock elbows.

- That's a 10' bathroom. You need 3' for the toilet. That means you're planning a 7' shower, which will require a custom tiled floor /shower pans (cheaper, last longer) don't come in this size. Cut this shower down to 5' -- a good, standard size /shower pans come in 5' -- this will allow you another 2' deep closet opening towards that master bedroom hallway.

- Master bedroom closet door would be better hinged out into the bedroom. As presented, it'll be an obstacle to walk around to reach the clothes.

- This closet is small for two people to share.

- Why two sets of washer/dryers? Dryers are best placed on exterior walls -- cheaper to build, easier to maintain, more fire-safe.

- What is the room with lines in it to the right of the master?

- Pull the master bedroom door "back" /allow it to "park" in the hallway. This will make the bedroom feel more spacious.

- Natural light coming in from two sides always makes a room nicer (this is not a small thing), but the only room in this house that has that is the master bedroom. Where he will sleep.

- Still on the natural light -- if you flip-flop the kitchen and the living space, you'll get better natural light in the living room /the most important room in the house AND you'll get the kitchen next to the garage, which means a shorter distance to carry grocery bags in /trash out.

- What is the square closet-looking room that "backs up to" the toilet in the center bathroom?

- The linen closet (?) in the center bathroom is impossible to reach -- the vanity blocks it.

- You say he wants a budget build, yet you have water-items all over the place, running through multiple walls. Consider a simple three-piece bath with the sink, toilet, tub /shower all on one wall -- this is economical because you only need to run plumbing through one wall. It also means only one wall can potentially have leaks. Look through and consider where you could consolidate water -- if the two bathrooms could stand "back to back", it'd be a big win for the budget.

- Consider moving the master closet to the middle of the house (where the central bathroom is) and moving the bathroom to the back wall between the two bedrooms -- this'll allow natural light into the secondary bathroom.

- The two secondary bedrooms share a wall, which can be an acoustical problem. If you move the closets to that middle wall, they will form a sound barrier between the two rooms.

- Why is this hallway so wide? 3 1/2' hallways are standard /minimum. 4' hallways are nicer. Unless you have a purpose for this hallway -- like more closets or bookshelves -- add this square footage into the living spaces.

- Why a closet in the living room?

- Do you live in an area where fireplaces are not expected?

- The garage is oversized for a house this size. You could save by cutting out all the windows in the garage.

- Do the garage stairs go up to storage? If you're doing a simple roof, will these stairs work in this position? They might need to start at the back /go up to the middle, where the roofline would be higher.

- I don't see any mechanicals -- water heater, return air, etc. These can't be last-minute decisions.

This is just what I see at first glance. Honestly, he could more easily choose a pre-made plan or go to a pro. It's not that his general ideas are bad, but the details are bad.

If you made the hallway smaller as suggested above + added that space + combined the two closets that are back to back (one next to garage door + one in the living room), you could move the washer and dryer that is part of the primary suite over there and have a combination laundry room + mudroom. The mudroom part doesn't have to be fancy - just some cubbies that aren't very deep + some hooks on the walls for coats + a narrow bench to sit on while putting on shoes + some room under the narrow bench for shoe storage.

Also - it is unusual to have two W/D in the size house that is being built. I have the same question as presented above - is there a reason that two sets are needed? My house isn't huge - but it's quite a bit larger than the one proposed above - and I have only one W/D set (I raised two daughters in the house + a niece and nephew who were over there fairly often). Unless there are special circumstances, I would rather allocate the space to other areas than having two sets.

I would not have a double door entry - takes up too much space - I'd rather have more space in the living room. I would want a fireplace unless you live in an area where fireplaces are rarely added in a house.

Regarding the kitchen - the aisles are too narrow - especially the one that is only 36" -

The dishwasher should not be placed between the sink and the range - it creates a tripping hazard when the door is open.

There are people on here who are willing to be very helpful with kitchen layouts + whole home layouts - as long as you are willing to work with them. There are also people who will make funny comments (not trying to be rude - as PPF above). A few people will be kind of rude - just ignore those comments!

Make sure you have plans (to scale) that include all dimensions (and are legible) + have been added for all doorways/windows/walls/etc.

It's nice that you are jumping in to help with this!

If you want an island in this kitchen design, you'll need more width for aisles. I'd change the pantry for a 11" reach in pantry wall. Then you've got plenty of room for a larger island with space around the sides. The double sink shouldn't be on the plan. 99%+ homes are built today with a single bowl.

"Affordable" has certain design points to abide by. Things like understanding the span of a piece of lumber, which say, may control the depth of a footprint to 24'. Things like efficient circulation, where say, you don't have separate hallway corridors that waste space. Bathroom layouts that are simple for plumbing and that consider the whole house plumbing route. Making sure livable rooms compared to supplemental function rooms (e.g. bathrooms, closets, stairs) aren't taking up disproportional precious space in a small footprint. Then there are very technical points to understand, like size of rooms or location/size of windows.

This wheel has been invented many times over. It is fun and exciting to design for yourself, but if this a serious endeavor, it may be best to take a design already finished, and try to add your desired amenities that they don't have, like multiple washers/dryers, a jetted tub for secondary bath, garage stairs to basement, or a large Pantry. All is not lost though, these design exercises help you to understand what you want, what is important to you, and how hard it is to create a design to achieve that.