Don't do this remodel until you can afford to make the entrance from the garage to the kitchen, not through the living room.
I agree with the comments to move the powder room to the hallway and have the closet by the door.

Do you need that big an office? Could it also do double-duty as a dining room? With three bedrooms I assume that you will usually have at least four for meals. Perhaps a kitchen table would be a better idea than an island.

To me, having the WIC close by the master bedroom is important so I would probably eliminate all the ones where the WIC is close to hallway1. I agree with bears that loosing the French doors is sad but I find you gain many other advantages that it makes it worth it.

With this last floor plan, you have many options as where to put the linen. It can be like shown on the drawing or in husband's closet facing bedroom or facing inside bathroom or it can be in bedroom2 closet. Personally, I would appreciate having some extra storage inside the bathroom. I find having a reserve of shampoo, soap, tp ... right there when I need it is very handy. There is so much you can store in a full height cabinet which that many of it you would try to pack in the 4 ft vanity. I would keep the linen where I drew it but I would make it all storage for non-linen items and have the linen closet in husband's or bedroom2 closet.

If you are ok to have a smaller master bedroom, that whole bathroom can be pushed to the left. You can move it anywhere from to 1 to 8 in. to the left. Keep in mind that every in. you enlarge the kitchen is every in. you reduce the master bedroom.

I made the maths: a 3'-6" x 5'-0" shower is 2520 squared inches and a 4'-0" x 4'-4 1/2" shower is also 2520 squared inches. I would make the shower 5 in. smaller than what it is shown on the drawing and built a half wall beside the tub and the toilet. I find my head would be too close to the toilet when relaxing in the tub. You would also gain 5 more inches in the storage wall for the kitchen.

Pmerkle, if you like this last drawing, let me know if you want me to move the bathroom to the left. If yes, by how many inches? Let me know if you want to keep the bathroom storage I stole from your WIC and if you want me to built a linen closet from the bedroom2 or husband's closet.

One more idea I had about the last layout: You could use the top part of the storage beside the shower for non-linen items and the bottom part for a hamper for dark colors. Then use 1 ft 6 in. of your husband's closet where the top part would be opened to store towels and the bottom part would be a hamper for light colors.

I think this last layout is VERY good suzanne. if anything, I'm now evauluating whats more important of a priority;
1. Smaller Master bedroom to allow for bigger kitchen (simetric with the dinning room and living room)?
or
2.or keeping it like shown on you last floor plan. if anything I'd prefer the vanity next to the tub, but i am no expert :)

I lost the french doors but I think the trade paid off big.

Thanks to Suzanne, I feel in a better shape to get this project done the right way.

I am glad you like it. I think it is the one I prefer :).

I never like the view of the toilet, this is why I keep it as far as I can. If you don't mind seeing it and have it standing out a little bit beside the shower, you could reduce the shower by 5 in. (make it 4'-0" x 4'-4 1/2") and have not half wall in the bathroom. This would allow to have a 5 in. bigger office (8'-2 1/2" x 9'-7")

I think if you put a tall plant where the corner is sticking out in the kitchen, you won't notice it.

This is the layout where the toilet is switched with the vanity and the office is 5 in bigger. I drew a 3 ft storage so you can have the 2 hampers side by side if you like the hampers idea.
I drew the linen closet facing the hallway. If you are ok with that, it has the advantage that the closet in bedroom 2 is 6 in wider. I find a linen closet 18 in. deep works really well. It could be 2 ft deep but personally, because of the way I fold my towels, I find it is a bit of wasted space. The other advantage of having the linen closet facing that direction is that you can center the television with the bed.

I like this one. only comment I prefer the one hamper storage unit instead of the 3ft for Master bathroom storage room. also, the entrance of the powder room to be on the half way instead. :) send me the pdf I feel confident we have a winner!!!!

I don't like the idea of bi-fold doors for the powder room off the living room--even less privacy than a regular swing door, IMO.

I am sure pmerkle has no intention of keeping the bi-fold doors for the powder room. Those were the original doors she has in her current closet, I just forgot to remove them from my floor plan.

Ok, pmerkle, I will make the change to the powder room. Before I email you the layout, do you want a 24 in. or 18 in. closet in the bathroom for your one hamper. In my one before last layout, the closet was 2 ft wide. I think it is better if you use a pocket door for this closet. What do you think? Once you give me that last piece of information, I am going to double check all my measurements before I send it to you so you will have it later tonight.

I like the 2 ft idea :)

You have done fantastic Suzanne, although I agree with you on the vanity and toilet position. I prefer the toilet next to the tub as easier to reach in to turn on tub etc, plus like seeing the vanity, as you do, more as walk in but it is a personal preference.

I'm now looking for pictures with decoration for similar layout .. Finally feeling excited about the renovation :)

This is the layout after checking all my measurements. There are 2 measurements that don't add up. They are marked in red on the plan.
I already mentioned it about the 1 in. difference in the master bedroom when I drew the layout the first time.
The second one is the width of hallway1. According to your plan: Depth of bathroom (7'-9") + thickness of the wall (4.5") + width of the hallway (3'-9.5") = 11'-11". The width of bedroom 1 is 11'-10". There is either a mistake in the measurements or the wall between the 2 bedroom is not aligned with the wall between hallway1 and office.

I am going to email this floor plan to you now.

I extended the wall with the corner of the kitchen/WIC to be aligned with the wall beside the fridge. Do you think it looks better? My intention was to frame the kitchen room and the dining room. Does it accomplish that?

Yes, I think you've accomplished that :)

Good subtle change. Now here's hoping pmerkle you can find a contractor that can do it!

Sorry pmerkle, maybe it is not the comment you would like to read but if I were you, I would wait some time until you have the budget to re-do the small bathroom before doing the powder room. I find that the way this space is used is not very good. The other disadvantage is that you loose the closet by the entrance which raise the problem of hanging the coats of the guests when they come in. However it is your decision and only you know how much you need that powder room.

If you decide to do it, then check with your contractor and the inspector that will approve your renovations what are the consequences. There is a risk that they force to move your current toilet if you touch the wall common to the bathroom and powder room. It seems that your current toilet is too close to the outside wall and it might not passed the inspection.

If they say it is find and you go ahead with adding the powder room, then there is something you can do to use the dead space behind the new vanity in the powder room. You could remove the walls around that unused little space. This may give enough space to add a little cabinet where you could store towels. Then the current linen closet could be used for coats when guests come in.

Thanks Suzanne, I'm done changing my mind...I can't hold the project forever. I need to be ok that not everything would be perfect, also we are not a family with a larrrge income or wealth.. We are a mid class so we have to do the best with what we have at hand... I do truly appreciate your feedback.. But reality is tha we are already pain interest on a loan we took for this renovation so in the best of our abilities will have to more forward ...

I understand that you have to do the best with what you have and sometimes you have to make compromises to get what you need. I am just afraid that you could get into more expenses than budget for with this powder room.

To avoid surprises, I recommend that you shop for small fixtures and the door that can fit in the space before you talk to your contractor and make sure that there is no risk of having to modify the bathroom on the other wall if you touch that wall. I recommend the shopping first because I don't know if small fixtures cost you less because they are small or cost more because they are non standard or not in demand. If you are ok or please with the cost then check the size of the door you can have that will work with the size of the sink/vanity you choose.

I think that the layout you proposed initially is more functional. In this layout, the compromise would be that your powder room opens to the living room but at least you get standard fixture and have more room to move inside. What if you have an overweight guest that is aiming towards the powder room? It might be embarrassing for you to tell this person to go to the bathroom instead. I find you risk less surprises with this layout because you don't touch the common wall with the other bathroom and a big plus is you keep your closet by the entrance for guest coming in.

The compromise you need to do with your original layout is to keep the door close all the times while with the other layout, you need to get smaller fixtures, you have less space to move inside, you loose your closet and you risk of being told to have to bring your other toilet to code.

If you decide to go with your original proposed plan for the powder room, you don't need to demolish any wall but you need to add a door on the wall beside the entrance. I would take the opportunity to install a pocket door instead of a regular one.

I'll go with the original layout for the powder room then.

Suzanne what tool do you use to make the floor plans? I'm not liking Microsoft paint :(

I use Visio from Microsoft.

I recommended that you install a pocket door in your powder room but I am not so sure anymore. Having a pocket door prevent you from putting insulation in the wall. You may need insulation in your wall to keep this wall warm especially that it is beside the entrance. Also having insulation helps to reduce the noise ... there may be noise in that room that you don't want to hear from the living room.

I'll look into installing and learning Visio :) ill keep it simple. will use a regular door...

Let me know when you install Visio, I will email you the floor plan in Visio format instead of PDF file.

Also, I don't think you need to insulate the powder room wall to keep it warm but I would to help sound proofing the space.

Raise and Enlarge mud room and connect to kitchen through the pantry.Shelving above the washer,dryer will replace the pantry. A warm laundry area is a God send. Plus you won,t break a leg going up and down steps with a basket.

contract is signed and construction starts on Monday! I will document the whole process and post pictures! Suzanne you are the best!!!

So happy for you. Living through renovations can be rough but the reward at the end is sooooooo worth it.

Congratulations! For sure, let us know about the progress, I am very interested.

Why have two half baths or a full and a half bath right next to each other? Please forgive me for not reading the whole string of comments if you have some reason for this, but regardless it is a bad idea. And a toilet room opening directly off the living room or even immediately around the corner is a bad idea.

If the bi-fold doors at that toilet room are still under consideration I suspect that will not meet the building code. A pocket door at a toilet room may not be acceptable either. And the interior room labeled OFFICE without a window will not meet the building code.

Hi pmerkle, if your interested in barn doors and hardware take a look at our doors and hardware. See: http://www.barndoorshardware.com/

Perfect time to add natural light to your remodel design. Did you know you can integrate lights inside our daylighting units for night time use and vent kits for your bathrooms.

This is a discussion I bookmarked few weeks ago. It contains some very good ideas. There might be some that you would be interested while adding the extension to your house:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/building-a-custom-home-any-must-ha-dsvw-vd~84124

I love the plan. I totally understand you wanting 2.5 baths we currently have a 3/2 ranch with no basement and we really would like to add a 1/2 or full bath. We have kids and it sucks when guest and sometimes complete strangers have to use our kids bathroom. I have had repair people come to the house and ask to use the bathroom and I have had to "quarantine" it after they left and ask the kids to use my bathroom until I sanitize theirs.

The only concern I would have for myself is having a space for a dining table in between the living room and kitchen island to allow for extra seating for entertaining and family dinners.

I'm planning on placing the dining table in between the living room and kitchen island. I'm getting a 8 ppl set with attachments to make the table even larger is needed.

Did you find a new contractor? Do you need a closet quote? I am in nj and have worked with many contractors. Let me know if you need suggestions. Canary closets and cabinetry.

Check out Tarantino architects in Millstone, NJ - they specialize in ranches and live in an original frank Lloyd wright home. Very talented and worth an investment to not make a costly mistake.

pmerkle, just a reminder for while you are in the construction progress or anytime in the future:
Whenever, you need to install something on the wall where you have a pocket door, make sure that the screw or a nail put on that wall, if not be in the way of your door sliding in the wall. MORE IMPORTANTLY, make sure that the door is not opened when you put your screw, otherwise your screw might be inserted in your door ... big damage to your door :(

The exception to this is when you install your pocket door on a wall where you are going to put a rod for your closet, you can have something like the image below that will allow you to install the rod without affecting your sliding door. You will need something like that for your WIC. The image below has been provided by Fred in another thread. Your contractor should know about this product.

I will be really interested if you can post some picture of the progress of your construction.

hi all,

It's been a while.. contruction is not going like it should... we still have no house and contractor flew with our money literally... we are doing what we can to finish up the house. quick udate on the layout: master bedroom was made a whole foot smaller than asker for... at this point, I just want my house back. I am tired of living out of a suitcase.

on the up side, I think my husband has learn his lesson... sometimes a wife knows a thing or two.

some pictures of the last 3 months

pics

kitchen, master bedroom, master bathroom

master shower

Thank you for sharing some pictures. I was thinking of you a lot lately and was wondering how your renovations were progressing.

I am very sorry about you losing your money on a such non-reliable contractor. I really hope you can solve that issue.

When you say your master bedroom was made 1 foot smaller, where was it cut: north wall, west wall or your husband's closet?

Hi I like the 3 long sections.
The only thing I would do is move the office to where the bathrooms are
and take advantage of the daylight. The opening of the guest bathroom I would put in the hallway and the closets where the entry is now. This gives people more privacy on where
they went and some insulation will help the sound of flushing. People do not want to let everyone know where they have been.

using the center for bathrooms will give you room for a private water closet for your guest and than a room for shower tub etc. Even though you have guest wc one more private is always wonderful.

you have a lot of room in the center and might be able to get s hallway could.have door on living side hidden door.and laundry room.or just pass thru. It is a lot of walking around.

of you do not want to lose the space can you go.up to the roof with skylights? Or a place both sides as tall.as you can go for library.shelves to second floor, where they could be both
sides
Just thinking out loud.
if I had to pick one simple move the guest room door and put insulation music and this will.give your guests privacy.
A

Long corridor is bad..

They have already started construction...

Hi pmerkle, I was just wondering how is your construction going? I really hope you recovered some money from your dishonest contractor.