mig…it’s hard to view because you have to scroll… like tunnel vision..
also… you should label the rooms so we can reference them in our comments…. offhand… i’d work on it some more.. the porch looks like 6’… a little tight..
the ref/range area needs work.. no counter space in that critical area..
away over to the right ther is a confusing “niche area”.. seems to be a constriction there at the hallway… the niche is screwing up the flow..
can you repost it in a smaller format so it can be viewed as a whole..?
let the draftsman draw it up…. but only as a preliminary… i’d really work on this some more and you’ll be happier in the end…
anyways ..don’t lemme stop you from your margaritas… here’s mud in yur eye !
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Replies
See if this works.
Joe Carola
So you're celebrating the completion with Margarita, who is not your wife.......
How discrete do we need to be? Has your wife ever met Margarite? Does she know?
Boy, how do you make suggestions and not sound like criticism. Take this for what it is, the opinion of a dumb carpenter.
I'd agree on the porch depth. With a couple easy chairs you'll find walking by to get more beer a little cramped. 7' minimum is what I suggest (clear distance).........8' would be great. Again I agree w/mike, the majic triangle is there, but you really should have a place to put things from the fridge, like the beer you'll be taking out to the porch. The cab between the stove/fridge could be bigger if you spread them a bit. You might take a look at the MBR bathtub / vanity location. It might be a bit awkward to turn on the water reaching over the vanity. A bad area for cleaning/water damage in there too.
Home design is a blast isn't it? About 20 yrs ago the wife and I started planning. We put down on paper room sizes, locations and such. Two story, two pcs. of paper. Funny, the one didn't fit over the other. I enlisted the services of an architect and he made our wants fit. He was very receptive to our ideas and the finished product was damn near how we thought it out. Any changes we would made now were certainly our responsibility. Best of luck with the project.
Were you gonna have a basement or am I thinking of someone else?
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Edited 9/30/2003 8:04:34 PM ET by calvin
that hallway with the fancy angle on the bedrooms is alot of wasted space you are taking from the rooms. I would square this uo.
Like it was said, it's hard to suggest without sounding critical, but since you asked here's free advice, (and worth every penny)!
Good luck. It's a long, long process to design a house. But, it's cheaper to change it on paper!
I have to agree about going from the bedroom through the bathroom to get the closet. If someone was on the commode, I could image a scenario where things could either get delayed or a mite embarassing to get into the closet. Might consider moving the bedroom door back a bit and then use the area for the "niche" as the closet entrance. Having the toilet in a separate small room is also a possibility, but, as mentioned, the added moisture of a doorway leading from the bathroom could be a problem.
I might widen the kitchen a foot and the bay breakfast room too at cost to the dining room adjacent or by bumping out the end kitchen wall. Thge pocket door you show ther appears only 24" wide. Mike is right aboput the counter space near the reefer. You need to move the stove over aaway from it anothe foot at least. Ther shopud always be 18" to the siode of the range and to sid of the refer. You can do some borrowing and keep it down to 30" total, but I would go less than that.
I like the pantry/laundry/powder room space but around here, we put the fixtures so the plumbing is on the inside wall, away from potential freezeups. That might also make a window option easier.
BTW, there is little indication of windows yet, or roofline so it is hard to comment thoroughly. The porch might have something to do with that. There are a lot of unused porches in this country that are mostly there for decoration and to give the salesmen a place to stand out of the rain while the try to get their foot in the door. Make it big enough that you can enjoy it too. Those dueling angles in the front of the dining room seem to invite me to put a porch there.
In the master BR, I'd rather see you go through a dressing room closet to get to the bathroom than to go through the bath to get to the closet. That is a corner needing reconfiguration
Excellence is its own reward!
check out this bath config
Excellence is its own reward!
neighbors house was built wid a crick angled in the hallway like that. He found that a queen box spring couldn't get in there...had to have a 2 piece springset made. Your angles look better, but somehting to think about.
That's a very nice rearrangement of the two spaces. Going further, the closet could be rearranged with rods in a U or C shape, and the closet could be made a little smaller. I'd be inclined to try to get more space for that 10 x 10 bedroom and squeeze the closet. The space by the tub could be closet space for the bedroom too, with shelves for smaller items.
I didn't draw it all but yeah, the space near the tub can be shelves of some kind or a linen closet depending on actuall dimensions available.
The closet might also be accessed directly from the bedroom. I almost didn't draw in the closet rods and hangers because there are so many possible configurations.
Excellence is its own reward!
I have a seperate shower and tub in our house built in 28 or 29. If I were desiging anew place I would do the same .
BUT the door swing into the bath has to be reversed or a pocket door
Youre standing at the sink shaving DW dashes in clocks you and you slit your throat and bleed all over her new bath mat.
God luck with the design design is the fun part
if the closet werre accessed fromn the bedroom, there would be room on that wall for a double sink vanity. You could shave further from the door that way..
Excellence is its own reward!
I think 10x10 is a bit tight for bedrooms. If you can, bump the house 4 more feet to the right and 4 more feet into that cavern of a garage. That will give you 3 12x12 bedrooms as well as a couple more feet each for the master bedroom and ideas already posted for the master bath.
Add 2 inches to the width of the hall ways and you can fit 3'0" doors to the bedrooms. Move the closet in the first bedroom to the top of the angled wall (like the closets in the other 2 bedrooms) and move the door up there too. All the doorways in one area will provide wiggle room for moving in those big box springs and dressers and remove the line of sight issue from the living room.
If you plan to use the porch, bump the usable width to 10', even with the stairs.
The powder room is convenient for the cook but when the main bath is just down the hall it's redundant. Think about deleting that room and moving the entry closet back into part of that space. A wider foyer would work. Bring the washer/dryer into the remaining space vacated by the powder room and the end of the kitchen will have more space for pantry storage. Consider deleting that single door to the outside. I think a back door on the same wall as the main entrance would look funny. A window would be better.
Consider also placing all your UPPER cabinets on the back wall, all the way to the corner labeled pantry, leaving the entire face of the kitchen open to the living room. Keep the long peninsula counter and the lower cabinets. Do not divide the kitchen from the pantry. Remove the upper portion of the wall facing the living room that currently holds the upper cabinets and extend the counter top. Leave just enough wall return in that corner to move the frig from its current location and hide it on that end of the now longer countertop. I'd also move the corner mounted sink closer to the center of the countertop, opposite the range. To enter the laundry room go past the frig, turn right and open the door.
Well thanks to all. I value all input and I feel that many , many suggestions will be put on these plans.
I probably should have added a little additional info on the property, So here I go.
The property measures 67' wide on the lake and 55' at the road. The lenght is 180' and the easements are 5' on the sides and 25' on the lake. Both properties on each side have homes that end at the 25' setback and this is why the home is situated on our 25' setback also. Having the lake view is why we have tried to squeeze the dining, living, kitchen, and master bd on the waterfront. Money is an issue since we are building this out of pocket, which is also why we are trying to squeeze this many bedrooms(4) into 1720 sqft. Since the lot tapers, this is how we came up with the 52'-6". I would really love to add a "few more feet" to every width and lenght and even the master bedroom is a bit small, but the lot and budget have been the major concern for us.
Piffin, thanks for the bath/closet details and the layout will probabbly used as you drew except the door to the closet will be from the bedroom to enlarge the length of the pullman.
One reply on where do we put towels bars was really appreciated and embarising for me since that has always been one of my pet peeves on other homeowners' bath that I have worked on. I consider that a major oops on my part.
The porch by the garage will probably be enlarged, but we are waiting to see how everything else goes. The kitchen layout was only a prelim and I knew the range was too close to the refer and needed to be moved down. Still working on fine tuning it. But, that won't stop the plans from being completed and not a problem for the cabinet maker since that job is mine :~)
The plumbing on exterior walls isn't really an issue because we don't get that cold around here and I will take steps to prevent any freezing problems. The furnace will be in the attic(I think) and the water heater will be in an enclosure in the garage with a water recirculating system for constant hot water
The pantry/laundry/powder is the desire of my wife and after living in this area for awhile, we are really treating this room as a "mud room" or service entrance for our pets/family. You know, "put away your dirty shoes, hang your jackets, wipe the dogs feet. I don't want a mess in this house" -Mom The guests get the "fancy" entry
The garage sticking out in front of the entry has me a little concerned and I could easily move it back a few feet, but then that restricks the depth of the shop/garage. We are waiting for the draftsman's elevations to make that final decision, but it will probably stay the same.
I do have one questions for some of you. Would you do a conventional or truss roof system on this house?
Again, thanks for everyone's input. -Brian
trusses?
That depends...
You could run a beam from one bay shape to the other on the water side to set them on without complicatiing design.
The extend over the entry steps is what I am having a hard tiem visualizing. I hate to see water dumped on the steps, especially at the bottom of a valley where you've got p[lenty of it. Maybe you could move those steps away from th garage to middle of the porch and dormer or pediment over it, depending on the exterior style of the house design.
We have a similar pntry/laundry near the kitchen so she can multi-function to her hearts content.
Excellence is its own reward!
We have a similar pntry/laundry near the kitchen so she can multi-function to her hearts content
Uh Piffin - if you're truly concerned about her heart's content during multi-tasking perhaps you should install a phone by the new whirlpool. :-)>Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
It's a speaker phone on the wall near the coffee maker and on the opposite side of the door fromn the dryer but a proper distance away from the diswasher or the washing machine so that noise is reduced..
Excellence is its own reward!
Such a considerate man... I bet it was quite a scramble among the women trying to snatch you up. Your wife must have been in great physical condition to win that contest... I hear constant housework will do that for you. :-)>Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
She's got a pretty good sense of humour too..
Excellence is its own reward!
My carpenter might say "hay mucho para cortar en este casa"(it's too cut-up!) I'd agree. I'd straighten up some of the lines to make it "more buildable". (read,less expensive for carpenter labor) The largest problem I see is that the street appeal is going to be questionable.I build a house and it's for sale. I want 99.9% of the people that see that house to ooh and aah.You build a house that's too peculiar because of money or size contrants, you are building an albatross.You're stuck with it. (1) wassup with the windows is front?Seems whatever you do will not be very symetrical. (2) Can't see the front door. Don't get me started on frontloading garages anyway. I'm not a fan. As for the Master bath, how bout taking your door to the rear wall? Put the vanity straight ahead in the corner(I know ,the plumbing will be on an outside wall) tub to the left,abutting the vanity and closet;shower to left as you walk in the bathroom and toilet between the shower and closet. Enter closet from the bdrm, lose the linen closet, and turn the hall closet to open into the master . I know you lose wall space but you get 2 closets where you need them. Go mark off a 10x10 square in chalk on the driveway,then stand in it.You'll get my drift.And straighten up those walls!!
Edited 10/1/2003 4:18:47 AM ET by Bill
All good input above. It's a balancing act... space, money, house width-lot size, etc, etc
Once you get a scale drawing, make some little paper cutouts of standard furniture - couch, single bed, queen bed, dresser, etc. These will help you verify that your room sizes are gonna work. There are cheap cad programs out there that will get you scale drawing (not working plans though). It takes a little time to get the initial drawing, but after that, revisions only take a minute. This could then be taken to the designer/arch/whatever for a final set to be produced.
To add to what was said above, those 10x10 bedrooms will only be able to fit a single bed, and minimal additional furniture. If you could at least go to 10x11.25 you can have a bed with a dresser opposite the foot of the bed which will make standard furniture fit much better (more options) and would allow for slightly larger beds.
Not to nit pick, but thread titles that actually contain information are not a bad thing...
Good luck,
Definately let your draftsman provide a preliminary set of plans before you go out to bid. A good draftsman should consider all the items that have been discussed and bring back items of concern for you. Start with the foundation plan plan first, and remember increments of 4, 8, and 0 inches (52 1/2 -- 52'-4") for constructability and happier masons. This will give you a few more inches for the draftsman to work with if you allow him to round up.
There are a few ideas I would like to pass along:
1) The powder room might want to be a mudd room with the door and wall on the opposite side of the W/D. This might give you some counterspace for folding, and give a place to clean up that can be hidden to company. leave space at the entry though to be able to step into the house. Also, depending on size of the mudd room, it could be tightened to widen the main entrance.
2) The stove in the kitchen should be in the middle of the counter for the refrig space and for looks. Also, if you will have windows along that wall and you need more cabinet space, maybe consider a deeper base cabinet of 30".
3) I like the design option that was attached earlier with your matser bedroom door opening into a sink instead of the water closet. If you have your closet in your bathroom remember that ventilation is important, maybe an extra exhaust fan. Also, the closet layout will give room for the linen closet, etc in the bedroom.
4) I design 3' doors typical except for closets or something, one for the ability to move furniture in, selling, and ADA, just me though. I could see a wider hall so you have some room on the pull side of the door also. Maybe you make atleast one the bedrooms larger, atleast 10X12. A queen size bed is approx. 6' and that leaves 3' on either side.
Remember the spaces have to comfortable and usable for your needs, and your opinions count the most.
dps
swap the bath with the linen closet, move b/r doorway up to where the (10'x10') arrow is. this will shorten narrow hallway
Craig