House Plans!

[ExLibris]

Y'know, I betcha you could use half of the 3rd garage/weight room for a tack room... ;D

I noticed the two boy's closets share a wall...when we were little, my sister & I wanted to install a *secret* door in the wall that separated our closets (we had separate rooms, too). That way, we could go from room to room without being noticed...by whom, I have no idea. We even swiped a couple glasses out of the kitchen, & held 'em against the wall to try to talk to each other through it, but the walls in that old farmhouse were so bloody bulletproof that it didn't work. Okay, so we were weird... ;D

I love the french doors onto the back porch, too, and the fact that the toilet in the master bath gets a door. My dh doesn't often remember to ask me if I need to pee before he gets in the tub, and he can take a loooong time sometimes. Of course, this home has multiple bathrooms, but still...

And, the fact that the laundry has a door directly to the outside is really nice, too. You could put up a clothesline not far from the house, & save on yer dryer's energy bill. (You Floridians & your year-round sunshine...I am so jealous!! It's sooooo grey here right now...the sky is the exact same color as the ground. Bleah.)

I love looking at house plans...I could sit there & look & dream all day!!

[trigger]

I really like the looks of it. Our house is about that size. You'll get used to the space real quick :-) I sure wish I had a three car garage, though. That's about the only thing I'd chage on ours, after living there 5 years.

There is one thing I noticed that I watched for when we were looking at plans....your master closet is off of your bathroom. I have a friend who has that set-up and she doesn't like it because of the moisture from the bathroom going into the closet. If it were me, I think I'd move the closet door to the angled wall right outside the bathroom door or something, but I don't know if that would work...? You'd gain more closet wall space if it did! Just a thought, for what it's worth.

Thanks for sharing. I love looking at house plans!

[rhapsody]

LOL! You'll be aghast to hear that I asked them to REMOVE the exterior door from the laundry room. I want that area for more cabinet and counter space! The only laundry I'd hang outside would be sheets and blankets, probably, if even that. If energy costs get too bad, though, I may regret that decision . . .

[DorothyB]

It's really fun reading the different thoughts and ideas on the plans. We could do this instead of a poll sometime if the board gets slow.

I really like it. My thoughts are:

Like MaryAnn, I think that bedrooms 3 & 4 are a tad small.

I have a Jacuzzi tub (just a small one) and I really like that you have a whirlpool tub.

I like bedroom 2 having a private full bath. That would work for parents if needed, lots of privacy for guests or if you ever had a live-in nanny, nurse or maid. Where will you put the door or will you have two doors into that room?

One BIG thing missing from my house is: There are two ways in from the barn & back yard. The short way is through the back yard, across the patio and in the door which opens directly into the dining room. I could go through the gate next to the house and in through the garage if it was open (which it usually is). I almost always go in the dining room door which results in lots of dirt being tracked in by me and the dogs. Since you are removing the laundry room door, what about a walk door next to the double garage door for easy access from that side of the house?

I really like the breakfast area. Will you leave the fireplace? I also like the back porches. Not sure if I like french doors or just lots of windows with one glass door.

I store my hay in the garage. (It was temporary with the first load before Laara came because I hadn't dried in that part of the barn - but it has been over two years now, so I guess this is permanent.) I think that extra garage room would make a great tack / hay room for now until you get your barn built.

[Teeni at work]

When my husband and I started planning our home, we invested in 3 books by the author Sarah Susanka. It was absolutely the best money we spent on our house. I really recommend them for anyone who is thinking of building a home, buying a home, or doing a remodel/addition project.

I think she has a website, but you really need to read at least her first book, The Not So Big House. It completely changed the way I look at houses/homes.

Money well spent, or see if your local library has it.

[rhapsody]

I went to the library earlier this month to get that book but it was checked out. However, I just checked the online database from our library and it was back on the shelf! So I put a hold on it and will try to pick it up tomorrow or Saturday.

I had that book plus several others on my wish list at Amazon but nobody took me up on it for Christmas . . .

Just out of curiosity, given your experience at planning and building your own home -- what would you change about this plan? I would love to find out what you advise and see if I can apply it.

[Sheryl]

We bought our current house about 11 years ago - had a toddler and a preschooler and 2,400 square feet and a 3 car garage seemed huge. Now, with a 15 and 12 year old, a big dog, and the neighborhood kids running through, it seems very small. The garage has bikes, skateboards, snowboards and other instruments of teen years. I like that we have more formal area so there is somewhere to sit with no video games or dog hair...

Anyway, I think this planis pretty nice. I think the bedroom arrangements will work fine, although they are small - I really agree that you want them close by when they are little. When they get older, you will want a room as a buffer so you don't have to listen to their music.

I personally would keep the exit via the laundry room, mud porch possibilities???

[Teeni at work]

But please keep in mind that the house that my husband and I built is VERY different than what you are looking for. We built our house for 100,000, so I'm guessing our budget was MUCH more limited than what you have to work with. If you go to this link

www.notsobighouse.com/plans/waycoolplans.asp

and look up the plans for "affordable comfort" this is similar to what we built. The outside is the same, but we made some changes to the floor plan. Hubby builds houses for a living, so this was no big deal for him . . He saw this house in the Creating the Not So Big House book and drew up his own plans.

That said, I can offer my thoughts, but keep in mind that our needs are apparently very different. And I HATE to clean!!! You're going to have a LOT of house to keep clean!!

The first thing I noticed was that your laundry room is a really looooong way away from the bedrooms. This is a lot of extra steps to get laundry to and fro.

Second, there are at least three, maybe four places to eat. The dining room, the breakfast room, and the stools at the island. Will the hearth room have seating as well? Like a game table or a homework table? That would add another seating area. Do you really need this many areas to eat? All these "extra" rooms add signficant cost that could be spent other areas. Plus, they all have to be furnished and that gets expensive, too. Also, if you do host a lot of dinners, the kitchen is a ways from the dining room. That's a long way to cart hot dishes. Plus, guests always seem to have a hard time staying in the dining room . . . they're going to want to hang out in the kitchen/hearth room with you as you prepare food.

Another thing I noticed was that there isn't really a convenient "guest" bath. Guests would have to enter the "private" area of your home to use the restroom. This makes me uncomfortable--I like to have the "private" areas like bedrooms private, and the "public" areas easily accessible.

Will you have a basement?

I do really like the pantry. I put a pantry in my home and absolutely love it! And I really like that the garage is convenient to the kitchen. Makes putting groceries away very convenient.

Please please please check out Sarah Susanka's books before you spend $1000 on plans--she has some really great ideas that may save you a lot of time and money. If nothing else, it will help you think through and decide what is important. I can honestly say that her books are three of the most thought provoking books I have ever read!