My house plans- your comments and suggestions please.

Raz · Jan 16, 2008 6:58 pm

Hello everyone,

Finally worked out how to post my plans!!! Please let me know what you all think. The backyard on my property is West and North is on the right.

Do you think the Theatre room is not wide enough?

Is the entry too narrow-1.8? (other project builders eg clarendon have 2.1 entry )

Three windows on the facade.... ?? How can I do better???

Is the upstairs rumpus room too small??

Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

Thank you in advance,
Raz

HomeReview · Jan 16, 2008 7:07 pm

Looks good. Ultimately you have to be happy with it and it has to suit your needs.

Michelle · Jan 16, 2008 7:13 pm

My comment…..I think your formal dining room is a little too far away from your kitchen. But looking at your plans where the stairs are there’s not too much you can do about it, unless you move the study to the front.

Just my opinion.

But the rest looks great well done!

brittany · Jan 16, 2008 7:17 pm

That's one big house!! Your home theatre is the exact same dimensions as ours - its a room to watch movies not walk around and far bigger than a lot I've seen in display homes. Similarly the entry passage is somewhere where people don't really spend much time - you'll spend far more time cleaning it. Awesome sized walk in pantry. The only thing I think I'd change (without knowing your block) is I'd move the window off bedroom one to the rear so I'm not overlooking neighbors.

Mrs B · Jan 16, 2008 7:44 pm

Hi Raz,
you asked for opinions so here is mine

The dinning room I feel will be a difficult space to use as it seems to be quite narrow and not part of the eating/socialising area of the house.
Is there a reason for 2 studys (prehaps you work from home?)
One nice size study that can double up as a guest bedroom would be sufficient?
I would then replace the stairs where the 2nd study was, thus allowing the dinning area alot more space. In doing this, your kitchen can become more spacious eg WIP can be deeper.

Only suggestions, but I'm sure your home will be beautiful just the way it is. You know your life style better than us. Looking forward to further updates.

Mrs B

Cabinfever · Jan 16, 2008 8:04 pm

Looking at the location of all three toilets, they are all adjacent to walls where, on the other side, people may be sleeping. Depending on the kind of walls you have this may not be ideal

Ive noticed in many plans some very clever placement of toilets to avoid being directly adjacent to bedrooms.

I thought the kitchen looked quite small in terms of free counter area, but the WIP is fantastic.

I also agree about the study and stairs. A U-shaped staircase where the right-side study is would make the lounge-dining area much more impressive imo.

qlder · Jan 16, 2008 8:54 pm

Your plan looks great. I agree with the "toilet" comment. In our rented house, the guest bedroom has a toilet backing onto each side of it, not the best situation.

Also I would bring the door of your walk in pantry out level with the cupboards. I've seen it done in a display home where the walk in pantry door is identical to the cupboard doors and it all blends in beautifully.

stonecutter1309 · Jan 17, 2008 7:56 am

Hi Raz,

On the upstairs games room - what do you plan to use it for? Our upstairs lounge is 4.7 x 3.5 - not a huge room but we want to use it for a library - so mainly bookshelves and a few comfy chairs.

However, if you want to make it a games room with potentially
* air hockey
* foozball
* scaled down snooker table

Then it may not be big enough for a games table plus room around the outside for seating.

Cookiemonster · Jan 17, 2008 8:27 am

Maybe he should have asked if there is anything right with his plans.

If the layout suits you then it's a good layout.

Jet79 · Jan 17, 2008 9:02 am

You will have to know if it suits what YOU want from YOUR house. Just keep looking at it everyday and try to imagine walking through it and how everything will flow and what furniture will go in each room.

Media room is fine, you want something long and narrow. I also wonder how you will manage with the dining area further away from the kitchen. If it fits maybe change the media and dining around, that way if it's a nice night and you want to start with drinks outside your guests don't feel that they are being totally relocated to another end of the house if it gets cool or starts to rain.

Jet

Cabinfever · Jan 17, 2008 9:44 am

Cookiemonster

Maybe he should have asked if there is anything right with his plans.

Raz specifically asked for comments. Feedback like this is very valuable. Of course he may already have considered all the points raised, or choose to ignore them. Even then the discussion may give someone else ideas in their design

I love good-natured, but robust, criticism.

Cookiemonster · Jan 17, 2008 9:54 am

Cabinfever

Cookiemonster

Maybe he should have asked if there is anything right with his plans.

Raz specifically asked for comments. Feedback like this is very valuable. Of course he may already have considered all the points raised, or choose to ignore them. Even then the discussion may give someone else ideas in their design

I love good-natured, but robust, criticism.

I know. My tongue was firmly planted in cheek.

Raz · Jan 17, 2008 10:58 am

Hi everyone,

Thanks so so much for all the comments. ..

I certainly am looking for all the suggestions, feedback, criticism whatever.... all of it is valuable to me!!! LOVE THEM ALL!!!!!!

So Cookiemonster I will ask .. What is wrong with my house!!!

The last thing I want to do is start building and then find that "I just couldnt see what you could have seen"!!!!!!!

BTW... I should say I am female and building alone ... have written another post asking if I should...Excited !!!! and concerned too.

Thanks once again

Raz

Michelle · Jan 17, 2008 11:20 am

GO RAZ!!!!!!

You have my admiration for your drive and determination…but above all for being so independent!!!!

Cookiemonster · Jan 17, 2008 11:52 am

Raz

So Cookiemonster I will ask .. What is wrong with my house!!!

Oh that's easy. The same thing that is wrong with all of our houses.. it's not built yet.

VJ · Jan 17, 2008 12:26 pm

We're not a fan of formal lounge/dining areas.
We feel that they are waste of areas.
Do you really need it?
If you need the formal lounge, you can remove the dining area by:
- making the kitchen bigger by moving it further going to the WIP area
- moving the WIP to the study side
- moving the study towards the dining area
- if there's enough space, add a mud room so when you go out from your garage, you can enter to your mud room and hang your coat and store your shoes there.

Cabinfever · Jan 17, 2008 12:34 pm

Other thoughts:

If you eliminated the void over the entrance then you could remodel bedroom 2 on the top floor. The little front terrace could be much more slickly integrated into the bedroom, giving more floor space and a directly incorporated balcony. You could even make the existing terrace and void area into a sort of sunroom/conservatory for bedroom 2.

If this was combined with shifting the staircase into the study area (and out of the dining/lounge) then you could push the door to bedroom 2 opposite bedroom 3, giving even more space.

If you really want to get creative you could go one more step... How about using the void area for the terrace and a little bit more, pushing the terrace into a nice long covered area.

At the end of it (inside the house) you have a glass wall. Both bedroom 2 and 3 then have sliding glass doors onto the terrace. Add some potplants, a light, and a couple of chairs and you have a very private little think area. It would look quite spectacular at night from the games area: a beautfilly lit little garden behind glass. If you can't imagine it I'll post a sketch.

---

Personally I don't think having a void area above the entryway will add anything at all to the house except a giant hole making heating and cooling more difficult to manage. I don't think it will add any sort of wow to the entry.

VJ also has a good point about a mudroom. The garage entry to the hallway will be a potential dirt point. Maybe you could consider dragging the garage over by a meter or two and creating a wider entry area ? The front area of this wider passage could become part of the foyer; the back area added to the garage as a workshop/storage area.

Hope you can envisage these suggestions...

Rachelle · Mar 05, 2008 3:28 pm

Hi!

So have you made any further decisions about the floor plan?

Who is your coordinator at Westminster?