[Help!] What are your thoughts on this floor plan? Like or dislike? Why? (panels, shower)

[aceygore]

First Floor


Second Floor


Thanks!

[TrapperL]

If you brought me those plans and asked for a bid, I'd hand them back to you and say No Thanks. Not sure about the idea of the garage being that inclusive into the home. My brain screams FIRE HAZARD. The down stairs is arranged like an old time mobile home- inline living as we called it. There is next to no flow downstairs. The upstairs, while having a spacious master bedroom, has next to no bathroom for a man and a woman who both work and will have to share an awfully small bath in the AM. For a married professional couple, the master closet is far too small and the size does not work efficiently. The other bedrooms don't have any closet space to speak of either. Frankly, I'd unload the middle bedroom and turn the space into closets and move the hall bath into that area as well. Use the space for the hall bath into an additional master closet. But even at that, it would really need more work as this really doesn't work at all.

So what is the goal with this plan? Do you need the 4 bedrooms or did it just kinda fall into place? Is the garage inside the home critical to your needs or is this just something new? Where did you expect to put the mechanicals like water heater, A/C, etc? I see no chases for them. Is there going to be a basement? Assuming the front of the house is the garage, how are visitors going to enter or how will you receive packages? Do you expect visitors to be short people- the downstairs commode is under the shallowest part of the stairs. Because of the dimensions you show, running the upstairs sewer and making it work right with this plan will be a nightmare and probably not work at all.

I'm sure you probably spent a lot of time on this. I would suggest that you consult with a home designer or architect with your ideas and get it right. There's more to a house than just laying out walls. This one just doesn't have good bones.

[PAhippo]

I agree about the small bathroom on the 1st first floor. Not sure if you really need a shower there. Who's going to use it?

It looks like your dining area is bigger than your living room area. Since there's no wall that's adjustable but those windows may limit that option. I wouldn't have a problem with the in-line room arrangement, as TrapperL calls it.

As for the garage, I didn't think fire, I thought fumes. In that kitchen and up in the master bedroom especially. yuk! Also, unless this is in some kind of development where lawn maintenance is handled by some one else or you're going to build a shed of some kind, that garage isn't big enough for 2 cars, lawn mower, and misc garden tools. Add in sports equipment, camping gear, Christmas decorations….nope: gonna need a bigger garage.

On the 2nd floor, I too would get rid of the 3rd bedroom. Make larger closets in the other 2 and move the treadmill up there. It just seems to me it'd be more convenient up there but that's a lifestyle thing. I could very easily ignore it where it is on the 1st floor.

[cp102]

I just don't like it, the garage takes up most of the first floor. The first floor looks more like hallways.

[davebarnes]

Where is the front door?
Where is the workbench?
Is the garage large enough for cars and bicycles and kayaks?
Where is the furnace, hot water heater, A/C?
Storage?
How does it sit upon the land?
What climate zone is it in?
Where does My UPS.Fedex/DHL leave packages?
How is the kitchen connected to outdoor living space?

[Z4X8]

Garage is too small, there is no storage place. Where is place for ventilation and water/sewage pipes?

[kab0906]

Terrible. Start over and put the garage somewhere else. Preferably detached so all that floor space can go to living.

[Threestep2]

You walk straight from the garage into living/dining room. The garage is the focus of the house while the first floor is an oversized hallway. Where is the laundry room? Where is storage? How do you get into the master shower? Personally I mind minding my business in the open while SO is shaving. Dining is between cooking and family seating/TV which is a disconnect for me. Personally this is a no go!

[chet everett]

If this is some existing in-town single family home that is being reconfigured I suppose it crams in lots of bedrooms, but there is no way that any family shopping for a 4-br home would actually find this appealing. Too little public space, NO storage, extremely limited space for entertaining, no space for kids to play. What is the site like? If there is a yard the staircase blocks any view of it.

The garage configuration is bizarre, likely illegal -- wrapping living space around all sides is generally a no-no. No utilities shown either -- HVAC/ water heater, even electrical panels all have minimum spacing issues. Having so much plumbing above the garage is a huge mistake if the climate even has freezing temps -- think burst pipes!

What the heck is the space is the front right corner? What kind of "thing" is shown in the middle of the room?? I am stumped...

The best designed homes usually start with highly functional use of the spaces immediately inside the front door and other means of egress. This plan makes it seem like no one will even enter with coats, packages, umbrellas, heck even a dog leash is not going have a single place to hang anywhere on the first floor...

There are LOTS of sites that will you allow to look at "stock plans" for free. Many are very well suited to compact lots. The skilled architects that create those plans have generally spend 6 yrs in school learning how residential construction has evolved, what techniques modern plumbers, electricians and HVAC techs have for providing safe comfortable homes, and the various human factors that make homes "livable".

Needs to really rethink much of this plan...

[nuts2uiam]

Looks more like you planned a garage with a bit of living space, I personally would run away from this.