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Well -- then I suggest you might also reconsider the "vaulted" ceilings. How tall are you talking about? If it's more than 10 ft, all your heat is going to end up on the ceiling -- big $$ utility bills and you will need a fan to circulate the air. Also, there is nothing whole colonies of spiders love more than vaulted ceilings -- and good luck getting the cobwebs down.
I like the feeling of spaciousness that high ceilings give too! But my first two places had 12 - 15 ft ceilings in parts of the house. It was great for temperature control (since I lived in a warm climate it saved on AC), but the spiderwebs and dirt were really depressing -- who wants to get on a ladder once a month to clean off the ceiling? My current place has 10 ft high ceilings over the main living area and IMO it's just about perfect. The ceiling is high enough so you don't feel claustrophobic, but I can still reach all the corners with an extension duster.
I like higher ceilings too where they are proportional and fit with the home (e.g. in a true Victorian or Edwardian). Or where they are part of a smart contemporary design with well designed visual features. Or just generally well done from a design perspective with the right features in the right places. The problem is that many in newer less expensive homes are so poorly done and look like a cliche mcmansion feature. They are just put there to generally 'give more openness' or 'grandness' without much other thought to design or aesthetics. Based on the size of the area to be vaulted in the OP's design and the fact that it's just one big open space, I (rightly or wrongly) assume that it won't work very well. For example, the vaulted ceilings that are featureless - just sloped sides with an elevated flat ceiling in the middle. From a design perspective it looks awkward and pointless with oodles of 'abandoned' space above you. If not done right from a design perspective, a vaulted ceiling can look like a very cheap feature - acres of drywall overload.
Obviously this stuff is all personal preference but the OP asked for opinions and at least we are giving them things to consider even if they have other design preferences.
On the south side of the double oven you could make that a floor to ceiling (or however high your uppers go) pantry type cabinet. More storage, less rarely-used countertop.
First, I wouldn't go with a kitchen in the corner of the great room unless you truly like that configuration. So many posters here hate that setup that I suspect it does not work out well in practice.
I would have an entry way. I think walking into a living room directly from the outdoors is bad design.
I would not have basement stairs placed in the garage. Bad design.
And, I feel that a wood stove is a very dated thing to have. I've had a woodstove, and a wood burning fireplace. I vastly prefer a gas fireplace. Since you specify a wood stove, I assume the weather where you are building is cold in the winter. This is another reason to place your stairs to the basement indoors, and not in the garage.
I also realize that you are working with a small house here. I wonder if you are doing this for budgetary reasons, or for some other reason. Knowing your mind on this might help us give you advice.
I absolutely appreciate all the input. This has generated a lot of things for us to think about.
TBH, at this point, whether the overall plan is good in the eye of the beholder is a moot point. We are going with this plan because we like it, and because we already paid $1200 for it. I was mostly looking for criticism of my non-expert proposed modifications, and we've certainly got that.
But opinions about dumping the plan and finding another one aren't helping us out. Our previous home was almost as open as this, and it worked great for us. And, for example, whether the vaulted ceilings don't look "Victorian" enough, or look too cheap, or whatever, is not of interest to us. We are, after all, going for a home that we will like to live in, not for a home that would be ideal for an HGTV photo shoot.
First, I wouldn't go with a kitchen in the corner of the great room unless you truly like that configuration. So many posters here hate that setup that I suspect it does not work out well in practice.
I would have an entry way. I think walking into a living room directly from the outdoors is bad design.
I would not have basement stairs placed in the garage. Bad design.
And, I feel that a wood stove is a very dated thing to have. I've had a woodstove, and a wood burning fireplace. I vastly prefer a gas fireplace. Since you specify a wood stove, I assume the weather where you are building is cold in the winter. This is another reason to place your stairs to the basement indoors, and not in the garage.
I also realize that you are working with a small house here. I wonder if you are doing this for budgetary reasons, or for some other reason. Knowing your mind on this might help us give you advice.
Thanks for the comments.
A few more points:
1) The basement stairs are not in the garage. Sorry, that's my poor drawing. There is a hallway between the garage and the great room.
2) A woodstove or pellet stove are the only options. Natural gas is not available here, and I don't want to go with propane due to it's unpredictable pricing. Almost everyone in my area has a woodstove. Maybe we are hillbillies (okay, we definitely are), but woodstoves are not dated in my area.
3) I don't get the comments about the house being small. According to the 2010 US Census, the median home size in the Western US was 2143. This plan is 2145. Maybe we have smaller homes than other regions, but I don't think I know anyone with a home bigger than about 2500 sq. ft. We looked at plans from about 1900-2300 sq. ft., assuming that would be plenty of size for a family of 4. Should we make it bigger?
I have altered the bathroom set-up as Harry suggested. If only that comes out of this thread then it was well worth it!
But there are multiple other great suggestions that I will be considering as well.
Note that we had planned to extend the left side of the house - mostly the garage and the utility room - by 4'. I think that will enable a decent-sized exterior door in there and still retain the washer/dryer, some cabinets, and hopefully a mop-sink/utility sink.
I have to agree that the kitchen is not laid out very well. The range is jammed between a major entry point and the sink. There should be a cabinet between the range and the entry for prep/landing space as well as a buffer between traffic and hot pots. The ovens seem to be in the living room, located far from prep areas. Also the flow through the middle of the kitchen from that entry is ackward not not recommended. Can you offset the garage wing so that this entry does not flow through the middle of the kitchen work area. There appears to be a lot of space in the middle of the kitchen that is useless and just adds needless steps for anyone working in it. Better to have it smaller and more efficient.
Also that door to the utility room will look odd on the front elevation. Guests will be confused about which door to use. I would have a door into garage instead and just go in and out that way with them.
I do not like having the hall bath in the middle of the house. There will be no natural light or ventilation in it. I would flip this bath around so the door is closer to the bedroom doors. There would be little privacy with the bath door right off the living room.
In the master bath, I would flip the tub and shower. Why would you need a 7 foot shower and an odd shaped tub. I hope this helps. Jay
I agree the flow is pretty poor, and you may want to rethink high ceilings in the kitchen as it can make grease vapors and smells very tough to manage.
Pocket doors are fantastic, I disagree with some other posters on that. We have a disabled person to plan for and pocket doors look nice and are much more wheelchair and walker friendly.
I'd start again from scratch with an architect, to be honest. The fee may be slightly higher but you'll be pleasantly surprised at the cost compared to what I bet you're imagining. Express your needs and desired shape and let them make the wish list into a feasible house.
The plan as written was okay. But your modifications to it would only work with a major change in dimensions.
I have altered the bathroom set-up as Harry suggested. If only that comes out of this thread then it was well worth it!
But there are multiple other great suggestions that I will be considering as well.
Note that we had planned to extend the left side of the house - mostly the garage and the utility room - by 4'. I think that will enable a decent-sized exterior door in there and still retain the washer/dryer, some cabinets, and hopefully a mop-sink/utility sink.
I think this modified one is quite a bit better. I'd ditch the powder room off the kitchen though, when there is a perfectly good bathroom on the other side of the living room that makes more sense to use.
I absolutely appreciate all the input. This has generated a lot of things for us to think about.
TBH, at this point, whether the overall plan is good in the eye of the beholder is a moot point. We are going with this plan because we like it, and because we already paid $1200 for it. I was mostly looking for criticism of my non-expert proposed modifications, and we've certainly got that.
But opinions about dumping the plan and finding another one aren't helping us out. Our previous home was almost as open as this, and it worked great for us. And, for example, whether the vaulted ceilings don't look "Victorian" enough, or look too cheap, or whatever, is not of interest to us. We are, after all, going for a home that we will like to live in, not for a home that would be ideal for an HGTV photo shoot.
Thanks again to everyone!
The important thing is that you like it as it's for you, not us.
But I'm sorry if you didn't like the feedback that hit on your 'sacred cows' within this design. We're just people to whom you asked for feedback. We're not going to sit here and try to critique only your modifications as you need to look at a design in the big picture. We're not experts so we can't guess what is too big a change to suggest. Either you want our feedback or you don't. Obviously we all expect you to take or leave feedback as you see fit but when we try to help and you respond that we 'aren't helping' just because you don't agree with our feedback!
I agree with the posters who suggest to ditch this and engage a proper architect. You're spending so much money for what amounts to a custom build but it's built off of a very poor original design. If it's a cheap build and budgets are tight, then just pick the best design and stick to it. I get that there are always budget trade-offs but by doing so many modifications to that poor design, it's getting compromised even further. Frankly, the original design appears to be designed for tract homes trying to wow a first time buyer when they see the model home (dramatic and grand double entry door, cavernous 'great room', vaulted ceilings in the home and over the porch/patio, double sinks, etc). If that's what you like then fine but trying to customize the whole thing on top of that design will only add a lot of expense. I'd forget about the 1,200 and aim for a well designed house. It will be money well spent and 1,200 in the big picture is nothing. One hard lesson that i learned early on is that trying to save money on architect design leads to poor value for the huge money that you will spend on building or renovating a home. I'm not an architect by the way and in my earlier days, I struggled to see the point of spending money on design. I felt that I had a good enough sense of design and could guide a build with an experienced builder. Recoverable mistakes but lots of missed opportunities to do far better.
I'm sorry that you didn't find my input on the vaulted ceiling helpful but, with respect, your reasoning doesn't make a lot of sense. You're saying that you are not interested in the style or look of the vaulted ceiling but vaulted ceilings are ONLY about aesthetics and they have no practical purpose. Your appreciation for the aesthetics and overall look achieved by the vaulted ceiling must balance the additional costs (in building costs, heating, painting) and other headaches (cleaning, changing lightbulbs, etc) or you've wasted money (much more than 1,200). Nothing wrong with vaulted ceilings if you achieve the right look but if you don't care about achieving a look, then what's the point?
Open plan living with a plan that flows effectively and has the right visual queues and separators can be great. A perfectly square single room to house the kitchen, dining area and living room is going to struggle to look 'put together' properly. Perhaps the wood stove and containing structure can be used as a visual separator of some kind in the room? for example, between the living area and the dining area? That would give you more wall space for furniture and provide a much needed break up of this cavern. The wood stove location in your modified design, will push the seating area out toward the center of this big room and toward being in front of the front door(s). In a room this open, comfort and coziness will be found toward the anchors - corners, walls. By putting the wood stove structure between dining and living areas, the seating area can be centered more in the area between the front door and the side wall. It might also make the flow of heat better but I have no idea about that. I assume that you will have two seating areas in the living area? It's preference but personally, I don't like multiple separate seating areas in a single room. I'm not an interior designer so I'm sure there are places where it can work (besides a hotel lobby) but when I see this, it almost never works well and looks like, well, a hotel lobby. To me it can appear redundant and it's never used as intended (usually it's awkward with a group jammed into one of the two areas). Your design with the front door opening directly into that space and being right in the middle of the room severely restricts how you can lay out this room, that's why i'm assuming you will have separate seating areas - to the right and to the left as you enter the home.
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