ive been working on this houses layout for about 10 months and have really gotten nowhere, i did finally decide to go to a design specialest,,and have gotting further ahead in the 2 hours with her than i have in 10 months working with paper…
im still not happy with the layout maybe you could help?
because the house is long and narrow getting the desired cozy cottage feel has become a challange but that is what im looking for , this house is better suited fo the cold modern house..
i can have 3 bedrooms due to the septic system (no city system)
should i have a large study in the fromt of the house?
the hall seems way to long
i really like captins beds
upstairs bed bath layout?
thanks for looking
thanks for replying
travis
Replies
I can't believe I am saying this - but could you make those a little larger, say 60 - 100 kb?
Also, Is this a remo, additon, or new house?
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this is a complete remodle gut ...with addition
OK...overall I like it but...
The kitchen has not enough cab space or counter top. I would do away with the door leading into th kitchen from the back and place a stubby wall to partly separate kitchen from living room to give more wall space for a re-arranged kitchen layout.
The first thing I noticed was the long hall. Didn't know if it had structural reasons for being, but you enter and transition thru a narrow confining space to explode into a very large open space with no walls between three different rooms. There can sometimes be a reason for that sort of planning. For instance, in a military setting, it is better for security/defense, but i'm not sure it feels welcoming in a home.
I am not sure of the intended purpose of the room labeled daybed, but that room could possibly be combined with the living room space and hall while partly separating the kitchen. better balance overall that way. It also seems like the bathroom there could be smaller to lend more space to the daybed room. If there is reason for keeping the daybed room separate from livingroom, I would shrink the batheroom a bit to enlarge daybed and maybe put a door between the daybed and the bath.
Another option is that the space under the stairs labeled storage might be tweaked enough to become a bathroom and then the daybed room could really be larger. I would study that idea with another goal in mind - to place the laundry elsewhere. A closet laundry like that ALWAYS ends up with a pile of dirty clothes on the floor nearby. This is not something you want in you main entry hall! Get the laundry under the stairs and the bathroom facing the hall and enlarge the daybedroom.
The second floor - I think it works and a skylight over it would be nice. But another option to consider is to do away with railing and make a wall there to back up a second floor laundry - closer to the dirty clothes - and increases bathroom/storage options below.
But in our houses, wife has always liked the laundry near the kitchen, along with the phone, so she can multi-task to her hearts content!
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I agree with Piffin on the long hall then the big open space. It is mitigated somewhat if the study will be open most of the time, since that's a fairly large opening. I have a similar front hall with dining room on the left (as you enter), but my hall is 8' wide, and the opening to the dining room is also 8' so it feels quite open rather than confining.But, back to your plan... An issue I see is that when you do enter the living room, your traffic pattern goes right between the couch and the chairs. Unfortunately there is also a walking path between the two chairs from the door. Then there is another path around the couch to the kitchen. The end result is not a lot of living space in there.I'm assuming the area across from the kitchen (near the label "Vault Ceiling") is the dining "room". Which brings up two issues. 1. Is there a need for a nook right next to a dining room? 2. The double doors there and the single door around the corner from the doubles puts another walking path right into the area where a table would be. 3. There's no space for a buffet since there are no walls without doors or windows there. 4. With the open galley kitchen with lots of windows on the sink wall (one of which is behind the refrigerator), there's not much opportunity for storage. OK that's four issues.I would suggest two things: 1. flipping the study and the daybed/bathroom on the other side of the hall. So the hall moves to the left, and the traffic pattern moves to one side of the living room (closer to the kitchen side). 2. Make just one french door, and put it between the living room and the dining room. Then you combine the traffic patterns into a smaller number of paths. 3. Put the storage and laundry rooms along the wall next to the kitchen (where the stairs are, but we can probably re-arrange the stairs. Then you get some storage near the kitchen, the laundry could be more enclosed, and the hall would open up a bit sooner (could have the stairs open off the hall, which would also be a better traffic pattern). OK so that's three suggestions (or maybe four).The upstairs looks pretty good, but if the stair moves, that may need to change a bit.Anyway, that's my 10 cents worth.Eric
Looking again - you have way too many doors in that house for most climates. Maybe San Diego or Hawaii... But doors imply entry and that uses up space for traffic patterns so you lose living space and furniture options.
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wow dangthanks for the imput, i will use that....yea there are too many doors, this was just a first lay out with a professional that knows chief arc..im getting revised today
thanks again
those changes will certinly helptj
I think the main problem is the stair configuration, which is making everything awkward. You might try something like the attached, which will give you more flexibility in the living space.
again you guys rock thanks for the help... i hopr to have the revised plans today in the email and i will get them up it looks like the front hall is too long but is really only 18 feet
well that is pretty long!!!!yes the study// tv room / movie room / sleep over rooms door will be a big sliding barn style door or shoshi screen sliders...that will be open most of the time i can flip the bathroom with the daybed area but there was a light issue (trying to bring in more light)we did reconfigure the laundry room too..more to come
thanks again
Drift,
I'm looking at rearranging the floorplan of a narrow house I'm renovating so was curious about your thread and plans.
The points the others made about traffic patterns hit me, too. I notice also that one side of the house has lots of glass, maybe to put a face on the nice weather or a pretty view. Considering those two points it might be an idea to shift the hall to the other side of the centerline and swap places between the study and the bath/daybed rooms.
There are a number of reasons for this. It will move the traffic from the hall to run behind the furniture and alongside the stairway straight to the kitchen where everyone's going anyway. It will concentrate the plumbing on the same side of the house. The studio will be facing the good side. The area under the stairs may be used in conjunction with either of those little rooms.
Also, in many homes, particularly older ones with classic floorplans, the front door opens into a hall that divides the house similar to yours and the stairway is incorporated into that entry/hall area. This is just a general idea but you may be able to make a larger space for the entry by combining the stairway and hall into one space to address the confined feeling mentioned by the others.
- r
This is the house that you asked about the foundation a year or more back? Maybe that was someone else? Are you grandfathered in and pretty much stuck with this footprint?
I think I like what's going on with the exterior, but it's a little hard to tell with only 1 elevation.
Here are a bunch of random thoughts about the inside...
Regarding the 1st floor, the kitchen has no wall cabinets (or place to put some). Even if you don't cook much you still need some storage area for dishes, glasses, and food, which for the most part are normally kept in wall cabinets. Do you really need 3 windows in the kitchen? It looks like one window is already behind the fridge...
Personally I like the way the previous poster turned the stairs. It would open up the foyer area a bit. A coat closet could go under the upper flight of stairs.
What is the purpose of the day bed room? Is that actually to be used as a bedroom? I see you have a full bath on the first floor. It's a bit unusual to have a full bath on a floor without a bedroom - perhaps you intend to actually use the day bed room as a bedroom? It's kinda tiny...
Without the day bed room the front hall would not be so long. BTW - as far as getting along with building officials/etc, on the plans, I'd call it something other than "day bed" if you are indeed limited to 2 bedrooms. Like maybe "library"? Above you said you can have 3 bedrooms due to the septic - was that a typo? It really looks like you have 2 bedrooms, both upstairs.
Could you loose the day bed room, make the living room bigger, and maybe put a peninsula between he kitchen and living room - perhaps even with wall type cabinets hung from the ceiling? Then scale down the island some - it's quite big for a house of that size. I know open floor plans are very popular these days, but you still need some definition between the different living spaces. Do you really need 2 back doors? Loosing the one by the kitchen might help the K. layout... Maybe the K could be laid out more like a horse-shoe with no island and an 'L' shaped peninsula?
What is the area to be used for that has the words "VAULT CEILING" in it. At first I thought it was a dining area, but then you have the nook area right there.... Maybe the nook is for seating rather than a table? In my part of the country, "nook" means an eating area.
Regarding the window/door wall that spans the living room and the area labeled "VAULT CEILING" - what is the idea there? Trying to take advantage of the afternoon sun or something? Is there a view in that direction? Is the idea to have a deck and outdoor living area there? Just speaking from a practal standpoint as a builder you may have trouble getting the needed sheer values with all that glass in one wall.... Also, you might want to think about going with patio doors (one operable door) unless you really think you will open both doors of the french doors. French doors (2 operable panels) tend to be more problematic.
Regarding the "Study", would it be better to have french doors that could fold all the way back into the room thereby opening up the foyer area a bit? - maybe a double 2-8 rather than a double 3-0?
Do you need some kind of mechanical room on the 1st floor for the water heater and air handler? Maybe that goes in the crawl space? Or maybe the air handler goes in the attic? Do you need a duct chase someplace?
Regarding the upstairs, would it be possible to make the upper hall smaller and increase the size of the bath? Would it be a good idea to try and figure out how to get a door between one of the bedrooms and the bath making a 2 door bathroom? Is the idea to actually sleep downstairs? If not, having the laundry upstairs would be a plus... I really don't know how many people might live there...
Edited 9/1/2007 3:30 pm ET by Matt
Edited 9/1/2007 3:36 pm ET by Matt
matt....hay thanks for advise
yes this is the hoouse i lifted for the new foundation, just tring to get the final details in the framing dialed in for the permitsyea the house is grandfathered in so i cant change the foundation,,the kitchen is located in the "rear" of the house because that is where the best light is.
the day bed of what i like to call the captins bed is there because i just like the feature of being about to nap or read in good light and in a cozy setting...the study... could also have a pull out sofa for guest,,,its not a beadroom without a closet..
i will be living here by-myself and i do do alot of cooking which has been worked out in the new plans...the nook is just that eating causaly this also may be a vacation rental its my nest egg
I was just throwing out a bunch of ideas. I build smaller homes and it's always a challange to get good function when you don't have "card banc" on space.
I liked what the other poster said above about dual purpose areas. And, regarding the Captain's bed, I think there are ways to get the "cosy" feel with out being totally enclosed. I think Sarah Susanka may have discussed these things in her "Not So Big House" book although to tell you the truth I haven't read it. Another book that talks about design in a more general sense is "A Pattern Language". I'd bet these books would be available at the library - not that I'm real big on the library, but they might well be "one time usage" type of books.
I'd be interested to see how the project develops. Post some of the updated designs.
Edited 9/4/2007 8:18 am ET by Matt
Glad you finally went to a designer. It's amazing the number of people who have problems spending any money at all on overall house design but then have no problem dropping some four figure number on sayfor example, Italian marble..... To only be installed in a house that's ill fitting to the site and ill designed internally. BTW, I'm an architect that specializes in going to homes and coming up with a solution on the clients dining room table in a few hours.
I agree with the others on the long hall situation. Don't know the thinking behind the "day bed" area of course but is it possible to combine that with the study? I'm thinking a pull out sofa deal in a room with your desk. It will yield a larger room that will serve both functions better. In small houses it's imparative that spaces serve dual functions otherwise there's a bunch of little compartments, all of which do nothing well and everything mediocre.
Corners are valuable in any room. They help define the room as well as provide wall space. Any way to move the hallway to come in along the bottom wall and maybe the stair going over to the dayroom area like Richard AIA suggested? That would give you lot's of square footage for the study and bathroom. You could even then get two doora into the bath, one from the hall and one from the study for a guestroom/study combo room. It would also allow you to define the living room better as well as providing the opportunity of a window or two (even high ones) on the hallway to remove the "long dark walk" feel that exists now.
Runner Guy
You might consider making one or both sets of French Doors swing out.
Swing out doors.... hummm... what's the pros and cons?
so, what do the plans look like these days?
just about the same, i though about moving the stairs but decided it would kinda screw up the floor plan upstairs to...the hall is widenough to where it dont seem to tunneling..so far i like it i rolled the the deck of the second floor today pics, tomorrow..
You have some good advice outlined above. Granted none of us know your lifestyle, your needs and wants.
hay yes the advise recieved was very good...thanks
i just needed to get the stairs in ASAP ...to try and beat the weather...they can in will be moved ....i have much bigger fish to fry first..like getting this mamma dried in ...i missed beeting the weather by 1 day ...
i got tar paper on her roof today and will have comp on her next week..this has been a huge project for me..im not a framer..but learned to be one very quickly, thanks to some very great articals in the F.B, magizines..my favorite tool on the project was the robo toolz laser gimble plumb bobas you may remember this is the house i lifted last winter..again thanks for all the wonderful imput
Congrats - looks like a real extreme home makeover... :-)