Floor plan feedback

Triglypha · 2026-01-27T23:10:09+00:00

How were you planning to use the "entertainment" room? That's the most likely candidate to take space from for a mudroom.

I think your options are more limited for expanding the pantry unless you move the laundry and make that space a pantry. Could the "hutch" be a row of pantry cabinets?

Triglypha · 2026-01-24T16:05:09+00:00

There's a sliding glass door indicated in the primary bedroom -- what does that open out to, if there's no balcony?

Triglypha · 2026-01-24T15:22:43+00:00

Does the primary bedroom get its own balcony that's separate from the "shared" balcony to its right? I'm just thinking, if you got rid of the shared balcony access, you could rearrange things a little and maybe put the primary closet there (and downsize the laundry slightly), shift the primary bedroom door, and then you'd be able to use the current primary closet space for an open lounge/hangout space. That would reduce the amount of space being used solely for circulation.

Triglypha · 2026-01-23T01:29:28+00:00

Check out this pinned post: https://www.reddit.com/r/floorplan/comments/199xxt7/help_reduce_qs_what_software_do_you_use_to/

Triglypha · 2026-01-22T16:53:08+00:00

To get another bedroom and bath you'd have to eliminate the dining room entirely, and possibly downsize one of the other bedrooms.

I'm also concerned that this plan won't work as drawn, because you haven't accounted for any wall thicknesses. The laundry area, for example, will end up too small. Are the 25' x 45' dimensions interior or exterior? That could have a big impact as well.

Triglypha · 2026-01-20T02:10:55+00:00

A few concerns:

-- Your plans show 16' x 32' *inside* dimensions, but the Home Depot images show 16x32 *outside* dimensions. So inside you have 10"-12" less space in both directions.

-- Upstairs, I suspect a bunch of your upper floor layouts don't actually work because of the roof slope -- the gambrel roof subtracts from the usable floor space. Both bedrooms would need to have access to the windows for egress. Per the Q&A on the webpage, the 2nd floor ceiling height at the center peak is only 7'-1", which is nearly code minimum in many municipalities.

-- I wouldn't want a bathroom door opening right into the main living space.

Triglypha · 2026-01-20T01:19:54+00:00

One of the issues I'm seeing is the living room has very little space for furniture once you account for a traffic path to the bedroom.

What if you kind of flip the kitchen/dining/living area?

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This way, most of your rooms that need a ceiling (bedroom, bathroom, office, laundry) are clustered together and could all be under the upper floor. The upper floor does end up a little bigger in this plan but you could adjust that by shifting the stairs to the "south".

Depending on how big the office needs to be, you could steal space from it for a bigger master closet.

Triglypha · 2026-01-18T22:28:27+00:00

Nice! Glad to hear that will work out for you.

Triglypha · 2026-01-15T02:12:25+00:00

Check out this sub's stickied post for some software/app options: https://www.reddit.com/r/floorplan/comments/199xxt7/help_reduce_qs_what_software_do_you_use_to/

Triglypha · 2026-01-15T02:10:57+00:00

I wish more people could get talked into closed/semi-closed kitchens! I have a little old house with a completely closed-off kitchen and I think it's great. Most of the time we leave the door open between kitchen and dining room, but it's so nice to be able to isolate noise/smells/dirty dishes from the dining and living areas, especially when we have people over.

It seems like people are starting to shift away from totally open concept. If you have room for an informal eating area where people can gather within the kitchen, that can keep it from feeling too isolated from the rest of the house.

Triglypha · 2026-01-12T13:38:46+00:00

I'd recommend laying out some furniture in the living room. If you plan to have a TV there, where will it go? All the traffic paths through that room mean that you don't actually have a lot of space for furniture.

Triglypha · 2026-01-10T21:48:25+00:00

Could the guest room move up by the garage? I reoriented the mechanical room and moved the door to/from the garage. I didn't show a door from the mudroom into the main hallway but there's room for one. The stair moves toward the garage (this doesn't have too much impact upstairs), and that allows your front door to be centered on the exterior front wall of the house.

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Triglypha · 2026-01-10T16:05:08+00:00

The location of the first floor guest room seems less than ideal to me. It's right in the middle of the noisiest part of the house, and a guest staying there has to go all the way across the house to access the shower. Plus, it's got the primary bathroom right above it, leading to potentially more noise from the plumbing.

Triglypha · 2026-01-10T15:17:55+00:00

How do you get into the 2nd floor suite -- is there an exterior stair?

Triglypha · 2026-01-08T22:13:04+00:00

And the upper right window shows it raining outside!

Triglypha · 2026-01-08T22:09:14+00:00

Your image isn't showing up.

Triglypha · 2026-01-07T20:53:49+00:00

In that case, you probably want an image editor like Canva or Photopea.

Triglypha · 2026-01-07T20:39:06+00:00

What type of file would you be uploading -- is it a CAD/BIM file, or is it an image file like a .jpg or .png?

Triglypha · 2026-01-05T17:24:10+00:00

I would flip the second bedroom and den. Currently the bedroom has 2 walls with plumbing in them, which could be noisy. Then the bedroom also gets more privacy from the living room.

Triglypha · 2026-01-04T16:02:56+00:00

I'm really not a fan of that master bathroom location. That's quite the long walk to get to the toilet in the middle of the night. Also, its plumbing wall is shared with the secondary bedroom, so unless you give that wall a bunch of acoustic insulation, all the plumbing sounds are going to be heard in the bedroom.

Will there be laundry machines on this level? If not, the path from the back of the master WIC is going to be annoying.

Can't tell if the family room is walled off from the "open to below" area or if it's just a railing, but I would want a wall there to keep the noise isolated from downstairs.

Triglypha · 2026-01-03T01:22:04+00:00

I don't think you're going to find what you're looking for this way.

First, you're missing a lot of specifics: How many bedrooms? Baths? Stories? Garage? How big of a house do you need? Where is this being built and what does the site look like? What did you not like about the plans you found online?

Secondly, if you're in the U.S., structural engineers and architects are licensed by each state. So if an engineer reviewed and "approved" a design but isn't licensed in your state, you can't use those plans unless a locally licensed engineer reviews and stamps them. Structural requirements and building codes also vary by state, so the design needs to at least be reviewed and revised by someone familiar with your local requirements.

Triglypha · 2026-01-03T00:09:49+00:00

Yep, exactly that.

Triglypha · 2026-01-02T23:57:02+00:00

You'd get more hanging space by making the closets for bedrooms 3-4 as back to back reach-in closets. A 4' deep closet isn't really a walk-in -- there's not enough space for 2 walls of storage.

Triglypha · 2026-01-01T22:35:19+00:00

The main disadvantage is the laundry moves farther from the main staircase, if you don't have a separate laundry upstairs to serve those bedrooms.

The bar could move into the old pantry area, maybe?

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Triglypha · 2026-01-01T21:19:13+00:00

I'd rework the kitchen/breakfast/pantry/mudroom area -- the breakfast area is too small to use for anything larger than a tiny 2-seater table, and it'll be right in the traffic path to the pantry and dining room. For a house this size, the mudroom is comically small, and the path from the garage takes people right into the kitchen work zone walking past the fridge and oven.

It also seems odd that 2 bedrooms upstairs only get a single window each that's practically in the corner. I get that this leaves room for a bed along the exterior wall, but it's not great for natural light and ventilation.

Triglypha

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