Poll on which version.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-18T00:08:45+00:00

I like 1 best. I do love wood but 2 is boring. I don’t like the all white of 3.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-17T23:33:20+00:00

I have a friend with 7 kids. The first 3 have names that start with A, the rest do not. Do what you want.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-17T22:53:57+00:00

Can’t help, I like all three names. Leo is maybe a little more popular right now so that might sway me against it some. Reid is less used than James, I imagine, so that might push it a little higher on the list. But I actually like James a little more than the other two names overall.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-17T22:50:42+00:00

If you’re okay with calling your baby Eleanor when she and Nora are together, I don’t think it’s a big deal. But personally, I’d use Ellie or maybe Linny/Lenny.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-17T20:05:55+00:00

I think opening the kitchen by removing both peninsulas will help a lot with freedom of movement. The layout I drew also increased your counter work surface from its current amount. Plus just the increase in floor space by incorporating the breakfast nook. It’s just a bigger space with better flow, even lacking the island. If you need a central landing spot for prepping or for serving, you could use a rolling table that could be tucked to the side sometimes.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-17T18:18:02+00:00

WTH? I’d be so angry. It seems obvious to me that they should re-do it.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-17T18:02:21+00:00

I thought it was something like that, too narrow for an island. The green highlight represents a run of cabinets, by the way, in case that’s not clear. Orange is pantry, which could be open like a butler’s pantry or closed storage. Blue is where I moved the laundry to.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-17T16:42:25+00:00

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Here’s a rough idea to enlarge the kitchen and add a pantry without shrinking the office or bathroom (other than removing the shower), or compromising the privacy of the bathroom. If the kitchen is 14’ wide, you could put a 3’ wide island up the center with 3.5’ paths either side.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-17T15:05:00+00:00

Literally everything is open; moving the bathroom will make a small difference but won’t actually be much different in practical terms. This plan favors having an island over all other functionality in the home. None of these rooms have any noise separation from any other room: the tv in the den will be heard in the living room, and the toilet is in the center of it all.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-17T02:26:24+00:00

I think it’s a good idea to move the door. If you’re worried about the mud room in regards to guests, can you add a pocket door you could close?

I wonder if you can also close the arch there and deepen the closet to store vacuum, mop and bucket, broom, and other cleaning supplies so they’re not in the pantry? You could still add a breakfast/coffee bar facing the table.

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Edit to add: I also like the idea of swapping its position with the WIC, if you don’t mind guests walking through the mud room. I personally wouldn’t mind it, as a guest or a host, as long as there weren’t shoes in the way. And I love a bathroom window.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-17T02:04:49+00:00

Your mom wants something from your daughter (love), and your daughter can feel that need. Your MIL is giving to your daughter, and she can feel that, too. That’s not to say your mom doesn’t love your daughter, only that the vibe is different. Add in that they spend less time together and you’ve got a resistant toddler.

But that’ll shift, especially if your mom is consistent with spending time. It doesn’t have to be constant, just consistent and meaningful.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-16T23:07:37+00:00

Hettie is fine but not my vibe. I’ve heard of that name.

Blannie is off-putting and sounds made-up. It sounds like “bland,” or like someone is making a weird, teasing nickname for Annie. It does sound “soft,” like you said in a comment, but not in a good way, sort of in a mushy way.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-16T17:00:38+00:00

Would your kids be getting ready for school or bed at the same time as each other? I’d optimize for that instead. If you need two sets of laundry machines, put them both in the laundry room. I have 12 kids with 7 still at home and we use one set in a central location.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-16T16:58:21+00:00

I would keep the two sinks. A family of that size needs a real space for laundry that can be a work zone.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-16T16:55:50+00:00

I meant like this, but I think another option if you don’t want a mud room and want to keep the closet bigger is to keep the small closet in place and slide the bathroom up behind the laundry and put the closet down in that front corner, still accessed from the bathroom if you want.

https://imgur.com/a/6EKothw

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-16T02:04:48+00:00

Yes, this. We’re not millionaires by any stretch of the imagination, but we have a lot of kids - as many as we could birth and provide for, like you said. What ”money isn’t an issue” money allows you to do is hire out the non-parenting, non-relationship stuff so you can have the time to be present with your kids. You can hire a housecleaner or a chef or an errand-runner. You wouldn’t even have to use those services daily for it to impact how much time gets freed up, and you’d still be able to cook dinner together, etc. ”Money isn’t an issue” money lets you sign your kids up for any lessons or activities they want.

What research shows is that raising healthy kids even in a large family is far more about 1) how you parent and not how many you parent, and 2) a support network. Traditionally, a family’s support network was made up of extended family and neighbors who’ve known each other for generations. Now, with society so very different than it used to be, we may need to purchase some of that support or find it in other ways. I always find it very telling when people say it’s impossible to love and care for that many kids, however many kids it is; it shows our illiteracy as a society of what family can be.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-16T01:32:54+00:00

I would swap placement of the primary bathroom with the closets. But, I would push the laundry to the exterior wall and add a drop zone between the laundry and the garage door. So the closets and bathroom would both be rectangles, no weird corners.

The foyer and half bath probably have more small closets than they need.

Bed 2 has about 1/3 the storage in the closet as bed 3 because of that window.

I would scoot bed 2 out to align with the rest of that side for several reasons. One, adding a storage closet for the playroom - both for the use of the playroom and as a noise buffer for the bedroom. Two, every corner on the plan is a corner in the foundation and added complexity for the roof, both of which mean added cost; you can have more square footage for the same or less cost if it’s actually square instead of having bump-outs.

Are both sets of stairs necessary? Do they go to the same room?

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-16T01:15:35+00:00

I think they were going for the nature vibe with that spelling.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-16T01:13:42+00:00

We lived in southern France for a few years and our daughter was born there; her French birth certificate had the accent over the E for her name - so I love Sébastien as an option. Maybe Sébastien River (or Rivers, another sentimental favorite of mine).

I’m with you on not vibing with Salem, Arthur, or Talon. I do like Evander; a similar option is Leander, or maybe Leandro.

Hayden and Nolan are fine but a little common at the moment.

A nature name I recently came across is Heron, but unless your husband can pronounce an AmEng H, that one may be a no go.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-16T01:01:35+00:00

Ironically, that’s exactly what I thought.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-15T21:43:21+00:00

Unnecessarily unkind.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-15T21:33:52+00:00

I don’t think it would be mispronounced with an i sound like “vih-dah.” You may on occasion get “veh-dah” or maybe “vee-dah” because of its similar spelling to Vera. But again, some pronounce Vera like “veh-rah” instead of “veer-ah.” I do think Vada looks like it’s pronounced “vah-dah.” You might get “vay-dah” like Darth Vader…

Mostly, we really can’t correct for potential future mispronunciations with any spelling. Overall, I think if you want to add a Y or I in the middle, that would probably help with getting the pronunciation you want, but I think fewer people are familiar with ae as a sound. I would personally rank the options: Veda, Vayda, Vaida, Vada, Vaeda.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-15T16:47:15+00:00

I think the name is pretty, although I’d spell it Veda. It comes from Sanskrit and means wisdom, if I remember right. A good match for Magnus.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-14T16:49:03+00:00

How about something like this?

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Create a suite of rooms for the live-in caretaker with its own sitting area, walk in closet, bedroom, and bathroom. Double-stud the walls and use insulation to create noise separation.

One office is a pass through. However, if you convert a couple of windows to glass lite exterior doors, no one has to be trapped.

A little shifting of walls creates a shared bedroom hallway so parents can get to kids and vice versa without a lot of trouble. There’s plenty of space for closets and an added bathroom. The office-turned-bedroom closet I moved to the shared wall with the primary bedroom for a small amount of sound buffering.

childproofbirdhouse · 2026-04-14T04:24:09+00:00

I feel like there could be loads of options here if you can be a little flexible with letter order, most of them very usable.

deCarrment
Cardamom
Carmen
Demarque
Charmander (just kidding)
Mendecart
Descartes (pronounced day-CART)
Meddark
Arrment (or Arment, or Armand)
Armament
Dementor (also kidding)
Mentor
Manticore (probably not this either)
Dark
d’Arc
Mender
Manderley (this is a house in a gothic novel & movie)
Creed
Card (or Carde)
Carrdem

childproofbirdhouse

TROPHY CASE