Choosing a house floor plan

[Happyinwonerland]

We are in the very, very early stages of choosing a floor plan for our next house and I am stresing over this far too much.

There are 2 floor plans that I really like, but neither is 100% perfect. They are roughly the same price.

Option A is 3074 square feet. It has 9' ceiling throughout, a 2 story entryway, a formal dining room, a very nice open kitchen/breakfast/family room with a guest bedroom/office downstairs, as well as a covered patio. Upstairs are the 3 more bedrooms, 2 baths and a master suite with sitting area and a very luxurious bathroom. Off the master is a covered deck. This option would definitely feel the most upscale.

Cons: There is no drop zone, no formal living, and no loft. I'm sure I can put in a makeshift drop zone in the garage, but its not quite the same feel. This biggest cons are the missing loft and the smaller square footage. I like to entertain and we host about 3 large-ish (20-40 guests) parties per year, so I'd like to have room for everyone.

Option B is 3700 square feet. Downstairs is a formal living room and dining room, plus an open kitchen /living/family room. There is also a drop zone and an option for a pocket office. Upstairs are the master and three bedrooms, plus a very large loft that would be used as a play area. All of the rooms in this house are bigger than option A.

The biggest draw to this house is the large great room and dining room for entertaining, plus the loft for DD to use as a play area and then hangout area in the future. In our current house, which is 1575 square feet, entertaining is tight. This house would be so great for parties.

The biggest downside to this house is that it just feels kind of regular. The porch is small, the entryway is not exciting, and i think the ceilings are 8 feet in this plan.There are some upgrades we could do which would help, but it does not have the wow factor of the other house. Something about the kitchen in this one bugs me too, even though it is larger than the other house. It is also so big. Once we finish the basement we will be looking at close to 5000 sq. feet for 3 people and 2 dogs.

We would build either house on a walkout basement, which we could finish after letting the concrete settle after a year. That might help with my need for entertaining space.

So, which would you do, everyday luxury or or more space? I have changed my mind so many times over the past few months!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I had trouble finding plans that were just right for us. So, I designed our house on an excel spreadsheet & took it to an architect to draw up the blueprints. There's no reason you should settle for plans that don't 100% suit you.

 

[minniecarousel]

That's tough! We lived in a 3200 sq ft home that had nice touches & was perfect for our family holidays. But it always felt too "hoity-toity". We needed to down-size & now live in a 2200 sq ft, single story home. We use the living room as a formal dining room (had a chandelier put in to make it a dining room). It works for a sit-down Thanksgiving for 25 people. I sometimes miss the prettier house, but this one suits us better.

I guess it depends on how much entertaining you do. You'll live there day-to-day so it needs to be comfortable for YOU! It kinda sounds like the prettier, slightly smaller house appeals to you more. We laugh - my siblings said we could move from the big house, as long as we could still host all the holidays! (Ha-ha!)

 

[Happyinwonerland]

The smaller house would be easier to have "Company ready", Especially with the downstairs office right there off the family room, I could just shove any clutter in there and shut the door! And it would be easier as far as sweeping and mopping, etc. I also worry about furnishing the bigger house. A formal living room and a loft command extra furniture, which adds to the expense. And I guess the heat bill would be much higher in the winters with the extra square feet.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I had trouble finding plans that were just right for us. So, I designed our house on an excel spreadsheet & took it to an architect to draw up the blueprints. There's no reason you should settle for plans that don't 100% suit you.

A custom home sounds nice, but we don't quite have that budget. I'd like to stay in the city and the neighborhood I want I would have to go with this builder's plans. If we did a custom home, we would have to move further out than I want to be. Plus there's the hassle of a construction loan.

 

[Wendy31]

I'd go w/ the bigger house, if I could make the porch bigger & talk to the builder about ways to make the foyer to feel a bit grander.

I need a "drop zone," & I like the idea of a loft. Of course, you'll eventually have the basement for extra "play space," but how soon?

 

[Mirielle]

I admire anyone who can come up with a home design and stick with it. My poor dad was an architect and I nearly drove him to an early grave when we sat down together to come up with a house plan for me. After much drama on my part the idea was scrapped and I bought a house already designed by someone else. Best of luck to you!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When we had our house built I don't even remember how many house plans by how many builders we looked at. The plan we ended up with we modified to suit our needs with a few things that just didn't pan out. There are plenty of custom builders near me but they also cost $$ when you want to change a bunch. Our builder doesn't do as much customization but also has a lower price point and a bonus is they do all their home energy star rated as opposed to the higher end builders who usually only have the upper price point homes as energy star rated.

Our drop zone is the mud room which basically any new home here will have that. Sometimes it's actually a small room and other times, like in our house, it's right where you come in from the garage and you have that built in area with the hooks and cubby holes. That's also where our coat closet is. It's very rare for homes to have coat closets in the front of the homes nowadays near me; it's usually by the garage entrance.

Are you guys having a specified builder do the house or did you buy the plan with the intent of just hiring a contractor? There were some changes that we did that didn't cost us any money. Depending on your route there might be some small changes that you can do that may not cost you any money or minimal money.

Just mentioning here that while many people see larger sq footage equals larger utility bill that can actually have a lot to do with how your house is built including the layout and what appliances such as furnace you have.

We had a 1500 sq foot 1 story starter home rental house for 18 months that was built in 2006 before moving into our current home. Our house is over 2700 sq ft 2 story home completed in Sep 2014. Our utility bills are actually lower (aside from the water bill due to watering and maintaining new grass), and by a decent chunk sometimes, than the rental house. The difference is the energy star rating which means they seal up the house (though not too tight so it can't breathe) including putting spray foam insullation in every outlet (something that was evident the rental house didn't have when you could feel the air coming through) among other things and our furnace is about as energy efficient as you can get. We didn't change our temperature nor water habits either.

Don't let the planning overshadow some of that fun that you can have building your house.

 

[tvguy]

Had to look up drop zone, never heard that term. Learn something everyday. Only comment I have....based on a number of friends housing situations is, a 2 story house apparently gets old. That seems to be the most common reason anymore that my friends have moved, to get away from stairs and get a single story house.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Had to look up drop zone, never heard that term. Learn something everyday. Only comment I have....based on a number of friends housing situations is, a 2 story house apparently gets old. That seems to be the most common reason anymore that my friends have moved, to get away from stairs and get a single story house.

I LOVE 2 story homes. We bought our current home, a 2 story, 10 years ago and the stairs have never bothered me.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

When we had our house built I don't even remember how many house plans by how many builders we looked at. The plan we ended up with we modified to suit our needs with a few things that just didn't pan out. There are plenty of custom builders near me but they also cost $$ when you want to change a bunch. Our builder doesn't do as much customization but also has a lower price point and a bonus is they do all their home energy star rated as opposed to the higher end builders who usually only have the upper price point homes as energy star rated.

Our drop zone is the mud room which basically any new home here will have that. Sometimes it's actually a small room and other times, like in our house, it's right where you come in from the garage and you have that built in area with the hooks and cubby holes. That's also where our coat closet is. It's very rare for homes to have coat closets in the front of the homes nowadays near me; it's usually by the garage entrance.

Are you guys having a specified builder do the house or did you buy the plan with the intent of just hiring a contractor? There were some changes that we did that didn't cost us any money. Depending on your route there might be some small changes that you can do that may not cost you any money or minimal money.

Just mentioning here that while many people see larger sq footage equals larger utility bill that can actually have a lot to do with how your house is built including the layout and what appliances such as furnace you have.

We had a 1500 sq foot 1 story starter home rental house for 18 months that was built in 2006 before moving into our current home. Our house is over 2700 sq ft 2 story home completed in Sep 2014. Our utility bills are actually lower (aside from the water bill due to watering and maintaining new grass), and by a decent chunk sometimes, than the rental house. The difference is the energy star rating which means they seal up the house (though not too tight so it can't breathe) including putting spray foam insullation in every outlet (something that was evident the rental house didn't have when you could feel the air coming through) among other things and our furnace is about as energy efficient as you can get. We didn't change our temperature nor water habits either.

Don't let the planning overshadow some of that fun that you can have building your house.

We are going to have to go with a specific builder to get the neighborhood we want. While they allow some changes to floor plans, they usually specify what those options are on their floor plans on their website.

I could put cubbies and coat hooks in the garage just before the entry door and that would serve as a drop zone, but it wouldn't have the higher end built in look.

The builder is the same builder as our current home, so I magine the energy efficiency is about the same. This house is 13 1/2 years old though, so maybe things have improved in the past few years.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Had to look up drop zone, never heard that term. Learn something everyday. Only comment I have....based on a number of friends housing situations is, a 2 story house apparently gets old. That seems to be the most common reason anymore that my friends have moved, to get away from stairs and get a single story house.

I have always wanted a 2 story home. I like my bedrooms out of sight. I have never heard of a drop zone either. Learned something new today.

 

[tvguy]

I LOVE 2 story homes. We bought our current home, a 2 story, 10 years ago and the stairs have never bothered me.

Then you are good to go. Like I said, just struck me how many people recently that have moved did so to get away from having to go up and down stairs to the bedroom. Just something to think about when choosing a home. Paint and alot of other things are easy to change, stairs are forever.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Based on what you've said so far, I like option 1. - For it me it would be about the office and the patios! What you said about the kitchen also strikes me as important - you need to feel good in there! Entertaining will work itself out once you get the basement finished. (And this house will still feel bigger than the current one until then.)

I don't remember how old your DD is, but maybe you could have the office be her playroom for now, and then shuffle when the basement is done? I did that with DS in our current house. The people before us had a playroom in the basement, but he was only two when we moved in, so I took that as my craft room and made the dining room on the main floor his playroom, so I could keep a better eye on him. When he was older, we swapped. (We're not "formal dining room" people, so I didn't miss it.)

My only other advice is to consider storage. I've been working on de-cluttering lately, and have decided that if I ever design a house, there will be less out in plain sight, and more convenient storage!

 

[diznygirl]

We are going to have to go with a specific builder to get the neighborhood we want. While they allow some changes to floor plans, they usually specify what those options are on their floor plans on their website.

I could put cubbies and coat hooks in the garage just before the entry door and that would serve as a drop zone, but it wouldn't have the higher end built in look.

The builder is the same builder as our current home, so I magine the energy efficiency is about the same. This house is 13 1/2 years old though, so maybe things have improved in the past few years.

We got some things in our home that weren't mentioned as options on the plans: I moved two doors and they turned one into an archway. Simple things mostly, but being available to work with the builder really helped. You never know until you ask. They even made one end of the counter a little longer, even tho he told me he couldn't. LOL

I'd go with the house that would make you happier to live in every day and not worry about it being a little bigger for three events a year. You will fill the space you have and make it work.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Had to look up drop zone, never heard that term. Learn something everyday. Only comment I have....based on a number of friends housing situations is, a 2 story house apparently gets old. That seems to be the most common reason anymore that my friends have moved, to get away from stairs and get a single story house.

We went from a tri level to a 2 story and now a one story. Our next house will be either a tri level or a 2 story. We hate a single story. I need separation in my spaces.

 

[tvguy]

We went from a tri level to a 2 story and now a one story. Our next house will be either a tri level or a 2 story. We hate a single story. I need separation in my spaces.

Another thing to consider for sure. Our house is single story, but U shaped, family room on one end of the U, Master Bedroom on the other end, and the Living room in between with 2 bedrooms in front. We added a bedroom- 1/2 bath- laundry room onto the Family room end of the U and you can go 2 ways thru the Living room to get to the other end of the U. At least once a week DW or I will lose each other in opposite ends of the U. Plenty of separation, although after 34 years of marriage and 36 years together, we still LIKE to be together.

 

[North of Mouse]

Had to look up drop zone, never heard that term. Learn something everyday. Only comment I have....based on a number of friends housing situations is, a 2 story house apparently gets old. That seems to be the most common reason anymore that my friends have moved, to get away from stairs and get a single story house.

I agree about the 'stairs' - age has a way of making you 'look' at them differently . When we built 15 years ago, had the sense to put our 'master' downstairs, with the other 3 b'rooms/office up stairs. Now, we wish we had built a split ranch (master on one side - guest b'rooms opposite, with kitchen, dining, living in the center) and bonus/office upstairs. Love that plan, but probably won't ever build again - too much hassle.

Our builder was great to work with - changing things that could be changed to suit our needs/wants. Added 5 additional feet to one side of house to enlarge garage/kitchen/utility. Also added huge walk in closet upstairs. We are mostly very happy with our plans after 15 yrs. except not being on one floor.

We would 'never' have vaulted ceilings again - rather 10 ft. downstairs with coffered ceilings in living/dining/master areas (9ft. otherwise). And, no way would we 'ever' have 8ft. ceilings as a pp mentioned.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Based on what you've said so far, I like option 1. - For it me it would be about the office and the patios! What you said about the kitchen also strikes me as important - you need to feel good in there! Entertaining will work itself out once you get the basement finished. (And this house will still feel bigger than the current one until then.)

I don't remember how old your DD is, but maybe you could have the office be her playroom for now, and then shuffle when the basement is done? I did that with DS in our current house. The people before us had a playroom in the basement, but he was only two when we moved in, so I took that as my craft room and made the dining room on the main floor his playroom, so I could keep a better eye on him. When he was older, we swapped. (We're not "formal dining room" people, so I didn't miss it.)

My only other advice is to consider storage. I've been working on de-cluttering lately, and have decided that if I ever design a house, there will be less out in plain sight, and more convenient storage!

DD is 4. Option one acutually has a beautiful setup with 2 of the upstairs bedrooms adjoined by a jack and jill bath, so we could use one as a playroom and one as a bedroom.

As to storage, they both have sufficient room/closets for storage.

 

[Heidi K]

I would go with option 1. 3000 square feet seems huge to me, especially for just 3 people! It's hard to imagine needing more space than that, even when hosting large parties.