To create open space and efficiency, the guts of the house are all in the left third of the house. Things like the bathrooms, utilities, stairs and kitchen. Although our original ideas coincidentally reflected this thought, I have to thank local architect Bob Pineo for confirming the idea as a good one. The exterior reflects the interior division of space: the left third is staggered and cladded differently than the rest of the house. We will be choosing a lot of the finishes with Jeff as we build.
BASEMENT: This will be unfinished. These plans are for the future. Because the only windows have to be in the rear because of the slope, we had to put the guest bedroom in the back.
FIRST FLOOR: The first floor is wide open. The only walls are between the kitchen and the front of the house. Lisa had the idea of making this entryway a huge circle. The front of the house will be the living room, behind that is free space for the kids and a built-in platform lounge bed. The kitchen is all Ikea. We pieced it together using the kitchen catalog. The rear patio is about 5 feet below the first floor. There is a small landing with steps down to the patio. We will have about 50-60 feet behind the house to the back of our lot.
SECOND FLOOR: There will be an open railing between the stairs and the hallway and a window in the stairwell. The laundry closet is toward the front of the upstairs to save a lot of lugging up and down. We love closet space. The large closets in all of the rooms act as sound buffers between rooms. The bathroom fixtures will be Ikea, too.
Looks great guys! So exciting!I only had one thought. I had a laundry closet in the hall before and I found it a bit challenging as the laundry amount grew with my family. You might want to consider overlapping the stairway by two to three feet on the top floor (beside the laundry closet). This shouldn't interfere with head clearance as you walk up the stairs, but could allow another 2-3 feet beside the washer to create a "tower" of shelves for laundry baskets. Easier for sorting whites, colors, clean, dirty. I realize this would bring a door change issue. But laundry is a huge part of life! Or it could afford you one more closet.
ReplyDeleteJust curious if those are built-in nightstands by the master bed? And is your kitchen sink under the window? I couldn't tell. Lyndee