Queen_Zarga Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I read the small house thread with interest. I saw many people commenting about the layout of the house making all of the difference. I'm curious what you mean by this--do you have some specific examples? Are long hallways bad because they take up otherwise livable space? What kind of flow makes the house good? I'm assuming lots of big closets are good. I tried to find some floorplans online that we could critique, but I don't know if that would help. some KB Home plans a DR Horton plan. This one has a great room. Is all of that open space desirable or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I think "good floor plan" varies by family. My house has an EXTREMELY open (but tiny) floor plan. What I wouldn't give for a little more privacy and defined rooms!:glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 In our current house (about 2,000 sq ft, I think) all the rooms are a really good size and there's not much wasted space. There's one piece of odd layout, however, due to the age/adaptation of the house (front porch opens straight into dining room). We just don't use that room for dining (feels odd to do so) but we have a book case as a room divider and use that corner as our homeschooling room. One day, we'll extend the kitchen and make a new dining room.... I'm not a big fan of great rooms, as I like having smaller rooms with doors to shut, to control noise. I also find temperature control hard if ceilings are too high (as they often are in great rooms). Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in Austin Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I think it is all about storage. Rooms feel small when they are cluttered, but larger when all of the junk is behind a closet door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I like most of the space to be in common living areas rather than in bedrooms. We have about 1900 square feet in our house, and the majority of it is in our 4 bedrooms (the smallest one is 12 by 12, and two of them are very large). So we use the first floor master as a schoolroom/playroom, which makes the house feel really spacious to me. I also prefer multiple mid-sized rooms to giant multi-purpose rooms, but I don't know if that's more about good use of space or personal preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Have a look at this site: http://www.houseplans.com You can modify with a pencil and dream, dream, dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I really prefer more small rooms rather than open space, partly because our storage needs lean heavily toward shelving, which is easier with more walls to put them on!! :) Also, I really like having defined spaces -- a kitchen that is ONLY a kitchen, without a breakfast nook or computer nook or whatever. It's small, but it does exactly what I need it to do. I have a strong preference for a separate dining room, because then you don't have to leave room between the table and the rest of the room to "define the space"... so the dining table can almost fill the room. Other than that, our house feels bigger than a lot of other houses of about the same size (1600-1700sqft) that we looked at, I think because the flow of traffic goes in a loop through all the public rooms -- the living room, the dining room, the kitchen and the den -- but avoids the bedrooms altogether. It's like there are two completely separate sections to the house and you don't feel like you're always hitting dead ends. A lot of the similar-sized houses we looked at had the same number and size of rooms, but one might be "tacked on" to the side (like a converted porch), where it wasn't convenient to anything. That did tend to make the house feel smaller. The one thing that I think would make our house feel bigger is more light. It's a 1970s ranch, and the smaller windows probably help the heating bills, but more light would be nice too. It can feel a little too grey when the sun isn't coming in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen_Zarga Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 Have a look at this site: http://www.houseplans.com You can modify with a pencil and dream, dream, dream. That's a really fun site. Thanks for the link! I really prefer more small rooms rather than open space, partly because our storage needs lean heavily toward shelving, which is easier with more walls to put them on!! :) Also, I really like having defined spaces -- a kitchen that is ONLY a kitchen, without a breakfast nook or computer nook or whatever. It's small, but it does exactly what I need it to do. I have a strong preference for a separate dining room, because then you don't have to leave room between the table and the rest of the room to "define the space"... so the dining table can almost fill the room. Other than that, our house feels bigger than a lot of other houses of about the same size (1600-1700sqft) that we looked at, I think because the flow of traffic goes in a loop through all the public rooms -- the living room, the dining room, the kitchen and the den -- but avoids the bedrooms altogether. It's like there are two completely separate sections to the house and you don't feel like you're always hitting dead ends. A lot of the similar-sized houses we looked at had the same number and size of rooms, but one might be "tacked on" to the side (like a converted porch), where it wasn't convenient to anything. That did tend to make the house feel smaller. The one thing that I think would make our house feel bigger is more light. It's a 1970s ranch, and the smaller windows probably help the heating bills, but more light would be nice too. It can feel a little too grey when the sun isn't coming in. Your description is very helpful. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 When we were house shopping last spring, we found that a lot of newer places had massive bathrooms. If you compared an older home to a newer one with similar square footage, the older ones seemed to have a better division of space. I don't need a lot of space in my bathroom. I would rather have that space allocated to another room. The closets were also gigantic. Don't get me wrong, I love big closets and lots of them. I just don't need to be able to turn kart wheels in them. I also found that there was a lot of wasted space in kitchens. They had a lot of open floor space where, I suppose, you could put an island or something, but often it wasn't really configured for that. But, these are all personal tastes. What feels right for one person is not going to feel right for another. Some people might just like being able to put a small couch in their half bath, I am just not one of them. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 (edited) I think it varies by preference. We have 3130 sq ft (4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 story), but the layout is very unique. I won't go into the specifics, it would take DAYS to explain. LOL Suffice it to say that in the living/kitchen/dining area, it is all open....like a loft area. The bathroom and office are not open to the rest of the area, but the flow is good and the rooms are large. However, in the bedroom area, there is a lot of division. I have actually had people get "turned around" in my house and start walking through the wrong doors. It is very closed off and private in the sleeping areas and actually, there are two little "suites" as well as large walk-in closets. Dh and I each have one and we have one under the stairs and one in the hallway. Because of the way the architect designed the bedrooms (to our desires), there is a long hallway that probably seems like wasted space. However, I enjoy the privacy there, so to us, it is perfect "wated space." :) The we have the stairwell and the man cave. Those are both open even though the manroom has a door that locks and closes off the "man stuff." :) (MY preference) Edited March 2, 2009 by Tree House Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doran Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 ...a book by Sarah Susanka called The Not So Big House. ...and a site called Architectural House Plans. Two years ago we four (plus two cats and a pet bird) moved from 1000 sq. ft. to 1200 sq. ft. There are some concessions when living in a smaller space, but priorities for us are: (1) A well thought out kitchen, since this is where most of the family gathers and, ideally, one that communicates with the eating/family areas. A "flex room", if you can have it, is another great feature -- someplace to get away from it all, if you can work it out. Bedrooms are not our first concern because, really, all we do in them is sleep, and store clothes. Closets are important, but many standard closets require more shelving to make them really functional. Finally, height of ceilings and numbers of windows can make even a small space feel more open and roomy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Layout makes a difference for us. Our previous home was 1200 sf. Our current home is 2000 sf. Besides some of the character I miss about the former home this home has a terrible laundry room. It's the mud room and there is no where to spread out laundry. I got spoiled from having my own room previously. Our home is 70s ranch and has a living room and an large family room. We turned the formal living room into a dining room. It's almost too big for that, so it became the classroom. Our kitchen is an eat-in galley kitchen which has the worse space planning I've seen. Okay maybe it was state of the art 35 years ago, but not now. The family room is a nice sized, but is oddly laid out. There are 4 doorways, a fireplace that takes up one wall, built in bookcases on another and furniture placement has always been an issue. There is just something "off" about the room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I read the small house thread with interest. I saw many people commenting about the layout of the house making all of the difference. I'm curious what you mean by this--do you have some specific examples? Are long hallways bad because they take up otherwise livable space? What kind of flow makes the house good? I'm assuming lots of big closets are good. I tried to find some floorplans online that we could critique, but I don't know if that would help. some KB Home plans a DR Horton plan. This one has a great room. Is all of that open space desirable or not? Remember in the DR Horton Plan you have to consider the noisiness of the dishwasher and TV that will basically be in one room. It's nice to watch tv and prepare food, but is it reasonable to have it all basically one? If your kitchen is a disaster you see if from all places and visa versa. There's no hiding. I'd hate it personally. It'll all look messy unless your Mrs. Clutter-free-clean. As far as the others, I'd think one story is better. You're wasting a ton of space w/steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen_Zarga Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 Thanks for the great feedback. Just to clarify, we aren't moving. This was just for my own curiosity (I think I've just been watching too much HGTV lately). Our house is quite roomy and I think it is laid out reasonably well, but I always wonder what people mean when they talk about a well laid-out home. We do need to remodel the kitchen at some point though... I've never been a big fan of the "great room" and it looks like I'm in good company. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommylawyer Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I'm another one with a house built in the early 1970s. It's terrible - we have so much wasted space in our home, not to mention, the few closets we have are microscopic and there is no separate laundry room - our w/d are tucked away in a small space at the back of our kitchen. My husband LOVED the tiny houses website and is giving thought to building one onto our existing structure, by way of a breezeway. My husband gets wild ideas like that sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Thanks for the great feedback. Just to clarify, we aren't moving. This was just for my own curiosity (I think I've just been watching too much HGTV lately). Our house is quite roomy and I think it is laid out reasonably well, but I always wonder what people mean when they talk about a well laid-out home. We do need to remodel the kitchen at some point though... I've never been a big fan of the "great room" and it looks like I'm in good company. :001_smile: I don't mind a great room as long as my kitchen isn't "in" it. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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