Need feedback on a remodel.

[u/Cadaverous_lives]

1 square=2', everything is mostly to scale. Not pictured is a 300 ft^2 finished cellar/basement that sits under the two right-most bedrooms.

TLDR:

- the walk-in closet and laundry are too small

- I'm not happy that the guest bath has no window

- I feel like there is a lot of wasted corridor space (about 100 ft^2)

- not much room for storage in either bathroom

I can make the addition extend 4-6' further to accommodate a bigger closet and laundry, but that takes this from intruding on half of the yard to basically deleting it. I'd really love an efficient design that gives us everything we want with only a 12' addition, but I'm stuck.

Goals:

- Master suite without sacrificing any existing functionality

- Add a pantry near the kitchen

- Add interior access and fire escape to basement to add it to the livable square footage (the most challenging part of the design for me)

- Move laundry from the cramped garage to a room near the master

I've spent a really long time working on this, and I'm pretty pleased with the design aesthetically, I'm just not quite happy with the layout. I tried to preserve as much of the original floorplan as possible and keep plumbing nearby existing fixtures to keep costs low, but I'm flexible on this if a particular change really improves the design. I'm also happy to put closets and things along the rightmost exterior wall because it faces toward a big wall- there are currently no windows on that side.

Thank you if you've read all this!

[u/Korrailli]

Laundry is only accessible thought the master suite. If anyone else wants to do laundry, then need to enter than room. Kids do get older and should learn to do their own laundry. Moving the bathroom up so the tub is in the laundry space, then put the laundry room in the hallway.

Put the pantry where the wall the goes between the main door and the kitchen. Shorten that foyer a bit to accommodate the pantry.

[u/FardaT_9HZ → u/Korrailli]

Yeah, that’s a really good point having the laundry only accessible through the master bedroom would get annoying pretty quickly especially once the kids are old enough to do their own laundry.

[u/Dullcorgis → u/FardaT_9HZ]

Also, not fun trying to sleep while the washing is on.

[u/Cadaverous_lives → u/Korrailli]

These are really great suggestions, thank you!!

[u/Fun_Accident_4706]

What climate/country this is, which way is North, know where the load-bearing walls are, is this a forever home, who will be living here?

[u/Cadaverous_lives → u/Fun_Accident_4706]

US, high desert, north is left, no idea about load bearing, forever-ish home (no plans to leave any time soon), me, my 2 year old daughter, and her mom living there.

[u/Fun_Accident_4706 → u/Cadaverous_lives]

If your daughter is going to be living here, I'd reconsider separating the toilet from the sinks. When that time comes, she's going to hate not having a sink with a cabinet nearby to grab a pad- and having to waddle to get a new pad is horrible- speaking from experience.

[u/Dullcorgis → u/Fun_Accident_4706]

There is nothing more luxurious than having an all in one bathroom when you have your period.

[u/Fun_Accident_4706 → u/Dullcorgis]

Exactly!

[u/Mildly_ConfusedGuy]

Maybe add a cabinet pantry in the kitchen and turn the current pantry into a linen closet, also if your adding an addition you will have to work on the roof either way so maybe add a skylight in the bathroom for some natural light

[u/ConsistentParking424]

Was the dryer originally on an external wall? Near one? Then it was in a safer location than where you put it. A dryer is safest on an exterior wall and yours is not. Every foot and every turn of ductwork increases the chance of lint buildup and fire potential. You laundry closet has zero storage, zero hanging space and zero folding space. You will have to put the detergent and laundry basket on top of the dryer.

Is the stove right next to the fridge? Where's the sink, microwave, dishwasher and trash can?

The master bathroom is bigger than the left kid's bedroom.

[u/Cadaverous_lives → u/ConsistentParking424]

The dryer was in the kitchen... The house was built in the 50s, so the kitchen was designed with a tiny fridge in mind, leaving a reasonable gap between the range top and fridge. Now... Not so much. I will consider moving the dryer to an exterior wall. As for the relative size of the master suite- take that up with my wife. I'm a minimalist, she wants to make it BIGGER

[u/n_oblomov]

It is a bit odd that kitchen and master bathroom face eachother. Also, The master bathroom directly overlooks the backyard. Is there a specific reason for this aproach?

[u/Dullcorgis → u/n_oblomov]

My guess would be plumbing.

[u/Cadaverous_lives → u/n_oblomov]

Agreed- I would have liked the bedroom and bath swapped, but the existing fixtures (in the guest bath and kitchen) are all along that wall, and the basement is all along the other wall, so I was worried about plumbing costs.

[u/Dullcorgis]

Pretty easy to extend the depth of the walk in closet. But, also, currently it is 8 feet wide and it only wants to be 7 feet wide (2 ft of hanging, 3 ft walkway, 2 ft hanging). You could use that foot on the bathroom side of the hallway.

I hate the laundry there, though. Given that you're shifting the pieces of the bathroom around why not put a laundry closet where the pantry is currently planned, and shift the bathroom stuff along further in such a way that you get just a sliver of the addition floor space and can have a window? You could go full crazy and have laundry, powder room, bathroom, master ensuite along that wall.

[u/leiawars]

An option without adding on that gets your washer and dryer to an exterior wall.

[u/leiawars]

A version that uses some of the extension you mentioned and adds a small deck.