Home Decorating Building a Home Design Dilemma

House plans- thoughts?

2 years ago

So we are planning on building a house that has country features but with a modern feel. We love big stone homes with lots of glass and light. So these are the plans we’ve come up with…

But as we get nearer to submitting them for planning permission the more I keep thinking that we need to change something to give it an extra “wow” factor. We have a lovely double height entrance and a big sociable kitchen diner that I think will make a great impact when you walk in. But I just keep thinking that it might still feel too much like any other new build! I would love to be able to add something a bit different into the design but I don’t know what I could change to get that special, unique feature.

Anybody have any comments or suggestions? I love to here all kinds of ideas so please tell me what you think.

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Comments (6)

arc3d
2 years ago
The rear elevation is really missing the wow factor.

I have noticed that to get to the master bedroom you first have to walk into a wardrobe? Also walking out of the master bedroom you walk right into the staircase. You have an amazing double height entrance, but you completely miss it as you come up the stairs and enter the master. I think moving the master bedroom door to the front would allow you to enter the bedroom first and allow you to experience the double height entrance every time you enter or exit the room.
Katie Kemp
Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you! Yes that’s a great idea. Definitely gives a better flow to the master
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Thank you all for views! We had considered various options such as those suggested but then would always come back to one of our boxes not being ticked so I do agree we may have created more walls than needed and maybe cramped the space? However I did still think the kitchen would be spacious enough? And the living room wall, when building we could see how we feel about this. I do think a dining table could also work in that corner and playroom instead of the dining room BUT then we are without the living room that we wanted. In terms of dining and kids eating, in our current house we have a breakfast bar with 4 stools and a high chair and his does work well. Also I would use the dining area/table as a family too but realistically probably not everyday. Maybe a small round table could be put into the kitchen also? I would just have to see what fits without it’s being cramped. Utility I thought it would make sense to have access from the kitchen? In terms of the formal lounge, I think that’s all it is...we want it as a formal lounge, also as someone mentioned it will stay tidy and away from the noise. Id say a large chunk of the house is dedicated to me and the children and I thought that area could be a kid free zone in a sense. I also have a lot of nephews/nieces that would visit often. It’s more about it being formal than it being dedicated to my husbands entertainment as unfortunately he doesn’t have much time for this due to long work hours.
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How about putting the TV on the wall behind the dining table, that way the sofa can be against the opposite wall which means it faces into the room and there is more space generally. A friend has this and it works well. You could even build shallow storage around it so it’s more like part of the kitchen. Depends on the height of your dining chairs though! Won’t work if they are very tall.
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How about putting the cinema room where the office and WC were planned? Then add in WC on right (where cinema sofa was planned for) and then have a study space on the left - creating an open hallway between study and WC through to the extension? Study would have to be more of a cupboard really - desk with shelves above, with doors that can close at the end of the day to hide all the mess - more of a homework/computer station than a proper home office. Think you've got to decide whether you want a proper office or a cinema room, as walking through cinema room would be a negative for me. Or is there enough space in current dining room to section off the left side of it for hallway to extension and leave enough space on the right for cinema (or study and shower/WC)?
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Jonathan
2 years ago
Personally I think your architect has done you a disservice and in my opinion it looks like it has come from the imagination of an inexperienced house designer. In my opinion the house looks like a 1960s house with a new porch and contemporary glazing and this downstairs layout is being produced by national house builders (albeit with different proportions).

Should you decide to stick with this design I think you should reconsider the wide windows and replace them with deep alternatives- this will also make furnishing and window treatments easier too.

You should consider if the front facing balconies and full length glazing on the first floor will leave you feeling exposed in the bedrooms.

I would get rid of the vaulted ceilings in the bedroom because the triangular window will be difficult to dress, they limit further loft extension and being disconnected from the balcony door below makes them look like an afterthought.

If you are set on front facing balconies I would build out the ground floor below them to avoid the criticism of feeling like they were retrofitted to an older house.

In my opinion if you are going to make a feature of a double height entrance then it actually has to be double height because the planned three quarter height will leave strange roof angles around the first floor landing glazing and won’t contribute much light to the second floor landing.

If it were my house I would be looking at the streetscape and local area for inspiration on the materials that will be embraced by the planners but I would be looking to either replan without symmetry or at least to revisit the fenestration and roof gables.

If it were my house I would also want to increase the ceiling height to about 2.7m to avoid the comparison with houses built by national home builders and to increase the feeling of space too.

That all being said this is your home and your money so you should build what makes you happy and that might be this plan- but perhaps other options would do that better.
Katie Kemp thanked Jonathan
CWD
2 years ago
I really like the simple traditional shape of the building, but the windows are not working for me. To me, they are the wrong size, shape and positioning. I think you need to pick a lane and stick with it, rather than trying to be both modern and traditional on the front - I love a traditional looking house on the outside (at the front) that looks cute and expected, and then the wow is that the interior is much more modern and open and light-filled. To that end, I'd open up the back of the house more - with floor to ceiling glass/doors in the lounge area as well as dining and kitchen. Doesn't have to be one huge opening - three sets of patio doors would work - or much taller windows if you don't want more doors to the garden. What height are your ceilings upstairs and downstairs? I actually really dislike double height entrances as they lose the human scale and feel a bit like a hotel foyer - but it does make more sense if your ceiling height is not as tall as a period property. I'd also look at re-configuring the kitchen - perhaps losing the door between kitchen and utility so you've got that wall to use for cabinets too. The island seems quite small so perhaps a peninsula would provide more space and greater impact than a small island that looks a bit isolated? At the end of the day, a lot of the wow will come from how you decorate, pieces of art you hang, the views to outside, etc - but I do agree that the architecture could be working better to create a wow just from the space itself.
Katie Kemp thanked CWD
cannonja
2 years ago
Agree with previous comments

Elevations aren't great , very haphazard, really poorly managed

Room sizes are borderline tiny , doesn't work for me whatsoever, resembles shoe boxes

Downstairs plan isn't bad , but layout affects up stairs

Downstairs, a bedroom with ensuite a must, to future proof the building

I do house plans as a sideline to engineering and I would advise a redesign and resizing

No need for 3 ensuites, especially when rooms have limited storage space

Front glazing is ill advised and will significantly increase the cost of building and structurally weaken the building

Sorry for my rambles but needs must
smac232
2 years ago
Katie

I would echo a lot of the comments on here re the overall design. I feel it looks a bit disjointed and I don’t think the different heights on the front elevation really work.

I think it’s is a big mistake to have three en-suites. 1 for a guest bedroom and then a shared family bathroom. For what is a large house, the bedrooms don’t look big enough. I don’t see a lot of built in storage space which is critical for a family. Is there a reason why the first floor could not be the same overall dimension as the ground floor? I think it is a mistake not to include fitted wardrobes.

If you have a large family space as in your design, I feel it needs to have windows on more than one aspect if this is at all possible. It has been thought of for the front lounge. This will make the space brighter throughout the day.

You are going to be spending a lot of money and investing all of your dreams into this house and I’m not totally sure that the current design is cohesive or well enough thought out.

House plans- thoughts?

Comments (6)

arc3d

Katie Kemp
Original Author

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House plans- thoughts?

Comments (6)

arc3d

Katie KempOriginal Author

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Jonathan

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cannonja

smac232

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Katie Kemp
Original Author