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JaysFamily
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| Posted: July 06 2010 at 5:10pm | IP Logged
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I am convinced that more homeschooling mothers, and homemaking mothers need to be the ones to design home floor plans. Just imagine how efficient and lovely the homes would be, no matter their size! 
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Jaysfamily
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ekbell
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| Posted: July 06 2010 at 5:51pm | IP Logged
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This brought a chuckle to my life as I remembered the hours (and hours) my mom and dad put into planning their new home.
My dad spent time figuring out the proper placement of windows and overhangs so that they'd receive direct sun in the winter but not in the summer while my mom spent time working out exactly how the rooms should go.
It did end up being a lovely and efficent house (it's truly amazing how little wood is needed to heat the house on a sunny winter day  ).
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Erin
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I agree. We are currently building our home ourselves and the hours of discussion that went into the planning, well there were some things that I just knew were essential.
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Erin
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Paula in MN
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Our home is only seven years old, but we have a file going of what-we-will-do-differently items.
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 Paula
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 07 2010 at 6:26am | IP Logged
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I have this mental list of the things I would want in a floor plan if we ever built a home. It looks like this might be our home forever so it's probably useless but there are some things about the way this one is layed out that just don't make sense.
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Becky
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JaysFamily
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| Posted: July 07 2010 at 8:42am | IP Logged
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Just for fun, what are some features that make for a lovely and efficient floor plan?
I would like a kitchen that is laid out in such a way that allows for a set of upper and lower cabinets to be next to the stove/range, refrigerator, dishwasher, and the mixing/cooking counter. That way, I could store things where I use them.
Instead of two smaller eating places in the home, the breakfast nook and the dining room, I'd prefer one medium size to large dining room that could be dressed up or down to serve both functions. I would be fine with pulling some stools up to a kitchen counter for a breakfast bar, but I think we only need one table for sitting to eat in the house.
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Jaysfamily
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 07 2010 at 10:17am | IP Logged
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I want a mud room! Right off the back door! As a matter of fact, a BIG mud room that is also the laundry room. My laundry area, and the fact that the kids come through the front door no matter the weather or the condition of their shoes/boots has always been a frustration for me. I'm thinking a back door with a large mudroom that then connects to a big country kitchen would be perfect. The mudroom / laundry room would also have a large sink for kids to wash up in before coming into the kitchen. (Which of course would always be pristine because of that mudroom  .)
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Becky
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Paula in MN
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1. I also want a mudroom/laundry room/bathroom/pantry off the kitchen. It would be so beneficial during gardening and canning season. We could wash off all the produce in the big sink, put dirty clothes in the washer, and get ourselves clean before tracking anything through the house.
2. With a big pantry, no more upper cabinets in the kitchen. A few shelves for dishes, bowls and cookbooks.
3. Wind energy.
4. Wood floors. We have tile right now and it's a bit cold in the winter. Oh, and radiant floor heat.
5. Grey water system combined with Japanese toilets. Years ago I visited my brother in Japan. He had a combination sink/toilet that was awesome. The "sink" was on top of the toilet. The CLEAN water came through the pipe in the wall and out the faucet, in order to wash your hands. That water drained into the toilet tank, which is what was used when flushing the toilet. Brilliant! We would have washer, kitchen and pantry sink, and bathtub/showers drain into a system to use for watering lawn and gardens. Only the toilet would empty into the septic.
6. One level.
7. One level.
8. One level. It's that important.
We have a lot more...
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Mimip
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| Posted: July 07 2010 at 1:50pm | IP Logged
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Paula in MN wrote:
6. One level.
7. One level.
8. One level. It's that important.
We have a lot more... |
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Oh Paula, you do make me laugh. My children all dream of stairs. Since they have never lived in anything other that a one story with no basement they have "stair envy". Then this past month we went to visit my dad and sister and they have a two story. After 2 weeks they HATED the stairs... I agree, one level for sure!
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Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 07 2010 at 3:43pm | IP Logged
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My kids are funny too. We live in a ranch style home but we do have a basement so the stairs aren't the thrill, it's the upstairs bedrooms my kids want. They keep talking about their friends with the "really big house". Funny thing is, it's actually smaller than ours but the upstairs makes it seem bigger to them.
I guess that's one of the things I do appreciated about this house - it's basically one level, with a very large basement. When my mil, who is in a wheel chair, comes to visit it's easy for her to get around. So that's a blessing.
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knowloveserve
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Re: one level.
I envision one main living level too; I've not keen interest in an upstairs. But as this wicked summer heat hits us hard a basement (daylight or full) seems to be a "must-have" for me now. As I type, the kids and I are all hanging out in our basement escaping the heat... it is divine.
Plus, I want a large open space for the teenage years. Despite all the values of 'want less' we try to live by, dh and I think there is something to be said for creating an adolescent-friendly place. A big room with maybe a pool table or ping-pong or somesuch. A place where our kids will want to gather and bring their friends. We want them to want to hang out at our house rather than the "unknown" homes. 
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JodieLyn
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I don't so much want an upstairs as more space.. and well if we can go UP then we don't have to take away yard space and put in foundation (which I understand is one of your bigger costs of expansion.
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Donna Marie
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Wouldn't it be lovely to have a locker room off of the back door? My sister was a part-time nanny while she was going to college for a family that built one of these..and the laundry room was just off of that with a bathroom that had a shower. The lady's boys were very heavily into sports and had their very own place for their equipment, snow gear, boots, coats and a place to sit down and put things on and off..and their shoes were kept here too. Any laundry was immediately put into a hamper and the washer was close by and the shower was just a few paces away. It was kind of like a kid processing station
I myself have longed for years to have a loooong bench inside the backdoor to park everyone and make them take off their shoes and place them underneath after being outside...of course there would be a very thirsty mat to arrest dirt traffic and soak up any drippy/snowy messes....
*end dream sequence*
now back to my regularly scheduled laundry..
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JaysFamily
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What are some things that do add some efficiency to your current home?
I love that all our bedrooms are down one hallway. For some reason, I prefer bedrooms to be located down a hallway instead of directly attached to a public area of the house. Having all the rooms down one hallway means that I can make quick stops with folded laundry instead of having to run in different directions to put everything away. Plus, the hallway is an L shape, and the shorter end is wide enough for some built-in shelves, which is convenient!
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JodieLyn
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I cleaned out the space under my kitchen sink.. I have to use a more secure area for cleaners anyway.. and I have a locked cupboard for that over my washer and dryer which is only a few steps into the garage from the kitchen anyway.. and I can keep my big roasting pans stacked on one side.. and on the other we put some spacers in and I can put in cake pans, pyrex, cookies sheets and such up on end (so they're not stacked and easy to get out). So much nicer than fighting with the smaller spaces in the other cupboards.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 10 2010 at 6:22am | IP Logged
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I love our basement. It has three large rooms - one for a family room, one for a school room and one for storage. It also opens out into the backyard so the kids can come and go through there.
I also appreciate the large linen closet I have right smack dab in the middle of the house. It's actually in a laundry room which is there (I'm not so thrilled about that). It is right at the end of the bedroom hallway and between two bathrooms so that makes it very convenient. The laundry room is really convenient too, I just don't like the way it looks.
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KC in TX
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I want a butler's pantry. That way I can have space for all the dishes and serving dishes, etc.
My kids were very excited about having a two story when we first moved in. Not so much now.
I'd also like a laundry chute from the upstairs directly to the laundry room.
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: July 10 2010 at 1:28pm | IP Logged
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KC in TX wrote:
I'd also like a laundry chute from the upstairs directly to the laundry room. |
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I remember growing up being fascinated with my grandmother's set-up for laundry. She "only" had 7 children..LOL
She had a laundry chute from the second story down to the basement and one just on the other side of the wall from the kitchen...good idea, eh?
In the basement they had this large bin that my grandfather had gotten from a hotel that he was working in years before..it was on wheels and she would keep all the laundry in it until it went into the machines which she did on a very regular basis.
She was much more efficient than I am..but then again, her kids went to school. She had time to THINK her own thoughts and perfect her methods...LOL
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 10 2010 at 2:15pm | IP Logged
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That sounds like the old victorian house I grew up in. We had a laundry chute from the upstairs bathroom, and one from the kitchen. It was so easy to just pitch the clothes into the chute. They all landed in a big basket that actually had a door on it. Mom would open the door and the clothes would fall right onto the washing machine so she could sort them. (And find the toys and other asundry things that got thrown down there with the clothes!)If I had a two story home, I would certainly want a laundry chute.
Actually, one house we looked at had a laundry room in the basement and one in the upstairs closet. That would be neat too. You could have two loads going at once.
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Floor plans
