I am Reconsidering Some Particulars About The Ground Plan For Our Addition (Eliminating The Stroll-In Closet? Including A Eating Room?)

I’ll quickly be assembly with the architect concerning the addition that we’re constructing on the again of our home. That addition will embody a brand new master suite, laundry room, and household/media room. On the naked minimal, these are the three necessities.

We’ve been speaking about this addition for years now, and that’s given me an entire lot of time (most likely manner an excessive amount of time) to spend mocking up varied ground plans and attempting out completely different concepts. Certainly one of my earliest makes an attempt had a hallway wrapping all the best way across the present hallway lavatory like this…

It’s humorous to look again at these very first plans. The pantry I had deliberate again then was simply over half the scale it ended up being. And I had no plans again then to show the storage into my studio. Numerous issues have modified through the years!

However concerning that wraparound hallway, the home I grew up in (and the place my mother nonetheless lives) has a hallway that wraps round like that, in order that’s most likely why it felt comfy and acquainted to me. However in actuality, that’s manner an excessive amount of house devoted to hallway that might be higher utilized for precise dwelling house. And the longer we’ve been on this home, and the longer we spend utilizing a comparatively small visitor bed room as our fundamental bed room, the extra I understand that I want that invaluable space for house that we truly dwell in.

Particularly, I need an enormous bed room. I’m so uninterested in attempting to squeeze Matt’s wheelchair or Hoyer elevate in a small bed room (and people issues all the time make a bed room really feel smaller than it truly is). I need house. And many it.

Our visitor bed room is 11’4″ x 15’10”, which is definitely a good sized bed room besides that I then carved out house for 2 built-in closets, plus the truth that a wheelchair-bound particular person all the time requires extra space to maneuver round. So with these concerns, that makes this room really feel very small to me.

So I’m actually wanting ahead to having an enormous master suite.

I attempted so many ground plans through the years, however after an entire lot of thought, I lastly determined that preserving it easy was the perfect plan. I eradicated as many hallways and doorways between rooms as doable, and simply went so simple as I might. Right here’s the plan I’ve had for fairly a while now, with the addition in pink.

That plan provides us a brand new bed room that measures 18’5″ x 20′. That sounds superb in comparison with what we’ve got now!

So I’ve been settled on that ground plan for most likely two years now, however now that it’s time to really meet with an architect, I’m beginning to second guess myself. One cause could also be as a result of I haven’t actually re-visited this ground plan since Matt and I’ve began opening our dwelling as much as visitors. Now we have individuals over very often now, and I plan to solely ramp that up much more as soon as our addition (together with a giant deck within the again) is completed. So I’m attempting to suppose by not solely how we use our dwelling when it’s simply the 2 of us, but in addition how we use it when we’ve got a crowd over.

We solely have a lot room we are able to work with with regards to the addition as a result of (1) there’s solely a finite quantity of house between the far left wall of the master suite and the facet wall of the pantry that these items have to suit between, and (2) we are able to solely construct out up to now (about 20 toes) as a result of we don’t have a vast price range. So your entire addition will measure 50′ x 20′.

Now that we use our home a lot extra for large-ish teams, one factor I’ve been wishing we had room for is a eating room, or on the very least, room for a eating desk and chairs in our household/media room space. However with the laundry room and walk-in closet, plus needing an open site visitors space from the entrance rooms of the home by to the again door (and room sufficient for a wheelchair to go by simply), I didn’t suppose there can be sufficient room.

And that need to make room for a eating house is what bought me second-guessing my want (and even my need) for an enormous walk-in closet. I’ll be trustworthy, I’ve all the time thought that walk-in closets are a giant waste of house (for me!). I’ve by no means dreamed of getting an enormous, fancy closet that’s mainly the scale of a small bed room, and I’m simply not that into style anyway. If I’ve room to retailer a comparatively small capsule wardrobe, I’m high-quality.

What I’ve all the time cherished is a wall of built-in cabinet-style closets. And in a bed room that’s 18.5′ x 20′, I’m fairly certain I might discover house for one thing like that, and nonetheless have loads of room to maneuver round. For instance, I’ve had this picture saved for years…

I completely love the look of built-in closets flanking French doorways like that. And that room seems to be fairly small. Our bed room may have over 18 toes of house the place I might have built-ins and a French door.

Right here’s one other bed room with some time wall of built-in cupboards/closets…

There are numerous examples of any such built-in cupboards/closets on Houzz, and I simply love how these look. For the best way Matt and I dwell, I believe these would work significantly better than having an enormous walk-in closet.

So if I had been to search out house within the bed room for some built-in closets alongside these concepts, I might remove that walk-in closet altogether and tuck in a eating space in that house and enlarge our precise dwelling house much more.

I’d hold the bed room the identical measurement and add some closets in that house, and hold the laundry room the place I had deliberate for it to be. However eliminating the big walk-in closet will liberate house for entertaining.

This isn’t set in stone but. It’s simply one thing I’m tossing round in my head proper now. However the extra I give it some thought, the extra I find it irresistible. I do know this appears unfathomable for some individuals. It’s all about private priorities, and there are some individuals who would do absolutely anything to have an enormous walk-in closet. And if I had been a style blogger (that thought makes me snort 😀 ), or if I had been extra into style, that might most likely be crucial to me. However I’m completely proud of a small capsule wardrobe and having extra room for household and pals in our dwelling. That’s a commerce off that makes me joyful.

Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I rework and enhance the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do nearly all of the work on the home on my own. You can learn more about me here.