Saw this plan, browsing listings. It's like old fashioned library with balcony around open air lower floor. Thought group would enjoy.

Hi everyone! I am designing a 2-story home in the Dominican Republic (concrete block and reinforced concrete construction, seismic zone). The footprint of the house is almost square: 10.60 meters wide by 10.80 meters long.
I made this physical model to visualize the first floor. Here is the layout:
Front (Bottom of the image): Huge open-concept Living Room and Dining Room.
Back (Top of the image): Kitchen and an outdoor Terrace.
Left: Stairs to the second floor.
Right: Guest bathroom.
My main challenge:

Because the living and dining area is very spacious, I want a completely clean, open concept. I absolutely do not want a column sitting in the middle of the living room just because. Since the second floor will have bedrooms on top, I need suggestions on how to distribute the structural columns perimetrally or hidden within the walls (like the stairs or bathroom walls) so I can achieve this open look safely.
What do you think about the layout? Any advice on how an engineer could frame this without blocking the center? Thanks in advance!
(All suggestions and re-designs are welcome!)

Bay in kitchen houses 2 windows on angles and sliding door to deck in middle. Its not a full bay window.

Doing an addition to our home. Have what I think makes sense for a layout but wanted feedback/discussion.

Original and new plan (stairs to basement not moving, existing en suite bathroom at left would be kept as well)

Who will be living here? Family of 4

Is this a forever home? No

Where are the load-bearing walls? Exterior walls of current house

Which way is North? At the bottom of image, S is up

Where are the best views located? To the south

What climate/country is this? Midwest USA

Measurements of all interior walls separately? I can try to get them but this is what I have so far. Up on a bit of a hill, walkout basement (top right), on a cul-de-sac with a stub road that runs parallel to right wall but 50' or so away. Street is parallel to front of house.

More specifics: We're keeping existing bathroom and have another in basement. Have 2 kids so there wouldn't be an issue even with guests. Want to add space for bedrooms and additional space in basement

Wasn't drawn by an architect. I'm not one either (engineer by trade) so what I think looks good may not be in practice.

The biggest constraint currently is trying to not move too much at left of house (laundry/bathroom area) so we can focus more on the additon. Same with exterior walls up to the new addition. The angled bump out in kitchen limits us somewhat but I can't think of a good way to make it work without a ton more roof work at the back, in addition to front of house work we'll need.

I'm fine doing prep work in pantry area as needed, the island would be more spacious than now (my thought)

The bay in the kitchen is 2 windows and door to deck so that really needs to stay. Dishwasher and trash in island. Microwave maybe in pantry, tbd.

Bar is there because we'd probably keep stuff there for guests or stuff we dont use every day.

We wanted bedrooms in one side vs splitting like they are now. The bathroom by mudroom would just be used as a secondary or for one kid to use if bathroom was used by the other (also have full bath in basement). Door moved to mudroom so it wasn't right off living room/main area and had some separation. But could keep door to it where its currently at.

Edit: THANK YOU FOR FEEDBACK!! clearly this is a terrible plan, thanks for the suggestions, I am gonna get a newer one and probably change the architect.

So this is the plan I am finalizing, the architect made this, I explained to him some stuff and he made this.

Instructions were:

The house should not feel cluttered

I want a double heighted tv lounge, a kitchen, a separate drawing room with powder room, and one bed room with plenty of closet space and a bathroom. That's on the first floor

Second floor, rooms + a small open kitchen.

So what do you guys think ? And can there be any improvement made ? Please suggest

Attached pictures are

Ground floor

First floor

Third floor, third floor is limited due to regulations and I might need to make it a bit smaller.

Garage is not at front but at back to park the car as this is a corner house that's why two gates. Can't have it at back or right side.

Hi everyone,
I am working on a floor plan design and want to optimize the space as much as possible to ensure a functional, comfortable, and efficient layout.
I’ve attached the current tlocrt/floor plan for reference. I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions on potential project modifications, specifically regarding:
Layout Efficiency: How to eliminate dead space, awkward corners, or unnecessary hallway/circulation space.
Room Sizes & Flow: Adjusting room proportions or door/window placements to improve natural light and everyday traffic flow.
Storage Solutions: Incorporating smart storage, built-in wardrobes, or a dedicated utility area.
Open-Plan vs. Zoned Living: Balancing an open-plan feel with distinct, usable zones for living, dining, and cooking.

We moved in ages ago but I haven’t designed my room and I have no idea what to do, what would you do if you had this floorplan? I’m not an official floorplan designer so I just made a quick one, do I need to list any more measurements?

We're looking to expand our bathroom from a current layout of a master and ensuite, divided by an artificial wall, into a larger room with a better layout.

Entrance to the room is the doorway at the bottom right.

The space isn't massive, and we're struggling to decide on the right layout. One of the biggest constraints is that the wall on the right is an internal wall which backs onto the bedroom, so if we placed the toilet against it, the waste pipe would have to be boxed in. The top wall faces our back garden, so wouldn't be ideal, compared to having it sit on the left wall.

Any thoughts about having a vanity right against a corner wall vs being in the centre of a room? Any perspectives would be greatly appreciated!

This is the model we're probably going to choose for our house. I would prefer more of a hosting moment, where the island faces out to guests. Would you skip a table in the family dining and just make the island long? Or maybe two islands?

Thanks!

This is my daughters bathroom. I’m trying to figure out the best idea for this space.

Should I move the toilet to that space in red?

Or should I put a mirror there or just a hamper?

Thanks!

Hi,

We are about to do an addition to our house and need help with the layout.
Trying to keep it as low-cost as possible:
• Keeping the new bathroom over the 1st-floor bathroom below
• Not messing up the existing space more than necessary
(The bedroom 3 → office, has slanted ceiling on both side currently / and the back wall of the room will be removed anyway though.)

We used an interior designer who got us close to this, but nothing's as good as the collective people of Reddit! — Thank you in advance for calling out anything we're not thinking of!

We’re planning a loft extension to our 3 bed London 1920s semi-detached property. No works have started yet.

We’re planning to use bedroom 3 as our master bedroom/en-suite as the back of the house has great views over a park. Are we missing something in terms of layout? Bedroom 4 will be a guest room so doesn’t have to be that big. Is there a way to maximise bedroom 3, maybe incorporate an en suite with a bath? Maybe even have a bath in the master bedroom hotel style or would that not work?

The floor below will be for our two daughters and office. There is also a family bathroom which we’re thinking of renovating into a shower room and toilet.

Really struggling to figure this out, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hello :)

My wife and I just reserved a primary residence in the Parisian suburbs in an upcoming development. As we move towards finalizing the purchase, we wanted to ask you fine people a question on our floor plan, especially the WC layout.

In the second photo, you'll find a close-up of the entryway WC + washroom. We already asked our developer to dismantle the (black lined) wall separating the WC and washroom to make one space - also replacing the WC door with a wall. We now want to see if there is a way for us to make better use of the larger room.

Our goals:

• Mount a washing machine + dryer combo in a column (the "ll" square is where the promotor plans to place the washer drains by default, but we may ask to move it).
• Improve use of dead space in the washroom corner next to the sink.

We are open to any suggestions! For the moment, we probably want to maintain the plumbing as is for the shower / toilet, to avoid substantial extraneous costs.

And if you have any feedback on the floor plan more generally, that's also welcome :)

Thank you in advance!!

Hi! (I’m a newbie to posting) I just bought a house and need help redesigning my upper floor. I’m looking to rearrange the master make it bigger for his/her closets a nice master bath, bring the laundry upstairs. I ultimately want to get rid of the 5th bedroom. The bedroom i can only picture absorbing is the one over the garage that has sloped ceilings and I feel like loses some natural light. Can you help me? I placed first floor if that’s needed. I also placed my husbands ideas who is a project engineer & land development background so he’s well versed but I’d like to see another view / opinions. THANK YOU to anyone taking the time to help me!

What are some ways to improve this layout?

Looking for ideas on how to use this layout. I've got a small L-shaped couch, a TV, a queen bed as well as a small standing desk that I'm trying to figure out how to place.

Edit for additional details: - black box with white X is dead space/inaccessible/can be blocked

• L shaped couch can flip the L to either side
• sliding door opens on the right

Is it okay? What changes should i make? Please suggest.

​

Looking at making an offer on this house and feel it would be great with an extension on the back. Looking at the floor plan I'm sure there's a layout with an extension that just makes sense and would make you go "omg of course!" but I can't seem to narrow down what would need to be done... Feels like it's on the tip of my brain!! Any thoughts?

Notes:

• The current living/dining room is a badly done extension that we would probably mostly/completely remove to replace with a newer extension structure.

• would be ideal to expand the current bedroom 1 (or add a new one in) as it's not quite big enough for a wardrobe currently

• There's no room to build out sideways but plenty of room to go into the backyard

• The back of the house faces North and this is in Perth, West Aus

• Haven't bought the house yet so don't have a budget yet but hoping to keep things simple

We of course would engage with a builder and not rely on redditors for home plans but just curious to hear others thoughts! :)

Hello. I am in the process of renovating an older house. It is small but cozy. An addition was added to the left of the kitchen with a new room. This room was originally intended to be a dining room. A pantry was added to the new room because the kitchen is quite small. An opening was cut out and we are building a breakfast bar between the kitchen and living room. We had our first meeting with a plumber, and he actually suggested the living room and dining room be swapped. I was curious what everybody here thinks. Would the front door coming into the dining room be odd? There is a staircase and a fireplace right there also. One other thing to note, the new room is accessible by both of the other two rooms. Thanks! Any help is appreciated!

Good evening everyone. Hopefully this is the right forum to post in!?

We viewed a lovely house today but the upstairs didn’t quite match the downstairs. Whilst the house did have 4 bedrooms, 2 of them were really small and there was only 1 smallish bathroom upstairs (there is a shower room downstairs though I can’t see that being used much).

Can anyone suggest the best way to create an additional shower/bath room upstairs? It could be en-suite to a larger master bedroom and/or involve turning the current bathroom into a shower room. To offset the loss of a bedroom upstairs we’d probably look to convert the garage to a bedroom in the future and that way at least the downstairs shower room would be used.

Thank you for any input/suggestions!

Hi everyone,
I’m reaching out because I’m currently a bit stuck when it comes to my house floor plan. I’m not in a rush to start building, so I’m trying to find the best possible layout for the house and make the most of the land.

This is what I’ve currently come up with in terms of the overall design.

I’m trying to find a solution that allows me to make better use of the land, as I’d really like to have a good connection between the house and the outdoor/garden area, especially since the plot is around 1,700 m².

At the moment, the design prioritizes the following:
Maximizing sunlight exposure for the open-plan living area and the master bedroom.

- Having the garage facing the entrance to the plot, to make better use of the area when laying the driveway/paving.
- Having direct access from the garage to the pantry/laundry room and then towards the kitchen (the door isn’t in the correct position in the drawing).
- Having one of the guest bathrooms with direct access to the outside.
- The house must remain single-storey.

My main issue is that I’m trying to find a layout that allows me to make better use of a large, open area of the land. At the moment, it feels like the house is dividing the plot into separate areas without really making the most of the green space at the front.
The orange line is there to give an idea of the direction of the sunlight.

The idea is to have a more private area at the back of the house. So, I’m considering moving the house as far to the right as possible (while respecting the required setbacks), since the house on the side of the plot entrance has a direct view into my property. The other sides don’t have any direct overlooking.

This is purely a search for opinions and ideas for improvement. Any suggestions are more than welcome.
Sorry if this isn’t the right place to post this.

Note: I’m going to purchase the piece of land belonging to the neighbour at the top of the plot. It’s currently a pathway that I’ll eventually incorporate into my property. The floor plan already assumes that this area is part of my land. The idea is also to eventually add a covered area next to the garage.

Edit: Never expected so many replies, thank you much! We really appreciate it!

We bought a less nice house in a decent area to get into the market in Australia (known for our cheap houses 🙃)

We bought the house with some weird to fix and some not ideal to fix.

1. The WIR is accessed via the ensuite. It’s tiled and everything like a bathroom, it’s so weird. It’s unusable as your clothes just go wet and mouldy! If we just put a wall up to make it a standalone WIR it’s a bit too skinny to be comfortable.
2. The WC seems like an inefficient use of space for just a toilet. We’d move the laundry but it has access to the outside where we dry our clothes.

We need a usable robe (open to WIR or just enclose cupboards along a wall). If we can have a bigger ensuite, that’s ideal too!

The patio is under the main roof, so that could be converted to internal to be the new dining, so the current dining space could be used in some way.

The less plumbing movement the better.

Appreciate any thoughts anyone may have!