New Cabin plan. Please suggest refinements.

[phalynx]

The points are valid, but don't neccessarily apply.  We don't use our table too much.  A oversized counter would do the same in our house.  The girls are 11 and 7.  We have both a dog and cats.  We wanted a large living room because I am really big and my furniture is thus big...  (insert Jolly Green Giant joke here, Glenn).  By the time we have a couch and the 2 recliners, the living room is 12x20.

[glenn kangiser]

Goes well with a troglodyte, Phalynx.

[rwanders]

How do you feel about pocket doors? Not good everywhere, I know, but they are real space savers especially for doors that are usually open.

[phalynx]

You know, I love pocket doors.  I think they are fantastic.  They are just hard to fit in small homes because of lack of wall space.  I will review the plan to see where they can fit.  That's a great way to shrink.

[CREATIVE1]

In my kitchen in the Victoria cottage, I have one storage wall with the refrigerator, and everything else just base cabinets except for some open shelving.  The storage wall is 9.5 feet long, so there are actually two pantry/closets.  I may use one as a hall closet, since it's close to the side entry.  I had room for an island, which will also serve as seating.  I didn't want a dining room either.  If the need arises, get one of those coffee tables that converts to table height.  They're great!

I live in a house I designed with a great room 13 x 28, with a cedar ceiling, with three skylights, that soars from 8 feet up to about 20 feet.  In a small home, having one dramatic area is a big luxury.  Everyone thinks my home is huge, but it's only about 1,600 square feet. So I
heartily agree that where you spend your time is where to allocate square feet.

I have mixed feelings about pocket doors, having fought with one in our bathroom for a number of years.  They don't lock too well either.  I may go with some sliding barn doors in the new house, but they wouldn't work too well in your plan.

[MountainDon]

Pocket doors. IMO, they appear to be the solution on paper many times, but in practice oftentimes it turns out different. As rwanders stated, I believe their only utility is "for doors that are usually open". For a bathroom where the door is likely to be opened and closed frequently they are a PITA. Ditto bedrooms, as far as I am concerned.


Now with all that said, yes, we used a pocket door in our cabin. It was space saver time. The cabin will be occupied most of the time by just the two of us. The bathroom design places the toilet at the end away from the door, no direct line of sight to the toilet. That's enough privacy for an old married couple, or a younger couple for that matter. If company is around the door can be slid closed on those occasions. For general use, I don't like them.

If you must have one, and if it is likely to be used daily I would do like PEG suggests and get one of the metal framed units with 4 wheels on each roller assembly. (mine is wood framed but with 4 wheels per roller... a compromise for my reasons above.)

[Jens]

If you use pocket doors, make sure you switch to shorter drywall screws and nails!  I haven't had it happen to me, but have seen people nail/screw them shut!  And you usually don't find out until almost done with the job.

[phalynx]

So, after letting it sit for a while and then revisiting it after a break, I have made some more modifications.  I shrunk the cabin 2' so it is now 24x30.  720 sq ft.  I combined the utility and bathroom somewhat.  Swapped bedrooms.  Got rid of the Kitchen bar area and just left a place for a table. 

Comment away... Make suggestions.....

[Phssthpok]

My two cents. (bear in mind I ain't married, and have no kids, but I DO like to cook so a kitchens functionality is higher on my list of priorities.)


Move the kitchen sink to the bathroom common wall ( one 'wet wall' simplifies plumbing, veggies/meat out of fridge directly to sink for washing/unwrapping), move stove to door location (gives counter space on either side of cook surface {double plus good}, bad energy juju having heat source next to cold source), move door to sink location or to end of counter (sliding glass door?). Alternatively move stove to sink location and leave door in place. Either way, get the hot stove away from the cold fridge.

Ditch the full tub (really now, with four people...three of them girls...who's going to have TIME to take a BATH??). Go for an un-cramped corner shower in the upper right corner of the room, sink in the lower right, and toilet on the far wall under the window. Bring the left side wall in about 2 feet (expands MB). Push back kitchen wall just a tiny bit if you NEED to to make it fit. If you absolutely MUST have a 'bath' consider a 'walk-in' model.


Reduce closet depth between main and second BR. Build two separate closets for secondary BR (One for each girl... FUTURE HEADACHE SAVER!!!) Shorten wall across from W/D, set MB entrance at an angle to room, and turn recovered space between MB and bathroom into closet (small, shallow vertical linen closet opposite W/D between MB door and MB closet?). Louvered accordion doors to 'hide' W/D.

[phalynx]

Here is a pic with most of the modifications Phssthpok suggested.  I am not sure how they are settling with me but the visual will spark more conversation.  The bathtub was requested by the 3 girls....  I guess shaving your legs in the shower isn't a easy....  I dunno.  I still have to have a large closet in the master to hold a large safe.  That part isn't negotiable    I am also not sure about the door on the side.  Lil-bit really likes the door on the back. 

[ScottA]

Where does the back door go? I would not put a door just to have one I would put it where you need it to get to something outside like a deck woodshed carport etc. I don't like walking through the laundry to get to the bathroom. A stacked W/D unit in the kitchen would be better IMO. Is this a cabin or a home? I'd put the fridge where the door is and slide the door down a bit to make the kitchen easier to use.

[phalynx]

Back door would go to a deck.  The Washer Dryer are stackable but after having them stacked now, we hate stacking.  Not the end of the world either way though.  This would be a full time home.

[ScottA]

Didn't you just build a house dude? You a glutten for punishment or what?

[phalynx]

It's fun!  Austin isn't going to be my home forever...  Goal is to buy new property in the TN-KY area and build this new home.  When done, move there using all the proceeds from this place to pay it all off and then farm and live life where it isn't 105 degrees.

[poppy]

Since this will be your home, but you plan to sell, that means it will be someone else's home so resale considerations would be important.

I love showers and don't use the tub, but with only one bath, potential buyers will want a tub.  And make the bath seem as big as possible.  I know it seems like a waste of space, but believe me, with 3 females in the house, the bathroom will be used by more than one at a time.

For the laundry, it needs to be as isolated as you can muster.  Definitely don't put it in the kitchen or behind bi-fold doors that won't cut the noise.  My sister had her laundry off the kitchen eating area, and wouldn't rest until the laundry room was moved to another part of the house.

What about closing off the laundry area with solid double doors, and using the space in front for the door to the MB?  That way this small hallway provides 3 doors, laundry, bath, and MB.  And you can probably create some more closet space.

I agree with what others have said about the kitchen.  The classic stove, sink, refrigerator triangle is a proven concept, use it.  Working space on both sides of the sink and stove are important, because you may have or future owners may have left handed people. 

And don't forget that refrigerators can be made to open in either direction.  I couldn't believe that a fridge opened the wrong way in an apartment we were about to move into.  I asked the landload to reverse the door, which he did.  Then recently my church bought a new fridge that again opened the wrong way.  I reversed it myself.

[phalynx]

This new "cabin" will be the new home with no intentions of selling.  I was referring to selling the house we just built here in Austin to pay for it.  I agree with you on the washer/dryer noise.  I cannot stand it.  I am currently playing with some more refinements.  Seeing what I can do with it.

[Phssthpok]

The MB door treatment isn't exactly what I had in mind. I was thinking in terms of squaring up the one 'diagonal' closet (trust me...identical closets will eliminate any possibility of 'space' arguments), and running the MB door from the corner (eliminating the little 'hallway' in the MB). This would reduce the 'linen' closet to about the depth and width of one folded bath towel, but being floor to ceiling that should still be plenty of storage to meet your needs. Doing this would probably result in an angled acces door to the laundry room which may or may not be visually appealing....dunno.

RE: the W/D location..Visually, the bathroom and laundry rooms seem to be similar in size. What if you moved the W/D side by side to the back (outside wall) and closed it off with solid doors (read: not wooden louvered...better sound isolation) opening 'phone booth' style? This would allow more open floor plan in the bathroom without encroaching on the rest of the living space as well as having the added benefit of a short, direct exhaust route for the dryer. The closet would act as a sound buffer for the MB and you could hyper insulate (for sound) the wall section between the kitchen and W/D cabinet. The drawback to this would be losing the window in the bathroom. Of course that whole idea kind of plays havoc with the bathroom layout, so it may not be feasible.... 

With the large Bathroom you could probably reinsert the full bath, but here's something to consider: If the girls want a 'bath' for leg shaving, you can (correctly) point out that the 'walk in' unit I linked to has a built in seat. Try this for yourself....go through the motions of 'shaving' your legs...which is easier: standing up, laying down (with your back against the wall to simulate a standard tub) or sitting in a chair while propping your foot against the wall?

[phalynx]

Here is another version that Lil-bit and I have come up with.  It's much more compact and not a lot of storage although it has more than the others.

[rick91351]

Sent you a PM if you see a strange e-mail address.

rlr