Starting with the basement (which used to be fully-finished and livable before flooding occurred), it is nice and spaced out. The only issue that I noticed with it however, is the placement of the staircase leading to the basement in relation to the front door on the first floor. Before we reconstructed the house (when it was only a one-story house with a basement), the front door was right next to the spiral staircase leading downward.
The kitchen (on the first floor) was very carefully laid out, as my parents didn't want to have to worry about tight quarters and minimal space to work around. All around the center island there is enough space for two people to walk by one another comfortably. And the fact that there are two countertops, allows for multi-tasking and multiple "events" to be going on at the same time.
Finally, the second floor to our home was completely expanded to allow for two bedrooms plus the master bedroom. The locations of the bedrooms are nice because both mine and my sister's bedroom are located on the opposite side of the house than that of our parents. This allows for some privacy for both parties. There is plenty more to be written about my home, but I figured that these design aspects were worthy of sharing for now. Pictures will be posted at a later time.
House design is always so interesting. It wasn't until recently that I realized what a huge difference layout makes for qualities like those you mention, such as privacy and efficiency. Even designing a kitchen: in most houses, the cupboard with the pots and pans will be nearby the stove/oven, the dishwasher will be near the sink, etc.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as my family is currently building a home in Montana, I am starting to notice other details, such as windows and positions of rooms relative to the outdoor environment. Should the porch be on the east or the west side of the house; do we want to sit and watch the sunrise, or the sunset? All of the design decisions that have to be made are a bit daunting.