When we first started the design phase, we contacted some modern architects (who shall remain nameless) to see if we could pull off something similar to the modern beauty above. Although they were proud to say they worked with all budgets, our phone conference lead us to believe all budgets actually meant big and bigger. We were quoted at $200+ per square foot for build costs in addition to an architecture fee of 10-15% of the total final cost. They wanted complete control of everything AND an 18 month to 2 year time frame.
We were discouraged but then realized we are 28. We can build a modern house at some point if we want to. Plus the great thing about modern houses is they are on a beach or somewhere secluded. We are in a neighborhood (no matter how custom) – a modern house just wouldn’t fit in.
Also we are way too big of control freaks to give someone complete authority over our project. Yes they are experts, but we would like to make our own mistakes. (Don’t quote me on that later.) I thought the guy was a bit of a pretentious jerk face too, so there was that.
We hired the architect that our builder typically uses, so we just needed to explore floor plans to get a more defined idea of what we wanted. We headed to Cool House Plans. We did not pay attention to the elevations for each floor plan. We just focused on the layout.
This floor plan needed a lot of tweaks to make it what we wanted, but it was the closest to what we were looking for. Technically we took multiple floor plans and just pieced together what we liked.
For example we liked the flow of the master to the master bath in this floor plan. Overall though the plan was a bit choppy with a weird stair placement. It’s hard when you can’t walk the space beforehand to really decide, so you just have to do your best to imagine it.
We brought our sample floor plans (all marked up) along with a list of our criteria to our architect:
- 4 bedrooms (master + 2 bedrooms down – I want to be on the same level as my babies)
- 3.5 baths
- 3,200 to 3,400 square feet
- Living room/great room open to the kitchen with a rectangular island (not curved around the space)
- Split bedrooms
- 3 Car Garage
- Study and Formal Dining downstairs
- Hobby room, play room (2nd living area), guest room upstairs
- No grand staircase just hide the stairs (let’s be honest the mess upstairs needs to be hidden from people)
- Mud room and large laundry area
We will share the preliminaries next. What would your criteria be? Who knew a modern house would be so ridiculous?
ooh, fun! I used to draw up floor plans for fun when I was like 11 or 12. Yet I’m still not sure what I would do if I got to design one to actually build. But I like lots of your stuff like the split master. And a mud room. Oh, how I long for a mud room.
It will be more of a dropping spot off the garage, but I think the built ins and location will help keep all the kid clutter to a minimum…hopefully.
Something that immediately stands out to me is that both your floor plans have garage doors that face away from the street. I love that. I hope you keep that feature. I live in garage door land here and it is not pretty at all.
On my must have list would be a couple of feng shui items: don’t point the stairs toward the entry door and don’t up the kitchen or bathrooms in the money corner
I would also like a hall that I could put at least one piece of furniture in.
I would want the main living area to look out over the back yard and not the street as is the most common here.
B’s must have would be to be able to run around something through the house. I don’t see that option in any of the above drawings. He can do that here and he loves that – our house is open around the stair case in the center.
What a about a tea – kitcenette by the guest room?
I didn’t brush up on my feng shui, but the stairs don’t point toward the entry. Good start there!
I think you will like the final floor plan from what you’ve listed. I’m not sure if it’s open enough to be able to run something through the house but probably. Once it’s built, B will have to come test it out!
We did think about a mini fridge or something upstairs for the guest and play room area. We will have to get back to that later…
I need the complete idiots guide to house building terminology. I’m just gonna assume split bedrooms mean they are back to back not spread all through the house….
If I could build my dream home I would love one of those kitchens that is just huge and the entire front of the house center around it. Like a kitchen that is a room all on it’s on.
And a HUGE stand alone island right in the center that had storage underneath.
I would wants TONS of windows and lots of natural lighting. I hate that my house always seems so gloomy.
I would want a master bedroom with a seating area and a window just in case I wanted to stare into la la land I could do it while relaxing.
I would want a backyard oasis with fire pit, out door kitchen, living room style lounge area, pool, jacuzzi, and a pretty little pond with fish.
Hey a girl can dream right 😉 But for now I’m just grateful for the four walls God has already blessed me with!
Split bedrooms just means the master is separate from the other bedrooms. I want to be on the same floor as the kids just not the same side of the house. Although having the rooms on the same side is great when they are little, it’s not so great when they are older which Ramona is approaching that stage much too quickly.
A massive kitchen and tons of windows was definitely a must for us.
We wanted a large outdoor entertaining space but don’t want a pool. Maybe if we had endless money and the kids were older…
I love your criteria list! Maybe you mentioned it but does this mean that you’re going to have a custom plan drawn up based on your criteria list and the things you liked from the other plans?
Yes that’s exactly what we did! We will share our preliminary and final drawings this week!
This post makes me feel stressed for you! But your house is going to be so amazing. And sorry about the pretentious jerk face. Those are the worst.
Totally but oh well we couldn’t afford him, so he could probably be pretentious to us! I couldn’t give someone that much control anyway.
Yeah I’m already pissed off at those architects you talked to. Who gives up complete control on their own house?! That is outrageous. YOU are paying THEM. YOU decide how the process goes. UGH. Anyway.
I love floor plan shopping! Excited to see how yours turns out!
I know right!! I won’t downplay their talent, but in our area modern houses from extremely notable architects in the 60s are being demolished. It’s probably not the best play to build a modern house around here unless I plan on staying forever…and forever is just a really long commitment to a house when you are in your 20s.