We’re still holding off on taking you on a full virtual tour of our soon-to-be new home (you know, until the deal is 100% done and we actually live there). But we thought we’d give you a sense of what we’re gonna be working with thanks to this rough floor plan that we threw together with the use of floorplanner.com (it’s a free service, btw). Everything is approximate since we’re borrowing from the measurements that we took during the inspection and copied from the sales flier, but here’s what we’ve got (the washer & dryer are stacked in the small mudroom off of the carport):
*There aren’t measurements for the smaller spaces like the bathrooms or hallways, but the total square footage for this house is around 2,500 square feet
The funny thing is that if you look at our current house’s floor plan it might seem a bit familiar. We always said if we built onto our house we’d love to add a nice bedroom with a true en-suite bath (since our current casa only has one full bath in the entire house and nothing attached to a bedroom at all) and we wouldn’t mind somehow creating a larger family/living room (we’ve always longed for a casual and comfy sectional but our current house just wouldn’t accommodate one thanks to the long narrow family and living room layouts). Sherry has also always had serious island envy and lo and behold, the new house could actually support one of those as well. In other words, just talking about it gets us all geeked out and excited since it’s kind of like a combination of our current house and a few more things we’ve always wanted.
We’re just so thankful that after some pretty rigorous searching we finally found this baby. In fact it has nearly everything going for it when it comes to our parameters (great school, great location near family, a lush and lovely yard for Burger & The Bean, within our budget, etc) except that it’s admittedly a tad bigger than we had targeted.
We like living modestly, making spaces multitask, and most of all not having to clean a huge house. But at around 2,500 square feet it’s nothing too crazy, and we’re sure we can grow into it and take the entertaining brunt off of John’s poor sister (who currently has a 3,000 square foot house so the whole crew always ends up over there- and as fun as that is, we’d love to be a place where the family gathers as well). We figure a bit of extra space couldn’t hurt in that regard, since the average get-together for us is around 10-16 people (and we can currently seat just 6 people at our dining table that sits in the corner of our living room). Plus there are more DIY projects to take on. Ha.
But anyway, here’s how we envision adapting the floor plan to make the house work best for our family (we’ve highlighted the descriptions that have changed in green, but we’ll break things down a bit more below the floor plan for ya):
You’ll notice that we’re thinking about:
- converting the carport into a garage (thanks to a sweet credit the sellers gave us)
- turning the modestly sized dining room into an office, and even adding pretty french doors to separate that area
- converting the formal front living room into an entryway with a casual dining room slash library
- adding a large doorway leading into the kitchen from the new dining room/library
- making one bedroom into a playroom/future nursery for kiddo number two in a few years (we’re waiting a while), making the second one into Clara’s bedroom, and turning the third one into a guest room for family & friends since they stay with us pretty frequently (upgrade: they’ll now have their own small bathroom to use, instead of having to share one shower with all of us).
- adding an island in the kitchen and widening the doorway that leads to the former family room…
- …which will become our one and only living room- we’ve learned that three rooms with sofas in this current house (the living room, den, and sunroom) aren’t necessary for the way we live, and the formal living room just doesn’t get used. So creating a nice large casual living space with a sectional and lots of room will hopefully make our house into a place where everyone gathers, which is a huge goal of ours. And the more spacious kitchen that’s centrally located (which is soon to be open on all four sides) will definitely help create that airy, welcoming, accommodating feeling for large groups like our huge crazy family.
- creating an amazing double sided fireplace since the back of the fireplace in the kitchen can hopefully be blown out so there’s also access to it from the living room.
Update: One change we decided to make after posting this but before moving in was to use Bedroom #1 (the smallest closest bedroom) as Clara’s room and turn Bedroom #2 (the larger middle one) into a playroom/second kids bedroom. Bedroom #2 will probably end up being Clara’s big girl room and our second child will move into the nursery (Bedroom #1) in a few years when he or she exists.
Of course we won’t do any major work (knocking down walls, building an island, fully gutting and renovating the bathrooms, blowing out that fireplace, etc) before we live there a little while and we’re sure it all makes sense for the way we actually end up using the house. We’ve never subscribed to the knock-down-walls-and-refinish-everything-before-moving-in way of life since we never would have come up with the close-off-a-door-to-gain-a-bedroom-and-a-whole-wall-of-cabinetry-in-the-kitchen plan that dawned on us only after living in our house for about six months. But we will jump right in with things like painting the walls, kitchen cabinets, trim, and doors along with switching out light fixtures, other hardware, and beginning to slowly but steadily furnish the place in a casual, affordable, and kid-friendly way. It’s honestly all I think about these days. I have about 500 tear sheets, notes, and other inspiration piles surrounding me at all times. Is it mid-December yet?
Savvy says
Very best of luck!!! I can’t wait to see pictures of the place <3 I'm going to be moving next year so I love coming here for inspiration ;)
katie n says
I’m so excited…almost as excited as if this were my new house. Looking forward to reading about all the new projects!
I do have one question about your proposed ideas…do you think that it will be odd at all for the front door to be in the dining room? We are currently using the front room in our home where the front door is as a dining area but thinking about staging it for sale as a sitting area because I just think it’s a bit odd for the front door to plop guests right in the dining area. Can’t think of anyone else’s house like that….what do you think? Do you have ideas for how you will create an “entry-way” type area in a dining room? I’ve been racking my brain…
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Katie N,
We envision a really casual dining space with a big round table (that can also double as a craft table for the kiddo(s)) and cushy upholstered chairs that feel warm and welcoming instead of all hard and wood-ish if that makes sense. There are some great built-ins in that room and we’ll add curtains and other casual, soft, and welcoming elements so it hardly feels too formal or food-focused. At least that’s our hope!
xo,
s
sleigh says
is that a sink IN the master bedroom?
YoungHouseLove says
Why yes, yes it is. Haha. It’s one of those hallways that leads to the sink and vanity, which is separate from the toilet and shower (which is on the right). Lots of work to do!
xo,
s
Audrey says
ooo I love a good floor plan! Can’t wait to see pictures of this floor plan in real life. Looks like a great house!
Heidi says
Hey guys! So I’ve only been reading your blog for a couple of months now, but have been a faithful follower ever since I started! Anyway, I (just about 5 minutes ago) read about your wedding and discovered that my husband and I got married on the same day as you guys! (yes, one of the other 36,000, but at the time I SWEAR it was all my idea). I just need you to know how much it freaks me out that we were married at the same time but you guys are light years ahead of us … you have a baby! You own a home! Goodness … at least when I thought you had been married for years and years I felt like “one day, when I’ve been married for as long as them I’ll ….”
But now I can’t. Oh dear. :) Thanks for the blog, it’s wonderful!
Heidi says
Ahhh!!! I’m so excited for you guys! My hubby and I are looking to buy our first house in Fall of 2011, and want to get a fixer-upper as well…I’ll be living vicariously through you until then! Good luck on all the new adventures – this time around you’ve got some of the projects down to a science. :)
Jena @ Involving Color says
Love these ideas! I can’t wait to see how they turn out. You guys always do such a great job.
Molly says
Oh this all looks so amazing – I don’t blame you for having a million ideas, that is some great floorplan canvas to work with (ack mixing metaphors)… quick thought though – I know you’re saying wait a few years for the next kiddo, but beware of placing a newborn next to a three or four year old clara’s room, unless you want TWO sleep-deproved kiddos instead of just one. Even if the acoustics are fantastic, Clara will still hear a baby crying right next door and Clara’s opinion of Petersik Offspring #2 may dive sharpish if he/she keeps waking her up!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh good point Molly. Something to think about. I guess we’re spoiled by our sleeps-all-night baby (Clara has been doing that pretty much since we took her home from the hospital) but you never know about the next baby. He/She might make up for it…
xo,
s
Jamie says
Love it! Can’t wait to see!
Tara C says
EEK! I am so excited to watch this house transform into another incredible home for your family! And as a mother of “almost” 4 (4th in March) – I’m especially excited to see how you do this with a baby around! :-) Best of wishes to you!
Cait @ Hernando House says
Love the floorplan! I’m so glad you’ll have a sunroom again!
AnnaMae says
Thanks for the teaser! I’m so excited to read and glean ideas and inspiration from you guys as you move and begin to do your thing in the new house! I can’t even imagine how excited you must be for moving day!!!
Kari says
Hey, but what about Christmas decorations?! If you move mid-December, what’s the plan for decorating your new house??
I’ll be sad if there’s no holiday posts from you two!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Not to worry! There will be tons of holiday decorating and gifting posts (both here in our current house and then again in the new house). We can’t resist decorating once Thanksgiving is over, so we’ll definitely do it twice. Once before the move, and once after!
xo,
s
Carole says
good job with Floorplanner, very professional! so many possibilities!
have you thought about how it would feel to walk in the front door right into the dining room? Another possibility would be to have the dining room behind the kitchen (in the front part of the current family room.) Then you could still have the office at the front, or you could put the office in the space at the back of the current family room (and use the dining room for a play area, perhaps….)
can’t wait to see what you end up doing with all of this space! so exciting!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Carole,
Yup, scroll up for a bit more info on that. We’ve definitely considered a ton of possibilities but when we share pics of the space and what we’re envisioning we hope it’ll make sense. It’s a you-had-to-be-there thing! Haha.
xo,
s
Mary says
OMG a fireplace in the kitchen? That would have instantly sold me. I am so jealous. Is that a patio between the master bedroom and secondary bedrooms? I am imagining a secret garden-like reading getaway. So excited to see more!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Mary,
Yes! It needs a lot of work- but we’re envisioning the same thing!
xo,
s
Ami @ beyondpeasandcarrots says
the new floor plan looks great! Can’t wait to see what you guys do :). So exciting!
Jessica @ How Sweet says
Love that there is also a guest bathroom. It looks like a great plan!
Maya says
Wow… by Israeli standards, that’s huge!! I’m so excited to see what you guys do with more space and to see how you end up using this house.
heyruthie says
I am so excited! it looks great! *AND* your new kitchen has the same exact floorplan/dimensions as mine–which I am DYING to upgrade and integrate into the surrounding rooms. i can’t WAIT to see what y’all do…….and then “copy” you! (Sincerest form of flattery, I promise!)
Susan @ Retro Restyling says
You guys are so lucky that you found “The One”! I’ve always thought… you know, I just want to have a move-in ready home, but since I’ve been watching so many great transformations of older homes, I honestly don’t want that anymore. When my family and I finally get to purchase a home, I want it to be something that we put sweat and tears into. It only makes it that much more special! Good luck with the purchase and I’m super excited to see you guys get to work with the updates!
Nikki says
Regarding Molly’s comment and your response, they do say the 2nd one is the bad one ;) My parents say I was like Clara, meaning I was pretty much just a happy go lucky baby that slept through the night from pretty much the 2nd week I was home on. My mom said she had to check on me a lot to make sure I was still breathing! LOL. Then, 7 years later, my brother comes along and he was hell on wheels! Cranky, colic-y, and didn’t sleep through the night for MONTHS.
Also, I just wanted to say how much I LOVE your new house footprint! It has everything we are looking for in a house now that we’ve been in ours a few years, but luckily we have the ability to expand our current house to make it work. Just need to figure out the logistical and monetary parts!
Can’t wait to see more details!
Nikki
Liz says
This is such a great floorplan already and the changes you’re planning make it even better. Love the idea of french doors to the office. And the changes you’re making in that room allow it to still function as a dining room if future buyers insist on two inside living spaces.
Nicole says
In your post, you mentioned reducing the number of rooms with couches from 3 to 1 in your new house. My husband and I also just bought a new house (rather unexpectedly, we had literally just finished remodeling our first when work took us to a different state). Almost all of our furniture, like yours, is new and we’re trying to decide if we want to keep it, or get something that’s more livable in our new place – a sectional would be great, actually.
Anyway, long story short, what will you do with all your other couches and furniture? Sell it?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Nicole,
Yup- we’re definitely not strangers to Craigslist so we’ll sell anything we don’t have a use for. We do have a sunroom to decorate, so a sofa might end up out there (or a daybed). Time will tell…
xo,
s
Fuzz says
I love the floor plan.
Just a concerned parent thought: I always have hated my kids having their bedrooms right up the front of the house in the event of a break-in. I don’t know if you’ve thought of moving Clara’s room and swapping it with the guest room so she is slightly more… interior.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Fuzz,
Not to worry. We already had our consultation with the alarm company. The new house is going to be like Fort Knox!
xo,
s
Alison says
Congrats J & S. We have 2800 sqft with 2.5 baths… 4 beds… pretty similar to your house (soon-to-be) actually, but on two floors instead of one. We have had soooo much fun with it… and yes, it is a lot to furnish!! We have lived here for a year and we’re still taking on new projects all the time. Last weekend my hubs closed in a weird cutout looking over the stairs and made it into a bookcase. I can’t wait to see what ya’ll do with all your new space and potential for projects!!
LOVE the fireplace idea. That is going to be beautiful :)
Dennis Bullock says
Look great guys! I cant wait to see the transformation!
Morgan says
I have floor plan envy!! I love the idea of french doors separating the two rooms. Do you plan on installing them yourself or having them hung?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Morgan,
We haven’t tackled french doors yet so we don’t know if it’s something we can install but we’ll certainly give it the ol’ college try before calling for reinforcements!
xo,
s
Laura says
Before I even got down to the second image I said, wow, I’d move that dining room. I would think that you could easily creat a little “foyer” or entryway immediately adjacent to the dining room, if only to visually separate the two spaces. Love the plan & can’t wait to see the photos! Before AND after :)
Elizabeth says
Really, really great floorplan. I’ve been excited to see it, obviously! Love the dining room idea and can’t wait to see how you use that space especially. Can you give a tidbit about how you’ll decorate that room? Is a bigger table in the works? Or flexibility to use multiple tables (kid table/grownup table) at family gatherings? Will Clara and future siblings have homework stations in that room? So exciting!
tom says
That living room/dining room/kitchen is ripe for a wall-tear-down-party making an awesome greatroom. Any distant future plans for a remodel of that magnitude?
Kelli says
I love it and am so excited for you guys! Question about the fireplace in the living room. How would you arrange your furniture to take advantage of it? It appears to be right between two walkways, which would keep you from being able to put much of anything around it.
heyruthie says
p.s. do i detect some avacado green/goldenrod yellow in the “original” up there?? I’m hoping for some real fugliness when you do the big reveal!!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Ahh- so many questions! We can’t keep up. We’ll share more details as we go. And we’re not 100% sure how we’ll arrange furniture or decorate every room yet at all- just collecting ideas and waiting to see how things go when we move in. We definitely believe in learning as we go along with a heaping portion or trial and error!
xo,
s
tom says
EDIT: guess I should have really read the post instead of just looking at the pictures…
Carolyn @ Lovin' Losing says
Love the all the plans you have in store! Someday when you’re not so busy with the move, I’d give just about anything to have you come down to Chesapeake (only 1.5 hr drive) and help us figure out what to do with our house. We bought it 1.5 years ago and haven’t done too much. We aren’t the most creative people, I guess. We need help (and so does our house)!! :)
Amy N. says
I don’t think I could be more excited than if it were my own house to remodel! It’s like getting your decorating/remodeling fix without having to do all the work! Thanks for always sharing and inspiring!
Jennifer says
We just bought a ranch that is the same-ish layout as your new house originally was…. I think the new office space and half your kitchen used to be a garage? That area is a garage at our house.
We are trying on different ideas for adding on down the road (we, too, would like a master bedroom with a separate-from-everyone-else bathroom!) and the one thing I can’t figure out is the kitchen. I notice yours doesn’t have any windows! Is it dark in there? I think opening up that wall by your new kitchen island will help….
Our new master bedroom is the same size as Clara’s room is going to be, ahh! Haha. (That’s ok with us – right now our master bedroom is 8×7!)
We also don’t have that extra bath but that certainly is a good idea to put one there since it can share plumbing with the other bath.
Seeing this certainly gives me ideas for how we can accentuate our new home once our family grows. We also want just one living space (vs. family room + living room + den, etc.). Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
heyruthie says
OK, i just HAVE to chime in with everyone “worrying” about the kids next to each other…..WHAT???? our kids SHARE rooms! We have four kids, and the baby is always next to another kid. In many parts of the world, the whole family shares a bedroom! John and Sherry, take it from a Mom of 4, your plan looks great. The only thing you might do is co-sleep with the baby in a bassinet for a month or two at first. No prob! No worries!
Rebekah says
Where will your washer and dryer go?
OnMon says
I like your plans a lot! The only thing that makes me apprehensive about the central kitchen (which admittedly has several advantages) would be the lack of natural light – it doesn’t look like it has any windows? If it doesn’t have any skylights, either, I highly recommend Solatubes (http://www.solatube.com/). My parents just put one in a dark stairway in their bungalow and the difference is literally “night and day”!
YoungHouseLove says
OnMon- It actually has an awesome window over the sink that looks out into the sunroom which is flooded with light – which is exactly what we have now in this house. We think with all the wide openings to other rooms and that nice above-sink window it should hopefully be amazing. Thanks for the solatube info though- good to know!
Rebekah- There are stacked units in the mudroom off of the carport/future garage. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Victoria C says
I love your new floor plan…so very excited for you guys. It made me laugh when I saw that you always wanted a kitchen island and a master bathroom…the two things I tell my hubby that I want if we ever win the lottery.
Our house is 1100 sqft with only one bathroom, so having guests over is a real pain and our table only seats 6 comfortably (10 in total next week with 2 guests staying over!) Cannot wait to see how amazing your transformation is going to be.
Letty says
Ohhhhh my gosh, soooo exciting!! Can’t wait to see more!!
Cher says
We too are owners of an old ranch. We purchased from the original owners from the 1940’s. Needless to say they didn’t do much to update the home in the last 25 years due to their age (it had the original kitchen from the 40’s). We also knew that we were going to be in this home for the next 15 years due to our daughter and the great schools and neighborhood. So we went for it and have been doing everything we can to make it our dream home. So tear down that wall and make the big family room/kitchen with the extra large couch you want. We did 90% of the work ourselves and we too had a small baby. You would be amazed at what a baby can sleep thru (jack hammering an entire wall down). I am so happy for your adorable family, and your new dream home. Keep up the great posts. They are a highlight to many people’s day.
Jen says
I grew up in a house that had the front door open in to the dining room … I hated it. Hated it with a passion.
Having lived with it my whole life, all I can say is that it always felt awkward – for me and for visitors. And we avoided walking in the front door. No matter what could have been done to make it more comfortable/etc, it’s just a big “no” for me …
Erica M says
I hope you post some ‘naked’ photos of the new house before you move your furniture in! I think readers might find it interesting to look at the blank palette through their own eyes and see how they interpret the space.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Erica,
We definitely will! And we plan to make a quick video!
xo,
s
Melissa Peskin says
Hey, I recognize that floor plan from my neighborhood! (Though unfortunately for schools mine’s in the city.) We looked at a house with that original plan that had a sunroom behind the fireplace, the guest room as the master with Clara’s room as a walk-in closet, and an octagonal architect’s office addition connected to the dining room. (We have talked to the same architect about renovating our house a bit.)
Interesting choice your previous owners made to keep the only fireplace in the kitchen; I like your plan to double it. Congrats, you guys!
Mike @HA says
Looks great!! I have a feeling more kitchen walls will be coming down but I think it’s smart to live there a while first.
Lindsay says
Were the family room/master bedroom/subroom added on later? By the looks of the plan they seem to be an addition? Looks like a great floor plan with lots of potential!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lindsay,
Yup, the whole back portion was an addition in the 70s!
xo,
s
Kristen says
I love the fact that you will get to enjoy yet another sunroom! The sunroom at your first home was truly remarkable…the light poured in and made the room look like satin! Agh, LOVE it! I can’t wait to see what you do with this one:)..and might I add…what a LARGE kitchen you have…considering the size you are upgrading from:)
kathy says
That looks great! I had an old ranch that had that sink in the bedroom too… what were they thinking back then? LOL
Lizzy says
Does it have a basement? i don’t see a washer/dryer anywhere….
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lizzy,
It does have an unfinished basement that’s separate entry (a lot like the one we have now) but the washer and dryer are actually stacked in that little mudroom off of the carport/future garage.
xo,
s