Feedback on 1st Conceptual Drawing review meeting on March 26

Modified the Plan per your comments below - see response in Green

Entry/foyer,

- We had discussed having a small area for shoes, or a "genkan" area with a step up from the door. Could we incorporate this concept into your existing plan by having a step-up from the entry, and by placing a bench with space for shoes on one side?

Add 1 (or two) Genkan to the side of the Entry - the other side could be combed sand (like we want to do near the tub of the Master bath).

- We're having second thoughts about the water features facing the entry, as well as surrounding the breakfast area. While there are definitely things we like about incorporating water, we're more worried about the maintenance, kids stepping into water, and generally having a fixture here where our taste might change in the future. Could we plan on doing something without fixtures instead, such as placing furniture that helps break up the room and still allow for the "grand" entrance?

- Similarly, is there a way for us to think about the breakfast area without the water and "bridge" concept, but still provide some character for this space?

- The two of us are still a bit split on the design of the staircases. If it turns out that the staircases push us over the budget, we would be open to just having a single staircase to the left side, perhaps going up over where the powder and bar are currently situated. However, wonder if we would have to re-think the breakfast area, consequently.

Added Bamboo Planters (that could function as moveable pots) as dividers per our meeting.

Living Room

- Remove French Doors and replace with windows

Done

Bath 4/Guest Suite/Office

- Is there a way to re-think the bathroom sharing situation? Current issue is that there are too many doors going into the bathroom, in order to grant on-suite access from guest suite plus privacy from office/living room. Two potential options:

i) One door into Bath 4, placed adjacent to guest suite entry door. While guest suite needs to walk outside to get to bathroom, it's essentially right next to the suite, while still allowing access from the living room. Office will have to walk further to enter though, but Vince is okay with this.

ii) Create a mini hallway on the side of office entry that provides access to bath 4 AND guest suite. Entry into the Bath 4 would be through a single door. We can still put a door that gets into this mini-hallway, which can be closed off to create a private area for the guest suite & bath 4

Done

Kitchen

- Move stove off island

Done

- We would actually appreciate one single (and bigger) island with cabinets underneath, vs. breaking it out into two. Booth style seating on one side of the island.

Done

- Screens: We are split on whether to have the moving shoji screens for the formal dining and kitchen spaces. We can see ourselves moving the panels toward the left, leaving 1-2 panels there to "block" the view of the kitchen from entry. However, we have a harder time imaging ever needing to close any of the panels on the formal dining side, and wonder if we can just skip this side. (see related comment in Dining)

Done - per above - Bamboo Planters

- As an alternative to the screens, what about just putting a 3-ft. high divider on the south side, separating the living room and kitchen? We would like some way to not make kitchen so visible as guests walk in the front door

Done

Dining

- We are okay NOT to have panels that open into the backyard from dining. Instead, we'd love to do bigger windows there over a sideboard. The big french doors on the west side should be sufficient.

Done

- Bar: Instead of having an "L' shape bar area, wondering if we can "slim" this down and just do a wet bar/cabinets against the south side of that wall. We'd be okay not having an island/counter for seating, and if we'd really like to have bar seating there, we'd okay buying a tall bar table with bar stools in that area. We can be swayed, though, if there is really a lot of value to having a more formal bar area, in terms of the value of the house.

Done

- Shoji Screen: Related to the "slimmed-down" bar, wondering if we can also "slim down" the shoji screen design here but just having screens running on the east side of the room, and SKIPPING the one panel on the south side. Given that we won't have sliding panels on the north side, also wonder if there is a way for us to slide all the panels over and "hide" them on the wall toward the north side of the dining room. Or, conversely, if this can be accomplished on the south side be sliding the panels toward the wall shared with the powder, we can also consider that.

Modified per plan

Bedroom Suite 2 and 3

- Like the layout overall, but would like to remove the french doors. We are still thinking less about what adult inhabitants would enjoy vs. having another "escape route" for our future teens. Instead, wonder if we can do nice big windows here and potentially fit in a piece of furniture or custom bench to create a bay window type of space for reading/relaxing.

Done

Master Suite

- We're thinking about placement of furniture, and wonder if we need to tweak the dimensions of the room and placement of bath/walk-in closet accordingly. Three things we'd do with our furnishings:

1. We'll likely want to move our bed to the east side, so that we can wake up facing the Las Trampas/San Ramon Valley view featured on the west side, as well as being able to watch TV (presumable hung on the wall on the west side between the big glass corners)

Done

2. Given likely placement of the bed, we'd like to still make sure we have a little retreat area where we can place a loveseat or two chairs to watch TV and admire the view.

Done

3. Accordingly, I think we can still keep the doorway into the master bath as-is, but are open to other suggestions

Shifted it to line up with French door

- Shower area: We see that it's currently more of a trapezoid shape given how we're drawing the toilet. Is there a way to make it rectangular? (see related comment on the toilet)

- Toilet: Instead of its current position, is there a way to place the toilet such that we can get a small window, so we can minimize the need to lighting during the day (plus ventilation?) Perhaps re-configure how we currently have the walk-in closet drawn to make this happen?

- Door into master bath: If we simply get rid of the door going into the master bath, would this help with the re-configuration above?

Done

Loggia

- Thinking about the area just outside the master suite, toward the northwest corner, is it possible to do a loggia here to provide a sitting area without blocking the view to the West/NW? OR:

- Are we better off thinking about placing a loggia in the space between dining and great room, now that we are not thinking doing panels?

Done

Garage 2 (garage on the west side):

- Agree on having no direct entry into the house, as long as we have covered access back to the house.

- Can we move the door to the southeast corner of the garage instead?

Done

Relating to your items in your last post:

1. One thing to keep in mind is that you probably want to have the kitchen on the left side of the house (since that will likely be the more "public side") - it doesn't have to be but that is what Vince and I discussed. If this is the case then the garages would be far from the kitchen for unloading groceries. We could flip the bedrooms over to the west side (or left side) and flip it the public side. Usually (though not always) the public side of the house wants to have the better views. The private side would be the bedrooms - but we could also split the bedrooms (but with the kids young - I suggest keeping the master on the same side as the kids).

2. Per #1 above - there is no right answer and we can do what you suggest. The reason why the public rooms like kitchen / great room / or even living and dining go on the side with the views is that you spend a lot more time in these rooms as oppose to the bedrooms.

3. Vince and I also talked about the living being in the center right (back side) and the dining being in the center right (front side) - but this can change as well.

Replies

Tim Haley May 5, 2014 at 1:17pm

Modified the Plan per your comments below - see response in Green

Entry/foyer,

- We had discussed having a small area for shoes, or a "genkan" area with a step up from the door. Could we incorporate this concept into your existing plan by having a step-up from the entry, and by placing a bench with space for shoes on one side?

Add 1 (or two) Genkan to the side of the Entry - the other side could be combed sand (like we want to do near the tub of the Master bath).

- We're having second thoughts about the water features facing the entry, as well as surrounding the breakfast area. While there are definitely things we like about incorporating water, we're more worried about the maintenance, kids stepping into water, and generally having a fixture here where our taste might change in the future. Could we plan on doing something without fixtures instead, such as placing furniture that helps break up the room and still allow for the "grand" entrance?

- Similarly, is there a way for us to think about the breakfast area without the water and "bridge" concept, but still provide some character for this space?

- The two of us are still a bit split on the design of the staircases. If it turns out that the staircases push us over the budget, we would be open to just having a single staircase to the left side, perhaps going up over where the powder and bar are currently situated. However, wonder if we would have to re-think the breakfast area, consequently.

Added Bamboo Planters (that could function as moveable pots) as dividers per our meeting.

Living Room

- Remove French Doors and replace with windows

Done

Bath 4/Guest Suite/Office

- Is there a way to re-think the bathroom sharing situation? Current issue is that there are too many doors going into the bathroom, in order to grant on-suite access from guest suite plus privacy from office/living room. Two potential options:

i) One door into Bath 4, placed adjacent to guest suite entry door. While guest suite needs to walk outside to get to bathroom, it's essentially right next to the suite, while still allowing access from the living room. Office will have to walk further to enter though, but Vince is okay with this.

ii) Create a mini hallway on the side of office entry that provides access to bath 4 AND guest suite. Entry into the Bath 4 would be through a single door. We can still put a door that gets into this mini-hallway, which can be closed off to create a private area for the guest suite & bath 4

Done

Kitchen

- Move stove off island

Done

- We would actually appreciate one single (and bigger) island with cabinets underneath, vs. breaking it out into two. Booth style seating on one side of the island.

Done

- Screens: We are split on whether to have the moving shoji screens for the formal dining and kitchen spaces. We can see ourselves moving the panels toward the left, leaving 1-2 panels there to "block" the view of the kitchen from entry. However, we have a harder time imaging ever needing to close any of the panels on the formal dining side, and wonder if we can just skip this side. (see related comment in Dining)

Done - per above - Bamboo Planters

- As an alternative to the screens, what about just putting a 3-ft. high divider on the south side, separating the living room and kitchen? We would like some way to not make kitchen so visible as guests walk in the front door

Done

Dining

- We are okay NOT to have panels that open into the backyard from dining. Instead, we'd love to do bigger windows there over a sideboard. The big french doors on the west side should be sufficient.

Done

- Bar: Instead of having an "L' shape bar area, wondering if we can "slim" this down and just do a wet bar/cabinets against the south side of that wall. We'd be okay not having an island/counter for seating, and if we'd really like to have bar seating there, we'd okay buying a tall bar table with bar stools in that area. We can be swayed, though, if there is really a lot of value to having a more formal bar area, in terms of the value of the house.

Done

- Shoji Screen: Related to the "slimmed-down" bar, wondering if we can also "slim down" the shoji screen design here but just having screens running on the east side of the room, and SKIPPING the one panel on the south side. Given that we won't have sliding panels on the north side, also wonder if there is a way for us to slide all the panels over and "hide" them on the wall toward the north side of the dining room. Or, conversely, if this can be accomplished on the south side be sliding the panels toward the wall shared with the powder, we can also consider that.

Modified per plan

Bedroom Suite 2 and 3

- Like the layout overall, but would like to remove the french doors. We are still thinking less about what adult inhabitants would enjoy vs. having another "escape route" for our future teens. Instead, wonder if we can do nice big windows here and potentially fit in a piece of furniture or custom bench to create a bay window type of space for reading/relaxing.

Done

Master Suite

- We're thinking about placement of furniture, and wonder if we need to tweak the dimensions of the room and placement of bath/walk-in closet accordingly. Three things we'd do with our furnishings:

1. We'll likely want to move our bed to the east side, so that we can wake up facing the Las Trampas/San Ramon Valley view featured on the west side, as well as being able to watch TV (presumable hung on the wall on the west side between the big glass corners)

Done

2. Given likely placement of the bed, we'd like to still make sure we have a little retreat area where we can place a loveseat or two chairs to watch TV and admire the view.

Done

3. Accordingly, I think we can still keep the doorway into the master bath as-is, but are open to other suggestions

Shifted it to line up with French door

- Shower area: We see that it's currently more of a trapezoid shape given how we're drawing the toilet. Is there a way to make it rectangular? (see related comment on the toilet)

- Toilet: Instead of its current position, is there a way to place the toilet such that we can get a small window, so we can minimize the need to lighting during the day (plus ventilation?) Perhaps re-configure how we currently have the walk-in closet drawn to make this happen?

- Door into master bath: If we simply get rid of the door going into the master bath, would this help with the re-configuration above?

Done

Loggia

- Thinking about the area just outside the master suite, toward the northwest corner, is it possible to do a loggia here to provide a sitting area without blocking the view to the West/NW? OR:

- Are we better off thinking about placing a loggia in the space between dining and great room, now that we are not thinking doing panels?

Done

Garage 2 (garage on the west side):

- Agree on having no direct entry into the house, as long as we have covered access back to the house.

- Can we move the door to the southeast corner of the garage instead?

Done
Tim Haley March 28, 2014 at 12:36pm

Relating to your items in your last post:

1. One thing to keep in mind is that you probably want to have the kitchen on the left side of the house (since that will likely be the more "public side") - it doesn't have to be but that is what Vince and I discussed. If this is the case then the garages would be far from the kitchen for unloading groceries. We could flip the bedrooms over to the west side (or left side) and flip it the public side. Usually (though not always) the public side of the house wants to have the better views. The private side would be the bedrooms - but we could also split the bedrooms (but with the kids young - I suggest keeping the master on the same side as the kids).

2. Per #1 above - there is no right answer and we can do what you suggest. The reason why the public rooms like kitchen / great room / or even living and dining go on the side with the views is that you spend a lot more time in these rooms as oppose to the bedrooms.

3. Vince and I also talked about the living being in the center right (back side) and the dining being in the center right (front side) - but this can change as well.

This reply was deleted.

Cheung Residence - Project

Replies