Ever worked with an architect to build a home?

Probably depends on your budget as most custom home builders will cost more then builders who largely build to existing floor plans. When we built a new home recently, the builder was very flexible on various modifications we wanted to make to one of their existing layouts that suited our needs. All new construction has to comply with ADA requirements, but you might still be able to include specific design elements to meet your needs.

Study/sewing rooms can be as simple as converting a bedroom to suit your needs. Never heard of the term 'scullery' but it sounds like an extra room for cooking, perhaps those are more common in Australia as I am not familiar with that term in the US. Can you make the existing kitchen larger to suit your needs or do you actually need 2 kitchens?

Many homes include what is referred to as an 'in-law suite' which would have a separate entrance/living space for another member of the family to use. You can generally specify the number of garages you need when working with a builder.
A scullery is a separate room for washing dirty dishes and storing them when they are clean along with other messy kitchen work such as prep. We really don't see them much here in middle class homes.
 
A scullery is a separate room for washing dirty dishes and storing them when they are clean along with other messy kitchen work such as prep. We really don't see them much here in middle class homes.
We had a butlers pantry (the more common term) in the house we built.
 
A scullery is a separate room for washing dirty dishes and storing them when they are clean along with other messy kitchen work such as prep. We really don't see them much here in middle class homes.
Sculleries (or as some designers here are calling them, "working pantries") are actually a very hot design feature in the US right now, even in somewhat smaller homes. The big trend is to build them behind an interior wall so that access to them is through faux cabinetry in the visible kitchen. Most of the time the entire kitchen isn't really bigger than a normal generously-sized country kitchen design, but about half of it is hidden. The reason for it arose during the pandemic when people discovered that having a lot of people spending a lot of time in an open-plan home meant that the noisy and messy working parts of the kitchen intruded on activities in the rest of the house, so creating a separate room that contains that without isolating the more social parts of a kitchen's function is gaining popularity.

I don't think that a sewing room really needs to be huge unless it's a production studio that will be used by multiple sewists simultaneously. What it does need, though, are a lot of good windows for light (They can mostly be high, above head-level) and built-in storage functions to contain the clutter of the "stash". In a good sewing room, the only things "out" are your machines, the projects you are presently working on and tools that are needed all the time. A table with geared pull-out leaves and a flip-up bin on one end is great for cutting projects; so that when you are not cutting you can reduce the size. (Do go ahead and have a projector mount wired into the ceiling above that area, though; projection cutting is going to make paper patterns obsolete in the very near future, much as I cherish mine.) One of the best options I've seen for a multiple-machine set up is to arrange moveable tables in a square, so that you can roll your chair around the interior of it to move from machine to machine. (With surge protectors screwed to the underside of each table so that you only have to plug one cord into the wall when the table is moved. If you want to get fancy you can have special-purpose hutches built for these tables to hold things like elastic on overhead-feed or under-table-feed reels, which I find hugely convenient adjacent to my regular machine and my serger.) I think that two generous bedrooms combined on the narrow end of a rectangular ranch design home should be plenty of space for a hobby sewist, built with two doorways and power gangs so that it's easy to build a wall between them to convert the space back to 2 bedrooms if you want to sell.

One of the best ways to integrate a serious library into a home is to build the hallways extra-wide so that they can be lined with shelving, with the plus factor that they dampen noise in the home. Articulated rolling ladders make it possible to go all the way to the ceiling with the books.

A good design for an accessible bathroom that is easy to clean is a wet room with a textured-tile floor. (I really don't recommend large open soft-goods storage in a bathroom, though; it draws mold unless air can circulate on three sides, or it's actively vented.)

OP, you might want to start by looking at plans for ADA-accessible "executive ranch" homes; you may be able to use one with only slight structural modifications, though of course, the fittings would still need a lot of tweaking. This one, for example, has a lot of what you are looking for, and I think that the side with the master suite could be bumped out further, to make room to add the sewing room. https://www.houseplans.net/floorpla...-plan-3777-square-feet-4-bedrooms-4-bathrooms
 
Last edited:


I need so many quirky things that I've never seen all in one house plan before. I'm in the US but some of the things are more features of Australian homes, some are just things I've wanted a long time, and some are because I'm no spring chicken.

  • single story
  • 2 car garage
  • study (with a lot of room for bookshelves - or a separate library)
  • sewing room (must be quite large because I quilt, sew clothing, and do embroidery projects)
  • scullery (with double ovens, sink, and room for most of the small kitchen appliances - I love to bake so I want room in the there to roll out cookies or proof dough)
  • only one spare room (the study and sewing room can have closets so that they can be used as spare rooms after I die and the kids sell/live there)
  • everything wheelchair accessible (doorways, shower in main bathroom - I plan to die in this house or at least go out fighting)
  • the usual kitchen, dining area, living room that flows together for entertaining
  • an attached one bedroom apartment with separate entrance and garage (for my youngest daughter or if she changes her mind income)
Other than the scullery and wheelchair accessible, not uncommon requests of a modern home. So not quirky at all.
 
OP hasn't said what kind of budget they have for this house. And clearly what part of the country makes a big difference in the price. Expansive gourmet kitchens/optional prep areas are more likely found in higher end homes.

If you plan to sell any of the food items you prepare also need to be familiar with local building codes. Rules/regulations can vary by area/state. Some require you have a separate kitchen for items you are planning to sell commercially.
 
Last edited:
not exactly, but when I was looking at houses I ended up almost going with a prefab house and when I was going through home plans and touring model homes I fell in love with and chose the plan that had a hidden pantry and now I desperately want to remodel this house to have one! Lol, my daughter saw it and called it the "anxiety room" but it's actually amazing! Just a secret room hidden behind the wall of the kitchen and you wouldn't know it was there just by looking at it. The entry was through what was supposed to look like a wooden pantry cabinet, that's why it was "hidden" but to my inner nerd it felt kind of like stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia.
 


OP, you might want to start by looking at plans for ADA-accessible "executive ranch" homes; you may be able to use one with only slight structural modifications, though of course, the fittings would still need a lot of tweaking. This one, for example, has a lot of what you are looking for, and I think that the side with the master suite could be bumped out further, to make room to add the sewing room. https://www.houseplans.net/floorpla...-plan-3777-square-feet-4-bedrooms-4-bathrooms

Thank you that is pretty close to my dream. I am going to see a property hopefully later this week that has two small houses on the same .6 acres. Both need work but I can live in one while remodeling the other.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











facebook twitter
Top