The Jeffrey, a mid-century modern design.
Back Porches
I really have a thing for outdoor living spaces. I love making them not only usable but designed to be used. Just without thinking about it, we will use an outdoor space that is designed correctly and avoid one that is not. We make subconscious decisions every day and this is one of them.
The back porch may need more consideration than any other outdoor space. What do you want it to for you? Do you want it to be a place to comfortably retreat? A fun place for gatherings? Will you use it most in the mornings or the evenings? Is your lot a corner lot? Are you in a subdivision where the homes are close together?
Some need uninhibited sight lines to take advantage of a beautiful view. Some need maximum privacy.
Let’s say you want a back porch strictly for a retreat and not a place for gatherings. Obviously, you will want it to connect to the room it will be most approached from. Porches like this often connect to a master bedroom or even a master bath. If you plan to start you day with a cup of coffee, then you might want it to include a space for a coffeemaker just inside the door. You may want it on the east side of the home to take advantage of the sunrise. Or, in hotter climates you may want it to face west so that it is shaded in the morning. Of course, your surroundings and floor plan may override these factors when it comes to placement. (This is another subject for another time, but it is possible to design your goals into the floor plan from the start if you have a designer that will investigate your needs and wants with you.)
In subdivisions with fenced backyards, one way to achieve some privacy is for the lot to be sloped downward toward the porch from the edge of the lot so that the bottom of the privacy fence is at the same or at a higher elevation than the porch floor. Back porch privacy can also be achieved by designing the floor plan with an inset porch. That is, where only one side faces the outside. The other three sides adjoin exterior walls.
Now for the most popular kind of back porch - the gathering kind. Maximizing its attraction and usability does not have to include an expensive outdoor kitchen. The rules are the same whether you only have a Weber kettle grill and some chairs, or a full-blown outdoor kitchen.
Number one rule: Give it easy access to your indoor kitchen. You can even go so far as to include a serving window between the two spaces in your design. No matter what your back porch includes you will be going back and forth between it and the indoor kitchen, where 90% of your dishes, glasses, food, drinks, and snacks are kept.
Also, the kitchen is almost always a gathering space by default. If you make these two spaces compete with each other, you are less likely to want to go through the trouble of walking through your home to get between the two. Adjoining the gathering back porch to the living room is also a good idea. Just don’t let two rooms come between the back porch and the kitchen.
Since most gatherings happen in afternoons and evenings, it’s ideal if the porch faces east or southeast for afternoon shade in the summer. It’s also a good idea to include some storage so you don’t have to leave your grill outdoors all the time. If it happens to adjoin the garage, it might be possible to include a door between the two. But at least you may want an out-of-the-way space where the grill can stay while it’s not in use.
Foot traffic is another consideration. You want the retreat porch to be away from it while foot traffic can be a benefit to the gathering back porch. For example, if it is part of or next to your normal entry and exit point of the house, you will already have some level of comfort with it, and it can serve as a spot to take a quick break.
You can increase the appeal of any outdoor space by making it feel more like the indoors. You may want a place for a TV. You will certainly need electrical outlets. You may even want it to connect to a toilet, especially if there is a pool involved. You can hang pictures and clocks on the walls, and place plants all around. If you hang curtains across openings consider using shower curtains.
Most of all, your back porch needs to be comfortable, not just look good. Have you ever noticed the difference between indoor and outdoor furniture? Indoor furniture is usually more comfortable, which is one thing we all like about our living rooms. Consider comfort as much as style when choosing your outdoor furniture.
Designing the Kathryn
I had several goals in mind for designing the Kathryn:
Design an L-shaped home with an attractive front-entry garage. It can easily be changed to a side-entry, but I wanted to show that there is a way to make front-entry homes attractive. I’ve seen too many homes that would look great if it weren’t for their front-entry garages.
Keep the garage from being the prominent feature of the front of the home.
A functional open layout with space to breathe. One example is the width of the kitchen. It gives a built-in buffer between the island and the living room furniture, even when people are sitting at the island and the living room furniture is right next to the kitchen.
A downstairs Flex Room that can be used for homework, video gaming, game room, home theatre, or whatever suits your needs. Why should only two-story homes have this feature?
Total heated and cooled area around 2500 SF.
A private bathroom for each bedroom, plus a powder room for guests.
The Kathryn II and III show alternative arrangements for the powder room and how the space is divided between the living room and bonus room.
Click Here to see the Kathryn Floor Plan.
The Griffith Plans
I began designing The Griffith from a Mid-Century Modern concept layout, The Lisa, that I had done some time before. A Mid-Century Modern, being what it is, can be designed primarily for function (and coolness) without the limitations of convention. I thought that made it such a great layout that I would create a “tamed” version of it.
I always have goals when I start a design. Other than taming the Lisa, for the Griffith I wanted to create over-the-top interconnected outdoor and indoor living areas with the kitchen, of course, in the middle of it all.
A big part of that is the Bonus Room. I asked myself, why do they always have to be over the Garage? I know it’s a good place because the kids can be rowdy without disturbing those below. But there are other ways to create separation. Hence the over-sized downstairs Bonus Room in the Griffith II, separated by an outdoor living area or the Garage, depending on how you choose to get to it. This makes for a more grown-up Bonus Room. I built it around a suggested furniture/feature layout that serves that purpose. And without the hassle of stairs.
The corner sliding doors create an open connection to the main living area (which can also be opened up with its folding doors) through the outdoor living area in the back. This would not be possible with a traditional Bonus Room.
As you can see a lot of the house centers around this back outdoor living area, making sure it doesn’t get ignored. An outdoor living area that does not have good connection(s) to indoor living can be forgotten. This one is designed to be a hub of activity for entertainment, recreation, and relaxation. The built-in privacy creates the safe feeling of indoor relaxing, without being indoors.
My wife has influence on my design work, and she likes a cozy nook to unwind with a book. The Study/Craft Room was designed for that, and to do double duty as a place for homework or wrapping gifts, etc. And why shouldn’t working at the desk include a great view?
Another goal in this design was for every bedroom to be connected to a bathroom and a walk-in closet. The full bath in the Bonus is there for convenience and would also allow the Bonus to be used as a studio apartment (along with its large closet).
The Bonus Bath serves another purpose, too. It provides a place to clean up after outdoor activities such as yardwork or swimming, without necessitating a trip through the house.
I had several goals for the Owners Suite. One was to make it part of the outdoor vibe by connecting it to the main outdoor living area with large, glass doors. Another goal was to give it easy access to the Laundry Room. I also wanted it to have plenty of storage, which the bedroom-sized closet provides. And isolation from the other bedrooms and living area is achieved by connection through its own hallway.
The Griffith II shows a slightly larger Owners Closet with two separate areas. If you don’t need the separation, the more open design in the Griffith has almost as much storage and room for a dresser in the middle.
The highlight of the Kitchen is the huge island that can seat up to ten people. I wanted to keep it mostly uncluttered, so I put the cooktop and the main sink in other places. The small sink at the end provides easy food prep without encroaching into the eating area. Although the Kitchen is large, the size of the work triangle (refrigerator, sink, and stove) keeps steps to a minimum.
I’ve always been impressed with large windows over kitchen sinks. They create such an open feeling.
I designed the Pantry with the need for more upper wall cabinets in mind. I believe it more than makes up for the loss in the Kitchen created by the island and the large window over the sink. It also provides an out-of-sight storage space for the Kitchen.
Some pantries like this one include some kitchen appliances so that the Kitchen doesn’t need to be messed up to cook or stack dirty dishes. Though that is not shown here, the space is available.
All the windows in the Living Room connect to porches that limit the entrance of natural light. That’s why I created the vaulted ceiling with dormer windows above the front porch that let sunlight directly into the Living Room.
In The Griffith II, the Owners Bath, the Bonus Room, and the back Garage are larger than in The Griffith. These are the main differences. In the South a lot of people own boats, ATVs and RVs. I created the Griffith II to address this need with its large rear Garage.
Common Mistakes in Custom Home Design
It can be a mistake to choose a Designer that will simply draw the lines where you tell him to. You need a true consultant who understands the end from the beginning. One who understands the positive and negative ramifications of every feature, and who isn’t afraid to point them out. Don’t feel like your designer consultant is against what you’re suggesting if he goes into detail about the results.
The results can be financial, as in construction costs. But they can also be in how you will live in your home.
One example of that is traffic flow. If your only access to an outside door from the kitchen is through the family room, then an invisible “hallway” may affect how you arrange furniture and reduce the usable space for furniture. That doesn’t mean that the door location is poor. It just means that you need to consider it when considering the size of the family room. And you might want to consider using more durable flooring than you might otherwise need.
Another common mistake is to disregard resale value. I’ve often heard, “I just want my house to be what I want it to be. I don’t care about resale value because I’m going to live there a long time.” Keep in mind that you will eventually leave every home you purchase. It is inevitable that someone will have to sell your home some day. And the odds are that changes in life circumstances will cause you to want or need to sell sooner than you might think.
A good Home Designer can suggest features to improve resale-ability without necessarily making big changes. For example, suppose you want a very large home, say 6,000 SF. You only need four bedrooms and you want to devote the rest of the space to other uses. The truth is that most houses this size are expected to have five bedrooms or more. It’s not too hard to design a flex space that can be used as a bedroom in the future, or even in the present for overnight guests, and still not lose its main purpose as a study, workout room, or rec room. All you need is a closet and easy access to a full bath that you may have already planned on.
