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PaperclipPerfector  10hr ago (text post)   380 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 22, 2026

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A mildly-interesting two-story house design (including a version with cl*sets, plus one-story parent designs for comparison purposes): In theory (to satisfy code requirements), the living room is on floor 1 and the dining room is on floor 2. But, in practice, the room on floor 1 serves both living and dining purposes, and the room on floor 2 is just an extra living room.

Whether it makes sense hinges on how the first-floor room is reconfigured between living and dining uses. Obviously, folding tables and folding chairs are perfect for dining use. For living use, folding couches apparently are available for purchase, though I'm not sure how compactly they actually fold up. Alternatively, perhaps the folding chairs and folding couches can be replaced with comfy, headrest-equipped office chairs that can serve for both living and dining.

One floor plan that I can't get right is a five-bay colonial with a mudroom-style entrance. Traditional foyers are designed for people who have no coats or wet boots or kids that track dirt everywhere.

I am looking at something like 13.2x8 or 12.8x8.4m (so that the footprint of the house is around 100m2). But no matter how I try, I can't design a staircase that feels natural without interrupting the regularity of the facade.

  1. Staircase goes at the back; perpendicular to the long axis of the house and either facing the entry or above the basement stairs. (which would then be facing the entry, probably behind a door)

  2. The traditional mudroom is behind the backdoor (which is probably on the side of a colonial); front doors are for guests, and you should be taking their coats for them and laying them on the bed in the spare room! However, you could build something like #2 or #4 here in which the exterior wall of the house (including the front door) is bumped out about 3 feet in some part of the porch area, the roof of which extends something like a further 3 three feet). This creates space for hangers inside the entry and funnels people into the living area; there's a nice spot for a closet if you have winter coats. (or just want to piss @ToaKraka off)

Like this:

                          (stairs are up here somewhere)
                                   
                                  |        __
               Optional wall -->  |       |  |  (some other room here)
       (nice place for hooks tho) |       |  |<--closet
                      ___________ |       |__|___________
                          |       |          |       |
                          |       |__......__|       |
                          |                          |
                          |__________________________|

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