Family room/great room size

[String&stick]

Wife and are are in the design phase of a new home and we are discussing the size of our main level family/great room. This room will be the main place for entertaining and our basement will be our main family zone. My heads and hunting related stuff will be in the basement rec room and the main room will be more wife friendly.

That said we are trying to figure out a good size. We have 3 kids and plan to have this as our forever home. So we want to be able to have kids and grandkids all back for holidays in the future. The room will have vaulted ceilings and a fire place. If some of you don't mind showing off your living/great rooms could you post a picture and the dimensions of your room. It's hard to look at something you like and not have dimensions and then see what you know you don't like but also not know the size of the room!!! Also open to any great room recommendations if you've got them.

Thanks

 

[def90]

Are you working with an architect? They are usually pretty good at this stuff.

 

[String&stick]

Are you working with an architect? They are usually pretty good at this stuff.

Meet with one next week. Just looking for some ideas!

 

[hikenhunt]

I just went through this a few years back. Are you thinking the family/great room will include kitchen and dining area?

 

[98XJRC]

We are in the process of putting an addition on our home. Just need to submit the permits, however I am awaiting pricing from some of my contractor's prior to pulling the trigger. I have our living room drawn at 18x19 inside dimension. We are a family of 6 and honestly will need 3 sofas/loveseats eventually to all sit around the space. Above the LR we are adding a Master bedroom so the ceiling height is capped. However I am having the living room dropped 8" to allow for taller ceilings in the space while still maintaining the ceiling height of our current home.

 

[WCB]

Depends on if your kitchen, dinning room/area and great room will all be open to each other. My recommendation is do this. It will make the area feel bigger #1. Also, IMO floor space wise for just the living room area, I would say no smaller than 20' x 20' if you have an actual fireplace it eats into the room 4-5ft easy if not more to allow room to walk around/through. Also depending on desired couch size and any tables room to move is key.

Our basement living room is where we spend most our time and it is 20' 6" x about 14'. An extra 5-6' would be ideal.

 

[String&stick]

I just went through this a few years back. Are you thinking the family/great room will include kitchen and dining area?

The family/great room will not include to kitchen/dining room (wife's idea to separate them not mine). So it will be a stand alone room off of the kitchen area but not really opened up into the kitchen unless I can convince her otherwise!

 

[elkguide]

Our main house is a cape styled home that is 28X46, two stories. We added a 24X20 great/family room off the south end of the main house with an open look into the kitchen and dining rooms. It has a cathedral ceiling and lots of windows which doesn't give many options for mounts but the additional space plus being open to the kitchen and dining areas make the space so welcoming and inviting.


Sent you a PM since my computer skills are so lacking but I can text pictures.

 

[tuffcity]

Do at least a 9 ft ceiling in the basement. My cousin built a house a few years back and the feeling of a grander area in the basement was amazing. Mind you he is 6 and half feet tall so that might have been his reasoning behind that.

I have seen other "regular human" sized people do the tall basement and I think it is worth the extra, especially if your mounts are living down there.

 

[fngTony]

I’m a little late to this thread but… living room is 19x15. House is currently a mess so here’s some Zillow pictures. Notice the two ovens in the kitchen, best thing I’ve ever had in a home. Ok I’ll give you one current photo, (dog explanation is she just came home from knee surgery and the blanket keeps her from wanting to get up) and no the carpet doesn’t look that bad in person

 

[one66stang]

Use the size you have now as a gauge....

 

[String&stick]

I’m a little late to this thread but… living room is 19x15. House is currently a mess so here’s some Zillow pictures. Notice the two ovens in the kitchen, best thing I’ve ever had in a home. Ok I’ll give you one current photo, (dog explanation is she just came home from knee surgery and the blanket keeps her from wanting to get up) and no the carpet doesn’t look that bad in person

I really like the two story ceiling in that room! It looks great, you're always the biggest critic of your own stuff

 

[dtrkyman]

Go big or go home!


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[MTtrout]

I get that it’s not for everyone but our kitchen, dining table, and great room are together. I really love the open floor plan. It’s perfect for being able to cook and still visit with company. I think it also makes it nice if you have little kids to be able to keep an eye on them while tending to kitchen duties. Our house came with an oversized kitchen island that easily fits up to 6 stools and has lots of draws and cabinet space. I wouldn’t of thought going that big myself but if we design a home if the future, it will definitely have one. Makes a perfect spot for processing meat too

If you guys already decided on a plan then disregard the above and enjoy you new home

 

[Pony Soldier]

When we added on to our log house, the living room is 20x20. That includes the stairs to the second floor, raised hearth and stove, window seats and a closet. We raised the tv onto the wall at about 7 ft. We have a catwalk that connects the second floors of the old and new. It's quite comfortable for 4 plus a couple grand kids.

 

[Randle]

We just finished our addition family room 26 x 17 its a great size and we have it seperate from the dining room kitchen and like it that way. It helps seperate the groups of people so your are not trying to talk over the kitchen busyness. Grandkids play while adults talk at the table really helps. And cooks cook and rattle things around

 

[ShortMountain91]

This is one I just built. It's 20 x 17 not taking out space for the fireplace and built ins. Plenty big for my family of 5 but when we host and have family events, it can get a little crowded. If I was really concerned about entertaining, I'd go 22 x 22.

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[joel]

A couple things to think about from me. Traffic flow is usually more important than size for a room. Traffic flow can make a huge room seem small. If you have vaulted ceilings and hard surface floors you will need some sound absorption of some kind or you will not enjoy a gathering in that room i assure you. If you have a table of any kind in the room with seating make sure its a round or oval table. Round tables ensure everyone seated there is involved in all the conversation and not just the person next to them.....it makes a tremendous difference for social gatherings. This info comes from my extensive experience as a contractor. Take it or leave it but there you go. Best of luck to you.