The Birch
2,088 sq ft5-bed · 3-bath · Separate dining · 72 × 29 ft footprint · 15 rooms
Show:
Tip: click a room, or hover an item (sink, fridge…) and click for details
Design-quality audit
An objective, weight-independent measure of craft — how faithfully the plan follows code + cited best practice. (Separate from your personal priorities, which you set in the studio.)
100
/ 100
✓ Code-compliant (all mandates)Usable area 87.8%Circulation 12.2%Avg room proportion 1.55:1
✓Every room is reachable from the entry · Walking-path best practice
✓No fixture or furniture blocks a doorway/entrance · Clear-floor best practice (NKBA / IRC R307.1)
✓No bedroom reached only through another bedroom · IRC R311 / functional-obsolescence best practice
✓Every habitable room has a window (daylight + egress) · IRC R303.1 / R310
✓Every bedroom has an emergency-escape window · IRC R310 (emergency escape & rescue opening)
✓Bed headboard not under a window · Best practice (interior design)
✓Sink + toilet share a plumbing wall (not opposite walls) · Best practice (plumbing economy / circulation)
✓No sliver rooms (sane proportions) · Proportion guides (≈1.15–1.6:1 ideal)
✓Circulation ≤ 14% of floor (no dead-end hall) · Young Architect — net/gross efficiency
✓Primary is the largest bedroom · NAHB convention
✓Bedrooms are a sane rectangle (not a corridor) · Proportion guides (≈1.5–1.6 : 1 ideal)
✓Laundry/utility room is functional-sized (not oversized) · Service-room sizing (sized to fixtures, not floor)
✓Half-bath is the smallest bath; primary bath isn't the runt · Bath-program convention (NAHB / NKBA)
✓Powder room sized to a half-bath (not oversized) · Half-bath sizing (toilet + sink, ~20-30 sq ft)
✓Every bedroom near a usable full bath · NKBA bedroom-to-bath
✓Front door enters a social/transition space · Front-door best practice
✓Clear floor in front of coat/linen closet doors · Clear-floor best practice (reach-in access)
✓Clear floor in front of a dresser (drawer pull) · NKBA / interior-design clearance
✓Every living/family room has a sofa (not only a TV) · Best practice (a living room's primary furniture)
✓Sofa within comfortable viewing distance of the TV (gap ≈ ≤ 2× screen diagonal) · Viewing-distance best practice (SMPTE/THX)
✓Kitchen counter frontage (NKBA, scaled to kitchen size) · NKBA Guideline 25
✓Counter (landing) on both sides of the kitchen sink · NKBA Guideline 11
✓Range/cooktop not under a window · NKBA Guideline 18
✓Wide opening (≥ 6 ft) from the kitchen to the living/dining · NAHB most-wanted (open kitchen/living)
✓Kitchen work triangle not sprawling (sink+range+fridge legs ≤ 26 ft total) · NKBA Guideline 3
✓Kitchen work flow: sink between the fridge and range · NKBA (wash → prep → cook)
✓Dishwasher within 36 in of the sink · NKBA Guideline 24
✓Bedroom door near a corner (long wall stays unbroken for the bed) · Best practice (bedroom layout)
✓A usable walkway (≥ 2 ft) in front of the bed · NKBA bedroom clearance
✓Room to pull out chairs + pass around the dining table · Best practice (dining clearance)
✓Stand-and-load room in front of the washer/dryer · Best practice (appliance access)
✓Washer + dryer side by side (short reach to transfer) · Best practice (laundry workflow)
✓Clear floor in front of the refrigerator (doors + standing) · NKBA (fridge landing + access)
✓Tub/shower set back behind the sink — not blocking the walk in · NKBA fixture sequence
✓Sink nearest the door, with room to stand at it · NKBA fixture sequence + clear floor (IRC R307.1)
✓Bath vanity keeps mirror wall — window beside it, not behind · NKBA
✓Tub/shower set flush in a corner (alcove, plumbing on one corner) · Alcove-fixture best practice
✓At least one tub in the home (resale) · Resale/bathing best practice
✓Primary bedroom has a closet/walk-in · Convention
✓Closets tuck against a wall (not protruding into the room) · Best practice (built-in storage)
Every applicable best practice is met.
Fixture-placement check
An automatic sweep for physical placement problems — fixtures overlapping, a blocked door, a toilet with no standing room, a TV off the sofa, a bedroom that reads as a corridor once the closet is removed.
✓ No placement conflicts — everything fits and clears.
A curated, code-compliant starter plan the engine warm-starts from. Want one tuned to your lot and priorities? Open the Design Studio.
Preliminary and advisory — a schematic layout to explore, never a stamped construction document.