you all need to watch the 14 children special again...

[quiversR4hunting]

My assumption looking at the floorplan is that is actually a fairly common "MIL suite" option, where that room that is labeled laundry room would typically be more of like a small living room space or retreat for the person who occupies the "guest" bedroom.

Remove the laundry room label and hookups and it's pretty easy to see that those two rooms were designed as a self-contained suite and not as a laundry room with attached guest bedroom... I think they made it into a laundry room as more of an afterthought.

I agree it seems like the laundry room and guest suite would be MIL suite in a normal house but I don't agree that the laundry room and closet was an afterthought. I think I remember them talking about it in the building specials. It's just an odd placement without a hallway directly to the guest suite.

[NoShoesSuze]

Just randomly - in the first couple of specials the Duggars have an olive green dining table which I'm pretty sure I've seen the Bates have in their house. I wonder if the Duggars gave it to them.

They did give it to the Bateses. I am pretty sure it was when TLC hired that designer to furnish the house. Maybe in the 16 and moving in special, but I'm not positive what episode.

[Ethdyl]

It's funny when they introduce the HOlt family and the two families go ice skating you can see Josh and Kayleigh talking and Josh looks very into her IMO. Then they move to skating and they are skating together.

[DeFrauder]

I agree it seems like the laundry room and guest suite would be MIL suite in a normal house but I don't agree that the laundry room and closet was an afterthought. I think I remember them talking about it in the building specials. It's just an odd placement without a hallway directly to the guest suite.

In my experience, a room that you get to through the laundry room is a maid's room. I have seen some house designs like this in countries where it is the norm for middle class people to have servants.

[DeFrauder]

Oh and that little powder room off the dining room would be considered a design flaw, There should never be a toilet in view of the living room, kitchen or dining room. Can you imagine everyone sitting there for dinner and someone ducks in there to pee. Everyone would hear it.

[MatthewDuggar]

In my experience, a room that you get to through the laundry room is a maid's room. I have seen some house designs like this in countries where it is the norm for middle class people to have servants.

Like the Brady Bunch house! Now there's an interesting floor plan. I always felt bad that Alice lived in a small room off the "service porch". I often wondered if she had a window.

[ClaraOswin]

Oh and that little powder room off the dining room would be considered a design flaw, There should never be a toilet in view of the living room, kitchen or dining room. Can you imagine everyone sitting there for dinner and someone ducks in there to pee. Everyone would hear it.

My house, built in 2008, has a half bath right off the kitchen. My parents' house, built in the 70's also has one. I think it's fairly common. I don't particularly like it but it's the only place we could put a bathroom on the entire main level of our house.

[twinmama]

My assumption looking at the floorplan is that is actually a fairly common "MIL suite" option, where that room that is labeled laundry room would typically be more of like a small living room space or retreat for the person who occupies the "guest" bedroom.

Remove the laundry room label and hookups and it's pretty easy to see that those two rooms were designed as a self-contained suite and not as a laundry room with attached guest bedroom... I think they made it into a laundry room as more of an afterthought.

"Grandma's moving in! Quick, turn her private living space into a laundry room so she can work for us."

It is a horrifically designed place that would be hard to sell IMO, but they could put up some walls, take down some walls and make more bedrooms if they wanted to. Of course, if they combined some storage rooms to make bedrooms, who knows where storage would be. They don't have a basement right??

[twinmama]

Like the Brady Bunch house! Now there's an interesting floor plan. I always felt bad that Alice lived in a small room off the "service porch". I often wondered if she had a window.

Wait, did Alice live with them? When she married the butcher did he move in too?? I know in the Brady Christmas they tell her she can have her old room back, so I guess she did. Weird. I know way too much about the Brady Bunch. :shhh:

[Dandruff]

Sell the TTH? I'd love to see the ad if they ever tried. Good lord.

[MatthewDuggar]

Wait, did Alice live with them? When she married the butcher did he move in too?? I know in the Brady Christmas they tell her she can have her old room back, so I guess she did. Weird. I know way too much about the Brady Bunch. :shhh:

Yes she absolutely did live with them. She never got married on the TV series, that must have been after in one of the specials.

[Iamthe20thDuggarKid]

I agree it seems like the laundry room and guest suite would be MIL suite in a normal house but I don't agree that the laundry room and closet was an afterthought. I think I remember them talking about it in the building specials. It's just an odd placement without a hallway directly to the guest suite.

Their lives revolve around laundry. No way were the laundry room and closet an afterthought!

[WhiteRun]

I hated the way the kids were allowed to "help" build the house the way they were. Welding? Spraying insulation? These are things kids shouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. Even the mid-teens seem too young to have that much responsibility.

Who ever gave them the couple hour/day tutorial on how to do that kids of work that requires years of training should've been fired. :angry-banghead:

[Eternalbluepearl]

I hated the way the kids were allowed to "help" build the house the way they were. Welding? Spraying insulation? These are things kids shouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. Even the mid-teens seem too young to have that much responsibility.

Who ever gave them the couple hour/day tutorial on how to do that kids of work that requires years of training should've been fired. :angry-banghead:

When other non-special kids of evil liberal parents are at the government-run public school, special, homeschooled snowflakes get to learn hands on training like house building. For their birthdays, each kid got a power drill or something. Which some kids might love, but others might feel like, thanks, assholes, back to work. :roll:

[Lovebug]

Ben did ask to court Jessa downstairs, they call her in from the dining room.

The floor plan most definitely doesn't have a door to the master bedroom, there is also a closed off box in the master. Is that the alcove where they used to shove a crib? Did anyone else notice the two toilets in the bathroom off the playroom?

Edited for spelling.

There's also a HUGE closed off box in the corner of boy's room. Wonder what that's all about? Perhaps that's another room?

http://www.kodiaksteelhomes.com/images/ ... orPlan.pdf

[busdrivingmom]

There's also a HUGE closed off box in the corner of boy's room. Wonder what that's all about? Perhaps that's another room?

http://www.kodiaksteelhomes.com/images/ ... orPlan.pdf

Don't they have a slide from the 2nd floor to the 1st? Maybe that is where it was installed?

I also love how they call the mud room the "good bye room." I'll have to rename my mud room/back hallway that now.

[Four is Enough]

When I attend scrapbook retreats, it is common for up to 5-6 people to share a room, as long as they each have their own twin bed. I think the offices and the storage areas could probably be changed into more rooms. There seem to be enough bathrooms to serve about 20 people for a weekend.

The location, though, if it IS so close to the dump: does it stink? How noisy is it, and when does the noise start in the day? And, more importantly, for my Scrapping friends: Is that a DRY county? We'd want to have a bit of the alcohol with our fun, you know?

[for_the_Kitties]

There's also a HUGE closed off box in the corner of boy's room. Wonder what that's all about? Perhaps that's another room?

http://www.kodiaksteelhomes.com/images/ ... orPlan.pdf

That may be the area of the room where the slide is? Its right above the play room and they have that double story slide between the boys room and the play room.

But i do remember in more recent episodes they showed a back room to the boys room where I think they said JD slept? (circa 2013). Maybe this was Josh's room?

[Lovebug]

That may be the area of the room where the slide is? Its right above the play room and they have that double story slide between the boys room and the play room.

But i do remember in more recent episodes they showed a back room to the boys room where I think they said JD slept? (circa 2013). Maybe this was Josh's room?

Here's the portion of the 16 kids and moving in where Josh talks about his AV studio and the "rugrats" and prior to that, it discusses the slide. Unfortunately, I cannot see where it is in the boys room. If it is in that corner of the room, their area is WAY bigger than the girls' room. Check out from 45 seconds in... I'm off to search for the last part of this special.

[bingbangboom]

Just randomly - in the first couple of specials the Duggars have an olive green dining table which I'm pretty sure I've seen the Bates have in their house. I wonder if the Duggars gave it to them.

Yep, they did! One of the Bates', either Kelly or Gil, says something about it on the first season of BUB. Sorry these sorts of things excite me far too much.

[paganhomeschooler]

I hated the way the kids were allowed to "help" build the house the way they were. Welding? Spraying insulation? These are things kids shouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. Even the mid-teens seem too young to have that much responsibility.

Who ever gave them the couple hour/day tutorial on how to do that kids of work that requires years of training should've been fired. :angry-banghead:

Not that we're building houses, but my son just turned 11, and he has welded several times over the last couple of years. Always under my husband's supervision and with the proper protection, but he's been learning. There is also a 4H project for welding, and I didn't see any age limit on it. He's considering taking it next year. All of our local vocational schools also have welding programs. My son wants to restore cars like his dad when he grows up, so he's been learning the ropes for a long time now. Both of my boys worked together and stripped an engine and tranny by themselves last summer. No one got hurt, and my husband couldn't believe how fast they got it done.

We don't let the kids use power saws or anything, but having a good, working knowledge of tools is not a bad thing.

[ClaraOswin]

Here's the portion of the 16 kids and moving in where Josh talks about his AV studio and the "rugrats" and prior to that, it discusses the slide. Unfortunately, I cannot see where it is in the boys room. If it is in that corner of the room, their area is WAY bigger than the girls' room. Check out from 45 seconds in... I'm off to search for the last part of this special.

The studio is labled on the floor plan. I believe in recent years it was a school-type room. There is a window that goes from the studio to the loft area. And if I am remembering correctly, in some episodes they showed people looking in through the window into that room and a couple kids were sitting at desks or something.

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

My house, built in 2008, has a half bath right off the kitchen. My parents' house, built in the 70's also has one. I think it's fairly common. I don't particularly like it but it's the only place we could put a bathroom on the entire main level of our house.

My house only has one bathroom, and its off the kitchen/dining room. It's never been a problem.

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

"Grandma's moving in! Quick, turn her private living space into a laundry room so she can work for us."

It is a horrifically designed place that would be hard to sell IMO, but they could put up some walls, take down some walls and make more bedrooms if they wanted to. Of course, if they combined some storage rooms to make bedrooms, who knows where storage would be. They don't have a basement right??

Their biggest trouble with selling that house will be the serious lack of personal closet space. I mean, how many people are going to want to walk all the way downstairs and through the laundry room just to get dressed in the morning?

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

Not that we're building houses, but my son just turned 11, and he has welded several times over the last couple of years. Always under my husband's supervision and with the proper protection, but he's been learning. There is also a 4H project for welding, and I didn't see any age limit on it. He's considering taking it next year. All of our local vocational schools also have welding programs. My son wants to restore cars like his dad when he grows up, so he's been learning the ropes for a long time now. Both of my boys worked together and stripped an engine and tranny by themselves last summer. No one got hurt, and my husband couldn't believe how fast they got it done.

We don't let the kids use power saws or anything, but having a good, working knowledge of tools is not a bad thing.

When I was 7-9, my family was in the middle of expanding our house from 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and 900 sq ft to 3000 sq ft with 5 beds, 3 baths, and a pool. My sister (4-6) and I helped with a lot of the projects from demo to construction. I even did the electrical for my own bedroom at 8. Of course, everything was heavily supervised, but I don't see an inherent problem with children learning those skills, even at young ages.