Hi Kotyona,
My name is Sue Allison and I have not built the Donaldsonville plan but I have built homes in the past (and lived in them!) and I have looked at literally hundreds of plans over the years. I can offer comments about its layout that may help you in deciding if it will work for you and your family.
A "perfect" house plan is one that works for what I call the "flow" of your life. How you live day to day. Do you have children? How many? Do you frequently have friends over? Does everyone eat meals together? Where do you typically gather in the home? And at what times during the day? Do you do a lot of laundry?
My first comment is about the kitchen. The wall between the kitchen and the family room will block the activities in the kitchen from that area. In our family, the kitchen is the "hub" of the home. I enjoy having family and friends all in one great room concept. If I were building this plan I would eliminate that wall. The fireplace and built-ins can be moved to the opposite wall in the family room. I would also eliminate the peninsula that has the sink in it as well as the island and make one island that faces the family room. In this island I would have a small vegetable/prep sink (with garbage disposal, of course!)I would put the double sink and dishwasher in the counter that opens to the family room but I would move that counter into the kitchen so it was closer to the island with the veggie sink. A wall can remain on the left of that counter where upper cabinets can be installed for dishes and glasses storage. A vertical support beam can remain to the right of the counter. Similar to the kitchen layout in this plan:
http://tinyurl.com/colujd
If you don't use a living room, that space can be the Office and the study/bedroom can be a playroom, homeschool room or use it as a guest bedroom, etc. Does anyone use a "Living room" anymore?
Observations:
1) The Master bedroom is located upstairs in this plan and the trend these days is master bedroom on the first floor. Think "baby boomers" and those folks climbing stairs. (I am considering resale value here but you may not need to consider this if you are planning on being in the home a long time. I personally like the MB upstairs myself. This is your call.)
2) There is no mud room from the garage in this plan. If you have children, you may want to carve out an area from the garage as a "transition area" with coat hooks on the wall and a bench under the hangers. (Oftentimes designers forget to plan in space for the family's coats, hats, backpacks, boots, etc.) I even put in a broom closet in our mudroom/laundry room and I added lots of shelves for recycling, dog food, laundry baskets, and lots of etc!
3) The Jack and Jill bath upstairs could use another sink in it so two can be in there at the same time....or reconfigured so that each sink is located just off each bedroom separately (but not visible from inside the bedroom) like in this plan:
http://tinyurl.com/cja8lh
4) I really like the openness of the stairs with the upstairs looking down and the bridge effect from one side of the house to another. Note: There will be considerable expense in ballisters and handrails but the result is very beautiful.
5) Also, there is no upstairs storage closet for an upstairs vacuum cleaner, board games, towels, gift wrap, etc.
6) The bedrooms are all a very good size. Make sure their closets are the size you'll need. (The Jack and Jill bedrooms may have small closets but I can't tell the exact dimensions on this plan.)
7) The dining room may be on the small side depending on the size of your gatherings and your table size with leaves. I don't think a hutch would fit on a side wall, maybe one would work on the wall next to the stairs...
Measure out your current dining table and see if there is any room to walk around left over in that plan. We always figure 3 feet around the table to allow for chairs and people walking behind them.
8) A 10 foot deep deck is not very deep. Measure out 10 feet from your current back door and see if a table and chairs and BBQ grill will all fit in there. 20 feet long is good, but 10 feet isn't very deep in my opinion.
9) Laundry room. Think about upstairs vs. downstairs placement of the laundry room. I loved having my laundry room upstairs (especially when my master BD was also upstairs.) Everyone is different, but it is something to think about. Dirty clothes stayed upstairs at all times!
10) The garage proximity to the kitchen is excellent in this plan. You won't be tracking a mile to get the groceries out of the car!
Before you decide on a plan, observe your current family flow. Take note of where you store specific things like the vacuum cleaner, brooms, rags, light bulbs, the leaves for your dining table, folding chairs, board games, toys, sewing supplies, etc and look to see where these items would be stored in the new plan.
Hope this helps!
Sue