Hello Garden Web Gurus! I'm back! I don't know if you remember me but we all did my kitchen remodel together and it turned out like this: Its Time to Remodel the Guest House. We rent it out and need to update the kitchen a bit and also move the entrance door to give us privacy from the tenant. The guest house is relatively small. The Kitchen, Living, Dining are all one space which is 13x18. Here are some current photos of that space. In order to create the privacy we need the door needs to be on the same wall the kitchen is currently occupying. When looking at this photo there is a huge pecan tree on the left and it cannot go on that wall. The entrance door has to be located on the fridge wall. I would like to keep the kitchen where it is (unless you guys think that is terrible) to keep costs low. This is our guest house but it is mainly a rental, so I need to be cost conscious. I need to replace the cabinet doors, install a dishwasher, a full size range and granite counters. I am struggling with thoughts of island seating and no dining table vs eat-in kitchen with table and chairs, etc. I will have to give another wall of cabinets somewhere to accommodate the appliances I am going to start construction in December and put it on the market January.

My thoughts are all about the master suite: - Do you think you'll want a TV in the bedroom? If so, note that you won't be able to place it at the foot of the bed, which would be the natural spot. - I'd move the bedroom door down the hallway. This allows you to eliminate the door from the bedroom itself ... and it allows you to move the bathroom door into that entrance hallway (illustration below). This keeps bathroom light from spilling out onto a sleeper, and it would allow you a shallow linen closet across from the sink. More storage is always welcome. - Note that by using double sinks, you've crammed one person up against the wall. I'd much rather have one nice sink with a good drawer stack for each person. - I'd flip-flop the shower door's direction; it'd be more natural to enter the shower without having the walk around the door. - I hate that you have no natural light in this bathroom. The same is true of the mudroom and the master bedroom entrance hallway. Dark hallways are not pleasant. - For a house this size, the closet isn't particularly spacious. Consider, too, that this layout requires you to walk the whole length of the bathroom to reach the closet. I'm not against bathrooms-in-closets, but they're often poorly arranged -- and this is an example. If you were to flip-flop the bathroom and the closet (make the closet a walk-through), the closet would become more convenient, and the bathroom could have natural light. - On the other hand, the bedroom seems oversized to me -- it's a lot of empty square footage for a room where you'll be asleep -- but I'm in the camp of "bedrooms aren't a space to splurge on space". - Where is the laundry room? Most people want it to be convenient to the master bedroom and/or the kitchen. - Are you going to be happy with a master suite off the mudroom? It may hurt resale. And the garage entrance: - Instead of making people walk catty-cornered across the mudroom, I'd place the door across from the kitchen entrance, which allows you a straight-line into the house. You don't lose any mudroom storage; it's just divided into two runs, which could work out well.

Hi, @Anglophilia Thanks for your reply. It's not about the money. We're a military family stationed in CO and are on a travel ban for at least the next four weeks. Before closing, we visited the house several times. It's such a long story...knowing we were moving to the Fort Hood area, we started searching online and found the home. Our daughter viewed it for us. We went to TX, did a home inspection, and were aware of all issues before purchasing. The previous owners allowed farm animals to live in the property...goats, chickens, poo, and pee everywhere! The stench was unbearable, lots of damage and everything from the floor up to 4' needed gutting/replacing, plus a redesign of kitchen and baths. The house is a diamond in the rough, sits on 5 acres, close to our daughter and two grandkids, and priced well below market value. It is a dream home for us and really suits our lifestyle. We hope to decide on the floorplan while homebound in CO so that once we get to TX, we can move ahead with construction. @millworkman - spiral stairs can be a pain for sure! Yet not a dealbreaker for us. Whoever had this custom house built seemed thoughtful of that specific stair. Downstairs, there is a living room, an open space for dining and kitchenette, laundry, office, and a jack and jill bath with two separate toilets and sinks. For us empty nesters, it's a great floorplan. Our grandkids will have the lower level to themselves when they visit. There will be a washer and dryer added to the master bath, so no lugging laundry up and down those stairs! @Patricia Colwell Consulting, we have a construction loan in place, ready to go, and have allocated more than enough to cover the entire reno. My husband and I have years of experience working on houses with an understanding of expenses, so budgeted accordingly. We drove to TX for closing - right before the virus hit full force and impacted the U.S. We brought our tools with plans to stay a few weeks to demo, meet with contractors and an architect, yet got word of our post lockdown and had to get back to CO quickly, leaving many loose ends. Wanting to move things along and to help family, we've hired our son in law to demo what's definitely not staying and to meet with contractors. He's a muscular guy, is loving the work. Plus is surprising us with his quickness! I'm a home stager by trade @ANNARTHUR HOMES | Home Staging + Design, and we've reworked rooms before, yet adding a bath to this situation is a challenge, and we felt it'd be money well spent to hire an architect. He talked with us while visiting the property...went over our wishes and design ideas in great detail. We received the rough floorplan, and we're working on tweaking particulars with him. Meanwhile, my hope is another professional will see the floorplan and share ideas on how to best to work in a guest bath and redesign the kitchen layout. Thank you all. Very grateful for advice

CEM TOSA, I appreciate your experience and knowledge. I’m sure your home will be beautiful. I will do the best I can with mine. We are not rushed at this time to build. If we proceed with building now, I do realize the prices/economy will not allow the size or everything I love. But to dream and plan is the most enjoyable thing to me. We will see in a year or two what will be then.