Many comments: I like the staircase being moved to the entry area. It just flows better. You could still cut lots of SF by going with a straight staircase. The laundry area is better, but I'm not thrilled with the idea of walking past loads of dirty clothes to enter the master bath. Also, since the machines "back up to" the master bedroom, if you wash clothes at night, you're going to hear the machines. This laundry thing just isn't coming together. Consider this for your laundry room: Go with stackable machines (you can get BIG machines that stack) and move them to what is now a closet area. That'll leave you a nice long cabinet on which to fold clothes in the spot where you now have the machines. Storage for baskets of dirty clothes under your folding area. Or, you could move the door to the center so that you'd walk straight into the bathroom (and you'd have a window in the site-line as you walk into the bathroom), have a shorter folding area and use the are to the right (behind the laundry room door) as a large linen closet. While we're talking about laundry, what's right above your master bath? Is it that closet? Could you install a laundry shoot that'd let the kids drop their dirty clothes right into your downstairs laundry room? Massive wasted space entering the MBR. Yes to a window (or French doors) into the nursery. Some light in that area would be very nice. Or, how about opening it up to the MBR and -- in the short periods of time when you want it to be a nursery -- use some sort of screen? I could see this as an adult retreat, a reading nook or a computer area, perhaps. You've reduced the SF in the master bath, but the tub has a lovely view of the toilet. Consider those pier glasses that're flanking the front door. Those make it easy for a thief to break in: Just smash the glass, reach in and open the doorknob. Also, with only a skimpy piece of wood between the door and the pier glass, the best dead-bolt lock is easy to kick in. One more thing about glass beside the front door: Our former house had this, and it meant that our light switches had to be located a good two foot away from the doorway ('cause you can't put light switches in glass). I am a big proponent of natural light, but I suggest that you consider a door with high-up windows, which let in light but don't allow for these security concerns. The boys' bath looks better. I like that the toilet and shower are "housed together" and someone can still use the sink while those time-consuming activities are going on in the more private room. Why not do the same in the girls' bathroom? Move the tub and the toilet together into that small, back room. I'd consider a single sink for the girls' bathroom. My girls rarely go into the bathroom together anyway, and two sinks take away from drawer space. Also, when they're older, the girls are going to want counterspace for make-up, curling irons, etc. Definitely be sure you have electrical outlets on sides of the sink; my girls only have it on one end, and all their stuff congregates down there. Is that a washer/dryer set across from the girls' sinks? We had that set-up when I was a kid, and although it's not all that attractive, it's practical. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, though I would consider a stacking unit so that they could have some folding space beside it. I understand the idea of many cooks in the kitchen, but you're still going to be all over each other with this design. You need the basic work triangle for the main cook . . . and then a secondary spot for a secondary cook (or two). The opposite side of the island is an obvious secondary spot. You need your kitchen to be right, so I suggest that you do some reading on work triangles /work spaces. You need to design a prep area (this is where the cook spends most of his or her time), a cooking area (obviously by the stove), a clean-up area (obviously by the sink -- consider where dirty dishes will be piled), and storage areas (where will food be stored, place glasses and dishes near the dishwasher). I think the refrigerator is the biggest problem here; whether you're cooking or putting food on the table, your refrigerator is in the worst possible location -- it's close to nothing. I would move the fridge to the far end -- past the sink and dishwasher. This'd put it on the main work side and would make it easy to get drinks to the table. I would put a trash pull-out on both sides of the island, one of them on the end near the table. And I would make the whole "back wall" a large pantry, which is a monumental money-saver. This storage space would also mean you could reduce the width of the island to one-cabinet deep + an overhang, giving you more walking room. Where's the microwave? I'd put it on the "back wall" out of the way so that someone could warm something without interrupting the cook. Two suggestions on moving foward with your plans: 1. Read some books on housing design. This is almost free, and it'll help you assure that you're getting it right. I suggest Better Houses, Better Living by Myron Ferguson. Designing Your Dream Home by Susan Lang. And the Not So Big House series by Sarah Susanka. 2. Get serious about your budget. You said that you haven't set a price point -- that's why I'm seeing those red flags that indicate you're concerned about square footage (which =s money), yet you're including luxury items that're more expensive than the square footage. Whether you can afford a little or a lot, you've gotta nail it down. Until then, you're going to be making guesses about what you can and can't afford.

Marthaelena, can you help give me a more specific recommendation on what might look good? Because I started out thinking I could change materials and just couldn't hit on an idea that would work. Kitchen will be warm contemporary with medium stained shaker cabinets on cherry; dark granite or soapstone, and oak hardwood floors. The kitchen is at one end of the mudroom, and at the other is the back hall and then the laundry. Laundry floor is tile that relates to the kitchen backsplash but basic white slab melamine cabinetry. So I feel like a third look in between might be too much. I can see keeping the same color and switching from shaker to slab in the office/mudroom area, for example, but I have a harder time picturing switching to a different wood tone. Maybe something like this - maybe I paint my island and then carry that color into the mudroom? I am one of those people who cannot figure out how to put things together visually. I know what I like and what I don't when it is done, but I have a very hard time visualizing what will work and what won't. mnhockeymom, love your lockers. Who did yours - cabinet company or finish carpenter? I want something very similar with the bottom portion being deeper than the top, and then I'll have cabs with doors over the top. At the end of the run I'll have my spare refrigerator. We also have one locker with a door that is dedicated to shoes as we have many, many shoes and they all live in the mudroom. We take off our shoes as soon as we come inside so the kids don't have any shoes upstairs at all. DH and I have some but most are mudroom-based. Anita

I know cubbies look really cool, but is it a look at the expense of practicality when you have a limited area? As mentioned above, ability to sit seems to be key and will be hampered at least somewhat by the cubbies. If there are dividers above the hanging area for baskets and below the sitting area to keep shows/boots separate, can you get the hanging space you need by staggering hooks on one large un-cubbied wall between them? My boys are grown but I know every attempt I made to create organization for them that met MY design standards failed! In our family coat area I managed to get them to use their own baskets for hats and gloves but the hooks were up for grabs - finally admitted defeat and let them hang their coats where they wanted. Also, since the baskets are so high, will they be usable by kids? I don't know how old yours are, but would making a vertical stack of basket cubbies work? Little ones can reach the lower baskets and parents can reach the higher ones. Same thing for shoes - vertical storage and adjustable shelves could net you a lot more. If those two vertical unites flank the hook hanging space, you have basically created one large hanging cubbie and still have the sides of the shoe and basket storage for more hooks. Make sense or am I clouding the issue?

In the "locker alcove", I'd do something like this:I like the shelves as someone else suggested for the lower part. In the middle, I'd go with three open cubbies, which would allow each one to be a decent width ... but give each child one to himself and have the parents share one. Why? Because kids' bookbags -- especially once they reach the upper grades -- are fat and need a wide spot, whereas parents don't tend to carry such large bags to work. No need to have the lockers go all the way to the ceiling. Bookbags aren't tall. So keep the upper portion as a wide, open shelf. This gives you flexibility. You could have a basket up there now for library books that need to be returned, or clothes you intend to give to Goodwill once you have enough to make a trip. But when the kids become teens, if they take up a sport that requires storage space, this above-locker area can hold baseball bats or other sports bags. Keep coats across the room on hooks. The key to getting kids to USE this stuff is two-fold: - Make it easy. A kid who can drop his bookbag into an open cubby and hang his coat on a hook will probably do it, whereas the same kid probably won't open a cubby door, locate a hanger and hang his coat, pull out a basket for his shoes, and then close it all up neatly again. Things put away in open shelves are 100% better than things dumped in front of pretty doors. - Enforce compliance in the beginning. As soon as this room is finished, if you see a coat or pair of shoes out of place, call the child in right away -- interrupt his favorite show, interrupt his snack -- and have him move his things to the appropriate spot. In fact, TRY to interrupt him having fun. This will instill the idea that it's easier just to do it right in the first place.