Do you plan to use the 3rd bay in the garage for every day parking or is it more for storage or for a car with more occasional use? If the latter you could consider doing a tandem garage on one side. If you want a front facing garage I would try to set it back some so it isn't the thing you see sticking out first. Although frankly when you are on wider lots or acreage you often see the side facing garage just as much if not even more than the front facing ones so I don't think in those cases that a side facing does nearly the same for a house as it does on a narrower lot, where it doesn't become as visible from the street. Our neighborhood have many side facing garages including ours, and I see those garages and sides of houses a whole lot more than I see the front of the houses as I'm driving by or even as I'm out running I see the sides more than the front. I actually wish I had thought about that and changed it to a front facing that was set back a little instead as it would have worked better with house access from the drive way etc. Only the houses that are placed along a curved part of the road do I see less of the garage. One has it on the side, but in the way back and still attached and that one you do see a little less of it than the majority that have them to the front side.

I also found the book interesting, though a little disappointing as all the houses were so large and lavish. I found the one weak point in "A Pattern Language" (which I consider a work of genius) to be that they don't provide any house plans! Not one example of a house that uses the patterns in the ways recommended. I was hoping Patterns of Home would make up for that, but not quite. Still, a very good book.

These are the kinds of things I would think about: --- Whether to do what you show as the slider wall, or do three linked panels where only one opens instead of the window + door. This gives the tall glass without having to allow room for both door swings. Other patterns may also work better. --- Whether it would look better to have the dining room opening also arched, but perhaps a little smaller than drawn. Would repeat a little of the new style in the older part of this house. If it didn't look ok in the drawings, then I'd consider whether I was trying to "thrown in" an arch at the new family room even tho it didn't match the house. --- Whether I needed those ovens to be right there or if they could be moved to the wall with the dining room opening. A lot of people use their ovens infrequently as compared to say the cooktop. It would provide breathing room at the cooktop as well as not feeling closed in by the wall corner and the ovens. --- List and weight the activities I wanted to happen in the former family room and think about how those would take place. I guess a clearer way to say this is to plan your needs and arrange your furniture first rather than just stick stuff in. --- instead of long skinny room I didn't know how to arrange, I wonder if it would work to add a wall between the entry space and the main room. Could get some storage, perhaps bulk-item pantry area and a cozier hearth room. --- I would also consider reversing the door and window on the main entry and make the new cabinets a bank next to the fireplace. The cabinet doors in front of the closet could open to a deeper version of your existing closet. --- It's difficult to tell clearances on an unmeasured drawing, but it's impossible on a 3d drawing. I wonder if your clearances around the island are enough for you? hth!

As Espofford noted in his initial post, the larger room has a lot of obstacles to a functional layout. These issues combined with the constraints on the space (no windows/walls/doorways can change) makes the room even more difficult to place a kitchen. With roommates, it becomes even more important to create a space that is usable for more than one person - even if it's just to make breakfast in the morning or make a sandwich on the weekend. Trying to cram everything into the larger room will make it almost impossible for more than one person to work in the kitchen at the same time. BTW...I wouldn't go with small appliances if there are three men living there! . When you add roommates to equation, Sena's layout makes even more sense - although I might consider a hybrid of the MamaGoose's Cleanup Zone and the rest of Sena's layout. One change I'd make to the smaller room is to move the sink toward the center to create two Prep Zones, one on either side of the prep sink to allow two people to work in that space. Something like this: Layout #2: You have, potentially, three Prep Zones - the two main ones in the smaller/lower Kitchen and a secondary one in the larger/upper Kitchen. The secondary would only be available if no one is cleaning up or unloading the DW. I know the prep sink in the lower Kitchen is in front of the wall somewhat, but you will probably be working mostly to either side of the sink - which puts you in front of the windows. There is quite a bit of base cab storage in the lower Kitchen and some upper cabinet storage. To the left of the range hood, there is a 6" filler pullout. This pullout could hold spices and other cooking aids. The Cleanup Zone is in the upper Kitchen with plenty of dish storage in upper cabinets. It's light on base cabinets, but you do have a 36" wide x 27" deep cabinet in the Snack Center. Speaking of the Snack Center, it contains the MW. The counters and upper & lower cabinets are all 3" deeper than standard to increase storage and workspace as well as give you more room for the MW that's hanging from the upper cabinet. You may want to invest in a rolling cart to transfer items from the refrigerator and pantries to the lower Kitchen. You could store it in the corner in the lower Kitchen when it's not in use. There is a pullout Utility cab to the left of the refrigerator for broom, dustpan, etc. There are two pantries. You could add a third in the lower Kitchen where I show the rolling cart - then you could each have your own pantry! If you do decide to add a third, I suggest something freestanding so it can be removed when you're preparing the house for sale in a few years. This layout keeps your aisles wider to accommodate traffic through the Kitchens, especially the upper Kitchen. Since this is the path to/from the bathroom, basement, and driveway, you should keep the path wide enough to accommodate bringing large items or even bags of groceries without bumping into cabinets/counters or even people working in the Kitchen! [Upper cabinet filler pullout example: https://www.rev-a-shelf.com/p-252-filler-pullout-organizer-with-wood-adjustable-shelves-wall-accessories.aspx] . Layout #2 Zone Map: . . "I want to move to the bigger room as its bigger, hvac controlled and has basement access underneath for plumbing/electrical" If the kitchen is in the smaller room currently, then you must already have water & electricity in that room. How has it functioned as a Kitchen all these years if you have no heat? Philadelphia isn't exactly warm in the winter (it's not like places farther north, but it still gets cold there - my DH is from Philly and most of his family still lives there. I'm from snowy Western NY - the south towns, so I know how cold winters can get!) Where is the current sink located?