I am far from an expert, but here are a few ideas I had: 1. Turn the S. Toilet into a laundry room. Maybe pull the wall and door a little to the right so it lines up with the shaft wall above. If you can, use a pocket door that drops into the wall below so the door does not swing into the laundry room. The wall at the top where the door swings into now could have a fold-up or down table 16-20" deep when open, that would lay flat against the wall when not in use. (The table would block the door way when in use, but would give the person inside the room a place to fold clothes, or you could fold them at the kitchen table.) Depending on how you place the items, which depends in large part on the window, the room should have space for a washer (plus stacked dryer if desired), utility sink, a small amount of cabinetry or shelves to hold laundry supplies, and maybe a bar for hanging clothes. 2. Turn the utility room into a walk-in pantry. Put shallower shelves (10-14" deep) on the left side and deeper storage (18-24") on the right side, leaving at least 3 feet in between. The right side could have a counter top area with cabinets below and shelves above. The counter could give you a place to store and use any small appliances you do not want out in the main kitchen (microwave, crock pot, toaster oven, etc.) If you want a larger laundry room, leave the laundry in the utility room and put a smaller walk-in pantry in the S. toilet. 3. Get rid of the walls that create S. Room so that the kitchen is now an L wrapping around pantry. Use a small round table and 4 chairs for casual in-kitchen eating. 4. Either buy a counter-depth fridge or use deeper counter on left side of kitchen with standard depth fridge. With a 9' 10" wide space, you could have a 30" deep counter on the left side, a standard depth counter on the right side, and still have over 5' in between, which is wide enough for a 24" dishwasher and sink base of up to 36" at the top end. 5. There is a lot of wasted space next to your powder room. Assuming you could use more storage space, I would move the powder room door to opposite the sink. Then you could put a reach-in closet on either the wall next to the powder room (as shown below) or against the wall between kitchen & dining/foyer. If you want even more storage, a small walk-in closet could be placed next to powder room. Please excuse poor drawing - this is the first time I have tried to do this.

Here's one idea... Main passage: Garage through the kitchen to the DR/Parlor/rest of the house What's included: * 36" Gas Cooktop: on the left wall * 90" sink w/3 basins & 2-18" drainboards on top wall * 36" Counter-depth (or built-in) refrigerator at end of top wall. * 24" wide Microwave to left of refrigerator * 30" Electric Oven under counter in island diagonally across from cooktop in island * 12" Tray cabinet next to oven to store trays, cutting boards, etc. Rationale: * With this layout, you have a: .....42" aisle b/w the sink and island .....48" aisle b/w the cooktop and oven and island .....48" aisle b/w the island and the pantry * You have distinct zones: .....Storage zone is the refrigerator and pantry. I would store wraps & plastic bags next to the refrigerator in the base cabinet. They are used for wrapping up leftovers to be put in the refrigerator as well as covering items cooked in the MW. .....Prep zone is on the island directly across from the sink. Both the island & sink are part of this zone. I would store your prep tools (measuring cups/spoons, mixing bowls, potato peeler, etc.) here and around the sink...probably the lazy susan as well. .....Cooking zone is at the inside end of the island and the counter across from it and includes the cooktop and oven. I would store all your pots & pans as well as cooking utensils & potholders here. .....Cleanup zone is on the sink wall, either side of the sink. I would store your dishes across from it in the island or in the cabinets above the sink area to the left. Glasses & silverware as well. * The refrigerator is on the top wall at the end so it is accessible to both the kitchen and the dining room/parlor. This way, cooks can easily get to the refrigerator as well as people looking for a snack. The snackers will not interfere with the prepping, cooking, and cleaning up. * Ditto for the microwave. Also, common uses of a MW include reheating food and defrosting/cooking frozen foods. A MW near the refrigerator makes these tasks easier. (And don't forget about those snackers and their popcorn, etc.!) * Oven is under the counter in the island in the cooking zone. Tray storage is right next to it and also accessible to the cooktop, if needed. * I wasn't sure of the cooktop, but since you showed a grill as part of it, I used a 36" cooktop. Note that the hood is 42", 6" wider than the cooktop. This increases the vent hood's capture area and while it is recommended for all ranges/cooktops, it is especially important with a gas cooktop/range because of the higher BTUs and gas fumes. I'd store pots & pans under the cooktop. * The island has plenty of storage for dishes, silverware, etc. It has two sides...one side has 60" x 24" available and the other side has 60" x 18" available. I'd store seldom used items on the pantry side. Things like platters used only a couple of times a year, etc. If you have Christmas dishes, maybe you could store them on the pantry side as well. Just some ideas! * The island is long, approximately 7'. Long islands can become "barrier islands" if you're not careful. However, I think that since all the appliances are in an "L" on one side of the island, this island will not be a barrier. Rather, it will act as "traffic cop," directing traffic out of the prep/cook/cleanup zones as well as provide much needed storage space inside those same zones. * The sink is between the refrigerator and cooktop to form an excellent workflow. To be honest, with this type of sink I don't think you need a prep sink. However, if you do want one, you could still put it in the island. You may have to rearrange the oven location...but do not put it in the main passage. * The corner has a 36" lazy susan cabinet. Rather than leaving it as "dead space," I recommend putting in a lazy susan. You can store all kinds of things there...pots & pans, mixing bowls, food, small appliances, Tupperware, etc. A few people (very few from what I've seen), say they don't like lazy susans and leave the corner empty. However, I believe that's short-sighted. If you don't want to use it, don't, but have it there anyway just in case. * The pantry is very large. Since you have such a large sink, you will lose a lot of storage space so a large pantry is important. Most people feel that 24" is too deep, so I made it 18". This depth also allows you to have a 48" aisle b/w it and the island. You can store food, small appliances, etc. in cabinets this deep. The type of cabinets you use here are up to you...but they should be tall cabinets. * I also included a utility closet for broom, dustpan, swifter, etc. storage. It's 24" x 18". If needed, it could be wider, but 24" is pretty wide for a utility closet. * Note the ends of the pantry run. The end next to the garage door is a 36" Message Center consisting of a 36" x 24" base cabinet and a 36" x 12" upper cabinet. Here you can store car keys, have a charging station, etc. Everyone needs a drop zone near the main family entrance. * The dining room end also has a similar setup. This is where you could have your regular phone (also known as a "landline"), answering machine, telephone books, etc. It also balances the wall if you have a similar setup on each end. * Do you plan to have a mudroom b/w the garage and house (I can't tell)? A mudroom would provide you with a place for family coats, boots, hats, backpacks, etc. without cluttering up the rest of the house. If you possibly can, I would include one. BTW...if you decide that you do want seating at the island, you have plenty of room at the right end of the island for an additional 15" counter overhang and should be able to accommodated at least 3 seats. Here it is!

HI Brenda, Gosh, I can see now, you are not in an easy situation. I can think of two different scenarios. 1) you can opt for a curtain+ roman shade combination. Like this one. This is quick and easy, you won't feel like in a theatre. Or alternatively Hunter Douglas Honeycomb shade type of stuff. The pics are only for demonstration. 2) you can also change the layout of your floor plan a bit. (maybe, it is not an option, I cannot tell without proper measurements). Move the two sofas so they face each other. the one in front of the window would stay, only the other one would be moved. Also change the direction of the coffee table.With this, you can move the TV set onto the wall, where the AC is.

Hi John, I can appreciate your vision for creating contrast as perhaps you can surmise by noting my outfit in the accompanying head shot. That said, I did a search of images for white brick houses with white windows and came up with a significant number that looked quite good even to my contrast-craving eyes. It is often said that the key to happiness is not having what you want but wanting what you have. To that end, I also searched red brick houses with white windows. You could actually try this approach by beefing up the amount of white by painting your brick surrounds on the existing windows. If you didn't like that, proceed to paint the entire house. You don't have to worry about matching the window white exactly as that white would be too stark. There is historical precedent for corner stones and lentils in a contrasting light stone paired with red brick (see bottom photo for example). A hybrid of either approach would be to lower exoectations re: contrast and paint the brick in your chosen off white with the brick "trim" in a pale to mid-tone grey. The ultimate tone of this should be keyed off the colour of the drive way and/or roof colour, neither of which can be seen well in your photos so far. Re: your entrance. You don't have room for a double door and I don't think it's the problem anyway. Take a cue from the photos above. Your side lights and transom are reading more like glass block. You don't need to have a curved top, but something that makes the door and its side lights and transom look like a unit would be helpful. Beautiful house and landscaping, by the way!!