Wow, I do love this forum! Thanks for the helpful replies. Lavender_Lass you make some very good points. I have responded to your ideas below: Kitchenette: I also feel that the kitchenette with bar sink is cramped and I like your solution. We will not use the kitchenette for much, but if ever we want to rent out the basement (i.e. when some kids leave home) a bigger kitchen would be necessary. However, if we move it to where you suggested, it would take it even further away from snack counter on wheels that is behind the couch. Do you think that is a big problem? Mudroom: I believe we have the benches covered in the mudroom by planning for a built in seat to each locker (i.e. extra depth at seating height). If not additional benches can go where you suggested. TV/Seating area: Yes I do agree that the TV would be nice under the stairs, and in an earlier plan we had it there. However, with the south windows shinning on the screen the image would be difficult to see. I really don't want to cover up the windows as I crave light in basements. To clarify about the windows they cover only the top 3 feet of wall, so there is a full 5 feet below for the TV so I don't imagine having the TV in between two windows (like in picture) should be a big issue, unless I am missing something. In order to have decent surround sound the staircase location I have been advised is not the best. I do love your idea for sectional seating -- if there is any money left over we will go for it as the current furniture is rather worn. Peytonroad, thanks for your input! You made me laugh at your image of a heap of shoes by the garage door (and worried at the same time). No, I definitely don't want that! I will work hard to 100% train my family to put their stuff (shoes and all) in their own locker. Unfortunately, your thoughtful suggestion of moving the door to where the corner locker is will result in a longer passage through the garage for the walkers (i.e. the kids) and have them enter through a narrow part of the garage. Our garage is going to be around 40 feet deep as it is a tandem garage with one car parked behind the other. There is extra width for walkers to enter and bikes to be parked for the first 25 feet of so, then it gets narrower. Where I show the door now, it has people entering through the wider part of the garage if that makes any sense. Thanks again for your help, and in advance for other suggestions:) Carol

Kate--when I read your bathroom knob post the other night about how you are feeling, I thought you were almost describing me! Anyway, I have 2 kids--5 y.o. and 16 m.o. No more coming. I like the idea of the shoes going under a bench. I live in rainy Washington so shoes are usually wet and have fir needles stuck to them. The idea of baskets sounds romantic somehow, but I'm also not sure exactly how you use them. I think cubbies might be better for gloves and hats. I could see the configuration either way you listed. I'm not sure I need a bench across that whole 5.5' though. Lavender--Sorry for your root canal! Heal up, buttercup. I took it as helpful. The laundry room IS existing in the exact configuration shown in my drawings. IT IS STAYING!! Sorry!! Rhome is right. The toilet and sink in there are used for potty trips while working in the gardens and for us when the other bathroom is being used. There is a full bath down the hall from the front door for guests to use. It was just too far to tromp a dirty body through the house when we are working outside so we added the toilet in the laundry room. A side benefit of adding the mudroom (necessary for the coats, shoes, etc) was that it would give a bit of a buffer from the laundry/toilet/catbox room. Fourkids--I know what you mean about the area being seen from the dining room. That's why I wanted to door it off. But a full wall down the length of the living room side and a door are IMPOSSIBLE given the skylights. I think this is as good as I can get given those restrictions. The other alternative is a hall-tree facing into the living room which would be a visual nightmare with shoes creeping their way across the living room floor. If you come up with something else, please give me a shout! Thank you!

Good point, Jon. I guess what I'm looking for style-wise is NOT much embellishment and that was the idea I was trying to convey. My original concept was more like a hall tree, but after thinking about your suggestion to move around in the actual space, perhaps just a bench with shoe/boot storage underneath, and a separate coat rack mounted on the wall above would be the best solution. The salvaged wood has been kiln dried and planed, and the cabinet guy will putty the nail holes and apply a natural stain, so I think that the final effect will not be so rustic, although there are still variations in color from weathering, but we like that for "character". Thanks.

Hi all. Thanks for all the responses so far. I'll try to respond as well as I can to all of them. mamagoose: - Thanks for the suggestions. The peninsula was my architect's idea and honestly I'm not a huge fan of it and would take it out. The idea of extending the wall between the laundry and kitchen is an interesting one. Buehl: - The layout I've posted is the current proposed layout for the complete gut renovation + addition we'd like to do. My original home's footprint are the dotted lines that are probably hard to see in the pic. - The total width of the kitchen + laundry room (including exterior walls) is 20' 3.5" - Length of the exterior laundry room wall is 11' 11" - Length of the exterior kitchen wall is approx 15' (sorry, don't have an exact measurement) - I'm willing to expand the kitchen as far into the middle area as necessary to optimize the layout - Sorry, when I said not to change the exterior walls, what I meant to say was that changing the actual footprint is not really an option (with the exception of perhaps the front porch area). However, all the windows and sliding doors can be reconfigured to whatever makes the most sense. If you have any ideas on how to "stack" the kitchen and mudroom, I'd be interesting in hearing them. lefty47: - interesting suggestion. I'll need to think about whether swapping the kitchen and dining room makes more sense. - I have no problem staring at my fridge. lol. - I will be hiring an interior designer. I just wanted to get some crowdsourced thoughts to chew on beforehand.