Thanks for all of the advice everyone. You are all so helpful. I thought just a little more background might be helpful. The house will primarily be used on weekends and then for more extended periods of time during the summer. My husband and I have 4 children, one who is married with a baby and another on the way. The youngest will finish high school next year. Fortunately the house has 4 bedrooms(with the world's tiniest closets!) on the second floor and we are converting the third floor to a master suite with balcony. So, many times it will be just us, but at other times we will have a crowd. The house is on a "point" in an area with some similar homes and some pretty pricey homes. When we first went to see the house, our agent got a call that the house was under contract with bank approval. We viewed it anyway and left heartsick as it was exactly what we were looking for. Three weeks later we got a call that the deal had fallen though. We closed on the house within a week! It was really meant to be. We knew that we would be putting money into the house, but we got a really good deal on it and the value is there. Now back to the floor plan. The suggestion to put the dishwasher to the left definitely makes sense. I still think I want the window centered with the sink. I'm thinking double hung just to match all of the other windows in the house. The reason I thought the refrigerator might be better where the plan has it, is that it would be closer to the deck. I could put the glassware in the cabinet next to it. That way someone coming off the deck for a drink would not have to go all the way across the kitchen. The refrigerator would be counter depth with french doors to help with the space issues. I was thinking of the wall oven for a few reasons. One, I prefer not to put the MW above the stove. I thought I would then put the MW and oven in the wall. Also, I like to bake, so thought it would be nice to have the wall oven with storage above for cookie sheets and pans and also a drawer below for storage. Below the cooktop I would then have drawers for pots and pans. Also, silliest reason of all, I have always wanted one. But I suppose I might have to rethink this one. I like the idea of having the little breakfast table, but I really can't give up the closet. I need the space for the vacuum, cleaning items, excess coats (I wouldn't want them all in the foyer). I don't have another good spot for the W/D either. Aisles, right now they are 42 from sink to island, and 36 on the other sides. I know it is tight. I have 42 at home here and it is okay, but 36 maybe not so much. I have an island at home and really use it a lot. I'm trying to hold onto the idea. I use it for preop, baking, serving appetizers and buffet style and unloading my groceries. The powder room is actually located in the space where the basement stairs are currently. We have access to the basement from a door outside. The basement gets wet at times and we wouldn't use it to store anything of value. My husband is going to do something to fix the water issue, but I still wouldn't need access to it from the inside. So that door that Williamsem saw on the plan is just showing where the basement door used to be. I think it might be a good idea though to move the door down a little to get a better vanity situation. The foyer is something that we considered a few times for finding room. Its a beautiful welcoming space with a nice pattern on the floor (the living room and dining room has this too). I will be putting some hooks up and also use the area for a small desk or a comfy little reading area. The views are out to the W,S and E, with the E being the best, especially off the deck and dining room window. The S view is a water view only in the winter. I'm posting some pics to give more of a visual. The first one is the foyer, but only shows a portion. I appreciate all of the ideas and always welcome more.

If you can move the entry to the other location like bmore has suggested, that would be great. If the powder room stays in the kitchen though I would really advise against a pocket door in this location even though it gets rid of a door swing. I like pocket doors and I have designed at least one in every project I've done (not all have been executed but I try). However, the issue here is that the powder room door will always be open when unoccupied, and given people's proclivities--some of your family members will probably use the powderroom with the door open or partially closed. Simply because pocket doors take more effort. You can't just push at it vaguely to open it or close it. It opens in one particular way and closes in one particular way. Also because there IS a doorswing to be concerned about with a conventional door, it will be kept closed because if it is not, it will be in the way. And you want this powder room door to be kept almost closed , if not actually latched. I would put a bifold on it before using a pocket door in this situation. End of speech. Maybe if the other layout works out well you won't have to worry about it here at all.

'In the vast majority of times, consumers simply don't know what they don't know. For example, how many "help me with my plan" postings do we see on this forum, without any information about the actual building site? Architects know, from experience, that most strong residential designs begin with a site analysis and plan, and that the building site is a strong ingredient in initial design concepts. Many consumers don't have a clue about this. Time after time we see postings here from consumers saying, "I've just been playing around with these plans for XX years, so that I have something to show the architect about what I'm thinking and what I like..." In the majority of cases, the consumer thinking and experience is so limited and narrow that, as RES said, it's simply a waste of time and money to spend any time at all with the consumer's plans. Really.' SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!??????????? The front of the house has to face the front road where they are unless it's really weird where they live. IF they already own the property, they would have probably already had the Master bedroom facing the best views from the back of the house. Bottom line, they probably have lived in a house for years and have learned what they like and don't like. You don't know the consumer and they don't know you. The consumer has put ALLOT of time making the plans they 'think' they want. You DON"T live their lives. That's why I said to IMPROVE their plans. As a business man, I would think this would would eliminate allot of time that you would 'charge' the client for this info that I'm sure you DON'T want to eliminate profit. I'm all for architects but they need to get in the 'real' world today. You're not selling used cars...............

Traci, the little boxes are placeholders for shelving or a divider. The thought is to give a little more privacy to the master suite, as right now you can see into it right when you enter through the front door. Mama goose, thanks for the feedback! I had been thinking about the fridge placement restricting the opening of the door if we keep the divider wall. I like the idea about the DW. We're definitely planning on a trash-pullout. GreenDesigns, we have a realistic budget to work with, and will adjust plans as needed to accommodate our budget. There are multiple reasons we don't want to do a tear down, including how wasteful that would be when the structure of the house is in excellent shape.