It would be very nice to have a door from the master bedroom leading to the screened-in porch, since it would be a lovely place to sit out early in the a.m. Although your original dining room is a nice size, it's going to seem cramped and claustrophobic. My in-laws added on to their old house, and they had the same arrangement. It was dark and uninviting, and every time you wanted to get somewhere, you had to walk around the table. You may have to enter the laundry room from the new dining room, but as long as that door is shut when dining, it shouldn't matter so much. You just have to make the most of the hand you've already been dealt. :) It's just a fact that if you are remodelling a 100 year old house that things might not be where they would be if you had built a house from the ground up. But you do have all that old charm in the house. Lucky you! OR - Another option for stairs - looking at the second version above, move the stairs to the right "into" the foyer, and then make them "L-shaped." (Safer anyway with a nice landing in the middle.) Perhaps move back that "dining" room wall two feet to enlarge the foyer. You are left with a much bigger bedroom area (approx 22 X 19). You can use the dining room for your laundry and hall bath, and reconfigure the bedroom area for your master bedroom and closet space. You can still probably take a bit of the dining room for the master bedroom or bath. Good luck!

Hi everybody, thanks for your comments. My kids are 4, 8 and 11. A somewhat larger kitchen and mudroom are really what's driving this project. The office was an afterthought by my DH. What he originally wanted, office-wise, was a big room (10' x 10' or larger) w/ countertop around 3 sides of the walls, so that we can have a couple of computers in there, and some free countertop space for non-computer HW/projects. Right now, the kids benefit from being near me during dinner prep while doing their HW, and they need supervision on the computer (either direct or over-the-shoulder/walk-by). At some point, they'll stop needing my mathematical expertise (ahem) and will probably seek out quieter places to study...their room or the other office desk, or one of the computer place (kit or FR). DH agrees now that the huge office/HW room he was envisioning isn't necessary. Right now, w/out mudroom, the kit table gets covered w/ backpacks, etc. The floorspace next to it get filled up w/ shoes, DH's laptop, and musical instruments, and the chairs get jackets hung up because we have one small, overfilled closet and some hooks that are too high for 2 of the kids to reach (there's noplace for shorter hooks; our entranceways are tiny). So the kids do HW at the existing DR table (where the barstools/slider are above). I bring my cutting board in to the DR and chop stuff in there. I don't mind that so much, because I can keep an eye on whoever's in the back yard that way, but it's a little messy. I love my breakfast-end peninsula. It's where I live! I can prep, pack lunches, and see out the big front window. When we clean off the table for guests, I can chat w/ them while prepping. In the design, I decided to open up the counter on the back yard side to create a peninsula w/ stool seating because I wanted to have that side open to the slider and big LR windows, and to be able to see/hear into LR a little better. The stools are more for socializing than eating, per se. I'm not big on socializing while at the stove; I don't stand there a whole lot, and when I do, I'm cooking. I'd rather chat while prepping. We are so used to everybody crossing through the kitchen that I don't envision anyone getting snacks as causing a problem -- right now they're having light saber fights and giving each other horsey rides through that space, and it's narrower than in the drawing. If they snack at the table, fine, if they snack at the penin, fine. I did add a prep sink on the range wall. I will play w/ moving it btwn range and fridge. Having landing space next to the range will be heaven! We have just 1 foot now and only on one side. The existing breakfast area is two feet shorter than what's shown in the design. We have some free-standing cabinets in that area now, and it's not too crowded (when we move all the stuff that should be in the mudroom). As far as family living space: we have a FR downstairs w/ the TV and computer. Living room upstairs is not formal, just a casual, comfortable room for conversation/reading/play w/ a stereo and no TV. No TV in the kitchen, either. I see that I do need another door to the DR in this design. Better put one in! Uh oh, one of the kids is out of bed...gotta run, thanks for the thought so far, love to hear more!

You wrote that you and your husband cook together. Please do a dry run of standing butt to butt - one at the range, one at the prep sink - in a 36" space to make sure this is sufficient room for you. Go through the motions of opening oven doors, trash pull-out, warming drawer, etc, as well. For instance, you won't be able to open the oven door on the right and go straight to an already opened warming drawer. The oven door will hit the warming drawer. You'll either need to open the oven door, set the dish down, close the oven door, then open the warming drawer or open the oven door, then open the warming drawer and then transfer the dish. If the oven shelf doesn't also hit the warming drawer, that is. If this is all okay with you, then you've got your plan! If not, make adjustments now. Paper changes are cheap. ;-) For instance, if the oven to warming drawer move bothers you, opt for a 27" warming drawer and put it next to the range in the 27" space. You likely won't miss the 3" of warming drawer space and may appreciate the increased convenience. A solution for the cheek to cheek situation is for someone to prep on the other side of the island. It would be a good idea to store prep items - measuring spoons, knives, etc - in a location easily accessed regardless of what side of the island one is on. Another suggestion: opt for a faucet mounted in the corner of the prep sink (make sure you buy a sink that allows this faucet location) so that the faucet can be used by people on each side of the island. I'm assuming that you'll store dishes, silverware and glasses to the left of the DW (and sink) because it would be nigh impossible to access the cabinets to the right of it. You still may run into conflicts when unloading, depending on what you store in the cabs to the right, but I'm betting they won't be items used as regularly as dishes, etc. Kitchens are all about trade-offs and only you can determine which ones you're willing to make but it's best to realize those now instead of discovering any shortcomings when the remodel is completed. Talls along the wall: this is when you put all your tall items - floor to ceiling cabinets, wall ovens, fridges, pantry cabs, etc - on one wall, creating one tall wall of storage. btw, the book I mentioned is not your typical kitchen design book. It's full of insider tips to avoid the "if only I'd known" circumstances. For instance, it talks about how French door fridges affect kitchen design unlike other fridge styles, how to deal with appliances near corners, how to avoid cabinet door/hood collisions and more.

Have you mentally walked through the entire plan to see how well it will work for you and your family and how you will feel from the time you drive onto your property, how you will exit the property and how each member of the family will go through their day inside this home. First thing I notice is the entire front is driveway. Side entrance garages are great when they allow for greater curb appeal and easier turn arounds to exit. I don't really see the point of yours. It would be easier to pull straight into the garage and would look better with some yard in front. Only the first car can back out and turn to drive down the driveway without futzing around. You walk into a 10 x 12 entry - No closet. What do you do with that space? You have a full bath between the office and the entry. Not bad if you are planning on the office someday being a granny suite or guest bedroom, but if you are using it as a work at home office you just need a powder room. An office with a center desk and 2 chairs. Do you meet with clients in this office or is a real working office where you will have a computer Are you getting floor outlets so that the computer can be plugged in and not have cords running across the floor When you walk through the entry into the living room you walk into the side of the sofa or need to walk around the sofa. Have you given any thought on how you will use the living room? You can sit and have great conversations, but watching TV is the most common living room activity and you really only have the space over the fireplace to place the TV and have it viewable from the short side of the sectional sofa. I agree with the others that the kitchen is not well planned. Both working areas have only 4' walkways. You have the space that you could have had a great kitchen without a sink in the island and with at least one wall that wasn't broken by doorways. The room marked office is confusing - is that a dumping ground for mail? You have a sink in the mudroom, but no counter area around it and you have a sink in the powder room, one in the scullery and one in the kitchen. How many sinks do you need? Why all walk in closets that are too small to work well. Reach in closets and reach in pantries are so much more efficient than small walk ins. Oh, and you walk into the house and walk into the side of the island. The same stuff is going on upstairs. Another lounge area? Does every bedroom need a private bath? Why is your closet so massive while the other bedrooms have unusable corner walk ins? Do you realize that if you hung 2 bars (upper and lower) on just the back wall you could hang 454 items of clothing. (16 per linear feet) Your closet will hold enough outfits that you wouldn't need to wear anything twice in a year. a 6' reach in closet in each of the other bedrooms would provide better clothing storage and take less square footage than all those 5x5 or 6x5 walk in closets. Why have a hallway linen closet when their isn't a communal bathroom anywhere?