I think I might consider swapping the location of the dining room and kitchen (And work the mudroom as more of a front entry). This would let your "main" entrance come into the dining room (instead of the kitchen) and put the kitchen by the "porch" door between the living room and dining room. That might open up some more options for you.

I think A is the closest but needs tweaking: there is a lot of wasted space. There appears to be 8 feet you are not using across from steps & flipping counter space to stairwell side doesnt make sense.

I would reject B (odd angles that don't contribute) and C (range with no prep/in traffic pattern/pointless pantry and no prep at sink/DW opens at 90 degrees in front of sink?)

Thank you for weighing in.
Rubyfig-- I had thought about swapping the two spaces, but that would be a long haul to bring in groceries-I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I would also be afraid that the dining table would become a major drop zone for everything. (I'm not a super tidy person :-) )

palimpsest--My feeling exactly about C-the range was stuck in that little alcove. My architect was super excited about it though. The one thing I'm excited about in B is just the fact of almost 5 feet of uninterrupted counter space.

Any other thoughts? I suppose I could stretch the counter space in D to get a longer run. That space next to the staircase is what I keep looking at and thinking it's wasteful and could be used somehow.

This doesn't address the space next to the staircase, but it's another idea. I placed a kitchen cart in the middle to see how it might work. I could see storing this when not in use against the staircase wall.

Plan E--maybe swap the placement of the sink and DW to get a longer run of counter?

In Plan A, what do you think about moving the sink down a bit to give you more workspace to the right of the stove. And instead of the kitchen cart which seems to be disconnected from everything, how about putting in a hutch at the end of the counter run next to your dishwasher? Here's mine:

This may be totally cost prohibitive, but how about moving the staircase over? Eliminate the hallway and slide the stairs all the way over. That would create enough space for an island kitchen with a lot more possibilities.

The stove in an alcove is a cool, old-fashioned look, but I don't think it would function well for most people. It also looks best when it is at the end of a room so it is a focus. The point of your alcove stove would be kind of lost because you would come up to it from the side.

In A or E you could get a run of cabinetry all the way down to the bottom step of the stair run. (Although I would play with stove and fridge locations) there is no reason not to extend cabinetry of some sort all the way to the dining area. And then there would still be space to do storage on the stairwell wall.

If an architect came up with those other plans, I'd say get someone else. There's an unbelievable amount of wasted space, and as you indicated, the flow leaves a lot to be desired.

I like kitchen plan E best so far, but I see lots of possibilities for redesigning the master suite as well as the dining/kitchen. I'm getting ready to leave for a brief vacation, or I'd take the time to list some alternatives. However, there are lots of very talented people on this forum who will be able to weigh in on the whole house design as well as the kitchen, and make suggestions for allocating space better than your architect did.

Anne

Wait, I just noticed your plan includes moving the bathroom too (and with all that wasted space there has to be a better option than a closet laundry in the bathroom!)

Is it possible to move the kitchen to where the den is (the "new" bath and part of the bedroom)? That would leave either the living room across or dining room in the space where the kitchen is now and move the bedroom further to toward the porch? Don't know if that would work, but it just seems like the right side of the staircase has a better flow for the kitchen/dining room setup and the left side could be broken down to better suit more intimate spaces (and how cool would it be to have a porch to enjoy morning coffee off the bedroom?)

Hello again and thank you all for your ideas.

Laxsupermom--Alas, yes, the moving of the staircase is a bit more than I want to do and pricey. I really wish we could just transport ourselves magically between floors--then I wouldn't need stairs at all! I could have the very open floor plan that I've always admired.

I like the idea of extending cabinets all the way down to the end of the staircase. If I understand--there would also be space to put cabinets on the other side as well--sort of creating a galley-like kitchen?

I am going to play around with the idea of moving the kitchen to the den. That space has always seemed so small to me that I really didn't consider it. So, the master and living room are on the "front" porch side of the house?

I have tried to figure out where else to put laundry? The mudroom isn't an option (this is a recent addition) as I really want it to stay as a main entry--perhaps somewhere in the kitchen? The house is a small post WWII capecod in a neighborhood where all of the homes are similar so everyone is merely looking for clever ways to maximize space. Presently, the laundry is in the basement, but I'm thinking in the future (as I get older) I'd like it at least on the first floor.

Thanks erikanh for the picture. Your kitchen is lovely! I was kind of thinking about moving the sink to the right to get a little more space between it and the stove. I love your hutch space, seems practical and yet pretty.

Thank you again.
Louise

I'm with Palimpset in, so far, preferring A or E, but taking the counter all the way down the window wall to line up with the end of the stair wall. Then put shallow, full-ht storage on the stair wall...or is that not a full wall?

It's that double hallway on either side of the stairway that is eating up space (actually, your floorplan is giving up a lot of sq footage to hallways so I keep looking there to "find" space).

If I look at plan "B" where your dining room is measures roughly 18' x 10'. I imagine the bedroom at the end, and a walk-through dressing "room" (face to face closets) with a bathroom at the end there (right about where the kitchen is drawn).

That would open up the present kitchen and mudroom as space for a living room (where your entrance is), and the right side of the stairs for a kitchen, dining room, and laundry.

I'm not sure if that would work, but it is another idea.

Without that double hallway the only way to get to the front of the house to the back, or from the LR to the only bath, and to the bedroom --would be directly through the kitchen. It does take up space, but I don't think that I would want to turn the kitchen into the only passageway through the house.

Could you expand to the "back" or mudroom side of the house instead? Squaring it up with the mudroom. Then put the door to the mudroom as it is in plan A. Bedroom goes in the den including the expanded area. The laundry room could be to the right of the mudroom door with a laundry shoot from your bedroom. Swap the dining room and the kitchen. Making the kitchen into a galley open to the dining room. Just outside of the working part of the kitchen you could put a hutch-like cabinet that is your beverage center with glass cabinets to put your grandma's china. Then upstairs if you need a larger room you could add a dormer over the expanded bedroom.

Seems like a lot less work and money could be spent to get you what you want.

The more I look at this, I too am leaning toward A or E.

a few clarifications/more info

Thank you rhome410--The stair wall on both sides is presently only about 6 feet of full wall and then 3 feet of half wall toward the front of the house (between dining and living space.) So it's not 9 ft of full wall--but I could put some storage on it or close it off on the kitchen side to get the storage.

The backyard is postage stamp sized, so I really don't want to eat into that, all of the land that is usable to expand into is at the front of the house. The front lawn extends about 20 feet out and then there is a serious hill that drops off (horrendous to mow, but great for sledding) which affords a view (only into the rest of the neighborhood, but I feel like queen of the hill :-) ) It's nice to sit and relax in the evening and watch the world go by which is why I think I'm hesitant to put the living room in the back off of the entryway/mudroom.

Palimpsest--good point about closing off one of the double hallways. At one point the architect wanted to do just that, and all I could see was the single path which bothered me. On the other hand, my brother's house does have all the traffic flow through his kitchen, which is basically a galley, and he manages-so it may be possible if it achieves a better plan.

Any merits of A over E or vice versa? Because of the staircase and the chimney does this preclude any work space (even a narrow kitchen cart?/island? in the center? If I did go for cabinetry all the way down the staircase wall could this be the hutch for grandma's china? If so, is there a better use for the nook next to the chimney? The chimney depth is 28" and 69" wide. Could this be laundry? I know I saw someone's kitchen with a stacked washer dryer in a closet style setup that had doors that slid back on either side of the washer dryer.

Just some more thoughts.
Louise