Sorry...I should clarify...we are looking at an overhang (so counterdepth) not a raised bar.
Thanks for reading.

If it was me, I wouldn't put the overhang because I think it would be too cramped with just a 10' width in the eating area. Plus you said you really do need a table with little ones, and it isn't very socially condusive to eat in a line, not facing each other.

I have almost the same situation right now - a table in about the same space (about 10 x 13) - and the fact that it's so cramped, it's not functional is one of the reasons we are renovating and getting the table out of there. We have a 6 person table there, surrounded by a sliding glass door, an island, a wall, and run of cabinets. If someone is sitting there, you can barely squeeze sideways if you are skinny to get out the backdoor. The cabinets there are unuseble, whether someone is sitting there or not. And I have 1 foot between the edge of the table and the wall. It may be liveable, but it's really not functional.

Here's what it looks like, and I think the picture makes it look a lot more spacious than real life:

I would not use the overhang either, too cramped a space, esp as the family grows!

Such a nice house plan, I thinkyou should ask about that master bath entry door swing. It doesn't look right against the sinks.

OK...here's the thing. For counter-height seating, you need a 15" overhang. Even if you scrimp on overhang people will still take up the same amount of space so trying to shave off a few inches of the overhang doesn't really help. With the smaller overhang, people just don't sit as close to the counter edge OR they sit sideways (not comfortable for any length of time). Then you need approx 5' from the edge of that 15" overhang to the table. Even then it'd be a tight squeeze to get by if people are seated in both places.

[BTW...your children may be small now, but they will grow rapidly! So, if you're thinking a smaller than recommended overhang will work b/c they're small...don't. Always plan for teens/adults when planning something as permanent as a peninsula.]

Has the design already been finalized? Or can changes still be made? If so, to the exterior as well? I'm asking b/c if you could move the front door down so the "Covered Porch" is flush w/the garage you could gain 4 feet. I would then move everything on that side of the house from the stairs to the front door, down that same amount. That would give you another 4' for the Kitchen + Table area. You would then have just enough space for an overhang.

This would have the added advantage of adding more space to the MBR and/or Laundry & WIC.

One of things I regret not doing when we built 14 years ago is making our porch flush w/the garage. We could have either had a deeper porch (8' now) or added 4' to the depth of the house...more useful.

Another idea is to switch the FR & DR. You might be able to expand the kitchen into the table area and use the DR for all meals since it will be a lot closer to the kitchen. You could then have an island for casual/social seating.

The DR would also be a little longer so you could fit a table in there more easily than the current location (that's a pretty small DR). Sample dimensions could be DR: 16'2" x 12'8" & FR: 16'2" x 17'

(In the FR, put the FP & windows on the right wall...)

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Oh, and I agree with PeytonRoad, the MBA door swing should be against the shower, not the sinks. To avoid it altogether, consider making the door a pocket door, sliding from the sink side of the MBA. This will mean no recessed medicine cabinet in that wall, but I think it's a good compromise.

We have a similar MBA...but our tub & shower are switched. The door swings against the tub. We're now thinking about remodeling our MBA and one of the first changes we plan is to get rid of the recessed medicine cabinet and install a pocket door. I think it will make a big difference in the "feel" of our narrow bathroom. What we don't have is the nice corner for a tub...there's a bedroom on the other side of our bathroom wall.

Have you thought about putting in another window by the tub...a window on the right wall so you get a "corner window" effect?

{{!gwi}}

I like the house overall, I just wouldn't do that particular kitchen. For the rest of the plan in general, I might ask if the laundry could be reversed (top to bottom) so the washing machine wasn't right up against a bedrm wall. And I might ask open to below on the second floor could be only slightly open and stick a tiny computer/study there.

Good luck whatever you choose!

I have a similar u shaped kitchen layout with a peninsula and a dining area on the other side of the peninsula next to a large bay window and door to the backyard. Currently, we have a 9" overhang on the peninsula with 2 stools and an oval table that can seat six. I have to tell you that it's very cramped with the overhang and hardly anyone sits there. The stools end up just being a place to put stuff like bags, books, etc... I do, however, love the large countertop the overhang provides me as I don't have room for an island. When I redo the kitchen, I may just put a smaller overhang and forget the stools. Good luck!

July 3, if you have any flexibility whatsoever in changing up that kitchen layout, I would jump right on it! In fact, even without options, I would strongly push to be the exception.

As everyone said, the plan is great, but I think the kitchen is the weak link. As someone dealing with this issue (cramped eat-in area in kitchen), I would advise to do any and everything possible to avoid the situation while you can do something about it.

When I was playing with my layout and trying to keep the table in the kitchen (oh me of such limited knowledge and vision at that time!!), someone here pointed out that as the kids get older, you want to create a place that is comfortable to hang out in and eat together, and if it's too cramped, that will be an excuse to go eat somewhere else - like the penninsula or the family room.

But that is only one part of the reason - the functionality is the biggie.

One more thing - just another option in addition to bmorepanic and buehls options - do you have any ability to pay extra and have the builder bump out more space for that eat in area?

I just keep thinking about your kitchen because mine is 19 x 13 for kitchen and eat in, so we only have about 3" difference in our size and I know the months of agony I went through trying to create a functional plan, keeping my island AND the eat in area in that space (because I couldn't quite come to terms with not having a "perching" place for socializing while I was cooking, and a table doesn't provide that - you need an island or a peninsula). After fighting it long and hard, in the end I had to admit there was simply no way to fit a kitchen AND an eat in in 13 x 19. So I chose the only option I had available: what bmorepanic suggested in your plan above - my table was going to be in the middle of my kitchen. But then when I put my table there (right against my current island), I realized I couldn't deal with constantly having to push in the chairs to navigate my kitchen. They were constantly getting in my way and never stayed neatly tucked into the table. That's life with kids.

Thankfully, in the end after 100's of layouts and so much wresting, I decided to knock out a wall to my formal dining and use that as my main eating area. That freed up the room to have a functional island with seating for 4 in the kitchen. I LOVE my new plan with the eat-in area gone, replaced by an island.

But if you get sick of being cramped down the line and can't deal with it anymore, you won't have the same option unless you are willing to have your daily eating area further from the kitchen (the formal).

If you can build in the extra room now (or go with Buehl's idea to create more room), and save yourself $25K as a conservative estimate down the line on a full scale remodel or even having to build onto your home - or move - it would be so much easier to just do it now while being built.

Something I didn't remember to post until now....one of the reasons I wish we had made the porch flush w/the garage was the thought that I might have been able minimize the "Garage" presence of the front of our house. While the house & porch are longer than the garage, the garage still stands out.

Also...to help you not make the same mistakes we did when we built (we were newbies at building/remodeling and had no one to really advise us).... Probably my biggest regret is not putting in a Mudroom when we built, so, I am very, very strongly advising you to Design a Mudroom in your house NOW! It's a nightmare to do it later (*sigh*). Even if you have to move the house over on the lot to add it on the side of the garage or extend the garage toward the front of the house about 6 or 7 feet to work it in, do it! You could make a Mudroom on one half of the garage & a work room for you or your DH on the other....so a 10'x7' Mudroom (with a family closet) + 2' "aisle" + 8'x7' Work RoomHave the Mudroom go into the house w/an arched opening (to match openings in the rest of the house).
Consider making the garage a side-load garage and "pretty up" the side of the garage that faces the street.

Hope This Helps (HTH)!!!

So many great ideas and I wish wish wish I had found this site sooner because sadly we are too late in the process for most of the brilliant changes you all suggested.

We struggled long and hard to find a house that suited our needs and had a mudroom but sadly it was out of our price range (totally banging my head about bumping just the front wall out a few feet -- brilliant just a few mths late). Our plan now is to get incredible front closet organizers and dedicate a small area in the garage.

It wasn't until just recently that I realized that an overhang would be too crowded...hmmm now I understand why ppl build more than one house in a lifetime - I guess you learn with the 1st what you like/don't like. I really planned on making this our forever home but I guess we'll see (at least if that happens I'll have this site 1st haha)

It's funny I didn't even notice the swing of the ensuite door...yikes!

So one more question- since it's too late to change the configuration of anything really without spending a ton of $$ (we're almost maxed out and the frame is built, windows in this week and then brick and interior--closing end of Oct) should I extend the granite counter top at all to provide extra workspace or save the $ and do something else? I think it's pretty much right at the end of the sink, maybe a few inches at most.

Any other suggestions for this late stage?
We did add a window to the main bath just in time for the order. We considered adding a 2nd window in the ensuite but our neighbours have a window there and our lots are only 40' wide so we decided to save the $ (I plan to frame a mirror and place it there to reflect the window).
Most of our $ went into upgrading windows, insulation, basement height, electrical stuff and our builder charges a fortune for blueprint changes. When I found this site I also learned about taller cabinets and we got those too but it ate into our $ a bit.
Thanks again.

I think it is worth extending a bit behind the sink for some breathing room *if it doesn't make the dining area tight.

I know buehl and bmor etc. are pretty vehement that to be at all useful the overhang must be 15", but this is an area where we respectfully disagree with each other. I know that this is the most comfortable depth for seating almost as if you are at a table.

I've never had 15" of depth to do this in the houses I work with, so it usually gets squeezed down to 12"

I recently finished a house with a stretch of open counter that faces the hallway (and is topped by glass-fronted and backed cabinets). The homeowners wanted and increased-depth counter on this run, but they did Not want it to have a free end that curved to touch the wall. They wanted each end of the counter flush with the end wall so the total depth of the countertop is 36". We discussed that this would be an extended counter but not really functional as an eating counter because the net overhang is 9.5"

The last time I visited, I noticed they had four narrow saddle-shaped stools there. I asked about them, and the homeowner said "I know we are *not supposed* to eat there, but we eat there all the time!" I asked if it was uncomfortable, and she said "I guess not really, or we would just sit at the table.?"

So my feeling on it is, if you can extend it a bit for deeper workspace, and maybe have a stool there to hang out or grab something to eat, go for it, if its not in the way of the table and chairs. Don't plan on eating Thanksgiving Dinner at it, but at least mock it up with some cardboard or a piece of plywood before you template the counters.

I realize it might be too late at this point, but still easier to do now rather then after the walls are closed: add more windows! I would definitely add one to the powder room, one to the kitchen cooking area, and another to the eating area. Even if you are close to the neighbors you will still get natural light instead of a dark house.

About the kitchen: I think you have enough space for an overhang and a table. Below is a link to my eating area. It's 8 ft. only (while you have 10 ft!) by 9 ft. 8 in. As we plan to remodel we will add a peninsula (24 in. cabinet depth plus 2 in. wall plus 12 in. deep raised overhang). I am thinking through the different ways we can have an eating area. You will see a white tape line on the floor. That's the end of the overhang, 1 in. from the start of the window trim. Distance between end of overhang and table is 45 in. The table is 48x30, which can seat 6. Distance between table and wall is 22 in. I would like to have a seat built in along this wall and I think it will fit (instead of the chair in the 1st photo). 2nd photo shows bar stools pulled out for seating. 3rd photo shows bar stools pulled in under the overhang. I don't expect to have people sit both at the table and peninsula at the same time usually, but looks like it will be ok. We don't have a huge kitchen with huge spaces, but I think this will work for us. And if I can fit this into 8 feet, you can in 10 feet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Eating area photos