I feel other folks on this forum have more expertise to comment on the nitty gritties of the layout, so I will keep my comments limited to your concern about the conversion of formal DR and the two choices you have.

First off, regarding resale: if you plan to live here over long term (5+ years), then it will not matter to have DR access closed off. Any family who moves in after you can easily reopen the access if they want to. In order to keep them that option open, one option you could consider is to ensure that your current layout supports that change with minimal kitchen modification such as removing couple of cabinets etc.

Secondly, given that you are taking away formal dining, I think that layout 1 where you have buffet close to the island is a much better option. This way this dining area gets much more central location that it deserves.

I also feel that the choice of the buffet is correct; a linear seating at the island would be a tad bit awkward considering that there would be seven members eating together. Seating around the island typically means getting individual chairs, and it's hard to fit 7 individual chairs around without making it massive.

Hope this helps! BTW I am a big fan of Not So Big Houses myself and single level, open homes (being a California resident, see them around all the time and love the feel). Your house is lovely and it will turn out looking even more awesome!!

I prefer the overall flow and increased openness of the first layout but would consider flipping the pantry and frig and placing the sink where the range is. I'd put the range somewhere on the longer L run. I know... the sink window thing; but I think I'd at least I'd ponder it for better function. You could always move/add a window on the long run and with perhaps the addition of a prep sink there would benefit you with such a busy household. Then you could still have the sink under a window too.

thanks for the comments so far... we have a super tight budget so I'm trying to keep major things where they are (sink, fridge, etc). I'm a licensed GC, so yes, they are easy enough to move - and relatively cost effective for me to do - but no matter what, it costs less to keep them in their current locations. we might put a small sink in the area near the fireplace - just to the left of the door from living room to den (there's a closet there that we could remove and set up cabinets/counters as a beverage center). We've got that in our current house, with a really nice coffee maker and would love to find a niche for the same in this one.

What about converting the screened porch into more year round living space and putting your dining there? You could have a really large functional kitchen with some island seating then without trying to cram in everything.

Are you still going to have a screened porch, after your addition is completed? If so, LWO has a good idea. Another one would be to combine the laundry, with the craft room/exercise area (or one of the existing bathrooms) and put a dining area, where you currently have the laundry. Maybe make the screened porch a little smaller and have access from the den and the breakfast room/dining area. Hope this helps :)

If you live in a warm climate, then using the screened in porch for dining makes sense, both for day to day or for guests. If you are in a cooler climate, I'd not close the opening to the dr. Since you are on house #8, there is a chance you are not the kind who stays long term. In that case resale is a consideration.

I like the island with the banquette.

I generally like it - I might swap pantry and fridge though, because the freezer door on the side-by-side fridge shown will hit the wall and won't be able to be opened even 90 degrees because the handle will hit the wall. You can also get around this by knocking out the wall separating the laundry room from the kitchen and expanding the cabinets into the laundry room (maybe with front-loading laundry machines under the countertop?), or by using an alternate refrigerator door setup.

Closing off the "dining room" entrance not a problem for resale at all - increasingly home buyers don't want a formal dining room anyway for the same reason you don't - the kitchen has changed from a small room off in the corner of the house to a large, open room where you eat as well as prepare foods, and it's used for guests as well as occupants. Many smaller new homes don't have separate dining rooms ir the kitchen is large.

I usually like banquettes when they are tucked into a corner, not free-floating. I think in this case I would flip the kitchen layout significantly. Here's one idea:

I tried to draw squares of roughly 24"/side for each seat at the banquette & put a good size table in the open space. The door(s) into your office/ex-DR could be a pair of french doors, maybe 4' wide in total, set on a diagonal to clip the corner between the end of the long banquette seating & the wall between the DR & LR. I think this would give you good counter space & plenty of lower cabinets in the kitchen, but you would be short on upper cabinet space b/c you'd only have from the door to the laundry to the window (over the sink, which doesn't have to move). The stove would need to move, as would the fridge.

For the peninsula between the kitchen & den, you may want to have it extra wide (I tried to draw it wider than the other base cabinets). If you used a 24" base & backed it with 12" or 18" cabinets that faced the den, you'd have storage for video games, books, board games, etc. This is just one idea, hopefully it sparks other (better) ones.

Yay for 1950s ranches! We are working to wrap up our 50s ranch house renovation and addition. I prefer layout 1 but I also am wondering what you are thinking about the idea of enclosing the screened porch for a breakfast room/dining space. Also, a non-kitchen issue I see is the living room. How will you use this space? We don't use our formal living room very often so if you are the same, I just see that as a very large walk-through to the office, kitchen, etc - and valuable lost space if that is the case.

I work from home full-time as well, so I understand the importance of the home office. The only thing I would think about is the placement of the office to where the bulk of your family will be when they are home. This may not be an issue for you, but separation for conf calls, etc is key for my job, so I would just think about that and if it'll be an issue, any other spot you could put your office... Good luck and can't wait to see your finished space!

Not planning any other wall changes for now. The laundry is not wide enough to really do anything with and I like the pocket door (not shown on plans) to close off the laundry from the kitchen. I'll have French doors from my office (dr on the layout) so even though all the kids are in school all day while I'm working - I'll be able to close the room off. We use two living areas now - one kid focused, one adult focused and we'll likely do the same.

I like the idea to move the fridge. I considered a long peninsula off the laundry/sunroom side of the kitchen and an L banquette there but that would pull all the traffic (back door thru the whole house) into my work triangle so I'm thinking the island banquette might keep the traffic out of the way a bit.
The sunroom will have outdoor furniture in it. I live in a historic prairie /craftsman style home now with two large covered porches (front and rear each 300 sf) and a huge deck. I'm not ready to give up my only outdoor living space yet :-).

Is there a higher back, with the banquette against the island? If so, then I really like that plan.

My only concern with island banquettes is that the kitchen work area can get pushed (literally) into the banquette area. A higher back to the banquette, which would give the island a bit of a backsplash, should take care of that. If so, then I think you've got a great layout! :)

Yes I think I'll have a bit higher back or arched back. I'm on vacation right now so can't work as easily but there is a photo I've seen of an island banquette in a white kitchen that is similar to what I had in mind.