not sure if this works, but i tried to crop it.

Is this a Sarah Susanka plan? It looks familiar.

Could you flip the dining room and powder room so it is part of the foyer, take out the closet between kitchen and side door for the access.

Something like this? You lose the symmetry of the window to the dining room, I didn't change anything there. But I made a little guest area in the foyer for coats and the powder room.

So here I cleaned it up a bit, put the picture window across from the dining room again. But I thought maybe you don't want the straight shot view to the breakfast table, so I opened one corner of the dining room and put the cabinet back beside the side door. It's a see-through shelving unit, isn't it?

On the other hand, what if you changed it so it's a straight shot from front door to family room at the back? You have a dining table, island seating, and room for a casual table in the family room, so maybe you don't need a breakfast table in the kitchen? This gives you a whole wall of windows over the side garden, and a view from everywhere to the back garden.

In the kitchen, the walls stay where they are, but I extended the counters beyond for serving and openness. I think it gives people more places to hang out by the kitchen without being in the way.

The whole effect is like a loggia on the right.You could move the side door into the kitchen if you like.

I think you may regret having a straight shot from one end of the house to another. Although it may flow nicely, I think it'll feel long and narrow like a bowling alley. And it sort of feels like an office building with "cubicles" of rooms on the one side. It's tough because your house is so narrow - it's too bad it couldn't be wider. That said, I like the powder room tucked under the stairs, or at least in that area. I really don't think I would have liked hearing a toilet flush while either making dinner or eating it in the formal dining room. You have a very efficient use of space though and great windows! Nice work!!

Yeah, I wondered if it would feel too bowling alley like. Although, Susanka puts shallow shelves on the right hand walls so it kind of goes in and out. (They could be placed in the kitchen, too, now that I removed the table and shelving) This seems like it would work for entertaining, easy to move around and access to the kitchen, but easy to keep people out of the working area if you don't want them there. Still, you could shoot an arrow right down there. Perhaps remove one of the open peninsulas, and restore the shelving on one side of the breakfast nook?

I really like the powder room there, too. And the toilet is not on any social wall!

Maybe this? And now there's a nice corner for a chair to chat with the cook, or to wait while the water boils (unless you have induction, in which case the rumor is you have no excuse to sit down because it boils almost immediately...)Ooh, what if that were a see-through fireplace behind the chair instead shelving?

you guys have me laughing :) This isn't a Susanka plan, but I'm sure I could have saved a lot of $$ if I had gone with one!

I considered a long hallway to the back, but had the same "bowling alley" thoughts. I also considered swapping the kitchen with the dinette area, therefore moving the family room door to the other side of the house, but I sort of gave up after a few attempts to make it work.

I like the powder room by the foyer rather than the kitchen, but not sure it changes much since it's still side by side with the dining room AND now its more visible.

Do you think I can squeeze a powder room in place of some of those cabinets in the long hallway? so it would be across from the dining room? that hallway is 4' plus 2' cabinetry. Then I can even add more length to the kitchen. My architect doesn't recommend making the powder room any smaller than it is, but is 3' x 5'-6' really terrible?

Looking forward to any more thoughts.

Actually, only the sink is next to the dining room, the toilet is on the opposite wall, and I think it's less visible because it's a secluded little niche, a cased opening to the niche will keep eyes away, and a nice piece of artwork on the wall between powder room and closet it will hold any eyes that do wander that way. And if you are entertaining the chatter and music will mask any other sounds. It only looks next to the DR from overhead; when you are in the house it will seem miles away from everything because it is around corners.

If you put it on the hallway wall, the door will open right into the hallway and it will be more visible than before. Someone coming out will open the door right into someone walking down the hall. And yes, 3'x5'6" is as small as you want to go. Well, maybe 2'6". But that's tight.

I really like your layout. Even though the entrance is narrow, it feels spacious with the window on the side, nice transition from outdoors, to sheltered, then a nice foyer, with cozy spaces off of it. It's a nice flow all the way through. The house seems to welcome you, then guide you.

Hmm, maybe like this? You could have glass cupboards above the bar sink!

nope, the hallway wall is not currently open. we had planned it to be a wood wall with decorative cut outs so we can bring in light but maintain privacy.

Maybe you could do a cool pocket door with cut-outs! Or a pocket French door in a style that coordinates with the rest of the doors, or with the windows. By all means have it open or openable between the wing walls, for light, view of the side garden, and so you can use the table as a buffet for a cocktail party if you get tired of dinners :)

My childhood home dining room had glass sliders opening on to the family room. During construction the porch was made 3-season, then4-season, but the sliders were never removed from the plans so there they were. It was actually kind of handy. And we kids only crashed into the glass a handful of times. (Many years later I was visiting the house and the owners wondered why the floor felt funny there; the intervening owner had put carpet all the way through, taking out the sliders but leaving the track!) but I digress...

You'll want to put back the pocket door between kitchen and dining room, I lost it somewhere in my Paint flipping. Perhaps a pocket door to the powder room/closet guest niche, too.

Or, perhaps leave the cut-out wall, and omit the solid wing walls?

Maybe something like this? :)

I think bpathome's pr placement is great! To me, it is a logical place to have a pr. It is in its own little niche, but it is close to where guests will be in your home. Honestly, except for the possible sound/air circulation issues (which can be handled easily with a venting fan) I don't think of powder rooms as utilitarian spaces that need to be hidden away. I think of them as rooms for guests that can be absolutely lovely! Little jewel boxes, if you will (I heard a designer say that once, lol.) I have seen sinks and vanities so drop dead gorgeous they should be on display.

You mentioned flipping the kitchen, and at first I didn't like that idea, but it could work. It puts the kitchen farther from the back garden, more convenient to the stairs but less convenient to the garden room and casual dining for daily life. The dining room is closer to the back garden room, which could be handy for entertaining. Which room would you use more for entertaining, the front room or the back room? With two roooms flipped, the kitchen has less privacy, being closer to the foyer, and if you are using the front parlor for an event, the guests have to walk past the kitchen to get to the dining room. I think the guests would tend to congregate to the back this way, and might be in the kitchen more?

The plumbing is closer together again now, and the hum and bulk of the refrigerator mask the bathroom.

Seems like such a simple plan, but so many options.

Ooh, ooh, I love my front facing kitchen, it's the third time I've lived with one.

I don't think you can flip the kitchen without also flipping the dining room to the same side. Otherwise you end up always walking through a corner of the dining room, and through the working area of the kitchen, unless you totally redesign the kitchen. But the current layout of the two is good for entertaining, plenty of work surface in the right places, and the dining room is an oasis without traffic.

What about something like this? But your breakfast table overlooks the neighbor's driveway, IIRC.

You could change the PR separating by narrowing the closet, and put a 3' wall about 3' in front of the PR door, so that there's a tiny hallway leading to it, but you can't see if from anywhere.

Will you park you car as shown? If so, the front door is really the closest.

Do you barbecue? If so, will the grill be on the right side, left side, or in back?

Where are your garbage cans?

So, I added a door in the kitchen so you can pop recycling into a bin just out the door during a party before you haul it back to the big bins afterwards, and easy to get back there any time. I also added a side door in the back garden room so you can get to the grill. Not as easy as if the kitchen were on the left, but not bad.

And, I put back the decorative wall between the dining room and window, since that view isn't great (unless it is a high window?).

I also modified the powder room entrance. This allows a post at the corner of the DR, so you can get a glimpse of the DR from the parlor and foyer, and easy circulation, and makes you more likely to head that way than into the PR.

I can't decide about the closet. I turned it so it balanced the shelving on the other side of the window seat, but I think I like it like this. The bench is more convenient for putting down a purse or sitting to put on boots pulled from the closet.

eta: hmm the more I look at this the more I like the way you move across the foyer as you come in, and when you come down the stairs you don't go around the dining room to get to the kitchen, though you don't have as nice a view coming down and you have to make a turn one way or the other. Say, you could have the bottom two steps wrap around the lower landing! Or have them on two sides of the lower landing, with a triangle space between for an art vase or something.

And here's the other, with the dining and kitchen on the left. I thought a little architectural detail beside the butler pantry would help alleviate the archery range feeling, so there's archways and/or a ceiling treatment. This has, I think, a better orientation and access to the outdoor spaces. And you don't have to move the TV in the garden room.

i am going to review all this with my husband and see where it takes us. I can't thank you enough!

I know you say your husband is dead-set on the entryway /stair area, but I don't see it working. You have two "living room areas", both modest in size ... and so much empty space set aside just for greeting guests. I'd say rework the staircase so it is a part of the front living room, and let that room become large enough for a gathering.

I like the idea of flip-flopping the kitchen and dining room to the other side of the house so you don't have the bowling ally thing going on. And I'd suggest adding banquette seating to your kitchen table to conserve space.

I don't like the U-shaped kitchen with island. You're creating a cramped kitchen that'll "trap" people in the U. An L+ island will allow you more movement and a larger island. I'd also consider an opening between the dining room and the kitchen -- it'd be handy for serving.

I definitely like the powder room being set apart in a little hallway.

Ah, but I like a hall that gathers the stairs, powder room, closet, that sometimes get scattered around a house, as well as serving as source to all other areas of the house. This one, because there is a vestibule-like area for the door, is more of a room and will get used by guests as a transitional, third casual conversation area. I usually like cased openings to set off a space, but here I might consider not doing that, to blur the lines and make the LR flow better into the central hall.

And, without much furniture, it's also a good staging area for everyday life.

It's a gloomy day here so I'm "drawing"... I put the breakfast nook back. Traffic is directed between the kitchen and nook, and the archery range is vastly diminished. (Consider a single-height island, seems like many people here have taken out the raised portion for a bigger surface at a more usable height)

We have a gloomy day also :( It looks like the main change is really just switching the powder room location. Everything else stayed the same.

I am going to do a single height island with no seating. Id rather the storage underneath, and I have the dinette table right there. I wish my kitchen could be a little bigger, especially with all the dinner parties we have, but I'm built to the limit.

Now my issue is that my kids want a slide going from the 1st floor to the basement. I'm all for it, but I can't find a spot for it to work. Any other fun ideas?

FYI, this is the second floor. I know the master area is over-sized, but the kids will have full reign of the basement and attic so we felt it was ok to keep their bedrooms on the smaller side. Thoughts?

Fire Pole!

Actually, your kids are on to something. I sometimes drive by a house that has a tube slide going from a deck off the second floor...into the pool! (I wonder if their insurance company knows about that...) Your tube slide could run outside the house and back in through the basement window well.

Yeah, I guess I did just go back to the earlier version. It was good to start with, except for the powder room...

Upstairs...oooh, that one bathroom is really tight. Do you have 4+ kids? I guess they wouldn't want to share one bathroom...or even two half-baths joined by a shower or tub room? (I had a friend whose family lived in a house with this...six kids) Anyway, can you shrink the first bedroom's desk and slide the bathrooms down so the furthest one can be a bit bigger?

In our last house the kids' bathroom was really small; when we remodeled it we put in a pocket door and the bathroom seemed twice as big. We respect privacy and would never,. even the little ones, open a closed door without knocking, especially in a bathroom.

I rarely see the sink between toilet and tub, isn't it usually tub-toilet-sink?

In the first bathroom, just go with one sink. It's so small, they will never be in there at the same time, and they will need the storage and counter space.

Why not put the water controls for the tub and shower on the outside wall with the sinks and toilets?

You are going to put storage under that bench, right? Is the laundry room in the basement? Is there a place for a laundry chute? At least it can get down there quickly...Hey, the slide! Your girls are so smart.

We think the same! I actually emailed the architect last night regarding the bathrooms. I asked him to put single sinks in both and move the vanities so they are to the right of the entry door and the toilet /sink are to the left. I'm waiting for those revisions.

I have 2 girls and a boy. Future child TBD, haha. So I already figured that the girls would share the larger bathroom and my son will have the smaller one. Boys don't take too long in the shower, right?? Also, there will be a full bathroom in the attic should anyone be really desperate!

Bench will have storage under and possibly a bookcase behind. Laundry room is in basement. My architect is working on finding a good spot for a laundry chute, I've been insisting it!

I also asked to switch the master bathroom sink to a large single so the door doesn't open into one of us.

I wish I can have a slide like the one you described! and a pool! I don't think those will past a NY inspection, though :) We are trying so hard to find a spot for it, but slides take up more room than you think! I've never liked fire poles so that's out. They will probably resort to making a slide out of mattresses over the stairs!

Boys don't long in the shower? Mine didn't get that memo!

Haha, I grew up sharing a bathroom with 3 brothers. My kids will be more than fine having 1 bathroom per 2 kids :)

I was thinking fire pole too.

I like the upstairs much better than the downstairs.

The only thing I don't like is that the laundry is so far away. Toting those baskets upstairs day after day is going to get old. I think I'd give up the bench in the hall (nice as it is) and downsize the first child's desk to bring in a small upstairs laundry closet. If you'd give up a bit of the master closet, it could be even larger.

I like the bench in the hall, but could it have a window across from it? Some natural light by that little sitting spot would add something nice.

I think you made the right call on downsizing to single sinks. That'll allow you a bit of storage, which is infinitely more valuable than repetative sinks.

As for sink-toilet-tub vs. toilet-sink-tub, I do think your set-up is less typical, but I see no reason to change it, and if you leave it "as is", you walk into a view of the sink ... which I think we'd all prefer to a view of the toilet.

The windows hadn't been placed yet when I was emailed the 2nd floor plan. We have since added a window across from the bench, as well as a bay window in each of the kid rooms, and small windows in the bathrooms.

As for the laundry, my husband says he will do it :)

I'll let you know what happens with the 1st floor and slide or fire pole haha
Thanks!

For the kids' baths, if possible I would suggest window opposite the door, tub/shower on one wall and toilet/vanity on opposite wall. Makes it easier to bathe the little ones. Towel rod could go under the window and/or on the back of the door.