Looks like a fun project! I would post this on the building forum as well...they do a lot of this kind of thing.

I think you need to start with function and lifestyle. For example, I understand wanting a kitchen that looks out over the back, but the way your sketch is, the kitchen is going to be a narrow dead end. In my experience, the kitchen is where people gather, so it needs to be more open and available. In fact, when we designed our home, we started with the kitchen/nook/family room layout and built the rest of the house around it. I'm thinking that that whole area could be driven by the opportunity for you to get a dream kitchen and then go from there.

Think about the house as a capital investment where, to maximize your return, you want to put the most square feet into the things you will use the most. For example, the tub in your sketch above is huge, yet you don't have 2 sinks in the master bath. For our lifestyle, this wouldn't work. We seldom bathe but are often in need of the bathroom sink at the same time.

Is there a reason the back door would be so recessed?

When we were designing, we went to a lot of model homes and open houses to get an idea of what the rooms were like, spaces were like and how it would be if we lived there...we actually walked through a day in our mind of getting up, making breakfast, cleaning up and dressing, how we spent our evenings, how we entertain, etc., etc. That ensured that we got a house that functions well for us and our lifestyle. I think if you do that, you will get a lot of ideas about layout, traffic flows, and function.

You might also want to place some key pieces of furniture to scale in the rooms to get an idea of say, where the bed would go or how much walk space is around the dr table, etc.

the kitchen looked really narrow in the picture, but its actually 8' between the cabinets and the cabinets wouldn't really be extended that far, i just hadn't finished messing with them. I was thinking something like this. There would still be upper cabinets to draw in, but im just trying to figure out the layout of everything

the picture of the bedroom wasn't something i drew. I was just planning to pull inspiration from it. I liked the use of space, having a the closet in the middle. There are aspects of that drawing that i dont like either. The little hallway in it seems like a tremendous waste of space. My doorway would be in a different spot. Also my space is slightly smaller, i believe it says that space is 24' and mine is 21'5"

the reason for the big back porch area is due to the roof lines. Id like to just square the whole thing off, but the to do that, basically the whole house would need new trusses. It would be way easier if i can make it work with how i've drawn it.

Jimmy What is the part on the left side with the checkerboard floor and behind? Is it separate living? An apartment? Where are your existing doorways and openings into rooms? I'm just trying to get an idea of headers and possible ducting walls.

Is this a ranch on a basement or slab?

Are you married to the angles in the kitchen?

Do you have a photo of the back of the house where you want to put the addition?

Jimmy, the folks on the remodeling and/or kitchen section could really help you a lot. There are great people in the Decorating forum, but these others may be very helpful, too.

Remodeling link

Kitchens link

The pink floor area is a daycare. The main part of the house is on a crawl space. The daycare side of the house is on a slab. It was a garage and i remodeled it.

I attached a picture of the back of the house, ignore the ghetto sun rooms. Those will be torn down when. I do the addition. All the doorways are visible in the model pictures I posted. I will obviously need to put I'm some beams to take down load bearing walls, but I'm not worried about that. There is no Duckwork. It has no furnace or a/c.

someone today suggested that i put the master bedroom/bathroom where the living room is currently. I kind of like that idea. It changes everything with the possibilities.

Gorgeous giant table, lol.

I hadn't thought of that, for some reason, I kept thinking the dining area would be either where the kitchen is or the office. Being too dense to realize it would be centered and taking up the whole space. Overall, I like it. I want to work the washer/dryer in somewhere. So I can get them out of the daycare

I hadn't thought of just squaring off the kitchen. It still gets the panoramic effect to the backyard. I have a litle mini forest with probably 20 trees that are 80' tall or so. I really want to see out there from the kitchen. Nice job

Having lived in a ranch for years, I would not be happy with a separate door to the MBR that leads directly to a kitchen area. We found having a door on a single hallway leading to the bedroom areas so useful for sound abatement, privacy purposes, etc. So whatever your design, I'd make sure that happened.

Also, looking at your sketch, I would think about reconfiguring the existing bedrooms as well...you may be able to change sizes, access points, closet locations and sizes, etc. which will make the whole addition work as a unit with the rest of the house rather than thinking strictly as an add on to the as is.

Yes, it would be a little unorthodox, but I don't think it would be that bad and I can't gut the entire house at the same time. Doing an addition would let me do most of the work without destroy our entire house at the same time

Unless I swapped where the living room and master bedroom were. I could make that work and I think it might flow a lot better, plus i would have more options for extending the batgroom in to the entry and dining room.

I don't know what your budget is or how many $ worth of remodel your neighborhood will support. The biggie for your situation may be the lack of HVAC and if you can get away with having nothing per code in your locale. Did I understand that correctly- that you have no heat or A/C? This is definitely something you need to look into. Unless you are willing to float the project $-wise, a bank loan may have something to say about that also.

Is this a DIY project or will you get a design/build contractor involved? I ask because with your hip roof and moving plumbing, the reconfigure could get fairly dicey cost wise. I fear reconfiguring the other BR's in addition to everything else might push you over. I have done this before- the gut remodel- many times; and on our last house we should have built new...just sayin'.

As far as the washer/dryer - you could stack a pair in the linen closet area in the MBR of the sketch I drew for you. Keeping everything near other plumbing for drains and vent stacks is your big concern.

I probably wouldn't worry about the door to the MBR in the sketch I drew for you as that "hall" is walking you back to your bed area, which sits farther back in the room.

the heat is electric wall heaters and a wood stove and the a/c is only needed a few weeks a year, so we use window units. I may put in something beefier when if i make it a more open layout. maybe a ductless

my neighborhood can support whatever i do. I bought the crappiest house in the nicest neighborhood i could find. As they say, location, location, location.

This will mostly be a diy project. Im an electrician by trade, but i grew up in construction. Framing, drywall, roofing, plumbing, electrical, etc. Since this is a DIY thing though, the pace is slow when you only work nights and weekends, thats why i don't want my entire house gutted for a year. Ive been there before, and while i could put up with it, my wife and kids wouldn't. That being said, i think i could manage to do something like this

i worked on a house one time that you walked through the closet to get to the bedroom, with built ins on the side. It was really nice. Something along these lines

How busy is the front of your house? Will street noise and such be an issue if the MBR is in the front?

Also, if the closet opens up to the living room, I certainly wouldn't want to use it as a dressing area due to lack of privacy.

Neighborhood is very quiet. My bedroom is on that side now and it's never been an issue, even with no isolation and windows from 1948.

The closet wouldn't open to the living room. I'll draw it more clearly. The way I'm picturing is to go through the door to the hallway and open a door that goes to the closet, which is open to the bedroom

I like a lot about it...the bedroom door in the hallway, the bathroom as a buffer against the noise in the public areas, the openness between the kitchen and other rooms, you get a nice entry area, and hallways are kept to a minimum.

The only thing to think about on the exterior is you want to make the front door the most important part of the front facade which is more difficult since it is recessed behind the bedroom. So think about porch/landscape to keep it important. I'm assuming the driveway is on the left. If so, you can angle the front door toward the left and make that whole corner into a porch/front entry which will make the bedroom bump out less important.

There isn't a ton I can do with the porch without completely tearing it off and redoing it (which I may end up doing someday, just not right now)

The front door will go where the window is

Here is a little wider shot. Pardon the mess, I'm building a fence at the moment

Looks pretty good! What do you plan for that bathroom "leg" alcove just down towards the front door? Is that a potty alcove? Just watch the vent stack coming out of the roof at the front door area - maybe not a deal breaker but you might want a decorative one. Are you leaving the FP in the MBR? Or adding it to the LR?

I just started doodling and that's what I came up with. So it wasn't a final draft or anything, but the nook by the front door was the toilet, and then across is a custom tile shower, and double sinks next to it and a towel closet across from there (next to the door.)

Good thought on the vent stack. I could always turn it in the attic and bring it out on the other side of the peak. I wasn't aware that they made decorative ones, but that's good to know

We had a vent stack on the front of the old house...painted it silver and it visually disappeared. In our new house, apparently somehow they were all piped together and vent out on the backside of the house.

Moving the front door to where the window is would be a big improvement. Landscaping and paint color can help make it more prominent.

Don't forget to insulate for sound in the bathroom walls ;) that are next to living space. I used Roxal - its a great product. Cuts with a bread knife and no itch, no mask, no staples. In fact look into it for your whole project. Sold at HD

If you're reasonably happy with your sketch, you may want to add some furniture to scale just to make sure all the spaces will work the way you think.

I'm pretty ocd about insulating. Ill insulate the bathroom. If it wasn't for the bathroom and closet barrier, I'd build a double wall, but I don't think that is necessary for the bathroom.

I'll draw in some furniture. I'm curious how the table will look in the middle