I agree that I would rather add it later if really needed. The only problem with this is that it is in a basement and will deal with a slab so it is likely a now or never situation b/c busting up concrete will def. not be worth it then. We mainly will use the apartment space for family and helping out people in a pinch through our church, so the rental income is not a great deal as of now. I am leaning on not doing it and making sure that I have space for laundry. Since it is all on one floor a half bath is not as crucial. The only time I see it being beneficial is late at night trips to the bathroom. I guess I can supply night lights ;)

As a vintage home owner, I disagree with opening the floor plan. We know that in order to love these old homes, we make compromises. We did an addition that involved moving the kitchen and adding a full bath in a-gasp- 5x8' footprint. It was a six figure job. And the termite damage we found when opening walls......know what you have the budget and stomach for before deciding. We talked through our options for several years first. That being said, I'm not the layout guru, but I'm looking at what you posted and thinking that the fridge space is a lot of real estate to dedicate to a half bathroom. Is there another space to tuck in a bathroom? What are the code minimums for space? I would take the smallest footprint possible to accomplish the task. PS. Love the yellow stool!

Thank you, Beth - the kind words are appreciated. I apologize for not getting to your message. I'm easily behind by more than 100 replies to forum members, so you're not the only one. I'm soo busy at work, and I'm trying to get all my tropicals repotted - less than 10 to go, I think. I'm off Fri & Mon, so won't have trouble getting the repots done this wknd, but I'll never catch up on the mail. You really need to cut those long branches back very hard. In a 2D photo, it's difficult to get a sense of how much the tree is leaning. In the top image, the lean doesn't look bad, but it could be a misperception due to lack of depth perception - no way for me to know. If the lean isn't horrible, it can easily be corrected by simply changing the planting angle during the next repot. So, I suggest you put a wedge under the pot and tip the plant to a spatial position that looks good to you, then do your pruning based on that. For demos, we do that to extremes when we style bonsai trees that need radical changes in the planting angle to bring out the best in the tree. Witness: See the 'before' image below The hardest part of the pruning is going to be choosing your apex (top). Right now, your apex doesn't exist, but I can arm you with the knowledge of where it WILL exist in short order. More on that in a sec. You want your tree to eventually be a dome - like a mushroom cap that is maybe as high as it is wide. So, the lowest branches should ALWAYS be the longest, or at least branches need to become successively shorter than branches immediately under them as their position on the trunk gets higher. Nature makes sure it happens just so, as a way to ensure the lower branches don't get shaded out by the stronger/higher branches. So, the really long branches @ the top need to be brought back into the fold by pruning them back to 1 or 2 healthy leaves. The lower branches that are really long need to be brought back so they sort of fit the mental image of a dome that you need to keep in your mind's eye as you prune. I'm guessing you'll be removing well over 50% of the canopy volume - maybe as much as 75%. Where branches will appear and in what direction they'll grow is very predictable. You can see that the branches will start growing from the axil (crotch) formed by the leaf and the branch, and grow roughly in the direction the leaf is pointing, not considering the effects of phototropism (growing toward the light). After branch pruning, to determine where the apex should be, just look for a leaf facing upward on the tallest branch. The leaf should be right above the point where the trunk exits the soil (with your tree tilted as you like it), or it should be pointed in a direction that ensures it will grow toward that point. Cut the branch off just distal to that leaf. Within a week or two, you'll see a bud erupt, which will grow into a branch. You can even help guide that branch into the most appropriate position. I'll be in Chicago in mid-Aug. If you're not too far from Deerfield, I could stop on my way to the hotel (Thu, Aug 17) and prune it for you. I've done that for forum members several times, and even repotted about 10 large plants for a wheelchair-bound lady in SW MI. Al

Option 2 is much better in my opinion. Although I would certainly not put chairs in that kitchen. You already have chairs in the breakfast nook and in the dining room. Chair overload detected. So I'd keep it an island. Maybe even a cooking island to connect everything together instead of standing with your back to everyone. Do you really need another bedroom on that floor? For it seems to me that if you would knock out the wall between the family room and the study/living room (as well as option 2), you would gain much more your open floor plan. You could still make a study nook in it. I would then also knock down the better part of the remaining wall of the study/living room. But that piece of wall 'behind' the door opening into the foyer I would leave standing.