I think this falls under the "nice to have" category. Changing out the floor probably won't add value to your home, and it won't make the floor more functional for you. However, if it will bother you to not have flow from one floor to the other I would change it out. I'm also assuming there will be no change in floor level once you install the new bathroom floor, or if there is a change in level it can easily be addressed with a saddle. If there is a change in level that is not easily addressed then I would seriously consider extending the tile into the closet area.

"Seniors don't want just a first floor bedroom suite, they want a one floor *house*. Why maintain and pay taxes on a house with stairs to a second floor that may get occasional use? There are some good reasons for having bed and bath on a first floor in a family home, but don't fool yourself that this transforms a family home into one good for Seniors." ^^ This. That being said, it doesn't sound like that is the issue with the OP, first house and all. Honestly, of the two options, I'm not sure which I would choose - I don't like either of them. I think the practical and best choice for resale would be laundry on the second floor with the bedroom/full bath on the first. Maybe you can put a sink in the garage if you envision needing a clean-up area? I toured a home one time that had the laundry in the garage right off the entrance to the house - I realized it wasn't a bad idea (the garage was heated) and for me was preferable to the basement, because, let's face it, as you get older schlepping down basement stairs to do laundry is just as bad as schlepping up to second floor stairs. All the area needed was some drywall to enclose it and it would have been a terrific mud room right off the house. (I wanted to bid on this particular house, but that is another story).

@Annette - The prefinished cork glue down tiles STILL have to be site finished. You will require two coats of finish over top. The raw cork tiles are rare and fantastically expensive (think $10 - $15/sf). They allow for staining of your choice (again, fantastically expensive...because the CORK FLOORING EXPERT will need to be imported from a long way away...I know of ONE person in Western Canada who can do the job...ONE). Either floor can receive the special treatment of checker board or herring bone. Again, think VERY expensive. The LABOUR costs alone to lay a checker board or herring bone glue down tile will cost another $8-$10/sf. And no I am not kidding. A factory finished glue down cork tile + two coats of polyurethane should cost $15 - $25/sf including product and labour. It MAY NOT include preparation costs. Whew! You really need to WANT to pay an extra $10/sf for the specialty cork with specialty colour with specialty install. A raw cork glue down tile with stain and 3 coats of polyurethane + labour should cost $20 - $25/sf. The cork+stain+finish (materials) should cost $10/sf. The glue will be extra (add another $1/sf). Then you have to find the HIGH END CORK PROFESSIONAL to do the work. I've heard of people flying in their installers because their state/province do not have their own. Even places like NYC or LA have issues finding the right person to lay a specialty cork floor. So which one is better? The one you can afford. A specialty cork floor installed by a high end cork flooring professional is worth a lifetime of joy (with the occasional maintenance event). That's why they are considered luxury floors. The more affordable factory finished floor is much easier to install and much easier to get a couple of coats of finish down. How easy? Homeowners who are DIY savvy have done terrific jobs. If you want a pattern that gives the appearance of a specialty install, have a look at a "block" pattern such as can be seen with iCork Floor's Leather pattern. It is worth a look.

Jon first thank you for realizing what I was saying was not to be snarky but to show you that some things can be different. From your comments, I feel you might be "settling". Yes some points are personal taste but most of it is not. 1) Front facing garage is the only option in this development due to the lot size/HOA restrictions and so most homes have the "garage heavy layout". I personally like that look as do many of the folks living there apparently. Most the houses in my neighborhood are on 5000-6000 square foot lots. Yes the garages are front facing but not the first thing you see because they are not allowed to have snout garages. Zoning says that a front facing garage must be set back a minimum of 15' from the absolute front of the house and must be set back 25' from the front of the lot. And believe it or not, some of these houses are over 3000 square feet. It takes someone with vision and skill to do something like that. Not just plopping a house on the property. How large is your lot? 2) Agree about the irregular shaped island and walls. I will be going with a different approach - rectangular islands as someone had previously suggested. All walls and the island should be straight and not angled. When I see angled walls, I figure the draftsman is untalented and couldn't figure out a better way to lay out the rooms, Also I figure they needed a way to "wow" the unsuspecting buyer. The problem is while it looks cool in 2D plans, it lives very awkwardly. 3) I'm using a smaller round table in that dinette area and it will fit just fine. The other is a formal dining area for when we have the friends over. Our island will probably have junk on it and so I guess no eating there ever :) Do you really need 3 eating areas? Wouldn't the island and one larger eating area work better than 2 small areas? How often will the dining room actually be used? If it will be used quite regularly then yes keep it, but if it's at most 1x a month, think how much that space is costing you. And even if you have a small table do you really want to squeeze into the space? And how small a round table? 4) About the pantry - funny enough when I wanted to move it away into another room a few folks recommended I keep it within the kitchen area. So I think this is personal choice. I agree counter space should be maximized though. You can have a pantry in a kitchen that works well with a well thought out kitchen design. This is not it. A pantry doesn't need to be in the corner. There are lots of other options. In fact corner pantries are about the least efficient. If you insist on keeping this plan, please send your kitchen to the kitchen forum to get a kitchen that will work well and be a pleasure to work in. 4) J & J bathrooms inherently require coordination between the occupants of the two rooms and so I think the current user will anyway have their door open, That said, I agree, move sinks into the bathroom and keep sink away from closets. Again if you design a house that works for you and your family you could create a bathroom that opens to the hallway that doesn't mean arguments when one or the other leaves a door locked in the middle of the night. 5) Bedside lights will easily solve that issue. How will bedside lights help when your partner needs to use the bathroom at 3AM? Are you saying they should turn on the bedside lights? 6) Is it a fire code violation to have dryers not in an external room? I've seen some designs where the laundry room was close to the master bedroom - even accessible from the master closet, so just curious. Code says you can't have a dryer hose longer than I believe it's 25' and that's for a straight run. You want one that can be periodically cleaned out. 7) Good point about not having two windows in the master bedroom. The windows in this design are pretty big - the link here shows some images and that is what is appears to be: Floor plan Wow even the photos make the house dark. Now imagine if they didn't use flood lights to show the house at its best? Big windows don't make a house brighter if there are only windows on some of the public rooms and only on one wall. Again: You really want every public room and every bedroom to ideally have windows on 2 walls. While you can maybe give up windows on a wall in a guest bedroom, I absolutely would never give up windows on at least two walls in the public rooms. That includes the kitchen, living room, and dining area. I would include the study in that too. The house above still have over 7' of wasted space in front of the stairway. Wouldn't you prefer not to have wasted space but instead have that space be useful? Why build and pay for useless space? I also repeat about the closet on an outside corner. Honestly, you can do so much better if you're willing to work with someone to create something that will truly work well for you and have a great layout.