I've looked at your plan several times, but have found it difficult to come up with ideas since I'm not clear on what can be changed, and it's hard to see the measurements. Looking at your second plan, it's guesswork to see what the old plan was. It would be very helpful to see the original, existing plan. But I'll take a stab at it. What is it that you don't like about the MBR, besides the location of the WIC door? You said you're redoing the bathrooms. Can their fixtures be relocated? Can the kitchen cabinets along the dining room wall be changed? Seems like there must be a better way to do the butler's pantry, which is inconvenient in its present location. Can the locations of the appliances be changed in the kitchen? The great room seems huge--what are the measurements? Do you really need it that large? The reason I ask is that it seems like you have space in it for the dining table at the end towards the kitchen. If so, I'd go back to the 3 car garage, and just attach it to the house. Then I'd rework the present dining room, mudroom, and butler's pantry. How many people/ what ages are living in this house? Is there a reason the mudroom is so large in Baton Rouge, especially with the laundry elsewhere? I assume you need 4 active bedrooms, and wouldn't want to convert one to a study/guest bedroom? Living in the north, I don't know much about life styles in Louisiana. How much of the year are the doors and windows open, or do you mostly close up and use air conditioning down there? Which way is south on this house plan? How wide is the lot, and how close to the lot line are the doors of the present 3 car garage? More info and the original plan will help! Anne

Angled walls add interest. So here's a solution. Echoes sleek lines of the kitchen, and as a bonus, it doesn't require any other adjustments because the thoughtful bathroom placement originally left it so wonderfully free. I do realise this may seem rather radical, in which case the architect's plan above is just about workable.

The walls between the garage and the house are usually fire separation walls with fire separation doors for entrances into the house from the garage. If you are rebuilding your garage walls, you may want to upgrade the walls. Also, there is sometimes a step up from the garage into the house to contain noxious fumes and water in the garage (usually that's where the water heater is). Keep the step if it's already there. Also, to go in and out of the pool area and lanai, you have to go through the dining room? I don't think that's a great idea. Just an aside, with small girls in the house, you may want to conceal the access to the house through the third bathroom, especially if Bedroom 1 is usually empty. It's nice to have the third bathroom when swimming, but consider alarming this door for other times.

I understand that you don't want the bedroom doors to open directly into the main room. Take some space from each room in the middle of the addition as an entry hall. One steps into this area and turns to whichever door one wants. Also have the doors open against the wall so there is more free space in the room. The small indented area in each room can be used as a wardrobe, or to hold a chest of drawers.As your floor plan shows no other doors or windows I cannot be certain this will work out. It was, to me, the obvious fix, but there may be some obstruction I don't know about.