And where will you prep food since you don't have enough room on your island. Also where will you put dirty dishes on the island before you bring them into the sink since the sink is on the end?

Also when you do prep, where will you put the food that needs to be washed before it's washed?

Why do you have a long north wall with no work space but you are using a small island as your primary space?

You don't have enough room on the right of your cooktop. Minimum is 15" and that's bare minimum.

I'm hoping others can come up with a layout for you that works much better than this. This isn't it.

I would suggest you also post a floor plan showing how the kitchen relates to the other rooms in the house.

Thanks - that's helpful. I've thought about having the sink on the north wall instead. I just hate the idea of looking out at my neighbor's wall while washing dishes. There's something very appealing about looking out over the living room instead. But you raise very good questions. In the drawing, the north wall is the prep area with lots of counter space but I could easily see that on the island, instead.

I'd have to shave off space from the pantry to increase the space next to the stove but that might be worth it. Again, I see your point. Thank you!

Is the master bedroom closet/bathroom addition existing or is that part of this upcoming project?

benjesbride - the master closet/bathroom addition is part of this project. We changed it very differently than what is drawn here. This has been so helpful, I may go to the bathroom topic and post for feedback in for the new bathroom plan there!

Can you post just the existing, as-built drawing? IMO, it's easier to help you when we know where you're starting from than where you think you want to go.

Sure - attached is the existing floor plan. As is, we have a 1200 sq ft 3 bdrm, 1 bath house. The addition of the garage space and bathroom would make it a 1600 sq ft 4 bd, 2 bath home. The view is at the front of the house, out the front living room window. The current kitchen is dark, narrow, and a dead end. In the new layout, it would become an office.

Is the finished floor in the converted garage area is 12" higher than the space around it?

What's happening in the back yard?

Sorry - one more... is the house 30' across?

You also don't have room for seating at the island because you need a minimum of 42"-48" behind the seating. Yes you might be able to get away with 3' but what you actually have is 2' when you consider the stairs are the third foot. What you have is a tripping accident waiting to happen.

Honestly instead of trying to work this out yourself or with crowd sourcing, I think you need to get an architect on board to figure it out correctly. I'm sorry but your new plan is not the best it could be.

Yes, the finished floor of the converted garage will be 12" higher than the space around it. The ceilings will be opened up to the rafters. And yes, the house is 30' across.

The back yard has a patio with a retaining wall and steps that go up to the raised yard. The new addition in the rear will leave 6' between the wall and retaining wall. We currently have 3' between our hot tub and wall. Here's a picture of the space where our addition will be in context to the backyard. We haven't used the massive party hot tub in over a year so I won't be sad to see it go. Pardon the messy patio - I haven't cleaned up for winter, yet.

I have had a double oven range for 13 years and never once did I get down on a knee to get anything out. My mom can get 24-lb turkeys out of it, no problem!

This might be one of those cases where it might make sense to knock it all down and build a new 2-story house with basement. A 2-story house would leave you with a real backyard.

Thanks, Purlina. Are you working with a designer?

What is your family make up/how many kiddos?

is the fourth room to be used as an office?

Two little girls (7 and 5) and a dog. My husband and I are very into cooking and baking. And subsequently, my kids always want to help.

Currently, the only access to the backyard is through a sliding glass door in bedroom 2. The work in the back of the house will include a new hallway that will open up to the back with a laundry closet. The new hallway will eliminate the closet in the Bedroom 2 but that is currently used as a playroom. When our girls are ready for separate rooms, we'll probably put in a cantilever kind of closet solution where the sliding glass door is.

Off Topic:

Drawing floor plans is my hobby and I took a look at your house this evening.

My husband and I did a similar, total reno in 2014 of a 1200 square foot 2/1. We stayed within the existing footprint, though and turned it into a 3/2. I like the challenge of using existing structures and making them as efficient as possible.

I thought it was unfortunate that you'd dedicate an exterior corner to your bathroom and closet. I wondered if you considered something like this. It looks like it might be more budget friendly, your master bedroom stays dual aspect and you don't lose any back yard.

Again, just for fun...

eta: Without dimensions these were just guesses and might not be feasible.

Thank you for taking the time to look at the whole project benjesbride! We had a similar layout when we first started. And had thought we would end up moving into bedroom three, turning the current kitchen into our bathroom and WIC. But I really didn't want to move from bedroom 3. In your drawing, I would still be able to be in that back bedroom. I really like your plan. I also would prefer the straight hallway back. It's a smaller bathroom than I have envisioned now. My dream is to have a toilet closet b/c I feel I've waited half my life waiting for people to get off the toilet. But these are all tradeoffs. This definitely gives me something to think about...

I've been investigating islands near stairs and maybe I should bring the island out to bridge the two levels. I haven't drawn it up but maybe something like this would work better. I'm just worried the people at the bar would be too close to the front door entrance. I'd have to sketch it out.

Walk in closets aren't as space efficient as reach-in. Maybe your architect can ,maneuver the closet around to get you more master bathroom space.

I like your Inspiration photo idea a lot. However, I don't think I'd trust my 5 and 8 year olds on those stools yet :-)