Hey Flo,

The fire place is located at one of the photos below. We are a family of four with two boys age 8 and 10. We are looking into rustic, miniumist style. As of right now, expanding is not possible. Check out the photos for better idea.

Thanks!

Derek

We can add walls wherever we can. Thanks for your help and hope you got something.

Can the windows on the back wall be moved?

It is a brick house. Can make the windows larger width and height. Moving it would make it uglier on the outside unless we find the same type of rare brick to match.

Derek - here is first cut, without knowing about windows. You would have to modify the windows on the long/sink side of kitchen I put in this layout. But this gives you at least one idea of how the space could be utilized. You can do furnishings in any style you wish, just using sizes to make sure you see you need pretty big space to do everything you wish to do. I "guestimated"

layouts · More Info

Hope this helps you visualize what your space could look like.

Flo,

Many thanks for your ideas. Definitely helps. Attached is the image of added detailed dimensions for windows and all.

Thanks!

If you added a wall where the ceiling peaks, coming out from the fireplace wall about 12 feet or so, could you then do an L shaped kitchen behind the wall? The fridge and sink would go on the new wall, range would go on the existing wall near the back door. Then put the dining space towards the stairs and living space with the fireplace.

Hi Kathryn,

Love this idea. We need to figure out how to add the drain for the sink. It'll be tough to get the right drainage from that point to under the small rear window as shown in my newer marked up drawing.

Thinking about it some more...

Thanks!

I had almost the same idea as Flo Mangan, which is why I asked about the windows on the back wall. Too bad about the brick.

Thanks for the idea. Is that an island? The one that says dishes. What is "tr"? I am assuming trash? Is that a dining table on the right wall?

Thanks!

Could you please post a to-scale layout of the whole house and also things like the garage and other exterior features of the house? And label everything on the floor plan? It's so much easier to spot possibilities when we can see the whole picture.

You didn't mention if the living room would also house the TV (and be the main hang out room for the family)? Also, do you already have a mudroom between the house & the garage or do you need coat/bag/shoe storage by the door on the top right?

Here's a template with graph paper boxes, in case that is useful to anyone. One box is one square foot.

Derek, I edited my previous post to be more explanatory, which I hadn't before, since it was so similar to Flo Mangan's.

This version puts the fridge on the right wall, and the dining area against the stairs:

There is a MW on a shelf beside the fridge, with space for a coffee maker below, or you could use a MW drawer in the base cabinet.

I don't know how to arrange it differently to include all the required elements, but the kitchen seems to take up a disproportionate amount of the available space.

Kitchen layout needs to stop until you get the rest of the unsafe DIY disaster under control.

Who did the structural calculations work for all of those walls coming down? Where is the post for the required ridge beam? What is the plan to get R60 at the roofline as is required? Who pulled the permits for this? Where is the required front end design documentation required for that permit? This has illegal project written all over it.

Sophie,

It is all taken care of. We already have structural engineer to do the calculations, and the contractor with permit to do it all. It is all taken care of to this point. We are still in process with finishing up the framing right now so we are good. ;) Thank you. BTW do you have any ideas on the layout since you are the pro here?

What is the door that is right next to the back door in your pictures of the space?

(Incidentally, this is an example of why it's infinitely better to have a floor plan of the whole house to consider rather than just one section of the house. I've got no way to know if that door can be easily moved -- i.e., where it leads and if there's a likely other spot for a door to that space to be.)

Do you have a floor plan of the basement too? I'm wondering if switchback stairs are an option.

Jillius,

Here is the floor plan of the whole house.

As for the basement, it is not possible to do the switchback stairs. We would love to do this but just can't with the guest bathroom in the way and there are main posts on the right side of the steps to support the main floor.

Thanks!

If you move the entrance to the stairs (so they end in the same spot in the basement but start in a different place on this floor) and turned the biggest window on the back wall into an even-bigger sliding glass door, you could actually fit nicely-proportioned kitchen, dining area, and living area with plenty of space to walk around and through all of them. Like so:

Every layout always compromises in some area. In focusing on making the living areas generously sized for furniture/cabinets/counters/walkways/human traffic, I compromised a bit on the experience guests will have when they first walk in the front door.

As you can see, when guests walk in, straight ahead is a staircase and the kitchen. It's not the norm to have a barrier of sort directly in front of you when you first walk in the front door rather than a straight shot down a walkway or into a room. It's also not the norm to have the kitchen be the first thing you see when you enter a home, and a lot of people feel really strongly that they don't want guests to be able to see the kitchen sink/dishes when the guests first walk in.

I think the barrier-in-front-of-you-when-you-enter thing isn't a huge deal because people entering have almost 10 feet of walking space before they hit the staircase. It would be very natural for foot traffic to flow diagonally to the right to enter the living spaces rather walking directly into the stairs, and you wouldn't have any issues with people feeling cramped or blocked.

However, I'm concerned you won't like the immediately-visible kitchen aspect of this. I found a picture of a relatively similar kitchen to what I've drawn and edited in a staircase in front of it so you can see what that would look like if you simply do a half wall behind the big kitchen counter. This is what would greet your guests:

Picture a huge window above the sink and a stove where the fridge is. Having a half wall behind the big counter would preserve maximum openness if you want your big counter in the kitchen to feel like an island and/or to be able to keep an eye on kids in the family room and/or to interact with people in the family room.

However, that would also means your guests' main view when they first walk in the house would be of the kitchen. If you don't like how people would see the kitchen when they first walk in, you could always do a full wall there. It'd be an ideal place to hang a piece of statement art to greet your guests. Like so:

P.S. In case it is not obviously to you, in the kitchen where the pantry cabinets overlap with the counter is an appliance garage situation like this:

I just saw your last comment about the downstairs guest bathroom. Do you have a layout of the basement too?

Now I see what you are saying about the stairs. Never thought of this. We will think about this... Thank you so much for the idea, Jillius!

Here is the basement floor plan. Hope this helps.

I know you just took down a wall separating the two halves of the space, but if you add a wall on the left, you would have more options for appliance placement. It would create a hallway to the back door, and you could leave the bathroom door, since the view would be blocked from the kitchen and dining area.

The wall could go only partway to the ceiling, for a more open feeling (Illustration on right). In the plan I added an extra section of counter, or a cabinet to the end of the sink run--depending on the location of the vent under the window. Click to enlarge:

Morning everyone, I would like to say thank you so much for all your help with the ideas and designs. I think we are getting close. We will definitely let you know what we come up with in the near future. If you guys have any more ideas, please feel free to throw it out to us. Thanks!

I would like to say thank you all for your help. Please see the new thread called "[Update on our layout from your suggestions and ideas[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/update-on-our-layout-from-your-suggestions-and-ideas-dsvw-vd~5362222)". Again many thanks to you all!