I threw an idea out but it was nothing more than an idea in a vacuum. There are many, many ways to design a kitchen but there are fewer ways to design a kitchen that suits your home, your needs and your style. Here's one of the things I did to get started on planning my kitchen nearly 8 years ago. I started 2 ideabooks on Houzz. I filled one with kitchens that had features I liked or were similar in size and potential lay-out to my kitchen. I filled the other with photos of rooms that I liked and for no other reason than that. Any time I saw a photo that made me smile or happily sigh, I added it to that ideabook. I often referred back to it as I narrowed down my plans to keep my vision in line with what makes me happy. The other thing I did was read and read and read as many threads as possible in this forum and on the Appliances forum.

I’d love to get some thoughts on our 1980s Galley kitchen. Here is a pic of the original floor plan. The dining room, kitchen, and breakfast nook feel so closed and cramped. Also it’s hard to keep an eye on the kids while cooking. I’d love to completely open up/reconfigure the space so that we have a large kitchen with a great table and an area with a desk for schoolwork. The room to the left of the dining room is a library (adults only:) so that’s off limits but I’m open to any ideas including possibly removing the load bearing wall to the right of the stairs and reconsidering the sliding door to the sunroom. I’d like the right side of the house to be open and useful with a much better flow...I just can’t seem to “see” how to reconfigure the space! Thanks everyone!

That kitchen is a total gut job, and will cost more than a few dollars to update. The stove setup would never pass inspection today. You can save money on the cabinets by using IKEA. Good bang for the buck. By purchasing low to mid range appliances, you’ll save there, too. You’re going to want to update the lighting. Then, there are the counters. I’d say, go with laminate. However, these days laminate can be almost as costly as low level granites. If you have any DIY skills, you could get butcher block from IKEA, and finish them yourselves. I’ve seen many a kitchen on this forum where this was done, and the results were beautiful. Without a long expanse of counter space, you’re going to have the same setup, with sink and stove on opposite sides., though you will have to move the stove to the other side, so it’ll be against a wall. Of course, that involves moving wiring for the electric stove...and expense. However, I’m guessing you’re going to have to update all the wiring in that house, anyway, which is not inexpensive. Good luck with your project!

Are you planning on taking down the wall between the Dining Room and Kitchen? I assume so. What about the wall between the Kitchen and hallway on the right? I would probably leave it because of the bathroom door, but I thought I'd ask. (It's not pleasant having a bathroom open into the Kitchen, Dining Room, or even Living/Family/Great Room.) Have you considered moving the Dining Room to the TV/Family room and merging the current Dining Room into the Great Room? Or, move the Dining Room into the current Great Room, leaving the Kitchen where it is plus some room from the Nook, and merging the rest of the "Nook" into the TV/Family room. Just throwing some ideas out there to start thinking of other ideas. To really help you, though, we need more information. Please see the Featured Answer in the "New to Kitchens? Read Me First!" thread. It discusses the information we need such as a fully-measured layout of the spaces under consideration and information about your family and plans for the Kitchen, etc.