Redbirds, If it will make you feel better, try ripping up the carpet in a concealed place (closet) and see what you see. Perhaps you won't miss it if you pull it all up, and it certainly counts as "cleaning" in my book. Also included in my definition of "cleaning", is painting, though you might obliterate some clues to former features by painting over them. If you pull wallpaper, be sure to keep samples. If your house is very old(pre-20th c.), be cautious about removing wallpaper though. There may be very interesting lower layers, that are worth investigating before tossing them. With landscaping, you won't be able to tell what you've got until you've been through an entire year. A very good thing to do about landscaping at this time of year is make an accurate scale plan. (You don't need a professional survey; you can do it just by running measured lines from a couple of known points until you've got the dimensions down. Then locate everyother point off of your markers.) Use the time in the winter to identify all woody plants, and mark on the plan. Buy a bunch of plant labels and begin, as early as you can, labeling everything you find, and marking it on the plan. Be cautious about early weeding and garden cleaning if you are new gardener as many things may look like weeds at first. Better to let a weed grow than yank out something you didn't recognize. If I'm working in an unfamliar climate or garden I also make a "parking" space where I can transplant anything I'm not sure of and can't identify enough to know whether it's a keeper. Most times, it is just a weed, but you never know and that has saved my bacon a few times. Molly~

I would 1. Enclose the W/D behind wooden louvered bi-fold doors if there is enough room/depth. 2. Assuming the wall between the kitchen and laundry is load-bearing, completely open the wall from the closet to the other side leaving only a foot of wall left. 3. Install a laminated "I-beam" header, frame it out, and have a 12" deep cupboard built-in accross the newly-made 5'10" wide X 12" deep niche...with lit-up glass-front doors for display on the top over a counter that could provide extra serving space for the dining table, and lower cabinets for extra pantry storage, etc. Then, next to it, in the current niche in the kitchen area, either a built-in counter to make a desk under the window, or if there is not enough space, possibly a built-in window seat w/storage. This leaves the fridge where it is. When I moved into my small house 6 years ago, I was very concerned about the same problem; my fridge was in the same corner and my side door is right next to it, where the door to your laundry is located. I found a GE Profile stainless steel refrigerator with features that made the placement work. There is only 2 3/4" space on the right which allows for greater than 90 degree opening. The door is hinged on the right, obviously, and the bottom freezer rolls out. The fridge opens enough to fully extend both crispers, but it doesn't open enough to allow the right-hand crisper to be pulled completely out -BUT after the left hand crisper is removed, the right-hand one SLIDES to the left, allowing full removal of both. Other refrigerators may now offer these features. Frankly, despite all my initial concerns, I had completely forgotten that this was once an issue for me until I read your post! I like your idea of moving the front door as it will be away from opening next to the bathroom, and will allow closer access to the patio from the kitchen. Jakabedy's idea is great, to switch the door and window if there is enough room in the bedroom, and if you would feel safe with a door in your bedroom - a french door would be pretty. The present arrangement you have with the space between your bedroom and bath seems really nice! There is room for artwork or family photo's on the walls, or maybe a corner bookcase. Please keep everyone posted on your decisions! - Penny.

1) Move the dishwasher to the right of the sink. The counter between the sink and the cooktop is the best prep area in the kitchen. If the dishwasher is to the left of the sink (as pictures), it's in the middle of your prep area. This means no one (including the cook) can open the dishwasher while someone is cooking without being massively in the cook's way. If you move the dishwasher to the right, you could could an entire meal with the dishwasher open, and it would never be in your way. 2) Swap all the base cabinets for drawers except the sink cabinet. You might also want to leave one slim base cabinet for cook sheets/casserole dishes, but that isn't necessary if you are going to put those items above the fridge or double ovens. 3) Swap the locations of the fridge and the double ovens. You want counter next to your ovens so you can put something hot down quickly and with little chance of bumping into others. Ideally, you want counter near the fridge too, but carrying something hot across the room can burn you or other. Carrying some stuff from the fridge across the room, while a bit annoying, is not a safety hazard. The fridge is also more often used than the ovens are. The fridge where it is currently will block the doorway every time it is open, which will be often. If you move it to where the double ovens are, you no long have the fridge road block. Also, the typical action flow of a kitchen is: fridge (get the food) --> big prep counter with adjacent sink (wash the food and mix/chop/peel it) --> either the cooktop or the oven (cook the food) If you swap the fridge and ovens as I have suggested, that puts your appliances in the same order as the actions in the kitchen. Namely, fridge --> sink and big counter between the sink and cooktop --> cooktop or ovens. This creates a good and efficient work floor. 4) If you move the double ovens as I suggest, make sure no one entering that doorway is likely to run into an open oven. Ovens are open less often than fridges, but it's a lot worse to walk into an open oven, so you don't want to risk that. I am hoping that doorway is to a pantry so this isn't an issue. 5) Is this kitchen going to have three ovens? Or is the range in the picture meant to be a cooktop? If it is the latter, then you want drawers under the cooktop too. 6) I wouldn't go for 36" + 10" stacked cabinets. I don't think you'll ever use the 10" tops of those cabinets, so really you are paying more for 36" of useful storage space when you could pay less for 42". I agree it'd be better for cabinets to go to the ceiling, so I'd ask how much for molding or whatever would extend the 42" cabinets to the top.

We moved into our forever home last year. The kitchen and bath cabinets and layouts were the one of the things that didn't really work for us. the first thing we did was change the cabinet hardware and wall colors in the whole house. First step in making it better. We now like the kitchen layout and cabinets, they grew on us. The added expense of changing everything wasn't worth it to us. And we are okay with that. Just saying this to be another voice to live with it for awhile. Put the color you love on the wall instead of the cabinets and decorate with it. If you decide in a while you need to change the expensive things, you will have had time to figure out what works and what doesn't in its current layout. And already have the things to coordonate with it. I think the flooring and countertop would look nice with navy walls and copper accents. I would forget the sink. but it is your house. do what will make you happy. We still plan on changing the master bath/closet/laundry area of our home. But adding a garage comes before that. Priorities. Have fun making your new house your home.