Mjlb: Yes! One bath could be accessible from hall. If you have ideas, I would love to hear them. I should have added I planned to eliminate entrance to Master closet from hall anyways. That's just weird to begin with. I really want my daughter (who will be the oldest child) to have her own bath, which is why I wanted to do the en-suite baths. In regards to thinking in 3D, trust me, I have....or trying to anyways. I have a program I use (not a professional but it helps with the visualization.) The bumping out is actually creating a larger family room below, which is why I want to do it, not just to create a larger Master. Plan has two fireplaces. Both are listed as optional, so I have so wiggle room there as well. This is a stock plan, Unfortunately a truly custom plan is not in the budget. I love so many aspects of this plan, especially the exterior.

I know you were saying that you wanted the sink centered, and your aisle behind is plenty big, but I heard several kitchen designers say that the cooktop and sink when back to back should be slightly staggered in case someone was using the sink while someone else was at the cooktop. My kitchen/family room have a similar layout, only our kitchen is 15x22, I think yours is deeper. As it is it seems like we have a ton of space between where the kitchen ends and the family room begins. My island is 4.5 x 9 and we tried to make it look like a piece of furniture so that it wouldn't look like someone dropped a "box." I think by using an alternate finish we may have achieved that look (hopefully). Our sink (30" farmhouse) is off-center and looking into the family room like yours. We do not have a second sink (one was in the plans but when we started the kitchen install and I saw where it was going to be I nixed it). The one sink is fine as we also have water on the fridge for the kids. I also like the off-center because it leaves a lot of space to one side and a good amount of space for drying dishes on the other. I have an overhang on two sides to make seating for 6, and my island seats 4 across the back very comfortably at 9'. Hope this helps some!

I agree, your cabinets look very nice. It's too bad there aren't more drawers, but do you at least have pull out shelves? Your granite & backsplash look very nice as well...but I do agree the kitchen is a little dark...but the big windows in the table area do help. I do have to say that I am very glad that you're taking the cooktop out of the island...the safety issues alone are worth it, but you can also add a range/vent hood now w/o making it an overwhelming presence in the kitchen (which is probably why you don't have one right now...definitely a case where someone let aesthetics trump function.) Which cabinets, exactly, are you replacing with the range & hood? Will there be 9" to 12" b/w the range and the doorway? If not, that may not be a good idea and may not even pass your local Code. (You say you're adding 12" ones on either side of the hood so I'm hoping that means you'll have 12" on the door side.) It's generally recommended, btw, that your hood be 6" wider than your range to increase its capture area, not required, just recommended. One issue that I do see, though...the DW will be in the path b/w the sink & range, making it an obstacle when open...both for getting around it to get to the sink and for prepping. The most common place for prep is b/w the range & a sink (water source)...and that means your DW will be in the way. Is the cabinet to the right of the sink 24"? If so, I'd switch it w/the DW to move the DW out of the way. If it's wider, would you be OK w/the sink moved slightly to the right so you could put that cabinet there & the DW on the right (it might actually center your sink on the window)? Upper cabinets should not be an issue as there's a window behind the sink & some of the counter run. There are plenty of cabinets on that side for dish storage...it would actually put the dishes closer to the table area. For the Breakfast bar, are you just putting cabinets on the other side so you have storage on the table side? That sounds like a good idea if you never use the Breakfast Bar (it is pretty close to the table area, so I can see that you might not use the bar much). If you're keeping the peninsula, that's what I would do. The nice thing about that peninsula is that it offers a large expanse of workspace that your island doesn't (and cannot b/c you don't have enough room in your kitchen for a deeper island.) Have you found the location of your refrigerator an issue? I'm asking b/c the island is a "barrier island" right now and will continue to be so after your planned changes. The island is a barrier b/w the refrigerator & sink as well as refrigerator & cooktop right now. When you put the range in where the ovens are, it will no longer be a barrier b/w the range & ref, but it will still be b/w the sink & ref. A possible solution to that is a prep sink, but I don't think you want to be prepping on the refrigerator side of the island b/c it's the main path through your kitchen...so a prep sink may not help. Yes, it would offer an alternate place for prepping or washing hands, but I'm not sure the loss of work & cabinet space would be worth it. These are some things to think about... Now, on to the flooring & colors. Flooring...like you, we opted for tile in our Kitchen & Foyer b/c of 2 dogs (standard poodles)! We have a friend w/one standard poodle and they tell us that she did more damage to their hardwood floor in the Kitchen & eating area in a year than their 4 kids did in the previous 10 years! We don't regret the tile at all. So far, no problems standing on the tile and in the summer it is wonderfully cool...even the dogs like to sleep on it! In the winter I always wear slippers, so the tile floor isn't a problem then either. Surprisingly, our male dog likes to sleep on it in the winter as well. Colors....I'm not sure what your plans are for the existing cabinetry...you say you're "...drawn to light cream cabinetry and black counters...". So, are your perimeter cabinets staying the same color or are you painting them a creamy color? If you're concerned about light, you could put in a lighter backsplash, that will, I think, make a big difference. Oh, and when you replace the granite, I recommend you do not get the 3" or 4" backsplash piece. It will save you $$$ and look much better if you put in tile (or whatever you use for the BS) to the counter. We have cherry cabinets w/Absolute Black granite countertops that we love. But we do have a very large window in our kitchen that brightens it up considerably during the day and plenty of lighting for nighttime.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions! I'm sorry I didn't get to read them earlier...spent the afternoon building a snowman with my little guy in this lovely winter wonderland we are experiencing in NC right now, followed by hot cocoa with 'Mickey' marshmallows (because "Mommy, boys don't drink hot chocolate with 'Minnie' marshmallows!"), followed by a sugar cookie making party! So down to business... -As many of you have pointed out, this design has some issues. The background on this is that we hired a designer to draw the house plans. After nearly a year (when it should've taken about 3 months seeing as how I drew the floorplans for her and actual pics were provided for the entire exterior from every angle imaginable) we had spent a small fortune and we figured out we were being strung along to increase the designer's bottom line. So we finally said this is it, print the final set and we will take it from here. So here we are with pretty much the whole house nailed down except for the kitchen and construction scheduled to start in about 3-4 weeks. The solution: call on your Gardenweb friends to help make this kitchen an open yet cozy example of both form and function. And I thank you again for all your help! -To answer a couple posts, a counter and cabinet are needed next to the refrigerator for storage of glassware and a place to set the glasses as they're being filled from the dispensers. Celticmoon- I hate those corner cabinets too! They are stumpy and they do impede walkways around the island. Rhome- Yes, there will be a fridge/freezer in the garage just outside the entry door in addition to the 48" fridge/freezer in the kitchen. With a 15 year old the size of a linebacker and a 5 year old with 2 hollow legs who can out eat his older brother, I might need a third! On the pantry-you walk in under the upper portion of the stairs and there will be a set of tall shelves that will line the left hand wall for dry goods. These will go to 2 shelves under the landing and around the corner for large pots and bulk items (yes, I love Costco!). This setup has worked really well for Mom & Dad and my DH & I really like it. Lisa_a- I don't like the oven placement either, but I had to put them somewhere just to get the final prints done. I like the idea of placing them on the DR or FR wall. Thanks! Mythreesons- You are in the Charlotte area, right? I think we exchanged window info a while back. What did you ever decide to go with? Did you ever get to talk with the owner of the Abberley Lane house in your neighborhood? Thanks for the input and posting of your plan. I really like your island setup-it's just what I had in mind! As far as the mudroom/laundry/powder room area: the cubbies will be hidden inside a cabinet. My DH & I went round & round on that part of the layout (in fact the powder room was an addition to the original plan)& what you see is the compromise we could both live with-hence the disguised cubbies. Our bigger issue is laundry. Our mudroom and laundry room were combined in our last house & it was an absolute nightmare! And of course the entry door that was used the most by EVERYONE was the one in the mudroom. All of my work stuff ended up there too. I've made a large specially designed space for all of my work stuff in the garage so it never enters the house. So hopefully, we will just be dealing with coats, gloves, hats, bookbags & shoes--all behind closed doors! Please keep the suggestions coming! I will work with these & get them on paper to scan & post. If anyone sketches anything out as you're thinking or if you see a layout you think will help, please scan and post it! Thanks so very much!