Good job overall. I would flip the W/D in the laundry room so that your plumbing in the laundry room backs up to the plumbing in the adjacent bath. That will save some money and not affect the rooms function. Unless you plan on using the front-center bedroom for an office, I would not want a bedroom that enters from the entrance hall and is visible from the living room.

This change may require a closer look at load bearing walls but I would consider making your formal living room a bit smaller, into more of a library, reading area. I would remove the closet at the end of the stairs if possible and move those short walls on the entrance side of the living room into the living room at least the depth of the closet. This would give you a bit of room for a bench/ hooks or at least extra room when many people come through the door. (This change depends on how much you use your formal living area. We would never really use it, certainly not enough to warrant keeping it larger.)

I also would not want the bedroom entrance from the hall unless it was an office.

Ditto what’s been said above. I’ll also add that I’d flip the stove and fridge so that people aren’t walking through the cooks path to access the fridge.

Thank you for your comments!

@Armchairshopper - that is good advice about the W/D, and I will definitely move them to the other wall.

@AFritzler - I was going back and forth about turning the bedroom by the entrance into an office, but I think it might be better to keep the door in the hallway, and that allows a bench to be placed by the front door. I believe that the walls around the formal living room are load bearing, and the closet at the end of the stairs has duct work in it, so I don’t think those are possible to move, but I appreciate why you’d move them!

@luscious111 - I didn’t think about access to the fridge before, but I can see where that might be an issue. However, if I switch them, then I’m worried there isn’t enough counter space around the stove. If I move the fridge to the wall sharing the dining room, then I feel it’s too far from the rest of the kitchen, and I don’t like that the basement door opens looking at the side of a fridge. The aisle way is 5 ft wide, so I’m not so worried about people bumping into each other so much.

Have you considered separate clean-up and prep zones? If you put a clean-up sink under the window, with a paneled DW to the right, convenient dish storage space would be in the cabinets to the left. That counter would also double as a secondary prep area.

The island would have plenty of primary prep space, with a shared trash pull-out on the end, and a MW drawer across from the fridge.

I would not make the main access to the deck through the kitchen. Anytime you are entertaining everyone will be traipsing through your kitchen...leave an access to the outside in your den.

@ mama goose- I never thought of doing separate prep areas, but I really like it!

@ Daisy- my husband told me the same thing about keeping the door in the den, and you’ve confirmed his thoughts on it. At least it’ll save some money on just replacing the door, and not trying to match a window.

Thanks for the advice!

Here’s the updated layouts. Thank you everyone for advice! Keep it coming!

More drawers in the kitchen, I crave more drawers in mine. So much easier to fit things in and reach quickly.

Absolutely agree with lizziesma--as many drawers as the budget permits. Dishes and small appliances can all go in drawers.

Lexl, I'm happy you like the idea of the separate zones. Can you do a rendering of the window, from a straight-on vantage point? I think a window looks better when the reveal is the same on both sides, so you might want to check the symmetry.

ETA a couple of things I should have mentioned before, and you might already be aware--if the DW is placed beside the range, it will need a return panel to support the counter top. Also the MW drawer will need filler between it and the wall, to permit it to open past the door trim.

Are you using Ikea cabinets? Using deeper boxes for the upper cabinets on the short wall would give you more storage space.

Consider carving out some space on the main floor plan for a washer and dryer. even a small stacked unit will be better than nothing. If you ever decide to get old :), or get an injury; twisted ankle, strained back etc... shlepping clothes up and down the stairs sucks and at times might be impossible...meaning you would need help to live there. Sure this might not be a forever house but it would still be easier to have even a small laundry unit where the majority of the clothes, bedding, and towels are.

Here’s a straight on view. I removed the upper cabinets because the one beside the hood was right up to the window, and it didn’t look balanced. Now it’s just a hood without uppers on either side, but there is still cabinets on the other wall. I’ll see about getting deeper uppers.

Very nice, but don't forget about the DW return panel between the DW and range. It can be as narrow as 3/4", up to a couple of inches. Could you get by with a 24" pantry? You could add 1.5" for the DW panel, and add 3" to the 18" drawer base. That would give you 3/4" for a panel on the left side of the fridge, plus a bit of wiggle room--and you might need some filler to the right of the pantry, due to door trim and baseboard.

So, now that there are no uppers around the hood, to help contain the steam and grease plume, you might want to consider making the hood 36" wide, for a larger capture area. Give a mouse a cookie ... ;)

Here’s a 3D view with the hood and fillers where suggested by making the drawers next to the range 15” instead of 18” (plus I like having wiggle room around the fridge). Also added more drawers in the peninsula and on the short wall. I’m loving the new look!

Moving the washer/dryer downstairs make no sense from a functionality/usability standpoint. Right now it's near where all the dirty clothes are created and where they have to be returned to. Having the laundry right there is what everybody dreams of. You're taking a big step backward.

I'd reconsider the fridge placement, as suggested above. Mamagoose's plan for a second cleanup area will help, but in the most recent layout you'll still have traffic issues between the prep sink (in the peninsula)/range/fridge area. My personal preference is putting the fridge and sink outside the main cooking area - and the cleanup sink partly accomplishes that. What about putting the fridge and pantry on the wall to the left of the window?

Honestly I think a better layout would be to keep the peninsula free and put the rest of the kitchen into an L shaped layout. My most favorite kitchens have always been L shaped as they truly work well.

The advantage would be no crossing over the aisle as people are coming in/out from the deck and having space to work along the L. The one negative would be having the dishwasher in the prep area. However this plan gives you more space on either side of the cooktop for working and larger drawers. I have one other idea too which I'll post shortly

Actually if it were me, I'd do this below. In fact my kitchen layout is similar except my cleanup sink is not on a peninsula but on an island. I'm of the thought that if you can see dishes stacked along the perimeter, you can also see them stacked up along the peninsula so why not create the most workable solution.

In this layout, you go from fridge, to sink to prep between sink and stove with LOTS of prep room, to stove and cleanup is across the aisle and mostly out of the way since it's on its own side.

Would you consider switching the living and dining rooms? My friend's family did this in a similar layout. They needed the elbow room that the living room could provide, and in the old dining room they added built-in storage (for extra dishes, serving bits, and even pantry items) along the left-hand wall, and the rest was a sitting room.

I’ve shared some of your thoughts about how to arrange the kitchen with my husband, and we both feel that leaving the pantry and fridge next to the deck door is what works best for us.

As for the laundry, we’ve really been going back and forth about wanting a bigger master bath, and the more spacious laundry area. I would love to keep the laundry near the bedrooms, but I also don’t want the noise on the main floor, and if there was a leak, the basement makes more sense. This house is not made for people who have trouble moving because you have to walk up and down stairs to get to the garage, and the front entrance is up a hill and steps. I think our final decision will come down to cost, since there is a lot of remodeling that already needs to be done, including the deck and yards, so the laundry and bathrooms might not be touched.

I would make the peninsula an island and allow circulation around it to prevent funnelling traffic into the work zone.