Here's a quickie drawing, not to scale at all. A but crude, but hopefully it'll help. Obviously the closets can be scaled a bit. The entry door to the bathroom, I made that a single instead of a double. No real need for a double. the closets on the left wall of the bathroom, they can be scaled as well. The one on the countertop can be shallow (by moving the back forward, not by recessing the front), like a medicine cabinet. The other two can be pantry storage of linen closets. Toilet compartment, code requires a minimum size of 30" wide by 60" deep. The 60" depth s okay, but wider is appreciated, you can go 36" with no problems. the door needs to open outwards. The shower has a 45-degree opening. It can be doorless. The two closets outside the shower, the depth is off in the drawing. Linen closets, whatever you want them to be. I didn't include any windows. I like the toilet not being on the wall shared with the bedroom for noise considerations, flushing/refill sounds in the dead of night, etc. the "wet wall" for the shower can either be the wall on the immediate left or immediate right of the shower opening. That'll keep supply plumbing out of the exterior walls.

I had what sounds like a similar situation--window over the sink, pretty impossible to open, looks over our driveway and the neighbor's (so not a particularly fabulous view)... Here's the "before" picture: I looked into the possibility of a garden window, but ultimately didn't go that way. First, it wasn't inexpensive. Second, I just anticipated a shelf becoming a clutter magnet, and I wanted to stay away from that. I ended up getting a new single-pane window with an awning-type opening. Here's the "after" picture: If you look closely, the new window is actually a tad smaller than the old one vertically--that was to avoid going to a custom window size. But, it feels so much bigger since it is one single pane in the center, rather than 4. This is one of the things I like best about my kitchen update. The new window is so easy to open, and just makes the kitchen look more open and light. The previous windows weren't that closed off, but just having it be one big window instead of 4 panes really makes a difference. For me, the fact that the view isn't anything to write home about hasn't been an issue. I like the more open look of the window, I like getting more light into the kitchen, and I love being able to open the window so easily. Changing out the window was a "nice to have" for me, the old window wasn't leaking or anything. But, I'm definitely glad I did it and would definitely say if you have to do something with that wall anyway, I don't think you can go wrong with enlarging/improving the window.

Greetings all, Thank you all for the input and ideas. Some notes and answers to questions: * The bonus room is actually 11 x 8 feet , not 11 x 7. This makes it moderately more useful, but still an awkward space. * The black box between the dining area and kitchen is the fireplace. It oozes craftsman charm and we are hesitant to remove it. * Laundry in the garage is certainly a possibility, though we tend to do laundry at night. The idea of walking back and forth from the garage in the dark, especially with the exterior doors that we have, is not particularly appealing. A lighted breezeway is a possibility. * Enclosing the rear porch is a possibility, though the space is only 5.5 feet wide and there are a pair of steps from the bonus room to the porch floor. It would take quite a bit of work to enclose that area and incorporate it with the interior of the house, and I'm not sure how we could make that a useful space once enclosed. * Due to the odd roof configuration for the addition, all walls in the rear are loadbearing except the wall that separates the laundry with the bedroom, and the wall that separates the bedroom with the bonus room. I believe the wall between the bedroom and the living room is also loadbearing, because of the shape of the roof. I've attached a diagram of the latest iteration of our potential remodeling plan. The way it changes our current floorplan: * The hall between the laundry and kitchen is closed off. * The resulting closet in the kitchen becomes a pantry. * The old laundry room becomes a bathroom. The exterior laundry room door is enclosed. * The bedroom connects to the bathroom via a pocket door. * The bonus room is divided into two rooms, a walk-in closet on the right and a laundry space on the left. * The walk-in closet addresses our current problem of having very little functional closet space. The laundry room in this plan is intended to serve multiple roles. The floor would have some kind of resilient material: we have marmoleum in the kitchen and we think it's fantastic. The resilient floor allows this back room to be a nice transition room to and from the backyard. The laundry wall, which is 8 feet wide, has enough room for a linen closet, and a long counter with a sink over a compact washer + dryer. This layout gives us a linen closet, a place to fold clothes (the countertop), and a clothes bar to hang clothes to dry. These are all features we miss having in our current laundry room. For entertaining, we can use the countertop and sink as a buffet area or bar. We do a lot of entertaining in the summer, particularly backyard barbecues, and having the sink and counterspace in the backroom might minimize the amount of foot traffic between the kitchen and the backyard. Right now, most of that foot traffic goes through the laundry room which is, as you might imagine, quite uncomfortable. This plan is more in the direction of making the back of the house functional and comfortable, as opposed to trying to make the space work for a family with kids. We aren't sure a 2 bedroom house will ever appeal to a family with kids. The laundry + closet idea for the bonus room may not be the best solution, but I honestly can't think of a good use for that space. The 8 foot dimension makes it narrow, and the sheer number of windows and doorways is overwhelming. There's almost no empty wall space to work with. I don't know why the addition designer did not simply skip the rear porch and extend the house out the extra 5.5 feet. We really wish that we had a better way to get from the kitchen to the backyard. The ~3 foot wall between the kitchen and laundry has a considerable amount of electricity and plumbing in it; removing that small section of wall would be quite expensive. When we were designing the kitchen for the remodel we tried to include a direct door to the backyard, but we couldn't come up with a plan that didn't otherwise kill the efficiency of the space. We love to cook, so reducing the effectiveness of the kitchen to gain access to the backyard wasn't a compromise we were willing to make.

I think your guests will be more comfortable sitting at an island than a peninsula. How much actual time do you spend standing at the stove? At the peninsula, you have two people in a small space, with one trapped in by the wall. That person gets to look at the side of a wall cabinet. There is no other view than you at the stove. Maybe you're a famous chef and they won't mind this. ;) In that case, an island cooktop is a better choice. If you need something from the walk-in pantry, they have to move. So most likely one will sit on the end, but where will you sit while you're waiting for the water to boil? The peninsula forces you into getting a breakfast table, further crowding the kitchen. That table is in front of the bathroom door. Not very appetizing. So with the island, they can sit or stand around it and help prep, as Foxcrane's guests did. If you turn the island, you'll have drawers facing the sink and a place for silverware and other items that come out of the DW. You can unload groceries onto the island, which is close to your entryway. You will take the path of least resistance doing these tasks, so with a peninsula, they will all shift to the small counter to the left of the sink, where you will probably need to keep a small appliance or two. I have never seen anyone resist an island when they have room for one. Islands are also more desirable for resale.