Okay, I'm asking forgiveness in advance for opinionated comments: In everyday living, exterior stairs get wet, slippery, cold, icy. And, unless exquisitely designed (to be a statement of elegance), they look tacky. Statements of elegance are quite often inconvenient to live with, although one can bask in the initial admiration of visitors. I know that in some areas, exterior stairs are a... neighborhood tradition; a statement of necessity. And all too often, they look it. I think the architect's foyer is rather big, but oh my, the opportunity to make a decorating statement!! OTOH, I suspect 12x14 may be in proportion to the house. The architect needs to bend his brain so that the top of the staircase does not interfere with your views. I do hope someone has realized that an elevator would be of even greater use, especially if anyone breaks a leg, brings in the groceries or hauls out the trash. And if DW wants a traditional entry, an elevator could certainly take one up to the usual doorway.

wearybuilder, thank you for your post and rec. I feel as you do about the houses of this style feeling closed in. I live in a suburb that was mostly created in the late 60's and early 70's so there are many, many split entries. Even though I realize they are not very desired, the fact is that they exist in an EXCELLENT school district and often on yummy lots. When building, in the case of my style, they crammed 5 bedrooms and 2.5 baths to make the house SOUND big, but the bedrooms are really small and the bathrooms were so tiny they were barely functional. We have already combined a miniscule full bath, a teensy master powder room and small walk-in closet to make one large main bathroom. With a window! What is it about these houses that the bathrooms don't get windows?? The little "nursery" next to the master is now our closet. Effectively, we turned the three bedroom 1.5 bath upstairs into a 2 bedroom 1 bath, but it is so_much_better. Downstairs, the two bedrooms on the "garden" level, we are making sure they get more closet space and more windows. In the end, it will be a "smaller" house but I think it will feel and flow much better. Now if we can just find a way to make the outside more attractive :-) Can't wait to open up the stairs! Joanna

damiarain: We use the nook just for group milling, and often flip the counter stools that live at the kitchen peninsula over to the counter on the pony wall... this works well for parties or TV viewing or casual just-us dinners... or laying out a buffet or appetizers. But I've always thought it was a waste of space... it's not a very big area though... not big enough for furniture other than stools. But the pony wall and the multiple entrances really break up the space. We were not planning on changing kitchen layout. It works well, just needs a serious cosmetic facelift... too beige & faux-Tuscan. I prefer contemporary and clean lines. Also the travertine floor tiles are super cold in the winter. So we'll install hardwood floors that match the rest of the 1st floor. I'm trying to talk my husband into painting the cabinetry (which we'll keep) but so far he loves the wood look. The bay windows are 22" from the ground on the inside. We can't extend the FR to include some of living room. These rooms are on opposite sides of the kitchen so not contiguous at all. Did you mean the nook area? The FR is sunken because of the dropped ceiling. so it's hard to integrate with / extend into anything else. The LR is a wonderful room in the front of the house with great light... somewhat of a large formal LR which is less practical these days but it's a very sweet space that looks out onto the view. We always try to move guests into that room but everyone congregates in the kitchen/nook area! Swapping the FR and DR is an interesting idea though I think the DR is too small for a FR... it's narrow, opens up to the LR and is dark. You couldn't watch TV in there, as no wall is far enough away for viewing... my husband LOVES his TV;) But it would likely make a really nice kitchen.

Here is a very crude drawing, a brainstorm of how to use the space so that instead of it being split down the middle, you think of the room as front and back space. The front space is mudroom area, the back space is sitting area. They are very much connected though because of the console or chest of drawers that sits directly behind the sofa. In this picture, the grey shaded rectangles are mudroom pieces. Behind the sofa is a console table with baskets underneath for storage. Or, a wide chest of drawers / dresser. I have always had a chest of drawers in my living rooms / hallways in which to store keys, purses, and shoes. Dresser drawers are a perfect size for shoes! 1. I'm not suggesting this style of furniture but a console table like this, with some drawers too and baskets on the bottom for hats, scarves, backpacks work well behind a sofa. 2. Again, not suggesting this style, but a console table like this with big baskets for tall winter boots. You could like baskets like this with boot trays. 3. On the left side of the mud area, you could find a wardrobe closet for hanging coats. My brother has one in his living room. It is vintage and not very deep at all - not even the depth of a hanger. Instead it is full of hooks that their jackets are hung on. They can cram a lot in there. Here are some ideas for ones though I am not even sure what the interior of these looks like: 4. On the right side of the entry area where you come in you could place a bench for sitting and taking your shoes on and off. It could be a bench with storage underneath, an upholstered bench, whatever compliments the style of the furniture in the rest of the room. I like the idea of around coffee table so the room isn't all rectangles. I think a great lighting fixture could help here too. If you were to choose this set up you could get sitting room pieces and mudroom pieces that all look good together and create one cohesive space with two functions.