First, write down your budget. You have to fix the shower, so that's out of the wish list onto the must-do list, so get an estimate or three. Second, check your setback regulations. Third, rank your priorities (1,2,3 etc.). You can indicate relative importance by assigning points to each item, adding up to 100. If points are too dull, use jellybeans instead of points.

Or imagine your day: will it make you happier to have an office, to be able to open your car doors in the garage, or to have your laundry dry fast?

apple_pie_order thanks so much for your input! These are great questions. We do have estimates on the shower fix, but we want to hold off on doing that work until we know if we are going to be doing broader scale work. (We would be paying a lot of extra fees right now to have a plumber come out twice for just a small task, etc.) I really like your suggestion of ranking our priorities, and jelly beans are always fun. I am not sure how to figure out what will cost what. Any suggestions on that?

Can you add to this post photos of the current exterior of this area?

Barbara Griffith Designs, I could not figure out how to add a photo to my original post, but I will link one here. It is not a great photo, but it is the best I have as it is pouring rain today. :-)

Cute house, Sara! Have you considered consulting an architect? And a realtor?

Thanks, Sammy! Yes, but I was hoping to hone in on what we might want before we start spending. :-) This group has offered me lots of valuable input in the past.

I should add that the attached porch is not visible in the photo of the house, but it is viewable in the floor plans I posted.

Think about these interesting possibilities. How often does your family use the living room? Looks like the front of it might make a good study away from all the hubbub. Then move that wall with the pocket door so as to increase the size of the part of the family room that links to the screened porch. That way you'll have room for a dining section nearer the kitchen. Change the dining room to a master; you'll be glad you did as you get older and the stairs become an issue, or if someone has illness or surgery and needs to be on the ground floor. This also isolates the kids upstairs where you'll be happier as they grow into teens. Turn one of the two larger upstairs bedrooms into a bonus/play/gaming room for them. Flip the laundry around and use that closet and the back hall for a small powder room and a stacking WD close to the new master. See if setback rules allow you to add a closet bump-out in the front where that window is right of the porch.

decoenthusiaste thank you for the ideas! We actually use the living room a lot. We have a piano and music stands in there, and we also have a game table. In addition, the fireplace in the center of the room makes it difficult to cut up the space. I can see why you thought of it since a lot of people don't use their living rooms. Our dining room feature special furniture, and it is also the main pass-through from our stairs to the kitchen. I wish we could re-purpose our first floor in some way, but it gets good use as it is.

Moving will be way cheaper than your want list.

I couldn't read all the descriptive items on the floor plan, so I didn't ID the FP and misread where the chimney was. I think talking to a realtor and attending some open houses in your kids' school district might be in order. This is looking like an expensive project.

decoenthusiaste, I totally understand. The floor plan is hard to see with all of the electrical markings! I could not find a "clean" copy. I really appreciated your ideas! GreenDesigns, we live in a super expensive area, so it tends to be cheaper to add on where we live.