It's good that you've worked on some ideas. The next step is definitely a design professional. As far as a few quick notes go, we agree with farmer. In addition it would help to know what type of lot you have. The views from your kitchen are now very limited. The closet in the dining room is awkward; is that meant to just be a built-in cabinet? Your upstairs linen blocks the only way to get a window in your hallway. A laundry in the foyer completely detached from the mud room isn't very functional. Is the space in front of the back patio door just circulation space? typically that could be flexible as a dinette, but you have no room for any kind of banquette or small table. Hopefully that helps, and good luck with your project!

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read through these posts and to post advice and suggestions and constructive criticism. I am taking all of it into consideration and some of it was not what i wanted nor expected to hear, but what I needed to hear. I feel as if a little more explanation is needed. We found a builder that we really like and everyone that he has built for has been really happy. He had several plans that we could look at or if we had any plans he could build whatever we liked. He has a gentleman that could draw and customize a home for us. We thought it was architect at first and the price was so good because we were going through him and he would then be able to have our house plan to use in the future. Upon our first meeting with the gentleman that was going to draw up of dream home so we could make it a reality, we learned that he was not an architect, or designer. He's retired now from 40 years of experience woking on/building homes and is good with the software. He is very kind and has been very patient with the many changes we have made along the way. However, we soon discovered that he really has no design ideas or suggestions. He just draws whatever we ask him to or whatever I draw to send to him. If we wanted something a changed, the standard procedure was to just make part of the house bigger, we had gotten up to almost 4400 square feet! If we didn't like the way something worked and asked for a change, he would fix that issue and cause 2 more. I got so frustrated that we are trying to build our dream home and pretty much the only person I had for design help was myself. Uhm, I really want someone with much more skill and talented and better taste to design my home. I know what I want, I just do't know how to get there. We have been working on this for 8 months. I got so frustrated that I gave up for 3 months. Our neighbors are using the same builder and they had difficulties getting their design as well. However they had found a floor plan that they liked and just had him make changes to it and add a mother in law plan. I firmly believe that we are his first truly start from scratch home. Again, this is the guy the builder sent us to to have plans drawn, not our builder. Giving him credit he has taking my very very basic sketches and turned them into something the builder can build from, but pretty much the design is about 99% me, not that I wanted it that way. Here is where I'm at, so you can see that he is doing all the builder type stuff. We don't want to be difficult, but we want a good design. We don't want the builder to think that we are difficult or indecisive because we just can't get there with his guy. I'm at a loss! Several people wanted to know the lot dimensions. So here they are: It is at the top of a ridge, has some slope to it and has a nice open are in the middle. Of course we want the house to sit about at the arrows part of the lot. There is an utility easement of 20 feet on the right side of the lot, but the utility poles are more like 30 feet inside the property. I really do appreciate all of your insight. It has been eye opening. I'll make another post addressing questions and comments. Sorry to be so long winded.

You're welcome, unreal! I did a tweak to Plan F to see if I could add a little additional storage without impeding aisles. I was able to find about 6" more, which isn't much but every bit helps. I removed the wall between kitchen and DR, which adds 4 1/2" (assuming standard depth interior walls). I was also able to steal 2" from the DR, while still leaving adequate diagonal aisles between table and fridge and table and DW counter. I opted to increase the width of cabs next to each corner but you can add the 6 1/2" elsewhere. I widened the LR wall, lining it up with the left side of the front door. The wall extension completely blocks the view of the kitchen from the front door. The first thing anyone would see is the dish hutch I added to the right of the DW. The dish hutch is a floor to ceiling shallow unit. I would leave most of it as doored storage with one drawer for silverware. It won't be deep and you won't be able to use a standard silverware organizer but you can create a custom one using Lee Valley drawer dividers. The dish hutch can match your cabinets or it can be a stand alone piece. If you need it wider than I spec'd, you'll need to adjust the width of the drawer to the left of the sink to accommodate a wider dish hutch. Here are a few inspiration pics to show how that might look (all of these are wider than I spec'd). I also added shallow pantry storage recessed into the wall next to the fridge. It's great storage for canned goods and other shallow pantry goods, which would free up the pantry cabinet in your kitchen for larger, bulky items. Here's what that would look like: I think I shared a photo of a small MW built into a pantry above but I'll share it again: Or you can put a small countertop MW inside the pantry cab: Just make sure you allow for the manufacturer's required air clearance around the MW to keep it functioning properly. Here's how I figured out which lay-out was the right one for my family and me. I pretended to make a meal in the new lay-out. I went through the motions in my head of the path I'd take to make a meal, where I'd prep, the path I'd take to put the meal on the table and then to clear it up, where I'd prep to bake, etc. I'd imagine this when it was just me in the kitchen and how it would work for multiple cooks. Doing this as well as the kitchen tally and organization chart will really help you determine which plan works best for you and what tweaks you need to make to make it work even better. Another thing I found helpful was to do mock-ups with cardboard. Back before I decided to move the cook top off my island, I even created a very crafty cardboard island hood to see how it would feel to have a big ol' thing hanging over my head. One of DS1's friends tried to talk me into leaving it up permanently like an art installation, lol. I also used cardboard to extend my perimeter counter all the way to the door to the deck to make sure I would be okay losing the 7" between counter and door. I'm a klutz so I worried I'd bang my hip but after trying it out for a couple weeks, I realized it wasn't a problem at all. To make the most of your meeting or meetings with a KD, do your homework in advance and create an idea folder to show him or her. The more details you provide, the better. As Debbi Washburn wrote, a kitchen designer can provide 3D drawings to help you visualize how the new lay-out will look (IME, not everyone can translate overhead views to elevation views). He or she will also take accurate measurements and check for quirks of your older home and adjust a plan as needed. They will also advise you on material selection, finish details, etc. rebunky, your wonderful compliment made my day! Thank you!

You don’t really show the room you have the table in and without dimensions it would be hard to give full suggestions. the lights are simple but i would likely have an electrician move them if you dont have an comfort in that realm. I’d put the table where the couches are but turn it 90 degrees from the way you have it set up now. for the tv id likely put it on the wall that is parallel to the table. hard to truely see that space though.