We recently painted our front door with sidelights and know what you're going through. What we did before painting was drive thru neighborhoods to see what others had done and that helped us decide what to do with ours. We noticed that some painted them all the same color but others painted them contrasting colors or matched the sidelights with the windows and painted the door a separate color to make it stand out. Hope that helps!

Kirkarch, I REALLY appreciate the time you took for that layout but I agree with what others have said. The comment that really struck home was what Stan said about creating confusion when you first walk in with 2 doors and not knowing where to go. I love the aesthetic of the 2 doors from the kitchen side, but from the front of the house, I don't think it will work =( As it turns out, a 48" single door really kills the 6'+ island, unless it encroaches on the plane of the door. With 42" aisles I can do a max of 5', by my calculations. So, back to NOT bumping out the wall into the front room with this one. The only thing I really gain with a wall bump out is a slightly deeper island and the possibility of an easy reach cabinet with breathing room around the window molding next to the sink. With this layout, i'm giving up my even reveal around the window, but from the 3d plan, it actually doesn't bug me so much since the cabinets are on different planes. Hooray! Michey 1, OCD 0! So, island is 5' across with an as yet undetermined depth. I've also temporarily nixed the stages and went down to a 33" sink base. Hopefully there's a 30" sink out there with my name on it, lol. Some questions: 42" aisles on sink and stove side. Acceptable? Island is 5' wide, unless I expand more towards the fridge wall, but then it will not line up with the edge of the stove wall cabinets. Should I keep them lined up or try to go bigger? right now I have 5'4 between cabinets on the fridge wall (they are pulled forward as shown) and the island edge and that's the main path to family room nirvana. I put the trash opening towards the DW. With a 42" aisle, think that's problematic? I will be able to sweep things to the side as MelEdwards suggested this way, which gives me more standing room opposite the stove. Now there's a janky 12" cabinet in the island. Cutting board storage, I guess? Trying to figure out where knives and such should go. Drawer above the trash? the 9" on the stove wall can be for cookie sheets, I guess. As you can tell, I haven't full mapped out my "what should go where" yet. I shrank the pantry to try and get the fridge closer to line up with the aisle, though it's still not perfect. I'm worried the pantry is becoming to narrow and deep to be useful. Was planning shallow shelves on 3 walls and deeper shelves towards the bottom on the back wall for big stuff. For a reach in pantry, how small is too small? Thank you thank you, everyone!

This is super adorable! My first home was also a circa-1960s ranch bungalow (also in Canada) with that type of rear entry - I think it is ubiquitous across homes of this era in Canada and as you know it can get a bit crowded, especially in winter with all the added necessary winter gear - and I wish I had thought of something as clever as that shoe wall. We just had one of those little cuts outs in the lower part of the wall where we piled our shoes instead. Great job!

DK, I’m glad you mentioned that having the back of the home facing south would mean the master suite would be warmer as well. I don’t think that would be optimal in the Deep South - it’s just sweltering, and I cannot tolerate being hot in our bedroom. Is it crazy that I may now try to position our new home to AVOID the hot afternoon sun??!! I like light and all, but since it was mentioned that it won’t be a dungeon, I think I’m good with just some light trickling in the living room. Hubs is very sensitive to light and would be as happy in a cave... so he’s not too concerned about a lot of natural light coming in. We are doing lots of recessed lights throughout the home, and almost all will have dimmers, as I enjoy them in our current home and like the ability to have something in between dark and “in your face bright” on occasion. :) Funny you mention landscaping, as my husband owns a landscape company! I know nothing about any of it, but I’ve heard him mention things like this several times when a client wants ABC plants for a certain location, but only XYZ plants will thrive there. After speaking with my husband about the whole skylight/sun tube issue, he was not a fan - and for the exact same reasons given here (additional heat, “putting holes in the roof”/compromising structural integrity, additional cost, cost of potential repairs, etc... so it sounds like that’s out. He did say he might consider a couple of skylights in the roof on the covered porch only, but feels like that defeats the purpose of a COVERED porch. I mean, he’s not wrong there. LOL All that said, there has been a ton of good information given, and I appreciate all of it! I welcome and appreciate any and all suggestions and opinions - I’ve learned so much from y’all! Keep ‘em coming!