It sounds like you need to be allocate eating space in the kitchen, since you've repurposed the dining room. Is that right? 12x12 is small for an eat-in kitchen, so I just want to be clear on the requirements.

Can you show a photo of the window wall? Are the windows too large (sills too low) to put cabinetry on that wall?

Do you need both a living room and a family room, or could one be repurposed for a dining room (to take the pressure off the eat-in kitchen requirement) or to expand the kitchen size to make an eat-in kitchen more achievable?

it's 12 wide x 15 long and yes, I would like to sit 4-6. In 24 years living here I have never needed to sit more than 6. I can absolutely take the family room, but the ceiling changes from flat in the kitchen (because of the loft above) to vaulted in the family room. That would make it a very very large eat-in. Yes, the window as it is is way too low, but I am willing to close off the window.

The back window of the family room looks over a beautiful lake. The view is the reason I have stayed here for 24 years. Here is a better idea of the space. All furniture (the ugly wall unit) will be junked.

I like the layout with the island, but I wouldn't make it 48" deep, only 36" Tak all the meals in the dining room. I don't think you should give up natural light in the kitchen.

The dining room has been reconfigured into an office.

First a caveat, that there are many folks here who are way better at layouts than I am, and hopefully they will weigh in.

My thought was to reconfigure the kitchen as a galley with the fridge and sink on the window wall (resizing the windows so you could put counter under them). The 12 ft width of the kitchen makes it a bit wide for a galley, but not terrible. I was going to repurpose the family room for dining, but with the lake views I wanted to have a sitting area too, and I couldn't quite make it work with the shape of the room, though it might work with the table against a wall. It looks like you have that now, so maybe that would work for you. But I switched it up and put the dining table in the current LR space instead and added a peninsula (opposite side from the current location) with seating for two.

@cawaps That doesn't add anything. No opening or island, and it is about the same amount of counter/cabinet space. I appreciate the try though. It's a really tough size to work with.

You could have a spectacular kitchen in the current family room, and use the existing kitchen as a nice dining room. As you prep on the island, you'd have a peripheral view of the lake, and a m/l straight view through the slider. With a separate clean-up zone, helpers can load and unload the DW, or gather dishes to set the table, without entering the prep triangles. Not sure this is exactly to scale:

@mama goose_gw zn6OH I like that! I hesitate to make the windows in there so much smaller, and is it too far from the garage, bringing in packages and stuff? It's for sure a good thought I will have to start thinking about.

PS: For personal info, I am a recent single mom. My older son lives in another state, and my youngest has 3 years left before he leaves as well. I've been here 24 years and may consider moving in 4-5.