Once we sketch out the floorplan today I'll post it--I know this wasn't the most helpful picture! We originally wanted a pedestal sink, (we hardly need storage in there) but our contractor suggested a vanity so the pipes/venting could be hidden, since it's a weird spot. I'm going to ask him if we can put a pedestal right against the back of the pantry--so your back would be to the windows when you're using it.... a pedestal would certainly make the room feel bigger! I'm just afraid that vanity is going to end up looking awkward. We replaced an old vanity with a pedestal in another bathroom and it made the whole bathroom feel so much bigger and nicer. palimpset--we're trying to not put any plumbing against that wall since it's an exterior wall and it gets cold here. Plus the way this room is, around where the curves happen it bumps out from the main footprint of the house, so it wouldn't be an easy access to put the drain pipe. :( Thanks for the thought, though...it'd certainly be easier! jojo, we're going to get a MUCH smaller radiator and try to move it to a less obtrusive spot--a radiator that size in such a little space would be overkill!!! williamsem, you just BLEW MY MIND with those toilets. Amazing!!! My only worry with them would be that we have a toddler and my increasingly-aging parents who visit frequently...I can't imagine that would be a very easy sink to use for someone with limited mobility? I wish I had known about these before, though... we had originally wanted to put the bathroom into a coat closet and just could NOT figure out how to make it work! Thanks, all!

I'd do the powder room. It's where people want a powder room. That is, in the reception area of the house. When you have a houseful of company, you'll have them using the guest bath and master as well. I only have the powder room on the main level, and people climb the stairs (they do ask) rather than waiting. Family members don't mind, but others feel awkward. I know some people make do with one bathroom for a huge family, and lots of people around the world don't have any, but I still vote for the powder room. You have a good sized kitchen. If you use it as a pantry, what all will you put in there that won't fit in the kitchen? Unless you're a lover of little nooks, the desk idea sounds like it would become a dumping ground. Romantic in concept, but a pile of junk in most people's reality.

Thanks for the kind words, Moni. For all I share this tale: In my previous old house there was no first floor bathroom, and we had an aging parent living with us. We decided to use a closet in the kitchen for a half bath. Sure, it was out of the main food prep area, but it still bugged me that there was a windowless room in the kitchen with a toilet in it (oh, we also carved out space in there for a stack W&D and possibly the tiniest sink, EVER). When we put that house up for sale (we had finished the restoration and I was bored) about 95% of the potential buyers remarked negatively about the position of the bath in the kitchen. Our options, including time, were severely limited, but we could have thought just a little more carefully about how to enter the half-bath, and flipped the door to it so you enter from the foyer, which was where the back wall of the kitchen closet was. I guess we just didnt think about that. My message is this: rather than do it fast and use whats already there, think carefully about adding a bath in a kitchen. In our case if we had been less anxious to get it done we could have been better able to sell the house faster and for a higher price.

All right, I think I've managed to cook up what you mean in terms of the soffit. (I'm certain the fault is mine if I've failed.) The biggest issue I can see now is the discrepancy in doorframe styles . . . not sure how to reconcile the pantry opening's lack of trim with the trim on the other three openings that are just a few feet away. Unless -- it just came to me as I'm looking at the new pictures -- I raise the bottom of the soffit enough to allow for trim? I definitely know what you're talking about regarding the cabinet paneling. Good tip. I'm going to wait to create it in the program until I figure out how to properly program all this soffit stuff, though. Right now I just have a 1' 8" "room" containing my kitchen cabinets. :-)