I for one and completely confused and really have no idea where or what you are trying to accomplish.

Thought the descriptions were pretty clear. Need a third bedroom (in addition to two upstairs) and current layout is open but not very functional. Current kitchen feels very boxy.

I think the new plan is much more boxed in.
Personally, I feel that for this house and it’s potential you’re doing more work than it needs. I would not close in the kitchen to create a walled off dining room. Leave it open. I’d open the arched wall too. And I’d skip the closet by the stairs.
For the bedroom-
Is this functionally going to work for your family? Who’s sleeping downstairs themself? And is a bedroom at the front of the home going to work?
...
What’s that small room right behind the kitchen?
And what’s the upstairs like?
Is there an attic space in this house? Or even potential to create something higher up?
Hope some of this was helpful...:)

IMO 2D to scale drawings are a much better way to show spaces and also easier to understand the whole layout of the house. Do the drawing on graph paper , show all windows, doorways plumbing , all measurements clearly marked then we can help. I hate to say but hubby needs to maybe grow up and do gaming on the weekends during the day. In a smaller home designating spaces needs careful planning.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm thinking my before/after pictures were presented in a confusing way.... we would actually be opening up the kitchen to make it a more fluid kitchen/living area. I do like the idea of opening up the arched wall more, too.

The back room is our laundry/mud room. Currently the space is barely usable even as a utility room as animals have eaten away at what little insultation was there to start. There's a metal flap you can lift up and literally grab the dirt from under the back deck. If we close that door in the winter, the washer/dryer lines freeze. That's definitely high up on our list to address, but did not include that on here as it's not really a design update.

Our second story is made up of two bedrooms and a bath that are positioned over just the front half of the house. We would have room to do a second-story addition that would go over the kitchen/extra room through the arched doorway, but our initial thoughts were that an expansion like that would be super expensive/a bad investment ... especially given current lumber prices.

As far as the downstairs bedroom. While not IDEAL, my husband may actually prefer it. He ends up sleeping in the living room half the time anyway so he doesn't need to go upstairs. 😂 There is a large covered porch on the front of the house, so that does add some privacy. If we have another child, baby would be in there with us in a bassinet until old enough for their own room. Not sure how it would go with kids upstairs alone and parents downstairs, but super old house means we can hear every little footstep. Blessing and a curse.

This photo explains more of the reasonings behind the layout changes.

IMO I can only make a suggestion about the storage. Make sure your storage takes advantage of your vertical space. Measure twice, buy once. No open storage - that's only for neat freaks! Closed storage is best - especially since you have a child. Open storage just ends up being decorative and therefore a waste of space. Children can only play with one toy at a time, so only one toy should be out at a time. Some children are happy playing with a box. I remember when I was a child I made an inside tent with a sheet and a large box - didn't cost my parents a thing! Only one toy out at a time makes clean up much easier. Make sure there is a user friendly basket or bin to put the toys in at the end of each day. The sooner the child is taught how to put the toys away, the sooner you and your husband are relieved of that task. The kitchen is one of the hardest working rooms in the house. People usually don't use the kitchen storage as efficiently as they can. Some kitchen items are not used at all. Some items in the kitchen are duplicates. Items that you use daily need to be at arms length. Items that you use weekly or monthly need to be near the bottom or top of kitchen cabinets. Items you use yearly need to be at the very top and bottom of kitchen cabinets. Kitchen items need to be gone through at least once per month. Usually people put too many items on their counter, thus limiting counter space. I do not have kids, and have a very small kitchen. My kitchen counter space is a total of ten feet, four of which is used by a dish drying rack, toaster (which is used daily), and a crock for large utensils. Therefore I only have six feet for food prep (four to the left of the sink and the other two are on a kitchen rack on wheels). I use my kitchen as efficiently as I can, and I am constantly looking for ways to make it even more efficient.

Thank you @Elaine Doremus Resumes Written! I completely agree there. Our current home includes TONS of built-in storage, but it's all open and makes everything look sloppy if we try to use it for true storage and not decorative space.

We follow the Montesorri philosophy for the most part with our toddler and rotate items regularly. He does have an open cube storage shelf of toys he can choose from, but that's reset every evening and we work with him to put things back himself.

We've done really well with keeping kitchen items to just the essentials, so are fine on the storage front there.

Your comment is encouraging me to think of ways to better use our current layout (get rid of the WALLS of open storage in the one room, for example). There are two beautiful built-ins right when you enter the house we'd like to keep, but I am currently shopping around for nice baskets/storage bins that can function as both organization and decoration. That's not sustainable for entire walls of space, though.

A lot of thought has gone into this. It's especially good that you have a handle on costs and value in the neighborhood.

A few questions:

1- What is the expected resale value with a bedroom addition on the first floor?

2- Do you currently have any quotes on redoing your kitchen in the quality levels you are comfortable with, including permits and the additional cost of bringing electrical and plumbing up to current code?

3- Have you considered adding sound absorbing walls and ceiling to the dining room gaming area? Will your husband use headphones to avoid waking up the toddler?

4- Have you looked into tearing down the back utility room to add a good solid utility room and a third bedroom?

5- What are your first, second and third priorities? For example, a door from kitchen to dining room, all new kitchen, additional bedroom, etc.?

I think you budget is not at all realistic for the scope of work you are looking to do. You should meet with pros in your area for a more realistic idea of what you can do with your budget and what can and can not be done structurally to your house.

When we were deciding to love it or list it we met with architects to discuss the logistical possibilities for our old house. Then we had plans drawn and got bids from contractors ( this alone cost three grand). We also met with a realtor to discuss the real return on investment of our proposed plans.

Good luck.

@Michelle Sokol "soundproof gaming booth for husband". You don't need a booth, he needs a headset with a throat microphone.

https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/2trmbu/throat_mic_for_pc_gaming/

Wow 20 for a kitchen is a great deal! A 100sqft three piece bath where I live costs over 40k. I thought you wanted to spend 40k and were hoping to not use you equity. I miss read. Where I live you scope of work with the garage would be closer to $200000 than 100k.

@roarah I definitely overexplained and made my budget unclear! But yes, it is a good deal -- and I'm not done getting quotes. We live in a super low cost-of-living area and have some friends who are general contractors. I think if we requested quotes from contractors we didn't know, it would probably come back closer to $30K... which may be worth the extra spend to keep the relationship totally professional.

If we are just doing the kitchen, we'd definitely stick to cash on hand. But making our home one that works for us for the longterm would be worth going into our equity, we think!

@chiflipper Will need to look into the throat mic! He has a gaming mic already, but he is SO LOUD. I always threaten to buy him a sound meter to show him how loud he gets.

He will need to "practice" using it. My late husband participated in air-to-air combat games and I never heard more than a whisper.

@apple_pie_order That first question is a great one... and it's one that has even my husband, a real estate appraiser, stumped. When we bought our house, it was listed as a 3BR because of the den located through the arched doorway. It technically checks off all the requirements of a bedroom (size, entrance/escape, heating/cooling), but has never functioned as one. While the new plan wouldn't add appraised value necessarily, I do think buyers would appreciate the function of the proposed layout. Once we get a better idea of what we're thinking, we're going to have our realtor give her opinion on market value. The woman who owned the house we wanted to buy bought it for $109K in 2016 and sold it for at least $244K this year with mostly cosmetic upgrades. A lot of that jump was due to overall property values increasing, but people love the historic homes in our neighborhood and I think they're willing to pay for the updates/modernized layouts.

2. We do have one quote for kitchen only at $20K (for mid-range materials and labor from contractors we know), but would definitely seek more in-depth estimates before committing to a plan.

3. He DOES use headphones and is still so loud. Adding sound absorbing materials is a great idea. If we keep the current layout, do you have any recommendations for closing off the room through the arched doorway? Thinking a custom door for this space would be beautiful, but would come with a high price tag.

4. We're definitely considering improving the utility room, but hadn't thought of a third bedroom there. The utility room leads out to a great elevated deck with stairs into our backyard. The deck is built around a huge old maple tree, which is a feature we love, but makes any expansion difficult. Will need to think about that some more!

5. Thanks for encouraging me to think through priorities! At the moment, mine are: 1) Updated kitchen, 2) More open kitchen, if feasible 3) Better use of space, which is as simple as moving the dining room table into the existing entry without any structural upgrades, and removing the existing built-ins. Blocking off the bedroom is something that only comes up when we think long-term future for us or market value when we sell. I think it's probably a necessity if we open the kitchen up to the existing "third bedroom"

I totally get it, because I love doing this too: you put a lot of time and energy into fun planning and rendering. But it's putting the cart before the horse. If you are building dream castles like I do, then dream on! I love it. But if you are actually interested in getting this work done, you should just sit down with several professionals about your needs and wants and they can easily nix certain ideas, give you new ones, and tell you what will work best and what exactly you can get for your money at various price points. I would not try to plan this yourself and then use friends as your contractors - that could go so badly. You want professionals you can hold accountable and you want fresh eyes who will help re-envision your space. I'm sure your kitchen issues and mudroom nightmare should be worked on together as they are adjoining and both need work. And your "where to put the best addition, if anywhere?" question really needs a professional eye. If your friends just take your ideas and execute, you might save a little money but end up with something you don't like.

From the standpoint of natural 'flow', I think the existing is better than the proposed. The living area in the proposed seems too small and constricted. I'd tweak the existing and add on a master bedroom/bath instead. I envy your low costs!

Please forgive me if you already mentioned this, but which side of the house were you planning to add the garage?