Thanks all, Your thought are confirming many of my ideas- we have had many visitors whose first thought is to "open up" the whole first floor (ie. open the kitchen, dining and bedroom to each other) but I hesitate because 1. it is an old house and I'd like to keep some of the original plan and 2. sometimes opening up a space makes it actually seem smaller- to me the private bedroom makes the house seem bigger. The vestibule/mudroom leads to a cute side porch, overlooking the driveway but without stairs down to it. It has a closet which is great, but we currently use the space as a lego room :). So, we could do without! I also do picture French doors, but privacy and sound would be a downside. We are in need of a guest room for occasional visitors and really only have three bedrooms on the 2nd floor (the 2nd floor is basically the same floor plan as the first- one needs to walk through two bedrooms to get from the front one to the bath! That's another issue, and I'm not sure we can count on a remodel of the 2nd floor to give us the guest room we'd like). Thanks all for your thoughts- it helps to cement my feelings about this space, knowing others have similar ones!

It was NOPSI when I lived in New Oreleans, and in rental shotgun houses...NOPSI claimed a large part of my paychecks! New Orleans has a lot of Energy Raters, the highest concentration in the state actually. Entergy has made use of some of these raters in their efficiency program Energy Smart. here are a couple of links for you to check out: http://www.energysmartnola.info/one-stop-shop/ http://www.energysmartnola.info/for-your-home/ not being in that area anymore, I don't know how this program works..but you can find out if you are interested. my only advice would be to involve yourself with an experienced rater there in N.O. someone with experience in old homes...the newer raters I met may have the training... but couldn't tell gas from electric heat systems, or know how to identify balloon framing. so look for someone who has 10+ years of experience. La. DNR also has list of energy raters state wide, their efficiency incentive program isn't still in effect...but last time I checked the list of active raters was still online. DNR(dept natural resources) provided the training for all of us back in 1999. so they have a good handle on who knows their stuff...and who doesn't. it is hard to see detail in your posted plans. so I'll keep my questions fairly general. my first two concerns are air sealing & hvac system. I know you have a partial ' basement' (LOL) are electrical & plumbing exposed? was there ever a central hvac system installed? if basement isn't full size of house...what access is there to the part of the house without basement? how much room is there between ground & house? 3'...4'....more? is house all electric or is natural gas provided? as to heating...do you have a prefrence? if all electric..then look research heat pumps...great wintertime savings in our area. (I'm south central La these days) have you looked at mini split units? condenser unit outside, individual air handler units that hang on walls in rooms. I can't tell if your layout would work for this or not. is there a space in your home you could make into heating system closet? have you had any hvac companies come out to look at the house yet? involving hvac company never starts too early. it may be that ductwork will need to be installed during the reno. if you can't give up the sq ft for system inside house...I've seen people put the heating system in the 'basement'. quite a few flooded after katrina, but its not an everyday occurrence, and depending upon what part of town your house is located in...flooding is something to consider. I know uptown floods in a hearbeat with heavy rains...but areas like bywater stay dry. the top floor...full attic or are there walls of the living space that are shared with attic space? is attic space large enough to house heating system? air sealing.. there are really two ways to air seal. caulk, backer rods & more caulk which can be diy..or foam insulation. one is inexpensive & time consuming...the other expensive & fast. foam insulating the roofline will be biggest bang for the buck. then putting heat system & ductwork in attic keeps it in a semi conditioned space, so that you don't have ducts to cool the house in a 140 degree attic. by moving air & thermal barriers to roofline, a lot of the air leakage sites in ceilings are depressurized, so that house isn't sucking hot dirty humid attic air into the house to clean, dehumidify & condition when central unit is running. as most of our heat gain/cooling loss is through the ceiling into the attic space creating a tight air barrier, and thermal barrier (insulation) is very important. we use open cell in the attic roofline, depth to equal R-value required ( R-25 for cathedral for example is 6- 6.5" deep) also if house is balloon framed, foam seal at eaves to attic floor will stop air movement in walls. we need to air seal our walls...but insulating walls here isn't high on our list of things to do. foam in walls...is a huge waste of money. the next place for foam is under the floors. here we use closed cell. to keep moisture from ground from being sucked into the house. 2-3" is sufficient. this will also seal bottom of balloon framed walls. I've had issue with some of the foam insulators in N.O., because I am one picky b!tch. unlike most energy raters I oversee install of foam and test for air leakage with foam co on site, so that they can catch any leakage sites then without an added trip. as these companies expand into my area...they don't stay long. over the years I've learned which companies will actually create air tight seals...and who doesn't. and fyi...it isn't always the big companies that do it right. owner/installer companies are more willing to learn how to do it right. and the install of foam, just like the install of the hvac system is the key to the whole thing. ok...there are your questions to answer & things to think about for today. I'll check back after you reply. and think about investing in a blower door test of the house at minimum. this will identify leakage sites that need to be sealed. if you have ductwork, spring for the duct test also. better to know what you have to start with..what you need to do... and have it tested when completed. this way you have a goal to work towards...and an idea of how to do it. best of luck

I also lived in a small but charming 1930's Tudor many years ago, and like you, had the formal living room - formal dining room - tiny kitchen floorplan. I loved the charm, but missed the openness and space of our prior home. Then I got divorced and kept the house, but ended up with half the furniture I'd previously had. And only half the money. So remodelling was not in the budget! What I ended up doing was moving the remaining casual furniture and TV from the 'family room' (a back bedroom) into the formerly-formal living room. (It was right inside the front door.) I arranged the furniture the best I could and resolved to learn to live with it - though it didn't look half bad! Then, since I lost the dining room set in the divorce and had a two-year-old son, I bought an attractive but sturdy and child-friendly table and chairs and set that up in the formerly-formal dining room. Another surprise -- it looked good. Then something amazing happened. I fell in love with my house! I began spending the majority of my time in the house's prettiest rooms, and actually lived in the house the way it was meant to be lived in -- living in the living room and eating in the dining room - every day! All it really took was relocating the comfortable and livable furniture from the 'back' rooms to the front rooms. A pretty throw dressed up the 'shabbily-comfortable' couch, and a casual dining set changed the entire tone of the dining room. If you're spending your time in the basement, and not using the dining room, that's the problem that needs to be addressed! If your living room has the house's best architecture, use that room to live in. Move the TV up there, or if it's a ginormous honker, get a smaller one that won't take over the whole room. Try 'dressing down' your dining room first until it's a comfortable place to eat. Move the 'too good to use' furniture to the basement instead. Or use it anyway and give it a 'patina'. If the furniture is really good (and not merely 'fancy') it can take the use. Try that first before moving any walls -- You might be very happily surprised.

What is the flooring in the rest of the house? Do you have original floors? I have a 1910 craftsman kit home and my floors are original. If I didn't have the hardwoods I would do LVT slate.