Garage will be detached and to the left of the house, the primary entrance is in the mud room. Our best views are from the back and the right side of the house. The left side where the pantry is located is facing a neighbors property which isn't unsightly now but I can't guarantee what the future holds. We put the pantry there to keep path for groceries and traffic to a minimum when coming into house. The left side of house will be simplified by the time we build, we kept load bearing walls to a minimum so we have flexibility to change as we want. I originally didn't post entire house so we could focus on kitchen but I saw your point and went ahead and added pic. I also chose to keep the left side of the house the service area of the house, I wanted to do my best containing dirt,noise,normal clutter to one area, with 3 kids and a Bernese puppy (100lbs) we have a lot of traffic. Going back and forth to schools, practices, taking dog out,kids running upstairs and downstairs, trips up and down for laundry etc. it all adds up. We knew hallways are considered wasted space to some but to us the hallways are important for their function. Hall to left of stairs and hallway from mudroom will be the most traveled area in our home, the main corridor from our front porch to back door, the laundry path from the upstairs, and our path to our bedroom. Which is why I made them extra wide, it's not for everybody but to me a giant foyer and huge master bath is my idea of wasted space. The kitchen will serve as a link between our hectic side and living room/dining room area which is to be our sanctuary. Not to noisy or busy when guests are over you can chat and visit without interruption (hard to do with family) and with the dining room in between it seemed as a good conduit to separate the noise from the kitchen not only dishwasher, banging cabinets etc.. but If you prefer to listen to music as you cook it's not drowning out a movie in the living room. I think my wife likes to have the kitchen to herself sometimes so not having directly next to living room but still in line of sight is perfect. We have huge extended family so holidays will mean 30-35 people and so the expanded space will allow the crowd. I did forget to mention that the media/fireplace wall is just a concept at this point something will need to be there but I don't want it to block LR out, possibly a knee wall The back wall and right side of house face the east and with 14-3' x5' windows along the mudroom, kitchen and dining room I cant see light being an issue, I know the pantry window is a small nuisanance but its in line with the island, plus I can see out mudroom windows and I can also see the other 3 sides of the house from standing at the island (try finding a stock plan that does that). I'm trying to understand which wall you think I should bump out, I'm assuming you mean the jog at the rear of the pantry? The kitchen itself is already bumped out the entire back of the house. Are you suggesting further out or removing the jog behind the pantry. The red walls indicate the load bearing walls, not walls that I plan on removing.I think the biggest issue at the moment is trying to determine what the best placement would be IF we had no option to change, then if the best options seemed insufficient then we would have to consider further changes. It's hard for me think that a 17' by 12' kitchen would be so challenging, I guess the lack of wall space is the sticking point. Let me know if you have any further suggestions. Thanks again for taking time to look at.

I want to add I know vinyl/fake leather would be cheaper and is less ‘fussy’ to clean than regular leather, but I think for some things it’s probably worth it to spring for a good quality leather because vinyl doesn’t give the same ‘feel’ and also if people are sitting on vinyl cushions on a warm day, it is rather unpleasantly sweaty. Given your somewhat unique situation with power, you’re probably going to have to think outside the box a bit, but I do think it is important to have more softness in the sitting and meal areas, so try to brainstorm what you could manage to keep washed or cleaned reasonably well. Maybe table runners would be easier to wash often but still give some fabric texture and color? Throw blankets on the seating areas? Also definitely look for local or regional artists or artwork to feature. Given the restraints for cleaning soft furnishings, I’d keep an eye out especially for things that can introduce softer-looking textures, like fabric wall hangings. You don’t want to make the place look like a quilt shop, but I think only framed ‘hard’ surface paintings or glass-fronted photographs wouldn’t do enough to help break up the hard floor/tables/walls. So you want to aim for a blend of textures in your art pieces. I still wouldn’t paint the wood - I think painting it will just highlight the 70s-era diagonal pattern in the paneling, which is not what you want to call attention to. But some more light really would help. I don’t want to tell you your business, but are you sure you’re maximizing the power you have? There’s lots more possible with relatively low power LEDs these days than there used to be. If you haven’t recently I might look into that again just to be sure. Plus, again, think outside the box - if you don’t want to use actual candles or lamps due to fire risk, maybe you could use solar lanterns? You’d have to remember to put them out to charge, but they do make some that give a nice light. Or battery candles with rechargeable batteries? Perhaps you could schedule recharging the batteries for the candles for when you’re more likely to have a surplus of power, or maybe someone has standalone solar battery chargers you could use. (Again they’d need to be put out, but if you had enough batteries on hand you should be able to have some in the candles and some charging and some ready to go, so even if a charging was missed it wouldn’t be a dire situation.) I’m just throwing out ideas, I don’t know what will work for you.

Your room lacks live green plants which add life, bright color, and oxygen and purify the air. I would put a large live potted plant on top of your entertainment center, but be sure to put a saucer underneath it and something underneath that so you don't ruin the wood. A nice plant would be Pothos You can also get a great large floor plant such as a Split Leaf Philodendron Kentia Palm You can remove the dried twigs from the mantel. Instead, use cuttings of branches of anything from your garden, they don't need to have flowers on them. You can also purchase lucky bamboo stalks in your supermarket (which is really dracaena) and put it in a simple vase with water , and it lasts forever as long as you keep it watered. It looks prettiest if you buy an odd number, and some straight and some curlicue. http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state/newsdetail.cfm?NewsID=30319 I would definitely pump up the color in the room. If you are not going to recover the chairs, then maybe you can brighten up your throw pillows. What is on the wall opposite the entertainment center? You can change the art on your mantel to something with more bright colors and remove the mauve vase. You can think about a throw rug, and think about art on either side of the entertainment center. Don't buy anything that isn't returnable in case you don't like how it looks in your home. If you have children, stick with a rounded coffee table, you don't want any injuries! You can also try things out on computer via PhotoShop

Hi. Good idea to change up this decor, as it feels incohesive and lacking texture and color (if you want that). When designing a room, it is critical that you take these steps. 1) Find and post for yourself and for this post: photos of rooms that you like. You cannot proceed or ask for help until that step is completed 2) Decide furniture. This is based on #1 as well as the measurements of the room and rooms around it. So, a floor plan is critical as well as 4 photos of the room. 3) Purchase furniture. 4) Decide art and decor. Can you skip any of these? Yes, but your room will be compromised. Not something you want to take on? Hire a designer. Good luck  😀