The alternative layouts do look nice, don't they, Ideagirl? :) The word "because" comes to mind, though. I can understand wanting it to remain where it always has been. I used to have an almost identical (shorter) cupboard with hutch unit built into our old California bungalow kitchen (not the separate dining room); the whole room was painted cream and the floor was gray linoleum. The room was a very irregular, with 3 doors, so it was alone in a piece of wall just its size, the refrigerator stood alone on set-back scrap of wall, the stove also stood alone on a bit longer wall, but not long enough for anything else considering the flanking doors and traffic, the sink counter was in its own short bay with the only window, a small table fit in the middle, and I worked at my favorite counter of all time -- no windows, no upper cabinets, just a 30" x about 6' stainless steel counter far away from everything, except for our baby who either sat up there and played with the food, or on the floor while he explored and pulled everything out around my feet. If that were my kitchen today, I would insist on keeping the original treasure that came with it and the work counter that some sensible person added later on. Wish it was, actually. So it looks as if you may be settling into a general layout, Honorbilt? A metal cart would be a nice touch. For some reason I really like very modern touches in old homes, but not necessarily old in very modern.

It's been several days since I have posted, but that is because I have been giving these ideas much thought and have been talking to many professionals. What is your style? Do you have pics saved in an idea book of the look you are going for? This is an excellent question. I have looked at thousands of pictures of kitchens, and I haven't seen one that I can say, "That's exactly what I'm going for." So, to best answer your question, I'll show you the materials I'd like to use: ginger maple shaker fronts, white solid surface counter, "oak" LVP flooring, "painted" backsplash tile, and, if I keep some wall on both sides dividing the kitchen and dining room, I'd put the blue paint in the kitchen, yellow above the chair rail and the blue below in the dining room, and yellow on the walls of the rest of the main floor. So I'm not sure what you'd call it - transitional? Although I am very excited about being able to see and chat with people at the dining table while I am cleaning up in the kitchen, I think I do prefer having the more traditional mental division between kitchen and dining room with even just stub walls, and I do like the chair rail, if I am able to keep a bit of wall on the sides. Maybe that is the very definition of transitional? But practical matters of the small house and large family and a limited budget must be considered above my personal preferences. Although the contractor said "it doesn't cost that much to reduce the bulkhead," "it doesn't cost that much to move the sliding glass door," and "it doesn't cost that much to move pipes for the clean-up sink," all of it together - with the cabinet vendor that he uses - did cost much. He just came out this afternoon to do some measurements and discuss ways to reduce cost. This plan below is what I discussed with him: (1) Instead of messing with the bulkhead at all, keeping the wall only as far as the depth of the bulkhead (about 23"), but then have little to no wall on the other side. I can't have 23" on the other side for symmetry, because that wouldn't leave enough room to walk around people seated at the table, but I'm hoping that would look fine if we put cabinets up to the ceiling in the corner where the bulkhead is. He liked this idea a lot, because you just don't know what's in there. (BTW, I offered to pay him to open it up and see, but he won't open it up to have a look, or do any work at all, until a full contract is signed, first payment given, and cabinets ordered.) He did warn, however, that the cost of the cabinets and counter there will probably cost about the same as what he was including for reducing the bulkhead - so this solution does give more storage, it doesn't actually save any money. (2) Instead of a sliding glass door, put in a 30" standard door using the opening for the existing window in the dining room. A sliding door would be much better than a swinging door that hits those seated at the table, but it will be rare that we have people seated while others are going in and out, so I'll do it if it saves a lot of $$. He loved this idea, and said it would save me about $1000, but when I asked about what he'd recommend about the HVAC register that is currently on he floor in front of the window, he said it would be too costly to move it, and I should just leave it. It seems the register plate would get kicked up and rusted with traffic in and out, so I am not sure how good of a solution this is, after all. (3) I thought having a pantry closet with shelves and doors would save money over the cost of cabinets and countertop in that alcove, but he said the labor to put the shelves, doors and drywall would be more, so I'll go back to the cabinets. (4) Lose the second dishwasher. If I have a prep sink, it won't be so bad having one dishwasher with dishes piling up in the clean-up sink. As you can see below, I'm concerned about clearances and flow; losing the dishwasher will cut the cost some but also will give better clearances if I have to keep the 23" of wall below the bulkhead. I played with a few designs with two dishwashers and only one sink, but none of them seemed to work nearly as well as this one. Bbtrix - the range is centered in this design :-) and I'd love to know if you think if the stub wall that would stick out about 6" would still create a strange divide between the dishwasher and door, now that the dishwasher and door are much further away from each other. He liked this idea, but it still requires moving pipes, so let's hope that "doesn't cost that much." (5) I've fallen in love with the white solid surface countertops and the painted backsplash I pictured above, but I may just have to go to laminate countertops with the 4" backsplash if that saves thousands of dollars. He recommended granite over laminate or solid surface. Many granites are beautiful, but my countertops are primarily a work surface that functions better if it is light-colored and simple, and I find granite dark and very busy, and the few granites that are lighter in color seem to stain easily. I've heard laminates have come a long way, I just liked solid surface more because it's more reparable, doesn't have seams, the integrated sink, and I like the soft feel of it - maybe that's not worth the extra $$. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and has been liking my comments - I warned in my subject line that this would be a challenge, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into!

Yes, I drew a pocket door that could be, I believe, up to 30" wide but in my comment above I mostly wanted to tell you that you and I had the same width around that area .i.e. 4 ft wide shower and 2 ft deep closet which left in both cases 3 ft for the door. Probably a regular door is better than a pocket door and I think a 30" door should be enough. Also, if you want, you could have a cabinet inside your bathroom. ... you can reduce the 4' closet to 3' long and reserve a foot facing your bathroom. Unless you are very limited in your space, I would try to make the shower 3' deep. Even though a tub is 30" wide and you can shower in a tub, the fact that you have a glass instead of a shower curtains make the shower feels less spacious. I believe some stores like Home Depot have inserts that you can use to replace a tub. Those showers are 5' x 2.5" (just like a tub) and have a glass. You can go and get inside the sample on the floor and see how it feels.

methoddesigns Hi and thanks for the amazing tips, Just measured the hallway, it's 3' not sure if I want to remove everything just to make it a bit bigger, I wish I had a 4' but I have to wigh the expense and the reward. I think I messed up the drawing on that closet, but it's a bit wider than that I can walk in it with no issues. I will defiantly flip that door following your advise.For the bathroom in Bedroom 2 as you numbered it,your plan to change it to J&J is amazing but at the same time I'm trying to only do things that are necessary and less expensive, I'd have to rebuild the whole bathroom and that's something I'm not ready to do yet haha. As for the master bedroom I loved what you did with the bathroom closet and almost defiantly will do it that way, I appreciate all your tips and that Sketch is awesome, thanks a lot. One question though, I noticed you kept the kitchen in the center of the house, I was thinking of pushing it to the corner closer to the window so when you walk into the house you don't see the kitchen first. So I guess my question is which is more important to center the island in the living space or to not walk into the kitchen when you enter the house ?