I like both Rebunky's and MG's ideas. If you don't want a full banquette, you could still have a window seat and then a dining room table. We had a Craftsman home once and, in addition to dividers between dining and living similar to what MG shared, we had a window seat in the dining room plus wainscot in the dining area in Craftsman-style (not beadboard) with nice, wide moldings at the top to create the plate rail. That and your trim on your doors/windows should easily keep the Craftsman details you love. Of course, I realize that all Craftsman moldings probably aren't the same but we were able to recreate our moldings in a family room addition using various pieces of readily available moldings from HD. I would just add that, imho, if you end up having the w/d in the kitchen, I really don't see the problem with that. I wish I had a picture to share but I someone who has a w/d, side by side, not stacked, in their kitchen behind bookcase doors built on strong piano hinges. The door glide easily and she had some books and pretties displayed. Most of the pretties had museum gel to help hold them in place. She does laundry regularly so the clothes are loaded, washed, folded and put away without laundry piling up. Without a laundry room, you would need to do that in order to not create a mess area. If that's your style, it could work well for you.

maire_cate, KDs often have a pretty limited selection of hardware available through them, and it's whatever is "hot" right now. I did NOT want what was hot - I wanted polished solid brass pulls as they worked far better in my kitchen and "warmed up" my gray cabinets. No one local had ANYTHING! Told me it was a "dated look". To heck with that - it was what I wanted! And I knew it wasn't "dated" as polished brass was showing up in some UBER high end kitchens. So online I went. I finally discovered Look in the Attic and found several contenders. When I called to order samples (Yes, one pays but there will be a credit if one returns them and buys from the company, which I did), the owner said that yes, he hears all the time that polished brass is not in style, but he sells more of it than any other finish! I adore my pulls - just what I wanted. Solid brass, heavy, stunning...and they were about $10 each -- quite affordable. I did order extras "just in case"...

Hi Patricia, Thank you for your response. Can you inform on where i can get a detail floor plan. Is this something i can do online or will I have to consult a designer. Thank you again.

Since you are just thinking about this, why not sketch a 20 x 36 square room on graph paper. Then start putting in your walking aisles and if you want an island in the kitchen, then add an eating area which will have a table probably 42 inches wide and 76 inches long with 6 chairs....the chairs will need three feet behind ALL of them in order to get into and out of the chairs and walk around them to go outside if you have slider/French doors for access to back yard.....then lay out the living room furniture around the fireplace and decide where the TV will go for best viewing; ie. do you want to watch TV from kitchen if you are considering island or bar seating? How big of a sofa do you need to seat your family while watching TV. The sofa generally goes opposite the TV, so where will the sofa and TV be in the room? Will you have room to add a chair or two if you want a recliner/s in the room. Is a cocktail table something you need to hold the remote and put up your feet, or are you going with reclining furniture that requires room in front of and in back of while reclining? Plus you will want lamps and end tables by most of your furniture pieces...how will these fit? When you answer most of these questions, that indicate how you want to live in your space, you will probably answer how big the room should be? As for aisles, you will want 42 inches in kitchen minimum, and 36 inches for hallways and walkways.....we have a 42 inch walkway in our great room and it works. Our great room/ living area has TV area, breakfast table area, and L shape kitchen with a 5 x 7 island that seats 5, 3 on one side, 2 on end and is 16' x 40' and I wish it was 6 feet longer, just so I would have another pair of chairs in the great room......I can sit 6 but would love to seat 8 for family gatherings.....just sayin'. Keep us posted.....