You probably would be better off enlarging your design (or existing home, if already constructed), to provide two properly sized bedrooms, each with closet. The existing bath is very small and utilitarian, but could be shared by two children at least until they become teenagers. You could certainly do some creatively designed furniture, with raised beds, utilizing the floor space under them, much as ankh describes, but as the children age you will encounter the same issues she mentions. Trying to create two separate rooms as you describe, within the existing space, is probably not a good idea since each will be so small as to be closet-sized. Such a design will not really support your children as they grow. Odds are, such a design may actually lower the value of your house, and it's resale potential, since there may be very few people willing to either buy it and use it, or buy it and remodel it. Good luck on your project.

Thanks for the comments and things to chew over, everyone! To answer some of the questions-- We can't do a wall oven further to the right of the current stove location as that's a relatively small entryway, due to the fact that the fridge is on the opposite wall and can't be moved or recessed. Unfortunately we are locked into our configuration, so trying to do the best with what we have. At least either way I know we'll end up with a more eye-pleasing setup than we've have now! (I must admit though I'd really love to have seen what the setup looked like when the house was built in the 50s.) Buehl, actually we're both quite short, 5'2" and 5'4". But even though I've seen some setups with the wall oven below the cooktop, I hadn't considered how low the oven controls would be. Do-able for us, but perhaps a little bit annoying. And then conversely because I'm short, I don't love the idea of having knobs along the side as the ones towards the back might be a bit of a reach for me. I'll try to find a setup in person before committing, though currently seems like we're leaning away from the idea at this point. We're not interested in moving to induction. I don't have a huge thing against it but my spouse does most of the cooking and put a foot down. I'm getting my biggest desires in this kitchen in almost every way, so I'm happy to stick with gas for that reason alone. ;) wdccruise, it's almost the researching separate appliances and finding two separate things that will go together that both have good reviews that kills the idea for me. It's hard enough trying to find one appliance. I also can't get the nagging feeling out of my head about how much more something truly built-in feels limiting if you run into issues down the line and need to replace. Whereas the beauty of a slide-in range is that it's just that, slide-in. I can change it out easily in the future should I have to. (Not that I want to! But I know nothing these days will last like the older appliances, which is the literal only reason I'm slightly sad to get rid of the 90s tank of a range we have currently. But good grief after almost 8 years in our house I hate looking at that ugly thing.) Beth H. it's this comment that really has me thinking: Since this is prob the last time you'll be redoing it while you live here, spend the extra amount and do it the best you can and exactly what you want. in the long run you'll be happier. Ultimately I think if we're going the extra mile, the extra mile and the thing we really both would be happiest with wouldn't be the wall oven/cooktop setup, but in actuality a pro-style range. As wdccruise noted it's really only a couple extra inches off the face of the cabinetry, even in a small space. I'm probably worrying too much about that area. I still love the idea of the sleekness of the look of a wall oven, though my spouse loves it less than I do. And even still, when I picture things in my head that will make this our perfect kitchen for this space, I'm really picturing a range. It's been really interesting the thought processes you go through in a kitchen reno. We did our bathroom several years ago and that was a complete gut job, but a much smaller scale obviously, and so many less things to think about. Phew!

I would carpet in a colour that matches the basement flooring. The reword of these types of stairs is HELL! And I mean a SUPER EXPENSIVE hell-on-earth situation. I would hate to have the paint on the treads show up as 'lead based'. The age of the stairs indicate this could be very possible. Don't touch those treads (if you want to do something other than carpet) until you have the paint tested for lead. The age of the house will tell us if lead based paint is a reality or not. How old is the house?

Of course it is workable. Lots of people only have 37 inches. Ideal? No. Starting from scratch-worthy? Certainly not. I can say that we were in a house for 3 years with a lovely kitchen with a similar aisle (sink and cooktop and dishwasher directly across from island) and we had 40 inches. My husband and I are both very, very active cooks, and our son was preschool age at the time. When we designed, we were worried about the 40 inches -- and once finished, we remarked several times how it was tons of space for us to both be active in the kitchen, and didn't feel like a compromise at all. Conversely, we have moved to a new house where we inherited a kitchen with the same set up (range, sink and dishwasher all flanking the same aisle across from the island) and we only have 32 inches here, and it is intolerable. Like, significantly impacts our desire to even be in the kitchen, and certainly means that the two of us can't be in there at the same time. 37 inches is in the middle - there will be times you wish you had a couple more inches, but most of the time it will be fine. That doesn't mean i wouldn't try and carve out a bit more space..... First, to the extent you free up more space for the aisles, i would preserve it all to the cooktop side. The other side (with the 9 foot wall) appears to be nothing more than a walkway, right? I'm assuming you aren't planning on having seats along the island on that side, because even with 40 inches i think that would be really tight and make the walkway somewhat awkward? And you'd only have a 10 inch overhang on the island best case, which isn't enough for stools. So assuming it will just be a walkway, then 36" is plenty for two people to stroll through and get to where they are going. I would probably carve off maybe 4 inches from the island, which i don't think will make a big deal, add it to the cooktop side so you end up with 40-41 inches, and keep 36 inches on the walk through side. As someone who has had a LOT of kitchens with all kinds of stupid designs over the last twenty years, this is really NOT a big deal and don't let the people on this site freak you out about it.