johnliu - Point well taken! We have no plans to try to one up the Duggers, so unless we have a big, happy accident, this will be the last one year old under our watch. :) geokid - thanks so much for working on that plan (I need to get going with that ikea software) for me! It's a cool idea, but I think the two doors would look odd from the DR side. The kids would love it when they do their laps around the floor! ideagirl2 - I like your idea about the L-shaped banquette, but I don't think the wall is long enough (based on the dimensions that I've seen online). Also, unless we trap one side, it will take up the same amount of floor space to let people in from both sides. cheri127 - thank you for posting those pictures! I have to admit... I love how your kitchen looks opened up! Wow - that's a really eye opener for me. I'm a huge mission fan so your kitchen is right up my alley. I guess looking at a gorgeous kitchen isn't the worst thing in the world. One thing - it looks like your kitchen seating and your dining room table are run in perpendicular directions. Ours would run parallel and I feel like it would look weird with two tables, literally, sitting a few feet from each other. Do you think that would be an issue for you if your DR table was oriented parallel to the kitchen table? kaismom - that's definitely food for thought about the house flow. I don't necessarily think that flow is an issue, but we do have issues with our entry points (front door and door from garage into den) - you just walk right into the room - no vestibule or mud room. It makes me nuts because everyone (me included) just drops all their crap on the floor and the couch and eventually (hopefully) it migrates to a closet (which isn't super helpful for bags, etc). Unfortunately, I don't know how to rectify that without making wholesale changes to the house and I'm not sure we're ready to go there. I did a quick layout of the two main levels (ground level - garage, den, powder room and 1st floor - living room, kitchen, and dining room). Both of these floors each have two entry points from the outside. Ok, peninsula people! I did another layout the replace the banquette with a peninsula and uses one bench as the seating for the kids, but (I think) allows room for another stool. Thoughts?

I really like this plan. When we were looking for a house to buy in Florida, we saw a lot of homes that had the dining room at the front of the house and it was very nice because you were able to have a good size kitchen /living room combo at the back of the house. If you can fit a 42" refrigerator you should get it. Counter-depth refrigerators are fantastic and LG makes one that is as big a a regular depth refrigerator but if you can go bigger that would be great. My advice would be to upgrade on the appliances and whittle down your cookware and bakeware to exactly what you need and use so that you can save as much cabinet space as possible. Put the stuff you don't use in a cabinet in the garage if you can't bear to get rid of it. I think it's going to be beautiful and I am very excited for you.

Okay here is a better rendition of the current/ original layout. Top left kitchen with one window, top right family room with fireplace and TV, bottom left dining room, and bottom right sitting room/formal living room. My goals are to open up the kitchen to the family and dining room. I feel this will help the flow a lot. The kitchen and family room are also very dark, so I want to let in more light. I also plan to move the wall between the family and living room so the hallway runs straight. Currently I want to keep the sink where it is since it is under the window. We discussed it more, and we really don't want a prep sink in an island as we don't feel it wouldn't be worth the cost/functionality for us, though I understand the rational. We cook, but usually not extravagant. I realize though that I'm breaking the zone principles and the ice, water, stone, fire rules. I'd like to open up like this, but still struggling to layout the kitchen in a sensible way. Any other suggestions to improve the whole home/kitchen layout/flow/functionality? Thank you.

If you take out that wall you will have very few options on room layout. Considering one wall is basically all windows. The best advice I can give you, you need to live in it before assuming it doesn't function. Also wouldn't you loose cabinets on the kitchen side? Move it set up shop and see if it is really an issue The wall that has nothing on the other side is actually giving you a foyer. If anything I would open up the staircase/catwalk, change the lighting, possibly sand and refinish the floors.