Why do you need two living spaces? I would do Option 2, but put the dining area to the left of the kitchen, then make the living room in front larger.

I agree with Sabrina, move the DR.

Is this a townhouse with no windows on the upper walls?

Is there a reason you can't move the kitchen to where the living room is?

What is the age of the home?

We prefer to have the family area overlooking the backyard with that double height ceiling, and leave that sitting area at the front for a lounge or office in future.

My main question at this point is kitchen options but thanks for feedback!!

option one ........details yet to be worked out obviously.

Option 1. More opened. You can see the backyard and there's a pantry.

I dislike walkin pantries and just to be clear when asking a question here you will get answers you might not want. IMO witout having even one measurement we are working in the dark . Post to scale floor plans every window doorway and where those doorways lead all marked Every measurement clearly marked and all of that poste here in a comment or 2 in jep peg format.

he has a wall of built ins on the living room side...whether you call it a walk in pantry or some other designation.....an area that is removed from the open section of the kitchen yet adjacent to kitchen and designated "pantry" seems a good first stab at use of the space. Its probably the case, that details of the kitchen will evolve a bit.

Some measurements to have idea of scale…

All house is open to courtyard and its floor level is on the basement, an idea to bring light into the whole house, connect it visually but still create some divisions (just not mere walls)

I like option 1 (and I like the family room back there better than putting the dining room there). Also when you say “basement,” do you mean that this floor is underground (and the stairs in the back go up to the backyard)?

It helps to know those are windows into the courtyard. I generally like Option 1, better, but I would still get rid of the "hidden door" (what purpose does that serve? There still is little separation between the two rooms) and would have the backyard come into an anteroom/mudroom with storage (either additional kitchen storage or coats/shoes) and a bench. Just think that's practical.

It looks like all plans have a large stairwell. Is it possible to locate the powder room under the stairs? That can be quite charming. The reason I ask is that having the powder room jut into the foyer makes the space feel cramped. BTW, are you sure you can locate a powder room where it (appears) it can't vent directly to the outside and won't have a window? That wouldn't be permitted under most US building codes, and venting two or three stories up to the room could be quite expensive.

IMO the room proportions in Option 1 are better than Option 2. I'd encourage you to lay out furniture in the backyard-facing LR. Option 2 seems more challenging as it's long and narrow compared to Option 1.

thanks for comments, @lmckuin courtyard only is on the basement level, ie: that space that you see in ground floor is a void to the bottom and open to outside. @HU-918119203 the stairs go down to basement and up to second floor, so no option for that, also the house is detached, although neighbour's houses are quite close, that is why the openings are limited, and on one side they are non (by design, and it is the north), but it can still vent.

There is another option we have not discussed with architect (if we bring more changes, we worry he might quit lol...) I wonder if for a house this size you are almost forced to combine spaces... It is a bit of a shame that the backyard views are to the kitchen and not living, but you see though the house as it is glass and small. What do you guys think?

I like that layout better, assuming there's another possible location for the office you mentioned. In a long, narrow space, having fewer rooms is key. But I would definitely not have built ins blocking the dining room from direct access to the scullery. I'd put a pocket door there. It would be such a pain if you needed to grab something from the scullery while in the dining room.

yeah, @HU-918119203 good place for a hidden door in the built in. There is another office upstairs (a bedroom we will use as such). The architect was quite adamant about putting an "office" in that space for resale value... We would not use it and probably just do a lobby/lounge.

By the way. We are leaving the island just as counterspace. Thats why the sink is on left. I feel that the sink on island could take a lot of prep space away

Modify option 2 by eliminating the left side cabinet run. This will still give you adequate storage with all drawer lowers. And good work zones. This opens the living room more to the kitchen. It gives both spaces a more open and larger feeling. The small change won't annoy your architect.

Ruthie why are you posting YOUR kitchen on someone else's thread?

What do you guys think?

I like option 3. It was where I was going to go until you said you wanted both rooms.

The proportions of the Family Room in Option1 are much better than skinny and long in Option2. In either case the courtyard is too big. It's fine for a design that doesn't get built, or you have SF and money to burn, or are going for only a magazine cover, but not actually living and paying for it in a HCOL (guessing Toronto?). It is too small to use for outdoor living and too big limiting some design options, especially if the backyard is the focus. Realize it will be 3 stories tall, and you will be looking at the tree canopy from the Kitchen. You can still have a smaller area for light, but an atrium looks to be out of scale and function here.

Zero'ing in on your desires for storage/mudroom/back entry for outdoor living, and whether a Kitchen/Breakfast area/single Dining Room should connect to the backyard use and view, would narrow focus, as the Options presented are entirely different.

Thanks for comments all! We are going to think hard about Option 2 and 3, option 1 looks for us to be sort of middle option with smaller spaces and kitchen with sort of complex space.

The house is in Toronto, yes! And we love the innovative idea of creating an oversized courtyard to bring light and separate the interior spaces, we want something open but not fully, in a way that you see the sink from the entrance, I understand that is a personal choice! So if we can get something worth a magazine cover and get to live in it… that is a plus.

At the end our main focus is to design the best space for this smallish footprint, it is complicated, and we are happy to adapt to how the distribution ends up being (ie: exiting the backyard through living room, dining, scullery/mudroom…)