AOKAT: It's either on the Home Decorating Forum or the Organization forum that someone posted threads about mudrooms. I loved seeing all the pics of everyone's different versions--might be worth a search and viewing to get more ideas. I have had a mudroom for the past 10 years and I seriously could not live without it--it is just about as hard-working of a room as my kitchen. Since you have a few flexible spaces, you really don't have to choose between the two. I think it's just a matter of how you split up that space. As I questioned above, the storage area at the bottom of the stairs might be a good mudroom, but Buehl brings up a good point about shlepping things up and down--my office was downstairs and it started to drive me nuts after a while. The kids will run down and get their notebooks for homework, then they'll run back upstairs, then they will run down for shoes to go out the back door...it might be a lot of running around. One suggestion by plllog makes some sense: the storage area below can be a large coat closet/shoe and boot closet. The upstairs is more of a cubby area for other junk. You could set this up so that things are not totally "permanent" and didn't cost too much by fitting the downstairs storage with cheap benches and coat hooks. Upstairs, make room for another mudroom and set up an area that the kids can put their backpacks, etc. As Mahlgold mentioned, things tend to come into the main area....but maybe they can shed their dirty shoes and wet jackets downstairs first. Since you have never lived in the house and your kids are still small, you probably have a hard time envisioning the "flow". It's hard to both plan for and predict how it all will work. But, if you don't go out and buy built-ins and yet you leave spaces for them for a future time, you give yourself some flexibility for 6 months or a year after you move in, and you can match what will best work for you and your family. You have a wonderful amount of space and it's great you're thinking about this!

rhome410, Thank you for your thoughts. You statements about dishwasher placement have been an issue I have been struggling with myself for a couple weeks. I am not gifted in the culinary arts; fortunately for me my wife is, so she will be using this kitchen the most. Her opinions on this matter out weight mine as far as IÂm concerned, but I havenÂt discussed it with her yet. That being said, I would also like the placement of the appliances to have universal appeal, or appeal to the majority at least. If I was to put the dishwasher on the other side on the sink and both the dishwasher and fridge were open, they would not touch, but it would be close. As it is now the dishwasher and range wouldnÂt hit each other if both were open, but I donÂt know which is the preferred methodt. So I guess thatÂs one specific opinion I seek from people. You have a good point about the microwave. Initially we wanted the OTR because I hadnÂt yet discovered how much space we were going to have in the end, and cost on this whole project is definitely an issue. The budget for this project (please, nobody laugh) will be in the $12,000-$15,000 range, not counting the appliances, as they were promised as a birthday gift for my wife from her dad (weÂre newlyweds). So, a beautiful, stylish hood was out of the question. Now since the space isnÂt as much of an issue, and we found out that the appliances will be paid for, we may be able to do a better looking hood. IÂll have to consult the boss (read: wife). The cabinet guy mentioned the greasy glass battle we would face, but my wife stated she was up to the challenge; so greasy glass it is. Thanks again for your words.

"I had considered moving sink to left if I can center it under the window there" Just so you know, "windows centered on a window" or "under a window" are hold overs from an era gone by when all dishes were washed by hand - b/f automatic DWs. Back then, much more time was spent in the Cleanup Zone than today. Today: 70% or more of the time & work spent in the Kitchen is spent preparing a meal or snack - "prepping" [Prep Zone] 20% or less is spent cleaning up - and that includes not just sink work (hand washing a few items), but also non-sink work such as loading the DW (if you don't pre-rinse your dishes - and you shouldn't be), unloading the DW, clearing the counters & table, wiping down the counters & table, and sweeping up at the end of the day. [Cleanup Zone] 10% is spent cooking - stirring, adding ingredients, watching food cook [Cooking Zone] Based on the above, it makes the most sense to have the Prep Zone in the best spot - whether for the view or for visiting, whichever you prefer - not the Cleanup Zone. When the most logical place for the Prep Zone is next to the cleanup sink, then it might make some sense to put the sink under the window, but I'd rather have the workspace under the window than the sink - unless you can align the sink with one side of the window and have the workspace under the window as well. I would definitely not sacrifice functionality just to have a window above the cleanup sink! Another consideration is that with all the window space and the relatively small size of your Kitchen, a 54" range (or 55") is going to not only overwhelm the space, but it will look out of place - at least in my opinion. (All the angled walls limit your usable space, so in effect, you have a relatively small Kitchen.) I strongly recommend reducing your range to a 39" wide Lacanche. That's an ample size for even the most avid cook! . Other comments: If you move the W/D out of the garage entry, I would create a Mudroom and, possibly, overflow pantry (or the only pantry - see next comment). Without a connection to the DR, there's no point to creating a "butler's pantry" there - it will seem like you plopped it down there just b/c you wanted one, not b/c it made functional sense. . "Unfortunately the closet corner is load bearing and I'm not willing to get into that." Why are you not willing to "get into that"? Cost? If so, you could use the $$$$ you save by going with a 39" range instead of a 55"! Move the Pantry to the Mudroom area - it makes just as much sense there b/c it's where groceries will be coming into the home (from the garage) and it's still easily accessed from the Kitchen. Then, eliminate that closet altogether and expand the Kitchen in that direction. . 39" Lacanche example: Cluny https://www.frenchranges.com/product/cluny/

Duh, I dont know why I focused just on Pax, maybe because I found some online sites as pantries. Also because it was deeper for larger serving pieces. Need to look at Ikea kitchen lines though liked the deep closet pullouts. Will research Ultracraft. Kirkhall-my existing kitchen only has one narrow pullout pantry and I want the mudroom to have full pantries corner to corner so not enough to reuse existing. Anyone else have thoughts on cheaper cabinet lines? Do you think Chinese cabinets would be a mistake here given its storage for more infrequent use? Thanks for input!