It would be very nice to have a door from the master bedroom leading to the screened-in porch, since it would be a lovely place to sit out early in the a.m. Although your original dining room is a nice size, it's going to seem cramped and claustrophobic. My in-laws added on to their old house, and they had the same arrangement. It was dark and uninviting, and every time you wanted to get somewhere, you had to walk around the table. You may have to enter the laundry room from the new dining room, but as long as that door is shut when dining, it shouldn't matter so much. You just have to make the most of the hand you've already been dealt. :) It's just a fact that if you are remodelling a 100 year old house that things might not be where they would be if you had built a house from the ground up. But you do have all that old charm in the house. Lucky you! OR - Another option for stairs - looking at the second version above, move the stairs to the right "into" the foyer, and then make them "L-shaped." (Safer anyway with a nice landing in the middle.) Perhaps move back that "dining" room wall two feet to enlarge the foyer. You are left with a much bigger bedroom area (approx 22 X 19). You can use the dining room for your laundry and hall bath, and reconfigure the bedroom area for your master bedroom and closet space. You can still probably take a bit of the dining room for the master bedroom or bath. Good luck!

I don't suppose it's possible to move the door into the garage so it's up the wall toward the rest of the house? It would be great to put the walkpath route all on one side of the kitchen, which would deadend the rest of the kitchen. I've read that if there's a walkpath through the work triangle, at least the stove and sink should be on the same side of the intruding path, with the refrig. on the other side. Having had a corridor kitchen with the outside door on one end and the door to dining room and rest of house on other end, I'm no fan of your walkpattern, but at least your kitchen isn't a corridor. __ Assuming the existing plan, could the microwave be put into a shelf facing the eating area, inside the lower cupboard and below the countertop?

You wrote that you and your husband cook together. Please do a dry run of standing butt to butt - one at the range, one at the prep sink - in a 36" space to make sure this is sufficient room for you. Go through the motions of opening oven doors, trash pull-out, warming drawer, etc, as well. For instance, you won't be able to open the oven door on the right and go straight to an already opened warming drawer. The oven door will hit the warming drawer. You'll either need to open the oven door, set the dish down, close the oven door, then open the warming drawer or open the oven door, then open the warming drawer and then transfer the dish. If the oven shelf doesn't also hit the warming drawer, that is. If this is all okay with you, then you've got your plan! If not, make adjustments now. Paper changes are cheap. ;-) For instance, if the oven to warming drawer move bothers you, opt for a 27" warming drawer and put it next to the range in the 27" space. You likely won't miss the 3" of warming drawer space and may appreciate the increased convenience. A solution for the cheek to cheek situation is for someone to prep on the other side of the island. It would be a good idea to store prep items - measuring spoons, knives, etc - in a location easily accessed regardless of what side of the island one is on. Another suggestion: opt for a faucet mounted in the corner of the prep sink (make sure you buy a sink that allows this faucet location) so that the faucet can be used by people on each side of the island. I'm assuming that you'll store dishes, silverware and glasses to the left of the DW (and sink) because it would be nigh impossible to access the cabinets to the right of it. You still may run into conflicts when unloading, depending on what you store in the cabs to the right, but I'm betting they won't be items used as regularly as dishes, etc. Kitchens are all about trade-offs and only you can determine which ones you're willing to make but it's best to realize those now instead of discovering any shortcomings when the remodel is completed. Talls along the wall: this is when you put all your tall items - floor to ceiling cabinets, wall ovens, fridges, pantry cabs, etc - on one wall, creating one tall wall of storage. btw, the book I mentioned is not your typical kitchen design book. It's full of insider tips to avoid the "if only I'd known" circumstances. For instance, it talks about how French door fridges affect kitchen design unlike other fridge styles, how to deal with appliances near corners, how to avoid cabinet door/hood collisions and more.

You have a good space with a lot of floorspace to work with! Here's an idea. As you an see in the Zone map below, this layout allows you to have several people working in the kitchen at one time. Other notes: All perimeter counters are 28.5" deep. The extra 3" adds workspace and allows you to have deeper upper cabinets. All perimeter cabinets are 27" deep, if you can get them. If not, then pull them out approx 3" from the wall. Note the DW is not 27" deep - but with the extra inches behind it, it provides more space for water lines, etc. All uppers are 15" deep. The refrigerator is on the perimeter and near the Morning Room. It is next to the Prep Zones and the Cooking Zone - where you will need it the most. Is the Morning Room going to be used for table space? Or, will it be a "sitting room"? It appears to have benches and shelving, so can't tell what it will be used for. Cleanup Zone: The Cleanup Zone is on the "bottom" wall It is separated from the Prep and Cooking Zones so that you can have someone cleaning up and/or loading/unloading the DW while others are prepping and cooking. It includes a Dish Hutch with a 15-inch deep upper cabinet that goes to the counter. The extra depth will accommodate dinner plates and, perhaps platters. Dish Hutches hold a lot of dishes - in many cases they can hold all your everyday dishes and glasses. The DW is situated such that it will not be an obstacle to traffic entering the kitchen from the bottom or leaving the DR from the kitchen end Prep Zones & Baking Center: The primary Prep Zone is in the island. It has plenty of workspace as well as a water source. The secondary prep zones flank the cooktop. Probably the most useful space for a secondary Prep Zone is "below"/to the right of the cooktop. The primary Prep Zone has over 4 feet of workspace on one side of the sink and around 20 inches on the other side so you have some landing space. The larger secondary Prep Zone has over 6.5 feet of workspace. The sink on the island is situated so that it can be used for filling/emptying pots. I left the ovens on the lower wall b/c it's better not to directly block a doorway with a hot oven door if you can help it - and you can. Do you bake? If so , the 6.5 feet to the right of the cooktop could be your Baking Center. It has plenty of counter space for rolling dough, etc. as well as space for the pans/cookie sheets to be right there. The "Baking Center" is also near the ovens - so it will be easy to b/w the Baking Center & the ovens. The primary Prep Zone contains the trash pullout. The trash pullout is also across from the Cooking Zone. The trash pullout is easily accessible from the island Prep Zone, the Cooking Zone, and the Baking Center/secondary Prep Zone. Cooking Zone & Right Wall: The Cooking Zone is across from the primary...