Thanks for your reply, mvjc. We've been in this house 15 years, and are used to living in small spaces (NYC apartments, etc.), but are busting at the seams. In our neighborhood, many builders are tearing down and building new 1M houses on small lots. Right now we are in the preliminary planning stages, i.e. how big of an addition can we afford, which is why we are starting with a three-level addition (basement, 1st and 2nd floors). The original house has a crawlspace. Yes, having a 2-story front gable addition next to a 1-story front-gable house is not a great look, but I definitely want to expand the first floor so all our main living is on one floor, with upstairs/basement as secondary spaces. The proposed addition is maxed out on all sides in terms of setbacks. We are two adults with one elementary-aged child. Our living style is very casual/comfortable/functional. Love light and bright spaces, though bedrooms for us are mostly just for sleeping (a large master bedroom suite is not how we live). However, in the far future we may downsize to an apartment and rent the house for passive income (hopefully retired by then, and the house is in a much desired HCOL area with great schools). That is why I am keeping the three small bedrooms, which would be good for parents, child, and nursery. Needs: 2nd bathroom with shower (no tub) on main floor walk-in pantry laundry room on 1st floor efficient storage and lots of it open up the living space in the front of the house, with bedrooms at the back a deep portico for shelter from rain Nice to have: slightly bigger kitchen with more counter space foyer/transition-type entry space (drop zone for shoes, coats, bags, etc) access to powder room from family room, thus the 2 access doors. Second floor has a bedroom in the front (maybe for when my daughter is a teen or post-college) that would be used as a guest room, a small bath with shower, and a small office space in back. Basement would be finished in front (playroom/exercise room) and have a storage/utility room in the rear. We need to be very budget conscious i.e. trying to keep construction costs in mind, thus all new plumbing on the addition side instead of having to move plumbing into the original house, keeping the stairs oriented that way saves on having to cut joists (I think), etc. What do you think of my floor plan? Any suggestions/feedback would be helpful. I know there are many wise people on this board, and would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!

Part of why I suggested putting the big ref on the back wall is to eliminate the turn at the ref. The ref where the ovens are and the ovens at "alt-ref" can work too. Not at the original ref location because its kinda bad to have the open oven doors and somebody seated at the stools. It's ok for a micro, but not for something where the doors are hot. My personal preference would be to not have oven doors in a traffic aisle. Looking at it again, maybe park an inexpensive drinks ref on the dining room wall if you retain full depth cabinets. A nice looking dorm undercounter or one of those 2x2 ref-frz like the small lg unit. Possibly a bar sink on the dining room wall run for a complete drinks area there. If it has the pantry and a microwave, it easily becomes the express food area for kids. If you want, you can buy a simpler, maybe smaller main ref without water and ice in the door. The prep sink question is a good one. In this arrangement, you might not actually need one on the island (five people will chime in and disagree)! Its a bit more convenient, but not much. If the main ref moves to the back wall, you need one on the island even less. If the main ref moves to where the ovens are shown, you should have one - so that you don't have to cross the cooking area to get to the water. Where exactly it goes is partly dependent on what type of ref you're getting. A sxs or a french door needs landing space opposite the ref - behind you when you're standing in front of it. A single door ref needs landing space to the side without the hinges. So a single door ref, put the sink in the lower right corner of the island as drawn. A two door ref, the upper right corner. The other question about island width was a place I didn't use enough words (again). Without an appliance, the entire run of cabinets on the dining room wall could be less deep by 6 to 12" and the island could take up those inches in width.

I did a mock-up, using Paint, to show you the view from the hallway. It's rough but hopefully it's enough to help you visualize the changes. I brought the LR's carpeted area towards the kitchen, close to the left side of the bay window. I started out extending the LR wainscotting towards the window but if I took it to the window molding, it looked crowded. But it also didn't look right if I stopped it short of the window molding. I think it's a cleaner look without the wainscotting but you should also do mock-ups and decide which look you prefer. If you intend to redo the entire space - LR, nook and kitchen - with the same flooring, then I think the wainscotting should go because it adds an arbitrary demarcation. You will need to redo your kitchen lighting, remove the table chandelier and add island pendants, all of which will require rewiring and ceiling repair. If your ceiling is flat (no texture), it's an easier/less expensive repair. If it has a brocade or knock down texture, the contractor may recommend floating the whole ceiling. Only the very most skilled of drywallers can do a repair of a textured ceiling without leaving behind any tell-tale sign of the repair. If after the remodel is done, you feel that the bay window looks a bit empty, you can always add a shallow console table (15" - 18" deep so that it doesn't crowd the seating aisle and narrower than the window) under the bay window. Add a pair of candlestick lamps for additional lighting and store your cook books here. "Maybe I can sell the double oven and buy a counter-depth fridge (although I am concerned about whether or not it would be big enough). If I can find a way to add a 2nd under-the-counter fridge, I would feel more comfortable. We may need to keep our regular size fridge for a couple of years, so do I plan for the larger fridge or the counter depth?" Try keeping your fridge less full, similar in capacity to a CD fridge and see how it works for you for a least a month. If you can manage using less space, then buy a CD fridge. If, however, you regularly fill up the fridge, don't downsize, at least not until you're empty nesters (*) so I wouldn't plan the lay-out based on a CD fridge at this point. I don't think an under-counter fridge is a good solution for you. They are expensive (as are CD fridges) plus it would reduce your cabinet storage capacity, which isn't in abundant supply as it is. (* DH and I are nearly empty nesters (DS2 soon to be 25, soon to be moving out) but we downsized to a CD fridge about 7 or 8 years ago and it's never been a problem for us. My brother and SIL are empty nesters, and have been for a few years but when they built their home, they super-sized their fridge/freezer capacity by going with a 36" all fridge and a 36" all freezer. They entertain regularly and host large family gatherings often; a CD fridge would never work for them.) (I can't remember if I've suggested this or not so excuse me if I'm repeating myself.) If you haven't done a kitchen item tally, do this asap. Group items by use and measure how wide a drawer or upper cabinet you'll need to store these items. I used painter's blue tape to mark drawer sizes on my counter and placed items within the lines to figure out drawer widths and storage plans. Once you do this, you will be able to determine drawer sizes, drawer lay-outs and how much storage you need. It takes time but it is incredibly helpful in making lay-out decisions. My plan: The final result: This is in a 33" cabinet with 30" interior width and 20" interior depth. Your usable drawer space will depend on the cabinet line and style. My cabinets are face frame but they are built like frameless so my drawers are wider than they would be in another line of face-frame cabinets. (we used a local custom cab shop so I was able to request features such as drawer within a drawer. I did that for this and 3 other drawers in my kitchen. That helped me make use of every inch of storage capacity in my modestly-sized kitchen.) This exercise also helped me determine that I could get by without upper cabinets on my cook top wall, which meant that I didn't have to center my hood between window and door, which meant that I could have a wider drawer base to the left of my cook top, which is what I needed for storage here. Whew, that's one heck of a long sentence but you can see how one thing relates to another and another and another. It seems daunting until you break it down. You likely will need to try several variations - at least I did - before you figure out the best storage plan. Also, even if I've said this before, it bears repeating: in almost all cases, drawers are going to make the most of your cabinet storage. I would, hands down, save $$ elsewhere in my kitchen in order to upgrade to drawers any day of the week. PS I pointed you to scrappy's marvelous kitchen storage. I'll try to find other past kitchen reveals that showed storage savvy and point you towards them. if you think it would help you to see my kitchen's organization - inside my drawers - let me know and I'll post a link for you.

I remodelings it is many times best to engage a local architect that is able to experience the existing conditions of the house and site. There may be things that make sense spatially but complex (expensive) to achieve structurally or mechanically if an electrical panel would be moved. I recommend finding a local architect to assist you in making your house a home for you.