What is the blue rectangle left of the stairs to the basement?

That’s the main floor, see the red bench in the photos of the kitchen

I don't see a red bench in the photo of the kitchen.

The current plan is to redo the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, fixtures,flooring appliances etc.
Rip up carpet throughout, hopefully hardwood floors underneath can be refinished.
We have considered removing the front bedroom to create a dining room?
Design with a granny or in-law suite in mind.

Video of main floor

Sorry video didn’t upload ….

Hubs grew up on one of these post war subdivisions in New Jersey . The rooms are all so small and the stairs are so steep and the treads of the stairs seem to be more shallow.

That was from a way of life when people did not have as much as most of us have nowadays. They raised five kids in that tiny "bungalow"!

The kitchen was so small that MIL could not open both the oven door and the back door to the house at the same time. The tiny kitchen was the only place to put the table and it was so tight!

All of those houses were built with hardwood floors. Of course his parents choose to cover it with carpet!

IMO these homes were not ever some special style thta needs to be embraced . They were cheap homes built to serve a purpose almost every city has an area of them. Yes the rooms were small there was at the time these were built no need for a huge waste of land, materilas and money . You do not say the size of your family , usually those basements had no way to have egress windows with out huge work. I would totally moderenize this home and treat it like a condo space where every inch counts . So for instance you have a good sized LR and bulky furniture and a TV cabinet no longer needed and the perfect spot for a TV above the other cabinet... I think we need more info as to your family needs and some clue as to budget and idea of ROI if this will not be your forever home .

Are you modernizing for yourself or is this going to be a rental property? No matter what, try to avoid the flipper look which is generic everything. If for a rental you will not want to splash out. If for yourself, how long do you plan to live there? How much can you afford to put into this and get it back when you sell? If this property is in North Jersey you have a lot of room to improve (depending on how much you paid for it), but if you're in a small Midwestern town, completely different story.

The house is 600 square feet (23 by 26 feet per plan) on the main floor. The existing layout is practical. Any granny suite on the main floor would have to be an addition because there simply isn't room to add another bathroom on the main floor. Canada has strict safety rules about basement apartments and basement bedrooms, so please check those out before making plans.

Your ideas about replacing cabinets etc. in the bathroom and kitchen are just the ticket. Removing the medicine cabinet may show what the insulation situation is, so you can decide if it needs new insulation on the outer walls. Although clawfoot tubs are lovely to soak in, they are a real bear to step in and out of for a shower. My advice is to plan a simple bathroom with a regular tub-shower combination in easy-clean tile. In the kitchen, an 18" dishwasher may fit. A counterdepth fridge or extra-skinny apartment size "tower fridge" may work, too, to give you more wiggle room in the tight kitchen space.

If the seller is willing to include the living room sunburst clock (now a collector's item), that would be a great way to make a nod to the house's origins.

Some ideas of a vintage style for you kitchen and bathroom renovations.

If you don't find hardwood floors under the carper perhaps you can consider LVP flooring if you don't have a big budget. It's waterproof so can be used throughout the house for a cohesif look.

You can paint the exterior of your existing bathtub.

Just saw this picture this moring that also shows a nice kitchen in Town & Country Living email:

https://town-n-country-living.com/stunning-georgian-cottage-in-england.html

@lisedv please try uploading your photo montage again. It doesn't enlarge when clicked on. Houzz uploading may be acting up again.

Post photos not screen shots in jpeg format in a comment DO NOT start another post .

My FIL built himself a covered patio out back of the house by the time I became part of the family. We gathered out there in the warm season. To get out there required a trip through a back bedroom that was hardly bigger than a walk in closet.

Out there he had his little stereo where he played the old Italian American crooner music. Jimmie Roselli and even the Sinatras were just neighbors back in Hoboken where they both had grown up.

For the holidays when grandma and uncle and cousins came, there was barely room to breathe in the tiny kithen.

FIL builit himself a bar in the basement and he loved his bar. He also .had built an entry to the basement level in the back yard.

I really do think that, as small and cheap as those houses were that they were built better than the 1980s tract house that I now have occupied for the last 40 years. Our tract house was built with train loads of cheap five dollar everything, from faucets to cheap carpet and flimsy siding.

Think about how much of our lives are tied to the home and how much living we did there and how much of oursleves and our memories are tied to it. It was home where you took off your coat and sat at your table and slep in your own safe bed. Then you get old and the house gets sold out from underneath you and another person or faimily moves in and fills it with their lives, their noise and their smells and it becomes that for them. I think about that a lot as I get older. This place that is my sanctuary, my home will someday not exist as mine.

It all passes away down through time.

Be aware that some of the post-war homes may have asbestos flooring.

Yes thanks, we had it tested

If you are willing to move walls, here's an idea. (the walls affected are in pink). The measurements aren't fully accurate - for example - I'm not really sure where the front door enters the room, but it was the best guestimate I could do.

I’m willing to take down walls but want to use existing plumbing locations

Would also consider loosing one bedroom

I did leave all the plumbing in the same place, just rejiggered the walls a bit. I think there may be more value in two bedrooms but only you know what your needs are.

Good point on the resale. I like your plan and consider it. Thank you!