Many of us can see an interior door when sitting in a living/family room, so that wouldn't be an issue ... as long as you aren't leaving shoes/junk by that garage door.

Get an engineer to redesign the supports that you home will need after knocking all of that down. That is not going to be be a cheap project.

I like the idea @3onthetree posted to add a mudroom space at the garage entrance, especially if you have kids or pets, or do your own yard work. If your architect can find a way to do that and still retain a door to the patio there, that would be ideal for those coming in from the outside with dirty shoes, etc. (Maybe that means combining it with the laundry area.) That way you wouldn't have to walk through the living room when you come in from the outside.

You mention entertaining - does that include gatherings on your patio? Grilling? Think about your paths through the house (e.g. carrying trays of food or drinks between patio and kitchen), and consider where the handiest door(s) would be, and also what kind of flooring you'll be walking across when coming in from outside. (Easy to clean like tile and hardwood? Or white carpeting?)

I would hate looking at a laundry room, and the entrance of the garage, if it were my house. The reason, I can say, I would hate it, is because, my laundry room entrance is viewable from my dining room, and I do have a door between the two, and its always open. If I have company, and the door is closed, I have had people ask where that door goes. Its just a very odd situation, and no way to change it in this house.

Get a structural engineer before anything else. You have a two story house, that fireplace area is likely providing a lot of support to the upper parts of the house.

Though if you are adverse to seeing doors leading to garage and laundry... what are you planning on doing about doors on your pantry and what looks like one on the formal dining room?

Appreciate all the responses!

@3onthetree - thank you for the suggestions. These are great and worth discussing with the GC to get a cost estimate on. My wife and I did talk about getting a mudroom but the patio door was indeed the issue. I didn't think about moving it to the living space. I would love to move the cooktop but venting would be an issue because it is an inner wall.

@chicagoans - we do plan to rip our mix of engineered hardwood and tiled floor. The hardwood looks great but the tiles are really dated. We want to have one continuous look for the floor which is forcing us to rip out the hardwood. We are either putting LVP or tile (we live in the south) so either should be good at handling the dirt and grime

@cat_ky - my wife has the exact same opinion as you but she might be okay we somehow find a way to put a mudroom at the garage entrance which will hide the laundry room

Move the laundry into a new space carved out of the giant bedroom and reconfigure current laundry as a mudroom.

If you redo the island as suggested above you can keep the fireplace and still get a wider path between living and dining .

Wait a minute. Is this a real brick fireplace, under a real brick chimney, many tons of masonry that go from foundation to above roof? If so, ”moving” it is impractical. Whatever benefit you imagine will not be enough to justify the cubic dollars required.

Who is designing this? You and the contractor? This is such a major project and expense you need professional help- you are doing yourself a disservice by not hiring a designer.

@John Liu the current fireplace is a gas one . I am planning to replace it with an electric one. We are in the South so the fireplace is not used as much.

@HALLETT & Co. Yes, it is just the GC and us. I have entertained the idea about hiring a designer but not sure yet because this is the only major decision we are wavering on.

What has your GC said about the structural engineering of the fireplace and if it is removed?

Isn’t this showing you that you need professional help? This isn’t paint that you can change your mind on later. The right professional working with you in the space will come up with ideas you’ve never thought of. It’s what we do.